....
.. Indigenous Media ....
.. Indigenous Media
Schooling of any kind is unnecessary and counterproductive in human children
Children don't need schooling. They need access
to what they want to learn—
and that means they need access to the world
outside the home.
-My Ishmael, Daniel Quinn
Here is my distinction - my Indian distinction. God hath willed that I have no King, and that I be master of my lands in common.
I Panaouamskeyen [Penobscot], do inform ye - ye who are scattered all over the earth notice -- of what has passed between me and the English in negotiating the peace that I have just concluded with them.
He [Governor Dummer] began by asking me, what brought me hither? I did not give him for answer--I am come to ask your pardon; nor, I come to acknowledge you as my conqueror; nor, I come to make my submission to you; nor, I come to receive your commands .... Much less, I repeat, did I become his subject, or give him my land, or acknowledge his King as my King. This I never did, and he never proposed it to me. I say, he never said to me - Give thyself and thy land to me, nor acknowledge my King for thy King, as thy ancestors formerly did.
He again said to me - But do you not recognize the King of England as King over all his states?
To which I answered - Yes, I. recognize him King over all his lands; but I rejoined, do not hence infer that I acknowledge thy King as my King, and King of my lands.
Here is my distinction - my Indian distinction. God hath willed that I have no King, and that I be master of my lands in common.
He again asked me - Do you not admit that I am at least master of the lands I have purchased? I answered him thereupon, that I admit nothing, and that I knew not what he had reference to.
-Sagouarrab, representing the Wabenaki in 1727 negotiations with Gov. Dummer of Massachusetts
If they come wearing the face of brotherhood then there will come a time of wonderful change for generations to come...Beware if the light skinned race comes wearing the face of death.
One of the prophets said,
"You will know the future of our people by the face the light skinned
race wears. If they come wearing the face of brotherhood then there will come
a time of wonderful change for generations to come. They will bring new knowledge
and articles that can be joined with the knowledge of this country. In this
way, two nations will join to make a mighty nation. This new nation will be
joined by two more so that four will for the mightiest nation of all. You
will know the face of the brotherhood if the light skinned race comes carrying
no weapons, if they come bearing only their knowledge and a hand shake."
The other prophet said,
"Beware if the light skinned race comes wearing the face of death. You
must be careful because the face of brotherhood and the face of death look
very much alike. If they come carrying a weapon ... beware. If they come in
suffering ... They could fool you. Their hearts may be filled with greed for
the riches of this land. If they are indeed your brothers, let them prove
it. Do not accept then in total trust. You shall know that the face they wear
is one of death if the rivers run with poison and fish become unfit to eat.
You shall know them by these many things."
Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save
the world.
--Daniel Quinn, Ishmael
indigenous media is a space for asking questions about the relationship of new media and indigenous cultures
Marshall McLuhan claimed that electronic media produces a new human condition--that of living in a global village
this course asks us to unpack that paradox, to find parallels as well as
challenges between network practices and traditional cultures, and to learn
how some uses of new media might be brought to bear in the effort to save
endangered human cultures around the world--those of indigenous peoples as
well as our own...
audio summary of class pedagogy & concepts (at left) can also be found on Media Blog of the Share, Share Widely Conference on New Media Education, CUNY Grad Center, NYC May 6, 2005.
As soon as there's visible wealth—as opposed to just
food on the table, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head—it's
easy to predict how it will be distributed.
-Daniel Quinn, My Ishmael
Expectations
This course requires a high level of conceptual, creative and collaborative
work. I expect you to respect each person’s desire to learn and to work,
and to commit yourself to making the class thrive. In addition to conscientious
preparation, your contribution depends on two critical skills: first, your
ability to articulate your thoughts, questions, doubts, and hunches based
on both assigned work and life experiences; second, your ability to listen
respectfully and deeply to your classmates’ contributions. Consider
these questions: How can I articulate my unspoken hunches, curiosities, insights,
or suspicions? And, how can I help others do the same? Finally, how can I
help the conceptual and creative work of this group? A seminar is a gift economy—what
gifts do you bring, pass on, or exchange?
Requirements
Attendance
Attendance is critical for a course at this level. Your input and participation
keep the class lively and interactive (vs. hierarchical). You are allowed
one unexcused absence without grade penalty. After that, each missed class
results in a drop of one letter grade per missed class.
Incompletes
You will be evaluated on whatever work you turn in by the last day of class.
