TEDxOkanaganCollege – Jeannette Armstrong, PhD – Indigenization
I am so excited to share a Ted Talks video of Dr. Jeannette Armstrong who I highly regard. She is speaking on a topic I am passionate about and I would use the video as a teaching aid. I did not expect to find this type of resource material on Ted Talks but I was only recently introduced to Ted Talks through my PIDP 3240 Social Media course. I heard about the program but I did not really look at it.
Jeannette pleads that we must stop looking at sustainability from only an economic basis and that we must remember that the earth is our fragile home.
An Indigenous author and activist, her published works include literary titles and academic writing on a wide variety of Indigenous issues. Awarded the 2003 EcoTrust Buffett Award for Indigenous Leadership, she is distinguished with Honorary Doctorate’s from U of St. Thomas, U of British Columbia Okanagan and the University of Queens. She holds the Okanagan College Lifetime Fellow award.
She is the Executive Director of En’owkin Centre, the cultural research and education facility of the Okanagan Nation as well as being on faculty in Indigenous Studies at UBC Okanagan.
She has a PhD from the University of Greifswald, Interdisciplinary in Environmental Ethics and Syilx Indigenous Literatures. She is an Okanagan Syilx culture and language specialist and traditional knowledge keeper.
She currently serves on Environment Canada’s Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge (ATK) sub-committee of the Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
Since I found Dr. Jeannette Armstrong on Ted Talks, I decided to continue my search to see else I could find that contains specific Indigenous content. The next video is: Elizabeth Lindsey: On preserving Indigenous Wisdom.
Click on link to view. Elizabeth Lindsey
“When an elder dies, a library is burned. And throughout the world, libraries are ablaze.”
Raised by indigenous Hawaiian elders, anthropologist Elizabeth Lindsey has dedicated her life to preserving the vanishing voices of indigenous wisdom across the globe.
In this Ted Talk, Lindsey weaves stories of personal experience and ancestral knowledge, and the alarming reality of worldwide cultural diversity loss. Ultimately, she reminds us that we are all voyagers together on this earth, and the path towards a brighter future must be forged in unison.
I found Elizabeth Lindsey’s talk very enlightening. I am fortunate to have been raised with my grandparents who shared their ancestral knowledge.