Monday, April 28, 2014

First Nations Peoples of British Columbia - Map

The rich diversity of the First Nations Peoples of BC
"This map is designed to illustrate the rich diversity of the First Nations Peoples of British Columbia. Like all maps, it is a rendition - a best attempt at reflecting a current reality, recognizing that "the map is not the territory"... The boundaries between territories are deliberately shown as blending into one another, in recognition of the complex territorial relationships involved."

Map is downloadable.

This site also lists names of the First Nations Peoples of BC as they are generally known today (with a phonetic guide to common pronunciation), and a reference to names they were given by explorers to the regions.

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Indigenous Foundations - UBC

Explore topics that relate to Aboriginal peoples
"Welcome to Indigenous Foundations, an information resource on key topics relating to the histories, politics, and cultures of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. This website was developed to support students in their studies, and to provide instructors, researchers and the broader public with a place to begin exploring topics that relate to Aboriginal peoples, cultures, and histories. Indigenous Foundations was developed by the First Nations Studies Program at the University of British Columbia, located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people."

Culture:

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Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Wade Davis: Dreams from endangered cultures

Why we must celebrate indigenous culture
"All of these peoples teach us that there are other ways of being, other ways of thinking, other ways of orienting yourself in the Earth. And this is an idea, if you think about it, can only fill you with hope. .... And you might think of this cultural web of life as being an ethnosphere, and you might define the ethnosphere as being the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness. The ethnosphere is humanity's great legacy. It's the symbol of all that we are and all that we can be as an astonishingly inquisitive species."

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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Aboriginal Clam Gardens

An ancient form of aquaculture
Listen to the Podcast.
"An ancient form of aquaculture practiced on the West Coast proves to be quite productive. Clam gardens are beach-terraces that were constructed by First Nations on the West Coast over many hundred of years before European contact, in a deceptively simple form of aquaculture. Dr. Anne Salomon, a marine ecologist from Simon Fraser University, and her group, investigated just how productive these clam gardens were."

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Don Amero - We are One

Great Song, Great Message
Visit his site and buy his music!

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Aboriginal Music Week - August 20 to 24

Native, Métis, Inuit, and Indigenous artists
"Aboriginal Music Week is a music festival in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We present Native, Métis, Inuit, and Indigenous artists who perform hip hop, electronic, traditional, world, folk, rock, country, and blues music. Aboriginal Music Week for 2014 is set for August 20 to 24."

Visit the site to find out about artists, albums and listen to live streaming.

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Mi'kmaw tradition of making native ash baskets revived

Lost tradition brought back
"Della Maguire offered a weeklong workshop, with 10 senior Mi'kmaq women participating, recently at the Glooscap Heritage Centre... Her goal is to pass the art on to other women who will keep making baskets once the workshop is done, and can then pass it on to people in their own communities... The laborious process to make a basket takes hours. The ash strips must be cut into various widths to make the base of the basket, then the walls and finally the lid. Strips can also by dyed to add some colour. Experienced basket makers can put intricate patterns into their labours of love by bending and twisting the strips."

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Resource development projects can aid First Nations: PM

PM cannot ignore underlying legal rights
[Prime Minister] Harper said resource development offers "significant economic development" in regions where aboriginal communities are dominant - and where they haven't had large-scale economic opportunities - "for the first time in Canadian history." [...] However, Edward John, Grand Chief of B.C.'s First Nations Summit, said the economic opportunities for First Nations to benefit from resource development still come from their underlying legal rights, and Harper needs to address those directly.

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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

"Reserve Judgement" - IDEAS podcast

Struggling in Old Massett
A moving podcast that helps give context for the damage done by colonial contact and the IRS system. It highlights the difficulties faced by those trying to support and transform communities.

"Katharina and Glenn Patterson decided to get a university degree and then return to their aboriginal community. It was 1998 and they wanted to help. But when they spoke out about violence and tried to take sexual abusers to court, Katharina and Glenn were met with hostility and even rage.  IDEAS chronicled their story in Reserve Judgement -- that was in 2000. Producer Mary O'Connell recently caught up with Katharina and Glenn to discover how that experience changed their lives."

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Robert Munsch books to be translated for Mi'kmaq students

Bring a feeling of being at home into the classroom
"A team of Mi'kmaq educators in Cape Breton have translated seven Robert Munsch books into Mi'kmaq to distribute to First Nations students in the province. The seven translated books are Love You Forever, Thomas' Snowsuit, I'm so Embarrassed, Andrew's Loose Truth, A Promise is a Promise, Mud Puddle and I Have to Go. Janice Ciavaglia is a literacy consultant for Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey, the organization that runs Mi'kmaq schools and has jurisdiction in Mi'kmaq educational matters. She said they wanted to bring a feeling of being at home into the classroom."

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