I do not grant incompletes, except in rare cases of family or personal duress.
And in such a case, work must be completed within 4 weeks.
Projects
Good work requires risk-taking. You must be willing to design and create in
the rough stage if you really want to remain open to promising material. Rough
does not mean lazily or without effort. It means that you have silenced your
censors and are willing to go with a gut feeling. Originality is hard to achieve
when you are too worried about conforming or excelling. You have to be willing
to trust yourself even as you are aware of your context. This is not easy
or obvious, but I will give you lots of support for doing this.
Teaching/Learning Philosophy
Knowledge, Wisdom and Creativity are social skills, not personal attributes.
Creative thinking is social in nature. Socrates was one of the first to point
this out in the Dialogues (why do you think they’re called dialogues?),
and in his method of teaching.
We also know that humans learn best when they are playing. Children know this instinctively. We often need to regress to find that space. So regress if you have to. Follow the fun. Figure out what you enjoy, and do it with your whole heart, mind, body.
The goal of our seminar group is to further creative thinking and play. It is a collaborative learning environment in which you work with each other to clarify and further your understanding of and reaction to material and to help strategize for tasks required by the course. Be bold, and irreverent without being disrespectful. Use the class to explore who you really are and what you really think in reference to course themes and tools, and vigorously support this growth in every member of the class. Your task is to help create an environment where everyone can think and play and can explore projects emerging from that engagement.
My role is not to direct or control, but to guide your explorations. In order for my guidance to work, you must supply your own challenges with questions, goals, projects or research that continually pushes the envelope of the class. I expect to learn something from each of you.
Grades
-breakdown
•50% Contributions to Discussion
(this of course includes attendance, which is critical in a seminar)
•50% Projects or Final Project
-scale
•Average work will earn a “C”. This means completing all
assignments following basic instructions.
•Above average work will earn a “B”. This means consistent
seminar participation, and above average project work.
• “A” grades are reserved for outstanding work in all areas.
Improvement is noted.
Late work
You must complete all assignments in order to pass this class. If you turn
in a late project, it will be marked down a half letter grade for each day
that it is late. I will complete final grading before exams begin, so be sure
I have all of your work by the final class.
Indigenous cultures have had
a systemic understanding of nature and of their place in it — an understanding
in terms of relationships, connectedness, and context — throughout the
ages … they have what Gregory Bateson called “systemic wisdom.
-Fritjof Capra, author of The Tao of Physics
Class Readings/Media
jump to readings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
General Bibliography
1. Empire
1491, Charles Mann
Introduction
ch 1 A View From Above
Part 1 Numbers from Nowhere
ch 2 Why Billington Survived
ch 3 In the Land of Four Quarters
ch 4 Frequently Asked Questions
Facing West, the Metaphysics of Indian-Hating and Empire Building, Richard Drinnon
Part 1 Maypoles and Pequots
ch IV The Pequot War
ch V The Legacy of the Pequot War
Part 2 Founding Fathers and Merciless Savages
ch IX Jefferson, II: Benevolence Betrayed
ch X Driving Indians into Jefferson’s Stony Mountains
Part 4 Civilizers and Conquerors
ch XVII The Manifest Destiny of John Fiske
The Invasion of America, Francis Jennings
Part I Myths of the Marshlands
ch 3 Reciprocal Discovery / 32
ch 8 The Deed Game / 128
Part II The Heathen For Inheritance, and the Earth for Possession
ch 13 “We Must Burn Them” / 202
ch 17 Outrage Bloody and Barbarous / 298
ch 18 Dead End / 313
In the Absence of the Sacred: the Failure of Technology and the Survival of Indian Nation, Jerry Mander
Part 2 The Inevitable Direction of Megatechnology
ch 10 Statement to the Modern World
Part 3 Suppression of the Native Alternative
ch 12 Indians are Different From Americans
ch 13 The Gift of Democracy
Part 4 World War Against the Indians
ch 17 The Theft of Nevada
God is Red, Vine Deloria Jr.
