[Foundation-l] Oral Citations project: People are Knowledge

[Ray Saintonge]

 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 is) Anglo anthropologists - some of that data is highly out of date and is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