Tag Archives: Indigenous Peoples

Module #2-2: Foundations for Indigenous Literacy in Australia

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  • Over 50% of Indigenous families in very remote areas speak their Indigenous language
  • Only 40% of Aboriginal children remain school until year 12
  • Only 1 in 5 kids in a Northern Territory remote community can read at an acceptable level
  • Less than 36% of people in a remote community have access to a library and books

These are the facts in Australia as indicated on the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) website. In Australia there are a few large foundations and organizations making efforts to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people with regards to literacy and numeracy. The ILF is one of the largest; they work to provide access to books and literacy resources to over 200 remote Indigenous communities, and have already donated nearly AUS$494,000 (CAN$485,000) and 100,000 books in 2013. The Australian Numeracy and Literacy Foundation (ANLF) is another big foundation working to improve Indigenous literacy. Their Wall of Hands Project raised AUS$320,000 in donations to improve language, literacy, and numeracy standards in Australia.

About a week ago, OOdals, a new UK-based Amazon-like online store selling Books and Movies, announced that they will donate 10% of all their profits to support Australian literacy charities (article), including ILF and ANLF.

Literacy is one of the most important tools for improving Indigenous life, especially among young learners. It is not only about literacy in English but also literacy in their native language because language is a vital part of their culture. Therefore, it is absolutely crucial to improve literacy in their own language as well as in English. Their language and culture cannot fade with this generation.

Module #2-1: One Laptop per Child

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One Laptop per Child (OLPC), an ambitious project begun in 2006, aims to build an inexpensive laptop (XO) to be sold in the developing world and make it available to children in those countries. By 2009 about 2,000 XO laptops were delivered to three schools in indigenous communities in Australia (article) and students were able to begin to close the education gap, according to their blog posted in 2011. In 2010, twelve First Nation schools in Canada announced the use of the XO laptop in their classrooms.

But the OLPC project has also come under criticism. In 2012, some articles pointed out that the project was a failure because the  XO laptop costs twice the originally intended price. And then in July of this year OLPC announced a very different product—a $150 Android-based tablet, not only for kids in developing nations, but also for sale in Wal-Mart in the US. It seems like the OLPC project is now a little lost but still hoping to find the best way to pursue their original goals.

This OLPC project not only affords Indigenous children an equal opportunity to learn, but also provides methods to facilitate their learning. It enables children to surmount the first and perhaps greatest obstacle to their educational experience.

But it is not enough to just spend a lot of money providing XO laptops or tablets; the project would also be viewed as a big success if were to improve local infrastructure, update software, provide technical support over the long term, and so forth.

I assume that many people knew from the beginning that just providing laptops would not be enough to improve the educational situation. OLPC cannot, unfortunately, fix everything; they are mainly responsible for developing/providing affordable laptops, not for the improvement of local infrastructure. That should be someone else’s responsibility (e.g., government, other NGO groups, etc.).

Entry 6 : Who are the Indengious peoples?

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One of the pages under The International Work Group for Indigenious Affairs  (IWGIA)  is entitled Identification of Indigenious People  offers a fairly clear definition of the concept of Indigenious people.  This site offers definitions by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as well  as Martinez Cobo(report to the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination of Minorities(1986)) and Mme Erica-Irene Daes (chairperson of the united Nations’s Working group on indigenious People).

A commonality of the definitions focuses on the ancestry of indigenious people of having inhabited a territory or area prior to colonization.  Also, the definitons indicate that indigenious peoples  have maintained an unique social, cultural, religious, linguistic and political aspects differing from the mainstream society.

Likewise several important challenges of indigenious peoples include:

Collective Rights:  rights for the collective groups not just rights for the individual.

Self- determination:  the preservation, development, and tansmission of their unique identity

Self-Identity;  identified and accepted as a group with an unique culture, language, etc.

Land and Natural resources’ rights : rights for the lands and resources that the ancestors have inhabited before colonization

Martinez Cobo states that “They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity…”

Technology and loss of identity

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The benefits of technology are easily noticed.  The Web and other technological devices do allow indigenious people an opportunity to explore and investigate their culture.  People can often find traditional skills that may have otherwise been lost. However there has been a much research done on the overuse of technology.

Therefore, I wish to explore the drawbacks or negative side-effects of this over technological use on indigenious people.  This topic may seem broad in scope. How do we judge what is overuse of technology?  Which negative aspects of techuse do I wish to explore:  the medical, the environmental, or the social?  I will focus my research on the personal impact of technological use as it affects or alters one’s life.  I wish to explore if technology is taking away the self-identity, or cultural identity of indigenious people, – an identity that, without technology, would remain.

I will explore articles and sites on technology versus self-identity and cultural identity.  I will also examine data on technological use for indigenious and non-indigenious groups.

