Project 2:  Old Stories, New Technology

Principal Partners:  Michigan Indian Education Council (MIEC) Action Committee Chairman:  Erin Beaver, Female Member-at-Large,  National UNITY Council, Executive Committee  (erin@pnyteam.org) Project Date:  Project to take place in March 2008 Objective:  to train Native youth – who attend the 2008 MIEC conference -- in the use of new technology to share knowledge of tribal history and culture and to provide a means for tribal elders to share their stories with a broader audience via the Internet.

Project Description: Each year the Michigan Indian Education Council (MIEC) conducts a Critical Issues in Indian Education conference.  Among those who attend are educators, American Indian students, elders, and others interested in issues affecting American Indian education.  The next conference is scheduled to take place in Mt. Pleasant, MI on March 13 – 15, 2008.  The Michigan Indian Education Council has entered into a partnership with the National UNITY Council and UNITY and is committed to actively participating in the National Initiatives to Strengthen Native Families.  Further, the Red Lake Nation of Minnesota has also entered into a partnership agreement and will participate in the planning and implementation of an Initiative related project that will take place in March during the MIEC conference.

The project will be cross-generational in that it will involve Native American youth, adults and elders who participate in the conference. During the first day of the conference's youth track, the youth in attendance will receive training that will prepare them to conduct a live Webcast (video streamed to the Internet for distant viewing) during the second day's activities.  The Webcast portion will be planned by the youth as a part of their training on day one.  During the second day the youth will actually produce and direct the Webcast in accordance with their plan.  The Webcast will include:

• a panel made up of tribal elders who will address the questions, “do you see a change in the family structure today that have negative consequences on our communities in comparison to the family in which you were raised, and if so what changes do you believe are needed today to counteract these negative consequences and strengthen our Native families?”, and
• a talking circle involving all participants in the youth track (including youth, adults and elders)  to further address the questions and to propose actions that would promote building stronger Native families within their respective communities.  At the close of the talking circle the  youth councils and youth groups represented among the conference participants will be given the opportunity to commit to taking further actions to promote the objectives of the National Initiative to Strengthen Native Families.

The video recordings of the panel discussions and talking circle will be edited and placed on the UNITY and/or other Websites for future viewings.

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