ch 4 The Religious Question / 57
ch 5 Thinking in Time and Space / 75
ch 14 Tribal Religions and Contemporary American Culture
Spell of Sensuous, David Abram
Marshall Mcluhan on Global Village & Media as “Extensions of Man” & Baudrillard
on simulacra & media
Manufacturing Consent, Noam Chomsky, selections
Anoqocou, gkisedtanamoogk
The entire copy {only 33 pages}
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown
(each student take a different chapter & report to class)
This is a must read in its entirety, but given the time constraints…
ch 1 “ There Manners are Decorous and Praiseworthy” / 1
ch 4 War comes to the Cheyenne / 67
ch 7 “The Only Good Indian is a Dead Indian” / 143
ch 12 The War for the Black Hills / 261
ch 18 Dance of the Ghosts / 389
ch 19 Wounded Knee / 413
The Sacred Hoop, Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions, Paula Gunn Allen
Introduction / 1-8
Part 1 The Ways of Our Grandmothers / 9
ch 1 Grandmother of the Sun… / 13
ch 2 When Women Throw Down the Bundles… / 30
ch 3 Where i come from Is Like This / 43Part 2 The Word Warriors
c.1 The Sacred Hoop… / 54
c.4 The Feminine Landscape… / 118
Part 3 Pushing Up the Sky
ch 1 Angry Women are Building… / 189
ch 2 How the West was Really Won / 194
ch 6 Stealing the Thunder…. / 262
Uneven Ground, American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Law; Wilkins & Lomawaima
Introduction
ch 1 “The Law of Nations” / 19
c.2 “ With the Greatest Respect… / 64
c.3 “Such an Outrage…. / 98
ch 4 “Treaties are Covenants”… / 117
Enduring Legacies, Bruce Johansen
Forward and Introduction
c.1 “The Lobster War,”… / 1
c.2 Sovereign Municipalities… / 25
c.3 The Treaty of Canandaigua… / 45
ch 11 The New Terminators… / 305
American Indian in Western Legal Thought, Robert Williams
Introduction
Part 1 The Medieval and Renaissance Origins…
ch 2 The Perfect Instruments…
I Become a Part of It, Sacred Dimensions in Native American Life, D.M.Dooling, Paul Jordan-Smith
Introduction
9 / Becoming a Part of It
36 / Doing Your Thinking
59 / The Demands of Harmony
75 / “It’s Where You Put Your Eyes”
124 / Boundaries of Belief
193 / The Spiritual Landscape
246 / The Road to the Center
259 / Out of Chaos
270 / Our Mother Earth
The State of Native America, Genocide, Colonization, and Resistance M.Annette Jaimes ed
Preface: The State of Native North America
Introduction: Sand Creek, the Morning After
Table: Key Indian Laws and Cases
ch 1 The Demography of Native North America….
ch 2 International Law and Politics….
ch 5 The Earth is Our Mother….
ch 9 Trouble in High Places…
ch 13 American Indian Education in the United States…
Epilogue: Looking For Columbus…
A Basic Call to Consciousness, The Haudenosaunee Address the World, Akwesasne Notes
Read in its entirety
For Indigenous Eyes Only, Waziyatawin Angela Wilson, Michael Yellow Bird, ed.
6 / The Decolonization of Indigenous Governance
9 / Ideology, Power, and the Miseducation of Indigenous Peoples in the United States
12 / Relieving Our Suffering…
General Bibliography
Texts
Articles
Media
Online
Quotes
In aboriginal societies the network of distributed information
processing covers the whole of the continent…aboriginal people consider
this to be their task on earth: to be an information processing society.
--Fischer, On Wired Aborigines
Networking has become an efficient
medium for stimulating information flows, educatingg people quickly about
issues, and creating extensive international talking circles.
Building networks is...based on the principles of relationships and connections.
Relationships are initiated on a face to face basis and then maintained over
many years...
--Decolonizing Methodologies, Linda Tuhiwai Smith
It may be the central assumption of
technological society that there is virtue in overpowering nature and native
peoples.
The Indian problem today...is directly related to the needs of technological
societies to find and obtain remotely located resources, in order to fuel an
incessant and intrinsic demand for growth and technological fulfillment.
--In the Absence of the Sacred, Jerry Mander
Tribal Wealth
Tribal Wealth is the energy that tribal
members give each other in order to keep the tribe going. This energy is
inexhuastible, a completely renewable resource.
-Daniel Quinn, My Ishmael
Baudrillard Summary of Simulacra
To simulate, Baudrillard says initially, is to pretend to have what one has not. He compares previous notions of extreme simulation with a Borges' story in which the conceptual (a map) exactly replicates the original (real territory). Today, however, we have simulacra - 'the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal.' Baudrillard posits the end of metaphysics, of questions of imitation or reduplication of the 'real', and the start of "substituting signs of the real for the real itself". To simulate, in fact, implies more than just 'pretending'. It produces the same symptoms/signs/images as the 'real' and so operates on a different level from the 'false' or the 'true'. Baudrillard makes a comparison with a religion in which there are only icons or images of a non-existent God.
