Saratoga Native American Festival Education Guide

I had the opportunity to serve as the organizer for the Saratoga Native American Festival for its first two years in operation (2006 and 2007) while working as the Education Director for the Ndakinna Education Center. Since 2017, I have served as an Ndakinna board member. One of my responsibilities […]

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Terpsichore

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) content means “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith”. Although, ICH content, especially traditional folklore performing arts, is commonly deemed worthy of preservation by UNESCO (Convention for the Safeguarding of ICH) and the EU […]

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Joseph Bruchac and the Lasting Power of Oral Traditions

Note: I had the pleasure of working with Joe Bruchac and his family while serving as the Education Director of the Ndakinna Education Center (a cultural arts non-profit in Upstate New York). His stories have played a notable role in my own family – my sons were raised listening to […]

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IRCA & the National Remote Indigenous Media Festival

The 2015 Festival was hosted by IRCA in partnership with PAW Media and Communications and the Lajamanu community with key partner Indigenous Community Television. For 5 days remote media workers and industry guests visited Gurindji and Warlpiri Country for an exciting industry program with skills workshops, roundtables, video screenings, live radio and TV […]

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Digital Memory Toolkit – a free resource to assist community projects

Recently, Niall McNulty (of McNulty Consulting) and Brigitte Doellgast (of the Goethe-Institut) were awarded Best Poster at the 2015 IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. Click on the poster image below to see it full size… Congratulations to Brigitte and Niall! You can find Niall […]

Gathering to Connect Indigenous Language Digital Activists in Colombia

Colombia is linguistically diverse with more than 60 indigenous languages spoken by approximately 1 million people across the country. These living languages contain rich cultural traditions and knowledge passed down from generation to generation. Many indigenous communities face unique challenges as they seek to ensure that the next generation maintains […]

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SharingStories Foundation: innovation through technology & cultural understanding via oral traditions

About SharingStories Foundation From the organization’s website: SharingStories Foundation (SSF) works with multiple art forms, in dynamic relationship with stories, creating multi-media outcomes. The Foundation supports Indigenous communities to hold, share and transmit languages, stories and culture for present and future generations. We also work with communities to promote a […]

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The Kamusi Project: molecular lexicography and why they need your support now

Only a handful of the roughly-7,000 languages in the world have well-developed resources. This has the effect of excluding billions of people from modern opportunities for knowledge and prosperity. The Kamusi Project has developed an unparalleled system to gather and freely share all possible words in all possible languages. However, […]

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Loving and Leaving Mother: The Passing of Chester Nez

Earlier this month, a significant chapter in indigenous history came to a close with the death of 93-year-old Chester Nez in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Jan. 23, 1921 – June 4, 2014). Chester was not the name given to him as an infant by his Navajo parents. He no longer remembered […]

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Developing and Testing Mycitizen.net

In this post, the third in a three part series about Mycitizen.net, Ethnos Project contributor Christoph Amthor provides insight about the development and testing of Mycitizen.net. Part 1: Mycitizen.net and its Roots in Burma Part 2: The Concept Behind Mycitizen.net Part 3: Developing and Testing Mycitizen.net Mycitizen.net is a free […]

The Concept Behind Mycitizen.net

In this post, the second in a three part series about Mycitizen.net, Ethnos Project contributor Christoph Amthor moves the focus from societal context to conceptualization. Part 1: Mycitizen.net and its Roots in Burma Part 2: The Concept Behind Mycitizen.net Part 3: Developing and Testing Mycitizen.net Mycitizen.net is a free and […]

Mycitizen.net and its Roots in Burma

This post is the first in a three part series about Mycitizen.net by new Ethnos Project contributor, Christoph Amthor. Look for parts two and three over the next few weeks. Part 1: Mycitizen.net and its Roots in Burma Part 2: The Concept Behind Mycitizen.net Part 3: Developing and Testing Mycitizen.net […]

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Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium Launches IndigiLINK Network

The Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium (International) (APRCi) at Western University in London, Ontario is launching IndigiLINK network. This network will link the international indigenous community with noted experts in Indigenous research and policy development. See the FAQ below for more information. What is IndigiLINK? IndigiLINK is for professional social networking and […]

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The Power of Play: An interview with Pinnguaq founder Ryan Oliver

This interview originally appeared on Rachael Petersen’s blog, Global Native Networks. Pinnguaq is a software localization initiative based in beautiful Pangnirtung, Nunavut in Canada’s high Eastern Arctic. In June 2013, they released an Inuktitut-language version of the best-selling iPad game, Osmos. To do this, they engaged Inuit across the territory to complete […]

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First Nations First Mile Project: putting the “last mile first”

Canadian First Nations communities outside of major centers remain underserved by Internet providers, receiving minimum service at a maximum price. Due to their isolation and small populations, many First Nations rely on Internet to deliver critical services from health to education and administration to their community. But distant decision-makers removed from […]

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Organization Highlight: World Oral Literature Project

About the Project From the project website: “The World Oral Literature Project is an urgent global initiative to document and disseminate endangered oral literatures before they disappear without record. The Project supports local communities and committed fieldworkers engaged in the collection and preservation of all forms of oral literature by […]

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The eBario project and their vision for Indigenous people and ICT

eBario Sdn Bhd operates the eBario project, which is a multi-award winning initiative that brought computers and the internet to the isolated communities of Kelabit people living in the remote highlands of northern Sarawak, one the East Malaysian States on the island of Borneo. It is located in the ecologically important area known […]

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IICD project profile: ICT for Strengthening the Capacities of Female Indigenous Leaders – Bolivia

In July of last year I highlighted an organization called IICD (worth a visit if you haven’t see it). IICD has quite a few projects in their database, but this one is of particular interest to me and so I thought I’d share it here. Summary From the project page […]

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Organization Highlight: The Ulwazi Programme

The Ulwazi Programme is several things: a collection of technologies, social initiatives and research endeavors. On one hand, it is an online community-sourced website database and informative blog. On the other hand, Ulwazi involves programmatic aspects such as the School’s Project, a certificate project for secondary school students. A wonderful […]

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Organization Highlight: Living Cultural Storybases (LCS)

Nurturing the oral heritage of minority cultures in a digital world The following text is from the Living Cultural Storybases website: http://storybases.org/ Misson LCS seeks to nurture the oral heritage of minority cultures by developing respectful methodologies accompanied by appropriate technological solutions. We aim to enable indigenous communities to share and […]

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Organization Highlight: International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD)

A new Ethnos Project feature… highlighting organizations of interest. From the IICD website: “At IICD, people are at the heart of what we do. We believe people need access to information to improve their lives. Particularly in developing countries. Farmers earn more from their produce if they know the current […]

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A New Organization to Address Poverty Through Human-Centered Design

Reposted without edits from IDEO.com IDEO announces new organization to address poverty through human-centered design. March 7, 2011 — Palo Alto, Calif. — Today IDEO announced that in the fall of this year, it will launch a new organization aimed at spreading human-centered design throughout the social sector in order […]

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