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

[Sarah Stierch]

Thanks Ray! I actually met with developers from RRN and a few First Nations advocacy groups (regarding cultural preservation) - RRN is really amazing, and I look forward to exploring how opportunities can open from it. We will talk more in Haifa!

(I lived in Van for a year, give my best to Commercial Drive ;-))


-Sarah

Sent via iPhone - I apologize in advance for my shortness or errors! :)


On Jul 29, 2011, at 6:08 AM, Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net> wrote:

> 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
> 
> 
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