Media.Knet.Ca

Audience members recommended KO seek funding from Heritage Canada to increase the amount of First Nations cultural content on the 'Net...

Keewaytinook Okimakanak was selected as one of the CRACIN community partners to discuss some of the ways in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) makes a difference in First Nations communities in Ontario’s far north. KORI’s Brian Walmark was substituted for KNET’s Brian Beaton who was unavailable to speak. The other members of the panel discussion included Dr. Leslie Shade of the University of Concordia, Marita Moll, the Director of Telecommunities Canada, Dr. Graham Longford of the University of Toronto and Ariane Pelletier, the Directrice adjointe, Communautique, a community-based Internet serving Quebec. The discussion was moderated by Karen Zarrouki, a Senior Research Analyst, Information Highway Applications Branch, industry Canada. The audience included policy analysts, researchers, and technical advisors from a variety of Canadian Government departments including Heritage Canada and Industry Canada. The audience learned about applications such as KO Telehealth and KiHS, the Internet High School and witnessed demonstrations of the Oji-Cree Dictionary, the IYASH project and clips from Cal Kenny’s digital documentaries about the Fort Seven canoe expeditions.

A lively discussion followed. Audience members wanted to know some of the challenges facing KO and KNET in the future. Brian told them that governments at all levels need to start funding the operations of applications such as KiHS if KNET Services, KO’s community Internet network is to remain sustainable. Some audience members wanted to know why KO and other artists in Northwestern Ontario are not applying to Heritage Canada to fund such projects as the Oji-Cree English dictionary and digitalization projects such as IYASH. Brian suggested that many grassroots groups in the Northwest simply do not apply to Heritage Canada because anecdotally the approval rate appears to be low. Some in the audience agreed that funding criteria must be reviewed to ensure that individuals and groups in the north have the same opportunities to post their cultural projects on the web as people in the south do. One audience member suggested that KO should apply for funding to identify and collect all existing oral history projects in the NAN territory and digitalize using the IYASH format. Audience members requested that they be kept informed of the activities of Keewaytinook Okimakanak and the other community Internet networks. Brian advised them that KO’s website is updated on a regular basis and is a portal into all of the activities that Keewaytinook Okimakanak is engaged in. See photos, click here.