From: gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo)
Newsgroups: alt.native
Subject: Re: NativeNet Chat's Direction
Date: 29 Sep 92 18:03:56 GMT
Expires: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 00:00:00 GMT

I'd like to just dash off a few quick thoughts concerning a North American
Indians newsgroup / mailing list / network, and invite discussion.

Recently it has been suggested that the existing NativeNet mailing lists
are too broadly focussed to be of significant use to either those inter-
ested primarily in North American Indian issues, or to North American
Indian people themselves, and that some additional channel(s) of communi-
cation pertaining primarily to those issues should be initiated.

I feel that it may well be true that in order for there to be any sig-
nificant dialogue using electronic means among the indigenous peoples of
various parts of the world and those working with them in supporting roles
about their common problems it may be necessary for there first to be good
communications systems in place which permit them to talk among themselves.
Essentially, the CPSR article which was included in what I sent yesterday
made a proposal along the lines of initiating such a system for the benefit
of North American Natives.

However, it should be kept in mind that most people presently partici-
pating in this discussion by means of the alt.native newsgroup or the
NATCHAT mailing list represent a fairly select group - most people having
affiliations with universities or high-technology companies.  To really be
able to serve the indigenous people of North America, I feel we need to
look at additional mechanisms for access, such as the APC networks refer-
red to by Alan McGowen, and Fido-based bulletin-board system (BBS) tech-
nology, which do not require institutional affiliation.

My thinking on this whole matter is conditioned by the following points:

  1. There is a question of definition:

     A. What are we considering to be "North American?"  I would assume
	It would cover the U.S. and Canada, but how about the question
	asked by Daniel Soto (dsoto@ucs.indiana.edu) as to whether our
	definition of "North American" would include his own Indian
	people in Mexico?  How about the natives of Guatemala?  If we
	make a distinction, on what would that distinction be based -
	on the languages used by the conquerors of these various people?

     B. Are we talking about information channels open to anyone who is
	interested, or should it be limited to actual Native people?  If
	the latter, how would it be determined that someone qualifies,
	and what standards would be used, and how would the restriction be
	enforced?  Personally, I would not want an exclusionary kind of
	network, and I doubt that others would either, but I can and do
	see there being some great value in establishing private elec-
	tronic mail and news (conferencing) links between given organi-
	zational entities of given groups of Native people, but that
	effort should probably be seen as a separate undertaking for a
	number of reasons.  It is this kind of undertaking to which the
	CPSR article was meant to refer.

	In that situation, there are additional considerations, such as
	security, involved.  I suggest that that undertaking be considered
	separately from the one we're discussing here, and that we limit
	the scope of the present project to the subject of creating one or
	more mailing lists / Usenet/APC newsgroups to serve the needs and
	interests of those wanting an exclusively North American information
	exchange (but that the discussion not be limited to Natives or even
	residents of North America - however we define "North America").

	I feel that, as Peshe and Alan suggest, the impetus for this other
	kind of network should come from the people themselves who recog-
	nize the need and want to bring it about.  I know of some people
	who have been doing a lot of thinking along these lines, who are
	themselves Indian people, and I would be willing to provide intro-
	ductions, so that the planning could proceed at the same time as
	we work on implementing a more informal network.

  2. Some implementation decisions need to be made.  We would probably need
     some kind of hybrid system, which used a combination of mailing lists
     and news links, much like what we now have for alt.native.  I could
     probably handle the gateway function, as I am presently doing for the
     other lists, but I'll need to install a larger disk in my system to
     handle the increased load, which I am planning to do anyway.  We would
     also need to identify people willing to take on the moderation role
     which many people have assured me is what has made the NativeNet lists
     as successful as they have been.

  3. We need to assemble a group of people who would take care of planning
     and implementation decisions, and maybe another group that helps publi-
     cize the system we come up with within the Indian communities, and help
     people in those communities establish links to it.  There are existing
     Fido-based networks serving Native peoples' interests, and we should
     probably think about links with those networks, and with providing
     options for those who find connecting to them difficult, and for those
     who cannot qualify for Internet or Bitnet links to connect to lists and
     conferences based around the kind of networking technology we're using
     currently.

     My own involvement must be limited by considerations of time available
     to me.  I can serve in an advisory and, and do some coordination, but
     others must come forward to do the majority of the setup work.  I have
     a list of American Indian college students who I met at a conference a
     year and a half ago, some of whom might be interested in helping.

  4. I would recommend that we try to establish contact with the elders and
     representatives of various Native communities, in order to seek guid-
     ance and to secure whatever cooperation might be possible, especially
     in trying to take this project beyond the confines of Internet and
     Bitnet-based networking technologies and into communities.

If anyone wants to help coordinate such a project, please get in touch with
me.  Perhaps someone like Peshewegunzh would like to volunteer for such a
role, leaving me in a role of technical advisor, which would be just fine
with me.

Thanks in advance for your help and your ideas and your support.

Gary
--
    Gary S. Trujillo                            gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts              {wjh12,bu.edu,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst
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