From the perspective of Wikimedia Canada, this sounds exciting. Many of us believe that work with the First Nations is an important element in Wikimedia Canada's tasks. I look forward to meeting you in Haifa. Thanks for providing the RRN link; since I am in the Greater Vancouver District they should be more accessible to me.
Ray On 07/27/11 6:06 AM, Sarah Stierch wrote: > Hi all - > > I came across a lighter version of this conversation on another Wikimedia > list, and felt the need to share my similar thoughts and statements that I > made previously. > > For the past year, I have been examining opportunities involving Indigenous > communities of North America and opportunities to utilize Wikipedia and > related websites as an affordable, unique and global form of cultural > preservation. I have my undergraduate in Native American Studies, and I am > obtaining my masters currently. My final paper (not quite a thesis) for > graduation will be a strong examination of the opportunities related to > Indigenous communities and opportunities/pros/cons related to Wikipedia. I'm > actually presenting on my preliminary observations and concerns at > Wikimania, you can learn a bit more here: > > http://wikimania2011.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Wikimedia_%26_Indigenous_Peoples:_Pros,_Cons_and_Community > > In the United States, as far as I am aware, I am the only person thinking > about this on a higher level. While right now I am quite busy with other > matters, come this Fall I will be diving head first into my research. I will > be serving as Wikipedian in Residence at the National Museum of the American > Indian, where I will be working with staff to examine these concerns. One > of our biggest concerns lies with *oral history*. We have had countless > conversations about the struggles with "no original research" however, in > oral history based societies, we will have a very hard time moving beyond > anything else. As stated previously, the majority of content created related > to Indigenous communities in North America was often written by (and still > is) Anglo anthropologists - some of that data is highly out of date and is > still being utilized on Wikipedia as a source today. > > This project, Oral Citations, follows closely with the type of work I am > seeking to do. I have been planning to examine Wikipedia (English at first) > research policies and consider proposals or changes in relation to serious > research and Indigenous communities. Of course, it all comes down to > funding, and Native people of North American are often the first overlooked > group - it will take a lot of work, years of effort, and a lot of buy in > that is needed to be gathered from inside the community itself. > > I'm babbling right now, but, this is a very passionate topic for me. I see > Wikipedia as providing an affordable and unique way for Indigenous > communities to not only learn valuable skills - many of the communities here > in America are among the poorest in the world, you'd think you were in a > developing country, and kids barely receive beyond an elementary school > education - but to have a broad arena to share stories (that the community > chooses to share of course), beliefs, cosmologies, and traditions so that > they are accessible and *vetted* for researchers and community members > around the world. > > I do hope that some of you are attending Wikimania, I'd like to be able to > have a break out session of sorts or an unconference to discuss this topic > further. I'm hoping in the next year to have an international conference of > sorts that brings together Indigenous people, open source gurus, and > Wiki-folks to examine opportunities, processes, and belief systems in > regards to opportunities. > > Feel free to email me directly, again, right now I am unable to move quickly > in any major projects due to my already big work load, but, I'm hoping that > this will be large part of my career work as an advocate for Native rights, > a scholar, and an open source-lover. > > -Sarah _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
