Steff’s cybertravels

Website: http://www.hanksville.org/sand/

This is a website cooperatively created by 5 active members in the online world of Native American culture. It was created in response to an attempt by a wealthy corporation to use their work to create a CDrom project about Native American culture, without compensating them for their work. The website includes links to information about sovereignty issues, cultural property, legal issues, stereotypes (and reading lists to help de-bunk them), responses from Native Peoples on a plethora of subjects, and contact information for people wishing to use Native American materials from any websites.

The site includes an immense amount of useful information and is a great resource when traversing the slippery slope on copyright issues in cyberspace.

Website: http://www.cln.org/themes/fn_history.html

This is a web page that provides links to curricular resources designed to help students and teachers learn about the history of First Nations People in Canada.

Links include: BC Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, Canada-Indian Treaties, Canada’s Native Peoples, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Explorers Theme Page, First Nations Histories, First Nations Territories of the Pacific Northwest, A Historical Look at Canada & B.C.’s Relationship with First Nations, History of the Northwest Coast, Hudson’s Bay Digital Collection, etc. There are over 20 links to information that is accessible to both teachers and students and is a valuable source of information on the history of First Nations Peoples in Canada, with a significant portion of the information derived from the First Nations Persons point of view.

Website: http://cado.ayn.ca

This site was developed by five aboriginal youth who created the website and gathered the stories that it contains.

The site provides background on the importance and history of storytelling in aboriginal culture. Storytellers from various First Nations communities, as well as Metis and Inuit communities are included. There are numerous stories included from each storyteller, along with a brief biography of each storyteller, with the result that this site is a rich source of authentic cultural history.

Website: www.digitaldrum.ca

This website was designed as an area to engage aboriginal youth in their culture and increase their awareness of each other. One of the aims of the site designers was to help “…youth have a sense of citizenship and pride in their Aboriginal heritage – both online and in the real-world”

This is a bilingual site that provides the opportunity to blog about issues important to aboriginal youth, to post artistic projects they may have developed (i.e. videos or songs), and links to information regarding aboriginal heritage. The site even includes educational resources for educators (mostly in English, although they hope to add more French content) that they can use to help teach their students about the Indigenous cultures of Canada. This is a great site for hearing stories in the peoples own words, as videos of Elders telling stories have been uploaded.

Website: http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca

This website is the result of the combined efforts of the Canadian government and various Aboriginal groups including: the Assembly of First Nations, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, the Metis National Council, the Native Women’s Association of Canada and the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers. The site offers an immense amount of information on topics including: National Aboriginal Organizations, Economic Development and Business, Claims and Treaties, Education, Employment, Environment and Natural Resources, Health and Social Services, Housing and Infrastructure, Justice and Policing, Language, Heritage and Culture and Policy, Research and Statistics. One could spend hours exploring this site as it offers innumerable links to valuable information on all aspects of Indigenous life. This is definitely an excellent place to start any research pertaining to Indigenous people in Canada.

Website: http://www.nationalimac.org/

This website was designed to assist in Indigenous community development, communication and networking. The site offers information about upcoming cultural events and discussions, as well as contact information if you wish to attend these events. There is a job posting area where indigenous artists and/or technologists can look for work or advertise for assistance. There are links to numerous Indigenous media arts groups and societies and a forum area where individuals can discuss jobs, events, general information regarding Indigenous “new media” and where the minutes from the NIMAC meetings are accessible. The site itself does not contain an enormous amount of information but it is a great portal to information.

I hope you will find my descriptions of the sites I travel to and the information they contain interesting and useful!

Happy travels!