Post by Okwes on Mar 7, 2008 13:40:26 GMT -5
Colville members have 'One Heart for the People"
By Jack McNeel
March 05, 2008
NESPELEM, Wash. - The Colville Reservation now has a social Internet system
in place that is probably unique in Indian country. Designed much like
MySpace, this system - called ''One Heart for the People'' - is intended to inform
and organize Colville members in a grass-roots effort to unify the tribal
membership.
The system was originated and designed by Ben-Alex Dupris, a tribal member
who left the reservation when he was 19 to pursue a career in Hollywood as a
professional actor and dancer. He eventually left, but says he returned to Los
Angeles whenever he needed to recharge. Now in his early 30s and
knowledgeable about such things as open source software, cloud computing and social
networking, he has returned to the reservation.
''I wanted to do something for the tribe. I was looking at all the problems
our tribes are facing today, particularly in this technological gap. Indian
people are already so far behind in a lot of different areas and I thought a
social network would be a good way to start, not to just say hi to friends,
but to organize people and inform them about everything from funerals to
political events to local basketball games.'' In so doing it would also broaden
computer knowledge among many who are still unfamiliar or uncomfortable with
computers.
The name came about in discussions with colleague John Sirois, with whom
Dupris had worked on the language program. They wanted a name that would
encompass the entire membership and all the different bands on this confederated
reservation.
''Our relations used to say to get together under one heart and have a
prayer,'' Dupris said. Thus One Heart was born. Its logo is in the shape of the
reservation in blood red, he said, ''to kind of show those district lines don't
exist anymore, that the family extends throughout our reservation.''
Dupris bought the domain name and used the Photoshop graphics editing
program to design the idea. It's on an open-source network under a company called
Ning. Four years ago such a system would have cost roughly $250,000, but
advancements now make it practically free. ''You use the framework they provide
and you can tailor it to fit your needs,'' he explained.
He saw it as a site where people could put aside their differences. The
reservation has four voting districts and nearly 1.3 million acres. ''A lot of
politics are very divisive and based on who gets elected to the council from
each district. These politics are separating the way we see each other as
tribal membership,'' he said.
The site was up and running around the first of December. ''I sent it out to
my mom, John and a few others. We had 15 people the first weeks, then it
started to grow. Now, just two and a half months later, it has more than 540
members and everyone is invited. Most are Colville people or friends of the
Colvilles.''
Dupris still has lots of ideas for additions and improvements.
''The idea was freedom of the press and transparency of government and
accountability, all the issues the general membership is concerned about when it
comes to tribal politics, language preservation and community,'' Dupris said.
''Eventually I want to expand to have different games, an online petition
forum and to work with the language program. There's a program called Moodle
that universities use to teach their students. We're going to start a parallel
Moodle site to get into tribal language where the teacher can have direct
access to students. We will use that parallel to get into language
preservation.''
Dupris said he wants to encourage Native people to use technology to its
potential.
''We're watching the technological revolution happen and we're not
participating and learning how to take on these 21st century advancements,'' Dupris
said. ''This is a great starting place to increase knowledge and awareness and
escape the bounds.''
Dupris commented that one interesting thing is the membership's
demographics: ''It's not just the young hotshot kids who know about technology, but it's
also the councilmen, our elders, people who say they've felt disconnected
from the tribe for years.
''When you go to the site, you're going to see Colville tribal members.
That's the big sell. It allows those who have moved away to stay in touch or
perhaps young people who have never lived here to find people who can help trace
their linage back. It's a feeling of what the 21st century, entertainment and
social world for Native people is going to be.
''It's the beginning of an exciting time.''
_www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416706_
(http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416706)
By Jack McNeel
March 05, 2008
NESPELEM, Wash. - The Colville Reservation now has a social Internet system
in place that is probably unique in Indian country. Designed much like
MySpace, this system - called ''One Heart for the People'' - is intended to inform
and organize Colville members in a grass-roots effort to unify the tribal
membership.
The system was originated and designed by Ben-Alex Dupris, a tribal member
who left the reservation when he was 19 to pursue a career in Hollywood as a
professional actor and dancer. He eventually left, but says he returned to Los
Angeles whenever he needed to recharge. Now in his early 30s and
knowledgeable about such things as open source software, cloud computing and social
networking, he has returned to the reservation.
''I wanted to do something for the tribe. I was looking at all the problems
our tribes are facing today, particularly in this technological gap. Indian
people are already so far behind in a lot of different areas and I thought a
social network would be a good way to start, not to just say hi to friends,
but to organize people and inform them about everything from funerals to
political events to local basketball games.'' In so doing it would also broaden
computer knowledge among many who are still unfamiliar or uncomfortable with
computers.
The name came about in discussions with colleague John Sirois, with whom
Dupris had worked on the language program. They wanted a name that would
encompass the entire membership and all the different bands on this confederated
reservation.
''Our relations used to say to get together under one heart and have a
prayer,'' Dupris said. Thus One Heart was born. Its logo is in the shape of the
reservation in blood red, he said, ''to kind of show those district lines don't
exist anymore, that the family extends throughout our reservation.''
Dupris bought the domain name and used the Photoshop graphics editing
program to design the idea. It's on an open-source network under a company called
Ning. Four years ago such a system would have cost roughly $250,000, but
advancements now make it practically free. ''You use the framework they provide
and you can tailor it to fit your needs,'' he explained.
He saw it as a site where people could put aside their differences. The
reservation has four voting districts and nearly 1.3 million acres. ''A lot of
politics are very divisive and based on who gets elected to the council from
each district. These politics are separating the way we see each other as
tribal membership,'' he said.
The site was up and running around the first of December. ''I sent it out to
my mom, John and a few others. We had 15 people the first weeks, then it
started to grow. Now, just two and a half months later, it has more than 540
members and everyone is invited. Most are Colville people or friends of the
Colvilles.''
Dupris still has lots of ideas for additions and improvements.
''The idea was freedom of the press and transparency of government and
accountability, all the issues the general membership is concerned about when it
comes to tribal politics, language preservation and community,'' Dupris said.
''Eventually I want to expand to have different games, an online petition
forum and to work with the language program. There's a program called Moodle
that universities use to teach their students. We're going to start a parallel
Moodle site to get into tribal language where the teacher can have direct
access to students. We will use that parallel to get into language
preservation.''
Dupris said he wants to encourage Native people to use technology to its
potential.
''We're watching the technological revolution happen and we're not
participating and learning how to take on these 21st century advancements,'' Dupris
said. ''This is a great starting place to increase knowledge and awareness and
escape the bounds.''
Dupris commented that one interesting thing is the membership's
demographics: ''It's not just the young hotshot kids who know about technology, but it's
also the councilmen, our elders, people who say they've felt disconnected
from the tribe for years.
''When you go to the site, you're going to see Colville tribal members.
That's the big sell. It allows those who have moved away to stay in touch or
perhaps young people who have never lived here to find people who can help trace
their linage back. It's a feeling of what the 21st century, entertainment and
social world for Native people is going to be.
''It's the beginning of an exciting time.''
_www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416706_
(http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416706)