Nov. 2 and Nov. 4: Upcoming Events

November 2, 2011

Guest Lecturer: Morgan Wood, (Stony Mountain Cree) and Masters Candidate in the Inter-Disciplinary Graduate Studies program at UBCO.

"EXXXOSED: The Aesthetics of Aboriginal Erotic Art"

Morgan Wood will discuss arts activism as it pertains to the exhibition on aboriginal erotic art, by examining the question, "why is Indigenous sexuality so threatening to mainstream culture?" The presence of an indigenous body within the classic European white cube changes the framework and visual dialogue of artworks exhibited. The transformation is an act of activism that challenges the mainstream historical dialogue. "I shift the framework within Contemporary Aboriginal history from an anthropological view to an historical view."

See Morgan Wood's bio on the ArtSask website, "Morgan Wood is an artist, writer, teacher, arts activist and curator. Her work in these areas has been strongly influenced by her First Nations ancestry and culture. She is a non-status Stony Mountain Cree woman and was born in Southern Saskatchewan. Her family originates from the Michel Callihou Band in Alberta and her Great Grandmother was Victoria Callihou, an important figure in the early history of the prairies. (Go to ArtSask to read more.)


November 4, 2011

Guest Lecturer (via Skype teleconference): Lisa Kahaleole Hall, (Kanaka Maoli), Associate Professor, Wells College, New York, U.S.A.

Hall states, "I've always been interested in how race and gender structure American life." Hall began approaching the ideas of race and gender as an undergraduate at Yale, where she was a women's studies major. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Read more...

(See also these concepts presented in action >>Kanaka Maoli struggles against desecration)


November 4, 2011

Undergraduate Facilitators: Mallory Hewelko and Johanna Olson. To introduce critical issues affirmed and elevated in the analysis of Dr. Lisa Kahaleole Hall, UBCO undergraduate students will co-facilitate a discussion of her article, "Hawaiian at Heart."

Gender, Indigeneity, Multiple Perspectives

TWO SPIRITS: A DOCUMENTARY BY LYDIA NIBLEY
(click on image)

"FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LEDGER: AN INDIAN VIEW OF THE HUDSON BAY COMPANY"

View this film on IsumaTV.org. Click here.

STUDENT FACILITATION SCHEDULE

Lipan Apache Indians North of the Rio Grande, c. 1834–1836. Watercolor by Lino Sánchez y Tapia after the original sketch by José Maria Sánchez y Tapia. Lipan Apaches were the main victims of both punitive Spanish policies and the ready market for enslaved Indians in French Louisiana. SOURCE: Courtesy Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Click here for the chart of student facilitated discussions.

Please send me the title of the article/chapter you are going to facilitate. I will update schedule accordingly.

TIPS: READING CHALLENGING TEXTS

This is an image of the Lipan Apache Women Defense virtual network which exists in cyber space. It is a glimpse into Indigenous women's social networking in late capitalism, operating on the ground, in real lived experiences, from two border regions: Texas-Mexico and Washington-Canada. This gives a window into the many intersectional paths of Indigenous women's international, national, local resistances to colonialism in late capital and neoliberalism.

Each year thousands of college students complain about reading, and groan over the amount of reading required to master new concepts and ideas. I want to share some really do-able and simple things that you can do to help your comprehension and efficiency improve.

Think about the reasons you are pursuing an academic degree. You may want to have visual associations with you nearby when you are doing difficult reading. It helps to remember why you chose this path to higher learning. (I often keep pictures nearby of my family and community members from home who are struggling for rights and struggling against immeasurable obstacles--and their smiles!!) Figure out 'who' motivates and inspires you to continue growing in mind, spirit and heart. I often say, my education is for my community. Who is yours' for?

1. Again, it is important to learn how to (pardon the expression) 'gut' the text.

2. Bring a spirit of curiosity to your reading experience. Stay curious about each new page and how each author brings a different set of skills to the page.

3. You will be surprised what a positive attitude will do in a short amount of time.

Repeat this phrase to yourself when you feel irritable about reading: "I chose this because I need to learn _________. All good outcomes require new skills gained in increments. As I read this text, I am growing."

4. If you are tired, go and get some water and do some stretching. Hydrating your body and your brain are important to feeling good about sitting. However, sitting too long can reduce circulation to your brain. Chew some gum! Gum does increase circulation to the brain. Also, dark chocolate is proven to stimulate positive blood circulation and aids retention of concepts. (Yum!)

5. Sit in a favorite chair in good lighting that makes you feel positive about the activity of reading and learning.

6. Feel good about taking time to structure your reading time, and for taking control over your learning!

7. Tools matter: Have a clean notepad/spiral/journal and a good writing pen and highlighter near you. In other words: get yourself prepared ahead of time so that your reading experience is uncluttered and flows.

7. Before you get started, Set out some goals for yourself while you are scanning the doc. How many pages is this text? I will read _____ pages in the first sitting, and so I will not allow myself to delve into any one section too long. (I can come back to re-read that later during my project, for deeper learning). Be realistic in goal setting!!: "I have to do laundry before ____; I am going to give myself one hour of reading time and take a break, do some other tasks, and then read for __________ until ____________. Set out your reading time and stick with your allotted time. Your comprehension and retention will improve.

