Natives on the Electric Frontier: Technology and Cultural Change on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation

Abstract This dissertation examines the relationship between technology and cultural change on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, home to 7000 Lakota Indians. Recently, a number of popular authors have suggested that technology, especially electronic or ’emerging’ media technologies such as television and the Internet, is a primary […]

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Trading Bows and Arrows for Laptops? The Paiter Surui People & Google Earth…

I’ve been following the curious story of Chief Almir Surui and his relationship with Google Earth since 2007. I was delighted to see that Mashable ran an article about the Pater Surui which allowed me to catch up with what has transpired over the last five years (however, I was […]

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FirstVoices Chat App enables Indigenous language speakers to text in their own language

FirstVoices Chat From the First Peoples’ Cultural Council press release (in full below): Brentwood Bay, B.C. – FirstVoices Chat, an Indigenous language texting app for Facebook Chat and Google Talk, is now available at the Apple App Store as a free download for iPad, iTouch and iPhone. The app contains […]

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Endangered Languages Project

From the Endangered Languages Project site: Humanity today is facing a massive extinction: languages are disappearing at an unprecedented pace. And when that happens, a unique vision of the world is lost. With every language that dies we lose an enormous cultural heritage; the understanding of how humans relate to […]

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Endangered Languages: a project to support language preservation and documentation around the world

About the Endangered Languages Project Website: http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/ From the Endangered Languages Project site: Humanity today is facing a massive extinction: languages are disappearing at an unprecedented pace. And when that happens, a unique vision of the world is lost. With every language that dies we lose an enormous cultural heritage; […]

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Follow the Sun: Australian Indigenous Communities & Information Technologies

The following three recordings are from 2012 Follow the Sun, an online learning futures festival hosted by University of Leicester from 27–30 March 2012. You can find more excellent presentations on their website. From Australia, Day 2: Ethnology 1. Dr Aaron Corn, ‘The Indigital Revolution: The indigenous mobilisation of information […]

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The Herero people of Erindiroukambe: using tablet PCs to preserve indigenous knowledge

“Tablet PCs preserve indigenous knowledge” by Niall Firth, published 18 June 2012 in New Scientist Magazine issue 2869. Tablet computers could help villagers in the Kalahari desert preserve cultural knowledge and traditional techniques for future generations The Herero people know just what to do when a horse is too wild […]

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Pacific Intangible Cultural Heritage Mapping Toolkit

Introduction The Pacific Intangible Cultural Heritage Mapping Toolkit was developed by Sipiriano Nemani, Policy and Planning Analyst at the Department of National Heritage, Culture and Arts in Suva, Fiji, and commissioned by the Human Development Programme of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. The toolkit is based on Mr Nemani’s […]

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How to build an Indigenous Digital Library through Community Participation: the case of the Ulwazi Programme

Presented at the SCECSAL Conference in Nairobi, Kenya (June 4-8, 2012) Abstract African Libraries and Information Centres are poorly equipped to make a meaningful contribution to the current global digital knowledge economy. The paucity of African stories and community information on the web predicates the limited role of heritage and […]

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Acción comunitaria en la red (Community Action in the Net)

Español: La rápida adopción de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, en todos los entornos sociales, ha comportado que las interacciones entre grupos dejen de circunscribirse en un espacio y tiempo determinados para tener lugar en cualquier parte y a cualquier hora. Presenta, pues, este libro una selección […]

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Indigenous-Infused Digital Games: a New Model for Self-Sufficiency and Social Impact

Introduction Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) is the primary educational, workforce development and social service provider for Alaska Native and American Indian people (AN/AI) in the Anchorage/Cook Inlet Region of Alaska. As an organization, CITC is striving to be a leader in using social enterprise as a vehicle for financial […]

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The Evolving Braid: an Ethnography of Technology Change in Uganda

Thanks to Melissa for allowing me to share her recently published dissertation! Abstract If there’s one thing one can expect from information technology deployments in developing countries–it’s the unexpected. From 2007-2010, I combined my skills as a software developer with ethnographic methods to observe the use of information technology in […]

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