Raven Maissy I.

Daraido January 10, 2019

STEM 12-18 Media and Information Literacy

Indigenous media may be defined as forms of media expression

conceptualized, produced, and circulated by indigenous peoples around the
globe as vehicles for communication, including cultural preservation, cultural
and artistic expression, political self-determination, and cultural sovereignty.
Indigenous media overlap with, and are on a spectrum with, other types of
minority-produced media, and quite often they share a kinship regarding
many philosophical and political motivations.
Indigenous media studies allow us access to the micro-processes of
what Roland Robertson has famously called “globalization”—in this case, the
interpenetration of global media technologies with hyper local needs,
creatively adapted to work within and sustain the local culture rather than to
replace it or homogenize it, as some globalization theorists have long feared.
The scope of indigenous media studies, a growing field of
interdisciplinary scholarship, is quite broad and extensive. We first present
some core literature in the emerging field of indigenous media studies,
followed by a handful of illustrative case studies. In the second main section,
we provide focused attention on works dealing with some specific media
genres: film and video production, radio and television broadcasting, and the
emerging field of indigenous digital media. Next, we divide the field by
geographic and cultural regions and areas, looking at significant work being
done in and about indigenous media in the Americas, Australia, New
Zealand, Europe (including Russia and the Arctic North), Africa, and Asia.
This Oxford Bibliographies article is partnered with that of the
separate Oxford Bibliographies article “Native Americans,” and so we refer
the reader to that article to avoid excessive duplication. In the spirit of much
indigenous media making, this was a collaborative production. The primary
author, Pamela Wilson, wishes to thank her main collaborator, Joanna
Hearne, who contributed expertise on North American indigenous media,
particularly to the section on Indigenous Film and Video. Other significant
contributors were Amalia Córdova on Latin America and Sabra Thorner on
Australia.

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE - is the local knowledge – knowledge that is

unique to a given culture or society. IK contrasts with the international
knowledge system generated by universities, research institutions and
private firms.

INDIGENOUS COMMUNICATION - transmission of information through

local channels or forms - it is a means by which the culture is preserved,
handed down and adapted.

FORMS OF INDIGENOUS MEDIA

1. FOLK OR TRADITIONAL MEDIA
2. GATHERINGS AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
3. DIRECT OBSERVATION
4. RECORDS (WRITTEN, CARVED, ORAL)
5. ORAL INSTRUCTION

Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein

knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved and
transmitted orally from one generation to another. The transmission is
through speech or song and may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose or
verses. In this way, it is possible for a society to transmit oral history, oral
literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing
system, or in parallel to a writing system. Religions such
as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, for example, have used an oral
tradition, in parallel to a writing system, to transmit their canonical
scriptures, secular knowledge such as Sushruta Samhita, hymns and
mythologies from one generation to the next.
Oral tradition is information, memories and knowledge held in common by
a group of people, over many generations, and it is not same
as testimony or oral history. In a general sense, "oral tradition" refers to the
recall and transmission of a specific, preserved textual
and cultural knowledge through vocal utterance. As an academic discipline,
it refers both to a set of objects of study and a method by which they are
studied.
The study of oral tradition is distinct from the academic discipline of oral
history which is the recording of personal memories and histories of those
who experienced historical eras or events. Oral tradition is also distinct from
the study of orality defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies
where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are
unfamiliar to most of the population. A folklore is a type of oral tradition, but
knowledge other than folklore has been orally transmitted and thus
preserved in human history.
Oral traditions face the challenge of accurate transmission and
verifiability of the accurate version, particularly when the culture lacks
written language or has limited access to writing tools. Oral cultures have
employed various strategies that achieve this without writing. For example, a
heavily rhythmic speech filled with mnemonic devices enhances memory
and recall. A few useful mnemonic devices include alliteration,
repetition, assonance, and proverbial sayings. In addition, the verse is often
metrically composed with an exact number of syllables or morae- such as
with Greek and Latin prosody and in Chandas found in Hindu and Buddhist
texts. 
The verses of the epic or text are typically designed wherein the long and
short syllables are repeated by certain rules, so that if an error or
inadvertent change is made, an internal examination of the verse reveals the
problem. Oral Traditions are able to be passed on through means of plays
and acting which can be shown in the modern day Cameroon by the Graffis
or Grasslanders how act out and deliver speeches to spread their history in
the manner of Oral Tradition. Such strategies help facilitate transmission of
information from individual to individual without a written intermediate, and
they can also be applied to oral governance.

Primary sources provide the original materials on which other research is

based and enable students and other researchers to get as close as possible
to what actually happened during a particular event or time period.  
Published materials can be viewed as primary resources if they come from
the time period that is being discussed, and were written or produced by
someone with firsthand experience of the event.  Often primary sources
reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer.  Primary sources
can be written or non-written (sound, pictures, artifacts, etc.).  In scientific
research, primary sources present original thinking, report on discoveries, or
share new information.
Examples of primary sources:

 Autobiographies and memoirs

 Diaries, personal letters, and correspondence
 Interviews, surveys, and fieldwork
  Internet communications on email, blogs, list servers, and newsgroups
 Photographs, drawings, and posters
 Works of art and literature
 Books, magazine and newspaper articles and ads published at the time
 Public opinion polls
 Speeches and oral histories
 Original documents (birth certificates, property deeds, trial transcripts)
 Research data, such as census statistics
 Official and unofficial records of organizations and government
agencies
 Artifacts of all kinds, such as tools, coins, clothing, furniture, etc.
 Audio recordings, DVDs, and video recordings
 Government documents (reports, bills, proclamations, hearings, etc.)
 Patents
 Technical reports
 Scientific journal articles reporting experimental research results

Secondary sources describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze,

evaluate, summarize, and process primary sources.  A secondary source is
generally one or more steps removed from the event or time period and are
written or produced after the fact with the benefit of hindsight.  Secondary
sources often lack the freshness and immediacy of the original material.  On
occasion, secondary sources will collect, organize, and repackage primary
source information to increase usability and speed of delivery, such as an
online encyclopedia.  Like primary sources, secondary materials can be
written or non-written (sound, pictures, movies, etc.).  
Examples of secondary sources:

 Bibliographies
 Biographical works
 Reference books, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and atlases
 Articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers after the event
 Literature reviews and review articles (e.g., movie reviews, book
reviews)
 History books and other popular or scholarly books
 Works of criticism and interpretation
 Commentaries and treatises
 Textbooks
 Indexes and abstracts