Subsequently, Baudrillard argues that there are four phases of the image: one that reflects a basic reality; one that masks or perverts a basic reality; one that masks the absence of a basic reality; and one that bears no relation to any reality (is its own pure simulacrum). He then discusses these phases, and particularly the fourth, in relation to Disneyland and Watergate. As a development of this, one of Baudrillard's most famous and provocative claims is that "Illusion is no longer possible." He gives the example of a bank raid and argues that the apparatus at a Western bank is so geared towards reading the signs of a 'real' bank raid that it would be impossible to simulate one: the established order 'devours' attempts at simulation. This is because simulation is threatening (especially of categories like truth and falsehood, certainty and uncertainty, good and evil). "Whence the characteristic hysteria of our time: the hysteria of production and reproduction of the real."
We cannot avoid imposing some set of connections, like a
phantasmal spiderweb, over events that just happen as they happen.
-J Hillis
Miller
<<back to schedule page
assignment 1
assignment 2
assignment 3
assignment 4
assignment 5
assignment 6
assignment 6
read & view section 6 works, present final class project
The new electronic interdependence recreates the
world in the image of a global village
-Marshall McLunan, 62, p 31
Empire, Colonization, History, War
1491, Charles Mann
Introduction
ch 1 A View From Above
Part 1 Numbers from Nowhere
ch 2 Why Billington Survived
ch 3 In the Land of Four Quarters
ch 4 Frequently Asked Questions
Facing West, the Metaphysics of Indian-Hating and Empire Building, Richard Drinnon
Part 1 Maypoles and Pequots
ch IV The Pequot War
ch V The Legacy of the Pequot War
Part 2 Founding Fathers and Merciless Savages
ch IX Jefferson, II: Benevolence Betrayed
ch X Driving Indians into Jefferson’s Stony Mountains
Part 4 Civilizers and Conquerors
ch XVII The Manifest Destiny of John Fiske
The Invasion of America, Francis Jennings
Part I Myths of the Marshlands
ch 3 Reciprocal Discovery / 32
ch 8 The Deed Game / 128
Part II The Heathen For Inheritance, and the Earth for Possession
ch 13 “We Must Burn Them” / 202
ch 17 Outrage Bloody and Barbarous / 298
ch 18 Dead End / 313
Media
Technology, Language, Media
In the Absence of the Sacred: the Failure of Technology and the Survival of Indian Nation, Jerry Mander
Part 2 The Inevitable Direction of Megatechnology
ch 10 Statement to the Modern World
Part 3 Suppression of the Native Alternative
ch 12 Indians are Different From Americans
ch 13 The Gift of Democracy
Part 4 World War Against the Indians
ch 17 The Theft of Nevada
The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abram
ch 1
ch 2 p 56-72
ch 3
ch 4 skim
Marshall Mcluhan: On Global Village & FAQ
Jean Baudrillard: Simulacra & Postmodernity & Simulacra 2
Noam Chomsky: Manufacturing Consent 1 & 2 and Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda
J Blais, Decolonizing Cyberspace, In the Presence of the Sacred.
Media
Ceremony, the Sacred
God is Red, Vine Deloria Jr.
