On this episode of Spark: Electric Powwows, Speaking Indigenously, and Claiming Cyberspace. It’s part of CBC’s special programming called 8th Fire: Aboriginal Peoples, Canada & The Way Forward.
Click below to listen to the whole show, or download the MP3 (runs 54:00).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:25 — 49.9MB)
You can also listen to individual stories below.
Speaking and Texting Indigenously
Indigenous language activist Dustin Rivers blogs and podcasts to teach Squamish to youth whose parents and grandparents can’t speak the language. His big dream is to use the internet to create a new tribe of language speakers. (Runs 8:17)
Play audio:
- Dustin’s Squamish Language blog
- Dustin featured in a story by Duncan McCue on The National
Claiming Cyberspace
Concordia University professor Jason Lewis creates web videos about time traveling Mohawk characters so that Aboriginal kids imagine their place in the future. (Runs 7:42)
Play audio:
- Jason Lewis
- The TimeTraveller videos Jason talked about
- Skawennati is the creator/director/writer/cinematographer/editor of TimeTraveller
- Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace
The Electric Powwow
Deejay and visual artist Bear Witness from A Tribe Called Red remixes powwow music and videos of Aboriginal people to attack stereotypes-on the dance floor and online. (Runs 7:10)
Play audio:
- A Tribe Called Red
- Bear Witness on Vimeo
- Bear Witness on the new CBC Music site
#indigenous – Aboriginals & Social Networks
Candis Callison, Professor at the UBC School of Journalism, starts a new research project to study how First Nations people use social media to govern, organize politically, and keep in touch.
We also hear from Susan O’Donnell about surveillance on Facebook, Don Bain on using Twitter to bypass the mainstream media, Angie Morris on Aboriginal-owned networks, and Candice Hopkins on indigenous aesthetics on YouTube. (Runs 24:13)
Play audio:
Mikmaqonline.org, is an Online Talking dictionary conceived in 1994 that began posting in 1997. It is remarkable on a number of counts.
First, it is the only dictionary that has been almost entirely funded by its home community.
Second, being a groundbreaking project, it concieved of the of three speakers per word followed by the word being spoken in a phrase.
Third, althought the dictionary has over 3500 words, the dictionary is not protected by copyright because a language belongs to its speakers.
Fourth, the dictionary was not conceived to perserve the language but to dissmeniate and grow the language.
It is this passion for the language that has kept the dictionary going for over a decade. Other than a influx of monies in the third year of its existence, that allowed the team of three speakers to be paid as employees, Mikmaqonline has been funded by the perseverance and dedication of its small volunteer team.
On Tuesday September 6 2011, Mikmaqonline began tweeting a word a day. How did that come about? A member of the team, Diane, sitting in a home office in Waterloo, Ontario, started using Twitter. She realized that the lanquage could be disseminated across the world to smartphones. So, now every Sunday, Diane spends the morning putting together the list for the upcoming week and diligently every day at 10:00 posts a word.
The technology is the great enabler, but it is the activists, of whom they are many, who will keep the treasure trove of languages alive.
Mikmagonline is not complete, has not been complete for over ten years. The members still hope that another influx of funding similar to what it experienced in its third year, will see the project to it's conclusion. Until, that time, the team keep it going, recogonizing that time is not on their side.
By the way, I am Sean, the husband of Diane. In 1994, little did I know that when Diane came up with the idea of a Talking Dictionary, her voice would be heard across the world.
Technology Show NOT about Technology
Hi Nora and all,
I thought that you might be interested to learn that I have often been credited as having brought the first computer to the Canadian Arctic in (then) Eskimo Point, NWT now Arviat, Nunavut in 1982 where I taught the LOGO pgramming language to my Inuit students. Later, I worked with my Inuit classroom assistants to come up with the first Inuktitut terms for computer technologies see http://is.gd/OVlPt0. Later, my my wife and I (both teachers) moved from Arviat to Rankin Inlet where I worked with the community to help Rankin Inlet create the North's first Community Access Centre that we called "Igallaq" (Inuktitut for window), see http://www.inukshuk.com/pdf/Igalaaq_Story.pdf and http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/igala…
This story came to the forefront of the attention of the Canadian Government where they often used this work as the poster child for what would be done in smaller, geographically isolated aboriginal communities, see http://www.inukshuk.com/images/Bill%26PM.jpg.
Taima (ta-ee-ma / Inuktitut for "That's all for now),
Bill Belsey
http://about.me/billbelsey
I wanted to clarify that Skawennati (www.skawennati.com) is the creator/director/writer/cinematographer/editor of TimeTraveller™, not me. I am the executive producer of the series, and it is a project of the Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace research network she and I co-founded. But it's her baby, from concept to publication. The editing of my interview is confusing on this point.
Thanks for this, Jason, and apologies if it is confusing. We've noted Skawennati's role as creator of TimeTraveller in our show notes above.
As a first nations teacher, working in a first nations school on Maitoulin Island, I will be sharing your show with my colleagues. It was extremely informative. This is definitely going to stir up grand conversation in our staff room.
Miigwech,
Craig