Indigenous Thinkers

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This year, the Journey will provide computer and Internet workshops, educational and career seminars and interactive demonstrations for Native Americans in urban centers, rural areas and on tribal lands from Alaska to Arizona. In addition, other initiatives that support the Journey's mission have been launched to help Native Americans preserve their languages and customs, and develop marketable skills.

The lack of adequate infrastructure, a weak economic base and the dearth of people to install and maintain technology are among the factors that create the technological gap between Native Americans and the general population. These issues, coupled with rapid-paced technological advances, underscore concerns raised in Falling Through The Net: Defining The Digital Divide, a study released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce(1). The study found that Native Americans "are not able to access the important information resources via computers and on the Internet that are quickly becoming essential for success."

Earlier this year, IBM worked with local educators in Alaska to provide high school students with Linux certification and college-level technology courses that will enable them to compete for technology jobs from their own cities and villages and contribute to Alaska's economic growth. IBM launched the Native American Partners in Education program along with Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, Alaska and the Alaska Commissioner of Education and Early Development.

"The spirit of the Journey is to encourage as many people and organizations as possible to share their technological knowledge, talents and resources so that Native People can establish a larger presence in the Digital Age," said Mark Hakey (Abenaki), IBM Distinguished Engineer/Manager of Advanced Process Technology Development, and a Journey national co-chair. "Every year there is a greater awareness among Native Americans about the importance of technology and its advantages. No one knows where the next technological breakthrough will come from -- and with initiatives like these, it could well be from the Native American community."

In September 2006, the Native American Chamber of Commerce partnered with SeniorNet, a leading nonprofit technology educator of older adults, and IBM to announce the opening of achievement centers that will bring computer access and education to Native American reservations across the United States. The first achievement center opened at the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Montana, and four more centers will open over the next three years. The centers will be established as part of the grant-based initiative Hope and Harmony for Humanity. The program will provide more than 40,000 youths, adults and seniors with the opportunity to access basic training in computer hardware, reading, English, math and science, GED certification, college prep and admissions assistance, language study, global health and safety information, basic business skills and cultural activities.

Later this month, the Indigenous Language Institute (ILI) will partner with IBM to host the fourth in a series of "Ancient Voices:

Modern Tools" workshops on the campus of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. The program, scheduled for November 16-18, will put multimedia technology\ tools and language material templates, such as newsletters, calendars and storybooks, into the hands of community language practitioners. It will show them how to digitally create culturally appropriate resources for their tribes. Some 50 people representing 15 tribal nations, from Louisiana to California, are expected to participate in the workshop.

For additional information about the Native American Family Technology Journey, please visit http://www.nativeamericanfamilynet.net

(1) National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

(1999) Falling Through the Net III "Defining the Digital Divide."

SOURCE IBM