ch 4 The Religious Question / 57
ch 5 Thinking in Time and Space / 75
ch 14 Tribal Religions and Contemporary American Culture
Anoqocou, gkisedtanamoogk
The entire copy {only 33 pages}
Media
Kinship, Family, Gender, Patriarchy
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown
This is a must read in its entirety, but given the time constraints…
ch 1 “ There Manners are Decorous and Praiseworthy” / 1
ch 4 War comes to the Cheyenne / 67
ch 7 “The Only Good Indian is a Dead Indian” / 143
ch 12 The War for the Black Hills / 261
ch 18 Dance of the Ghosts / 389
ch 19 Wounded Knee / 413
The Sacred Hoop, Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions, Paula Gunn Allen
Introduction / 1-8
Part 1 The Ways of Our Grandmothers / 9
ch 1 Grandmother of the Sun… / 13
ch 2 When Women Throw Down the Bundles… / 30
ch 3 Where i come from Is Like This / 43Part 2 The Word Warriors
c.1 The Sacred Hoop… / 54
c.4 The Feminine Landscape… / 118Part 3 Pushing Up the Sky
ch 1 Angry Women are Building… / 189
ch 2 How the West was Really Won / 194
ch 6 Stealing the Thunder…. / 262
Articles
Let Us Begin with Courage, Jeannette Armstrong
Media
Female Extension, Cornelia Solfrank
Rethinking Wargames, Ruth Catlow
Guerilla Girls
Longest Journey, Funcom
Mr Wong's Soup'artments
SissyFight, Eric Zimmerman
Modern Living, Hans Hooggebrugge
Sovereignty, Law, Government, Participatory Democracy
Uneven Ground, American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Law; Wilkins & Lomawaima
Introduction
ch 1 “The Law of Nations” / 19
c.2 “ With the Greatest Respect… / 64
c.3 “Such an Outrage…. / 98
ch 4 “Treaties are Covenants”… / 117
Enduring Legacies, Bruce Johansen
Forward and Introduction
c.1 “The Lobster War,”… / 1
c.2 Sovereign Municipalities… / 25
c.3 The Treaty of Canandaigua… / 45
ch 11 The New Terminators… / 305
American Indian in Western Legal Thought, Robert Williams
Introduction
Part 1 The Medieval and Renaissance Origins…
ch 2 The Perfect Instruments…
Articles
Richard Stallman's blog
founder of Electronic Frontier FoundationGeneral Referonce: Sovereignty, Tribal Sovereignty, and Dawes Act
Indigenous Domain: Pilgrims, Permaculture and Perl, Joline Blais
Media
Earth/Reconnection/ Commons/ Community/Creativity
I Become a Part of It, Sacred Dimensions in Native American Life, D.M.Dooling, Paul Jordan-Smith
Introduction
9 / Becoming a Part of It
36 / Doing Your Thinking
59 / The Demands of Harmony
75 / “It’s Where You Put Your Eyes”
124 / Boundaries of Belief
193 / The Spiritual Landscape
246 / The Road to the Center
259 / Out of Chaos
270 / Our Mother Earth
Articles
coming
Media
Peter Linebaugh, The Secret History of the Magna Carta
"If we assume that rules and norms are still evolving (continuously evolving), then given all of the globally connected activity present in the world today, are we on the verge of the emergence of a new social contract? If so, who are the participants? Who is excluded from the initial bargaining? What are their barriers to inclusion? Does this new social contract, by its formation and articulation, then constitute a new body politic?" onthecommons.org
Prophecy, Reconciliation, Decolonization, Re-Creation
The State of Native America, Genocide, Colonization,
and Resistance M.Annette Jaimes ed.
Preface: The State of Native North America
Introduction: Sand Creek, the Morning After
Table: Key Indian Laws and Cases
ch 1 The Demography of Native North America….
ch 2 International Law and Politics….
ch 5 The Earth is Our Mother….
ch 9 Trouble in High Places…
ch 13 American Indian Education in the United States…
Epilogue: Looking For Columbus…
A Basic Call to Consciousness, The Haudenosaunee Address the World, Akwesasne Notes
Read in its entirety
For Indigenous Eyes Only, Waziyatawin Angela Wilson, Michael Yellow Bird, ed.
6 / The Decolonization of Indigenous Governance
9 / Ideology, Power, and the Miseducation of Indigenous Peoples in the United States
12 / Relieving Our Suffering…
Articles
J Blais, Decolonizing Cyberspace, In the Presence of the Sacred.
...a land was empty if it was not cultivated.
To the colonial mind a land was empty if it was not cultivated. It did not matter if it was occupied by a people. If they were non-agricultural peoples their lands would show up on maps as empty and therefore free for the taking.
-Andrea Bear Nicholas, “The St. John River Society”
...there may be more meaning in the everyday than meets the eye...culture consists of the meanings its subjects produce and reproduce. -Catherine Belsey
indigenous
new media
student
The central challenge of our
time is to create and maintain sustainable communities, i.e. social, cultural,
and physical environments in which we can satisfy our needs and aspirations
without diminishing the chances of future generations.
-Fritjof Capra
if you have a resource for the class please send it to me & I will add it to this section.
communities
gkisedtanamoogk
Aubert Hall
Hrs: TBA
gsikedtananmoogk at umit dot maine dot edu
Joline Blais
400 Chadbourne
Hrs: Wed 2:00-4 pm