Media.Knet.Ca

The Kanatakon School in Akwesasne was the host of the March 23-24, 2004 web construction workshop. This series of web site development workshops is being coordinated by Brian Walmark, Special Projects Coordinator for the Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations SchoolNet RMO initiative. Click here to learn more about this series of workshops.

Click here to see the pictures from the workshop.

Industry Canada's First Nations SchoolNet program provided funding under their Regional Management Organization (RMO) to host a provincial Native Language conference. Participants from across the province traveled to Thunder Bay to learn and plan strategies for creating more on-line language resources. Watch the conference web site at http://language.firstnationschools.ca for the conference report and conference details.

Click here to view the pictures from the conference.

On Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24, the Chiefs of Keewaytinook Okimakanak met at the Valhalla Inn in Thunder Bay to discuss 2004-2005 budgets and program plans for the next fiscal year. The meetings included presentations by Carl Seibel, Telecom Officer with FedNor and Brian Lawson, Liaison Officer with the Campbell Lake mines. As well, a special luncheon to honour the work the chiefs directed under the Smart Communities Demonstration project was held in conjunction with the Native Language Conference that was happening at the same time.

Click here to view the pictures from the Chiefs' meeting.

The academic directors of Te Wananga o Raukawa (TWOR) met with K-Net staff (Dan Pellerin, Network Manager and Brian Beaton, K-Net Coordinator) on Monday afternoon to discuss the history of K-Net and its work in First Nation communities. Click here to see some pictures.

Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff will continue to develop and maintain the web site created for the International Virtual Conference at ( http://smart.knet.ca/international).

All the archived live sessions are now available for viewing. Click here for the list of archived video conferences and webinar sessions.

Short videos from each of the KO Smart First Nations, profiling different applications and stories from the communities are also available on-line. Here is this video collection from the web site ....

• Deer Lake First Nation (3:10 minutes)
  Community Video High and Low
  
• Fort Severn First Nation (4:15 minutes)
  Community Video High and Low
  
• Keewaywin First Nation (2:45 minutes)
  Community Video High and Low
  
• North Spirit Lake First Nation (2:30 minutes)
  Community Video High and Low
  
• Poplar Hill First Nation (3:30 minutes)
  Community Video High and Low

On March 18 and 19, KO First Nations SchoolNet were at the headquarters of the Union of Ontario Indians located on Nipissing First Nation territory for another web site construction workshop. First Nations SchoolNet is a program of Industry Canada that is administered in Ontario by Keewaytinook Okimakanak, the Northern Chiefs Tribal Council.

Workshop participants learn how to use Post Nuke, a free (open source) content management system that is very user-friendly. As well, workshop participants learn how to create free email addresses and web pages for their communities along with developing the skills required to maintain their web sites by adding news stories, photos and other material.

Click here to check out the news stories on the Ontario First Nations SchoolNet web site.

Click here to check out the pictures from this workshop.

Participants in the final webcasted video conference session of the Kuhkenah International On-line Conference were treated to a collection of forward looking partners sharing their hopes and dreams for the future of the network and the applications began under the Smart Communities Demonstration project. Click here to view the archived video that include guests from New Zealand.

Over the past two days, over 250 guests logged into the different on-line presentations that were hosted by people from around the world.

The March 18 Smart Fair in Aylmer, Ontario was hosted by Elgin Connects included an on-line presentation about the Kuhkenah Network (K-Net) using a dial up connection and the K-Net's new Breeze presentation platform.

Indigenous people from around the world gathered together on-line to share their stories and experiences with each other. The conference started with a video conferenced opening ceremony which was webcast over the net and included participants from across Canada and a team from New Zealand. The on-line meetings and presentations included guests and presenters from around the world.

Tomorrow's agenda (click here to view) promises to be just as exciting beginning with guests from Africia and the United States. Be sure to call into the different sessions by clicking here to get your telephone number and meeting passcode so you can listen and ask questions.

All the sessions and presentations from today's gathering are now archived and available for everyone's viewing (see below for links to these sessions).

• Opening An interactive videoconference opening the conference involving Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff and our partners in ICT development. This event will also be webcast and accessible via the Gathering Home Page.
  Windows Media - Broadband Video - 300Kps
• Keynote Address
  Managing ICT Development from the ground up
  North Spirit Lake e-Centre Manager Darlene Rae offers a personal overview of her work in ICT development in remote communities in Northern Ontario since 1995. View Archived Presentation
• Community e-Centre Managers Forum
  What the SMART Project has meant in our community
  This forum features e-Centre Managers Oscar Meekis , Madeleine Stoney , Raymond Mason , Darlene Rae , and Susan Owen who high light in video and slides the rollout and impact of the SMART project in each of their communities. View Archived Presentation
• Computers in Homes
  Kasmira Warbrooke and Melody Hare, Tuhoe Education Authority, Aotearoa, New Zealand View Archived Presentation
• Using ICTs to strengthen the training of bilingual Mayan teachers: Lessons learned from Enlace Quiché.
  Domingo Camaja Santay and Andrew Lieberman. Enlace Quiche, Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala (Bilingüe en español y en ingles) View Archived Presentation
• Cultural Repurposing and its Issues
  Peter Radoll, PhD Candidate, Information Technology Department, Australian National University, staff - Information Systems School  View Archived Presentation
• Telecentro TIC Calamarca
  Armando Lara Godoy, Operations Manager, AES Communications, SA, Bolivia and Gunter Zetesche, foundatino Eco Pueblo (Bilingüe en español y en ingles) View Archive

On Tuesday morning, the Lunenburg Queens IT Smart Fair 2004 in Nova Scotia included an IP based video conference with the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Sioux Lookout office. An interactive discussion about the use of ICTs in community development took place with an audience of over 100 community members.