Preservation and Documentary Film Travels

The James Bay Northern Quebec Crees have invited us back to their magnificent Northern land. 
The intent is to continue our collaborative efforts recording in digital high definition video, history specifically from the 1980's period. While on the road I hope to capture some activities and images here in my blog over the next two weeks as a record of the trip sharing the experience with some of the loyal readers who have logged on over the last few months.  I'm very impressed that people from distant places like Peru and Malaysia have checked in here and have even come back on more then one occasion. I welcome any perspective you may wish to offer. I would enjoy dialogue and insight from others who wish to send their perspective and thoughts on aboriginal culture. 

Stay tuned for highlights from James Bay!  

Oral History & Sustainable Development

I’m on my second read of “The Wayfinders”. Every so often an authors work hits a chord so engaging that a second read provides the deep dive into the subject matter that satisfies my need to know and understanding.

The Wayfinders is a recent book that is part of the Massey Series of lectures. The author Wade Davis profiles a number of First Nations circumstances worldwide. The chapters describe the tension between these remarkable people and modern societies values today. The book describes fascinating details about the relationships modern society has with their First Peoples neighbours. He points to a number of Canadian situations that raise profound questions about our countries values and investment in preservation and support of First Peoples languages, culture, heritage and traditions.

My interest in this subject area is largely due to the project we’ve been involved with specifically documenting the oral history of Cree leaders within the Northern Quebec Region. This first hand experience has shed light on exactly the subject area defined in Wayfinders. To the extent we’re loosing First Nations heritage is it reasonable that new and innovative ideas can be brought forward to reverse the trend? I’m of the view that Design Thinking applied to preservation of First People’s languages perhaps may be an approach. IDEO a worldwide innovation consultancy offers some practical reference and case studies of sustainable projects where they’ve played a role in making a difference to successful outcomes. 


Design thinking applied to preservation of knowledge, oral history and languages through constructs such as Desirability, Feasibility and Viability described in IDEO’s Human Centered Design toolkit begins to set the roadmap for tackling issues and bringing support to the preservation of Canada’s First People’s oral History .







with permission IDEO March 31, 2010 1:30:46 PM