Month: September 2008

Categories
Module 2

Edward Curtis Meets the Kwakwaka’wakw

This website is devoted to the Edward Curtis film In the Land of the Head Hunters made in Fort Rupert, BC in about 1914.  The site includes a synopsis of the film, a discussion on the making of the film and its significance from a history of film perspective.  It also includes pages with some un-restored clips from the original film and audio clips of songs sung by dancers in the movie.  The site is fascinating and I am still traveling through it.  For me, the site is of particular interest since my analytic paper involves an examination of film about and by indigenous cultures.  The information here allows for some great historical comparisons.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas – Haida Artist

This morning I stumbled across an article about Haida artist, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (including a link to his website).  The article describes the artist as the creator of the Haida Manga genre.  Yahgulanaas translates the Japanese word managa as meaning images without a limitation, or without borders.  Navigating this site provides glimpses of amazing art work, and some interesting perspectives around global and local indigenous knowledge, and influences of new media and technology.

Scroll to the bottom of the main page web gallery.  Here you will find a link to Yahgulanaas other works, the Haida Manga page and the Rocking Raven cartoon page.  The Haida Manga page,  includes links to several indigenous stories such as Tree Spirit that would also certainly have a great appeal for school children learning about the Haida culture.  The Rocking Raven page includes links to cartoons, like the Red Stump link that have a definite flavour of cultural/political commentary.  I think this artist/site does a great job of providing some good insights into Northwest Coast indigenous traditional culture and the issues faced by advancing globalization and technology.

Anash Interactive

Anash Interactive is aimed at teaching children about the Tlingit peoples.  The website is based on an APTN television series called Anash and the Legacy of the Sun-Rock, and has links to the series and episode synopses.  They have won awards in the US, Germany, and Canada.

The site also enables creation and sharing of stories.  The site includes an interactive comic/story creator, as well as resources and information for parents and teachers (grades 4-6) such as crossword and word search puzzles, a teaching and home education guide, and a PDF outlining specific learning outcomes and curricular connections for Western Canada.

Aboriginal Canada Portal

The Aboriginal Canada Portal website is collaboration between a number of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organizations including the:

The portal has a huge potential for a wide range of starting points for research topics and information for this course.

Of particular interest to me was the Language, Heritage and Culture link.  This page provides an overview and serves as a launch pad for a number of related links including: “Artists” which links to an alphabetized list of websites of Aboriginal performing and visual artists in Canada;  “Languages” links to a list of links to pages discussing language related issues including online lessons.  One of the Languages links to online lessons.  One lesson in Inuktitut includes a rather strange exercise with a song written in Inuktitut (Aqqutialuk surappuq) and intended to be sung to the music of “London Bridge is Falling Down”.  The audio was not working at the time of this post.  Perhaps this lesson has been abandoned.

Another link from the Language, Heritage and Culture page is to Media and multimedia page.   There are a huge range of links that could provide research topic insights into Indigenous knowledge, and the impact of globalization.  The page links to the APTN television network website, and to Digital Drum which hosts a number of Internet videos, links to blogs, and audio content about current issues close to Indigenous cultures.  For example, one video talks about being an “Eagle woman”.

Native Education Centre (NEC)

The mission of the Native Education Centre (NEC) is to provide a culturally appropriate and supportive environment for Aboriginal learners.  The site makes an interesting point of defining Aboriginal learners as both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.  The college (centre) is located in Vancouver, BC.  NEC programs include Wholistic Healing, Technology (including both Digital Media , and Business), Social and Economic (including Tourism and Land Stewardship) Development, and Educational Outreach programs working with First Nations and Aboriginal communities.

The website includes a Success Stories link.  It is interesting to read the stories of graduates and hear about their aspirations and their work.   Many, if not most of the graduates seem to be First Nations.  Their stories reflect strong commitments to giving back to their communities.
Browsing some of the program offerings, such as the FirstHost tourism seminar, also seems to give a feel of a community atmosphere both in the college and its curriculum.  For more depth into the college community, download the NEC calendar to read the story of the totem pole that stands outside the NEC, and to learn about the annual student welcoming ceremony and the protocols of the Longhouse that the ceremony follows. One begins to imagine ways that our current standardized curriculum could learn from this community approach.

Gáldu Resource Centre

The Gáldu Resource Centre website is a very comprehensive resource for the rights of Indigenous peoples.  It includes links and information about the Sami people of Northern Scandinavia and Finland, as well as other indigenous groups on a global scale.  Click the Sitemap link on the left navigation area to see all the site has to offer and to get a great clickable TOC for navigating the site.

Further down the left navigation area are links to Permanent forums on the net.  These give great perspectives on the issues facing indigenous peoples on a global scale.

Further down are links to articles ranging from issues for the Maasai people of Kenya, to reindeer husbandry issues in Norway.

The site doesn’t explicitly address technology related issues, but it does use web/internet technology extremely effectively to communicate and educate about cultural issues on a global scale.

Isuma

The Isuma website is aimed at Indigenous filmmakers, and at highlighting independent Inuit film.  Isuma’s mission is to produce independent community-based films, television, and Internet media that promote preservation and enhancement of the Inuit language and culture.

The photographs on the home page (and throughout the website) are stunning.  The site provides a portal for Indigenous filmmakers, and provides viewers with synopses and samples of what these filmmakers are making, as well as “live on the set” that give great insights to the culture.

Isuma has been involved in a number of award winning films. The Isuma website includes an extensive set of links to their other films and documentaries.    Perhaps most famously, Isuma was responsible for the film Atanarjuat The Fast Runner.  Atanarjuat was based on a traditional Igloolik legend, and was filmed in Inuktitut and sub-titled.  The Isuma site includes a link to the Atanarjuat website.  Another interesting link is to the website for 2007 Isuma film Before Tomorrow.  This site includes discussion and photos about the Inuit cast and crew, the remote Nunavit sets, and a synopsis of the film about Inuit life in the 1840’s, and focusing on the life and reflections of an aging woman.

The Isuma website includes a For Teachers page.   This page showcases special DVD packages (and books and audio CDs) of the Isuma films and documentaries and is aimed at bringing Inuit culture into schools.

Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC)

The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) produces and televises programs conceived, designed and produced by, and for the Inuit.  They have a number of production centres across Nunavut all staffed by Inuit.  The IBC has large mandate which includes educating, producing, providing training and employment, promoting communication, and promoting youth.  The IBC was the first native language television network in North America, and the first indigenous project in the world to broadcast by satellite.  The IBC works in partnership with the National Film Board, and draws funding from their own fundraising and licensing fees, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Nunavit government, and other programs.  It was interest to see that the IBC has sponsored education of Nunavit artists at the Banff Institute.   According to their website they have “launched the careers of over 50 independent Inuit producers, directors, writers, and camera persons”.

The website includes a Video Clips page with clips of current offerings of their television programs.  One of the programs is a live call-in production which invites callers to discuss local issues such as suicide prevention, sled dogs, Inuktitut language, and climate change.  The clips indicate that most programs are in Inuktitut with English close captioning.  The website also includes a Kids Section which appears to be somewhat centered around a children’s program called Takuginai, which is over 20 years old.  Takuginai currently uses puppets interacting with kids and focuses on cultural and language issues.  The IBC is also in the process of training people to do computer animations for use in the program.  The IBC also has a program on cooking and healthy eating.  It is interesting to see that programming has its westernized influences like Sesame Street and Celebrity Cooks, but these have been adapted to apply specifically to the Inuit language and way of life.   The website also includes a page which gives an interesting history of the IBC.  It is interesting to note that the Program Calendar on the Website has no programs listed past the end of March 2008.

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