STEPS:
1. Quickly scan the entire document for structure, tone, style. Subtitles? How do they inform the author's guidance to the reader? If you need to keep a dictionary near, or a dictionary page open on your compter--do so!
2. Look for key words, repeated phrases. Use these as 'footholds.'
3. Look for important transition phrases between paragraphs, and clues for arguments being put forth. "I am arguing..." and "In other words,..." are helpful devices authors use to keep their reader moving forward.
4. Do not read word for word. However, read with care.
8. Do not highlight large passages. Rather, highlight a key statement within a critical passage. Mark it with a sticky tab, and refer to that page in a notepad. Make a statement about your opinion or 'aha!' moment on that issue/concern. Move forward.
9. Mark out at least 3 key areas in one text that you wish to 'mark' your understanding of that document.
10. REWARD YOURSELF when you complete your reading goals! Each step is a step in gaining confidence, self-assurance, time management skills, and, yes, self-discipline. REWARD yourself for each step along the path to academic success! Enjoy!

TIPS: SYNOPSIS WRITING

Oak leaf, by M. Tamez, Pullman, Washington, Fall 2009, end of acorn gathering season. 'Oak tree' and 'acorns' and 'Lipan Apache lifeways' are keywords which help to organize and give meaning to Indigenous world views from the Nde' peoples' territory. to write a synopsis requires that you focus in on key concepts, key realities, and organize them. For me, I can look at this documentation of a sacred being which has fed our peoples for thousands of years. I know its being intimately, and crucial meanings arise when I look at this 'key' image. When you read, focus on the key concepts which 'rise' from your 'in-sight'--literally, the sight of knowing from within. Trust the answers which rise from truth. Ahi'yi'e.

1. Give the text a general overview. Scan it quickly to gain a sense of the organization. If it is a chapter, what is distinguishing about the title? Are there clues about the tone and perspective of the writer? Are there sub-headings to guide you to the main ideas, or organization? If it is a manifesto, or declaration, what are the key organizational factors that give you hints about the author's intentions?

2. Scan the document for 'key words', 'key phrases', 'key ideas', 'key claims', and 'key arguments'. Tease these out. Make a short list in a notebook as you scan.

3. Read full of care, though not necessarily word for word. There is a difference. Read out loud the longer passages. What terminology is unfamiliar? Do you have an internet connection? If so, open up a web dictionary, and open up google scholar to see if the terminology gets clearer when you build contexts.

There are five components to a SYNOPSIS:
1. Lists: keywords, key phrases, key ideas, key claims, and key arguments.
2. Praise: Find at minimum two things to praise about the text, in general.
3. Question: Raise critical questions about the methods, analysis, and/or conclusions of the text.
4. Polish: Suggest at least two areas that you feel the author suggests we should advance further in the field of Indigenous Studies and Gender & Women's Studies.
5. Question & Quote: Write one research question and one quote that this text stimulated in you/your learning process.

WELCOME

Confronting the State on the Texas-Mexico border. That's me (August 2009) in front of the gulag-scale wall currently bifurcating southern Lipan Apache Nation and rancheria lands. I'm looking south--to our community lands on the other side, which is North of the U.S.-Mexico border. In other words, inside the U.S. territory. Significant biodiversity habitats were stripped out in order for the 18 foot steel and concrete barrier wall to be constructed on the premise of 'terrorism'. The U.S. built a sizeable percentage of the Texas-Mexico border wall on Indigenous peoples' lands.

Dagotee gozhoo! Welcome to Gender & Women's Studies 495/Indigenous Studies 395 Term 1 (2010). This class is located at the University of British Columbia on and within the customary Okanagan places. We are situated in the traditional territory of Nsyilxcen speaking peoples.

I am looking forward to a very special community of learners here, and I aspire to share my research and perspectives about Indigenous decolonization approaches, methods, histories, and on-going processes.

As we approach the new academic year, and our work yet to unfold, and as we move into the Labor Day holiday ('holy day'), I am carrying forward a years'long inquiry into the invisibility of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas in the labor histories of Canada and the U.S. comparative to Mexico. Writing, situating and 'placing' Indigenous Peoples into labor history of the Americas is a critical investigation required in order to make known and material the multiple ways in which colonizations, development, and attendent militarism use, design, and institutionalize gender, 'Native others', heterosexism, and religion as normative in sovereignty debates. On this 'Labour Day', let us interrogate how Indigenous peoples--and particularly Indigenous women, youth and elders--are analyzing these (and many other) tools of oppression. How, when, and where are Indigenous peoples' critiques of privilege and power structures instrumental to transformation? How do Indigenous peoples here in the Okanagan engage the critical keywords of 'water', 'development', 'knowledge systems' and 'sustainability'? What do Indigenous peoples' perspectives of those institutional keywords look like? Writing Indigenous peoples' perspectives and principles from invisibility to visibility is a key component of this course.

Being an Indigenous person, or of Indigenous heritage is not a pre-requisite. Aspiring to be an engaged learner, and dedication to the truth is.

I look forward to this and many more investigations with you.

I'll be seeing you on Thursday, September 9, 2010. Until then, have a safe Labor Day weekend.