Below is a list of some sites, articles, and research that may be used along with the information from my modules.

Government Interventions with Indigenous Peoples

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At this point in the course, my interest lies in Government ‘interventions’ with Indigenous peoples. Specifically, I am considering residential schools in Canada and Australian intervention with mixed-raced Aboriginal children being removed from their homes and put into state institutions. I am intrigued by the governments’ rationale and thinking behind these policies as well as the length of time that they were enacted.  I am curious as to how policies that today seem to be oppressive and against human rights were enforced by a government under the premise of being in the best interest of its citizens, for over one hundred years. As a historian, I am interested in the historical context and societal beliefs that fostered these policies for so long. Personally I am interested in residential schools as one of the largest/most notorious schools was in my hometown.

I am not quite sure just yet how I will narrow the topic, but am hopeful this will naturally become apparent in the early stages of my research.

Some resources I think will be useful are:

– Cassidy, J. (2006). The stolen generations – Canada and Australia: The legacy of assimilation. Deakin Law Review, 11,1, 131-177.

– Indigenous Foundations – Comprehensive website from UBC that considers varied Indigenous topics (government policy, culture, community and politics, global indigenous issues)

– Jacobs, M.D. (2005). Maternal colonialsim: White women and Indigenous child removal in the American west and Australia, 1880 – 1940. The Western Historical Quarterly, 36, 4, 453-476.

– Miller, J. R. Shingwauk’s Vision. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996.

– Milloy, John S. A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986.Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

– Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Indian Residential Schools: The Nuu-Chah-Nulth Experience. Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, 1996.

– Report of the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples – Report created by the department of Indian and Northern Affairs

– Where Are the Children – An interactive website that looks at the residential school experience, by Library and Archives Canada.

Module 1 – Post 5: Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples

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Each year my school hosts International Week, during which the school’s international nature is celebrated. Flags from each country represented at the school are hung along the school walkway, special guests come to classes to share their culture, the PTA hosts a whole range of activities (games from around the world, story telling from around the world, dancing from around the world), and the highlight is always the international lunch we share together! Without a doubt, International Week is the highlight of the year for most students, parents and teachers.

It was during International Week in my first year here that I first became aware of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples. I was quite surprised on national dress day to see so many Taiwanese students wearing Indigenous dress. It was really interesting to see the Taiwan exhibit put on by parents where the majority of the posters/images were of modern, Chinese Taiwan while the dress worn by the parents and the games offered for students to play were all Indigenous.

As I read more about Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples I am disheartened to learn that they are often viewed as ‘second-class citizens.’ It made me feel that this is a rather archaic/colonialist perspective and one that I had hoped was no longer present in the world. Seeing the ways in which Western countries are working towards improved relationships with and respect for Indigenous cultures, it saddens and concerns me to know that there are countries that are not moving forward and working to improve the rights of Indigenous peoples.

I am curious now as to different countries and the rights of Indigenous peoples and how Indigenous peoples are viewed, but am also a little reluctant to find out more as I fear things may not be moving in a forward, positive direction. Regardless, it is very interesting to consider Indigenous cultures outside of North America as I know so little about these peoples.

Module #1-5: Australia

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According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 176,057 school students in Australia who had identified as Aboriginal at their time of enrolment in 2012. This represents an increase of 7,254 (4.3%) over the corresponding figure for 2011. These students now make up almost 5% of all school students. This figure is only for primary and secondary schools and does not take into account higher education, but I assume the number of Indigenous students enrolled in higher education should be increasing accordingly. Since indigenous communities are often located in remote areas, distance education will be key to providing a proper level of education and training for them.

In Australia, the Queensland Government formed the Indigenous Lead Centre in 2006 to ensure Indigenous peoples have access to culturally appropriate and relevant courses including distance education, course materials, and training products that enable them to fulfill their professional and personal aspirations. The Indigenous Lead Centre has also developed a variety of user-friendly e-learning resources; Internet technology like this could definitely help support students and job seekers in remote communities. However, infrastructure is the big issue among Indigenous communities and peoples. According to this article published in 2011, only 6% of residents in some remote Indigenous communities in Australia had a computer, while 80% of Australians access the Internet regularly—in some communities, as few as 2% of residents had an Internet connection. In 2011, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) started a project called Home Internet for Remote Indigenous Communities to assess the reasons for low internet take-up and use by people living in remote Indigenous communities, determine the needs of remote Indigenous communities with regard to home Internet use, and provide advice through empirical research.

Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education in Northern Territory, an educational institution for the tertiary education of Indigenous people of Australia, opened a new e-Learning and Research Building in 2008. This was a $2.86 million project funded by the Federal Government. Internet technology must be effectively employed to provide quality education and training to Indigenous peoples. Creating Internet access requires stable infrastructure, and an Internet development budget funding is essential to making the project come to life. It is not an easy process!

Module #1-4: First Nations Councils in Canada

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First Nations communities are often marginalized and have poor access to services in areas such as youth, employment, and so on. They also face a number of challenges regarding access to educational technology related to their marginalized social positioning. Therefore, to battle against this issue it is crucial for First Nations people to take advantage of technology, especially the Internet, to get connected to one other and rebuild a sense of community. First Nations councils in Canada aim to improve and better reflect the culture, education, and other needs of the First Nations.

The First Nations Education Council (FNEC) was created in 1985 with the mission to achieve full jurisdiction over education of all First Nations children and their communities in the Nations of Quebec. Their philosophy is that only First Nations people can develop an education system that is based on First Nations values. The FNEC supports, promotes and safeguards the lifelong education and the unique cultural identity of First Nations. FNEC priorities include installing fiber optics in all FNEC-member communities, supporting the funding of vocational training programs, compelling the federal government to adopt a new funding formula for First Nations schools to put an end to their chronic underfunding, and so forth.

In September 2013, in Saskatchewan, the 12 First Nations of the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) announced that each of them plan to develop their own education acts, aiming to better reflect the culture and needs of the First Nations, according to this article. The acts will recognize First Nations culture, language, academic achievement, and First Nations jurisdiction over education—asserting their indigenous right and authority over their children’s education.

Module #1-3: Endangered Languages

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Wendake is the Huron-Wendat reserve located 15 minutes from downtown Quebec City. It is one of the Seven Nations of The Iroquois Confederacy—a historic confederation of First Nations living in and around the Saint Lawrence River valley at the start of the eighteenth century. I have been to this small town once. There are buildings such as the Huron-Wendat Museum, the Traditional Huron site “ONHOÜA CHETEK8E“, several souvenir shops, and many tourists as well. It was fun learning about their history and culture, but the most interesting part of my visit was their language. I saw many signs written in Wyandot—even traffic signs.

Wyandot is one of the Iroquoian languages. This website give some background on the Iroquoian language. Unfortunately, Wyandot essentially died out as a spoken language nearly a century ago; however, there are attempts at revitalization such as the village school in Wendake, which offers adult and children’s classes in the language.

Not only Wyandot, but also many indigenous languages have been struggling to stay alive. According to this article, only 545 Canadians claim Mohawk, which has the largest number of speakers of the Northern Iroquoian languages, as their mother tongue according to 2011 census data. Language and identity are closely connected and intertwined; it is so difficult to imagine losing a part of our identity. Even if the language manages to be somehow revived, it would soon be endangered again if there are not enough people dedicated to protecting it from extinction. Conversation can be recorded and preserved as an archive for future generations, but losing languages and its speakers are very regrettable.

Module #1-2: The Ainu in Japan

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When I was a student in Japan, there was little taught about the Indigenous peoples of Japan in any school. I believe that the situation has not changed much, unfortunately. Since I still don’t know much about them, I began researching to obtain basic knowledge about one of the two Indigenous peoples, the Ainu. The Ainu live mainly in Hokkaido, a northern region of Japan, and in part of Russia. There are about 25,000 Ainu living in Japan according to official population estimates (the unofficial number is upwards of 200,000 people).

In the mid-to-late 19th century Japanese settlers took over the indigenous land. The Ainu were forced to assimilate under pressure from various laws and the Japanese government banned their cultural traditions. The government’s assimilation policy resulted in many Ainu being ignorant of their own culture and history. For that reason the Ainu language is now considered endangered. The Ainu people also hope their living and educational standards can be upgraded. According to the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, 38.3 percent of the Ainu in Hokkaido are on welfare, compared with the local average of 24.6 percent. Moreover, only 17.4 percent of the Ainu receive a college education while 38.5 percent of the locals do.

Surprisingly, the Japanese government did not recognize the ethnic Ainu as Japan’s indigenous people until 2008; it must have been a major challenge for a country long proud of being ethnically homogeneous.

Probably because of this recognition, the description of the Ainu has significantly increased in the textbooks used for primary schools in 2010. Needless to say it was a big step forward since school education about them is important to raising awareness of the Ainu among the population at large. However, teacher knowledge is essential to teaching the contents of the textbook properly and the improvement of teacher training is crucial.

In 2010, the documentary film TOKYO Ainu was released. I believe there were few documentaries featuring the Ainu made before this one. This film features the Ainu living in Tokyo and its surrounding areas actively promoting their traditional culture. The promotional footage is available here on YouTube. For more information about the Ainu, the Ainu Museum website is also a useful resource for learning about Ainu history and culture.