Past research has demonstrated that empathy can reduce prejudicial attitudes as it leads people to share a sense of common identity with other cultural groups (Stephan & Finlay, 1999) or by arousing feelings of injustice (Finlay & Stephan, 2000). However, the current volume of research largely centers around administering empathy-inducing scenarios to participants and then assessing levels of prejudicial attitudes as opposed to examining initial levels of empathy. In addition, there is a lack of research regarding modern prejudicial attitudes towards individuals of Aboriginal descent. The present study examines the predictive value of ethnocultural empathy, age, gender, and social desirability on the levels of those prejudicial attitudes. One hundred and sixty eight undergraduate students from the University of Saskatchewan completed a questionnaire, including the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang, Davidson, Yakushko, Savoy, Tan, & Bleier, 2003), the Prejudiced Attitudes Towards Aboriginals Scale (Morrison, 2007), and Form C of the Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Reynolds, 1982). <p>The multiple regression analysis revealed that ethnocultural empathy and age were predictive of modern prejudicial attitudes toward Aboriginals. Participants with higher levels of ethnocultural empathy reported reduced levels of modern prejudicial attitudes. However, contrary to expectation, gender was not a significant predictor variable. Practical applications and limitations of these findings are discussed as well as directions for future research.

Past research has demonstrated that empathy can reduce prejudicial attitudes as it leads people to share a sense of common identity with other cultural groups (Stephan & Finlay, 1999) or by arousing feelings of injustice (Finlay & Stephan, 2000). However, the current volume of research largely centers around administering empathy-inducing scenarios to participants and then assessing levels of prejudicial attitudes as opposed to examining initial levels of empathy. In addition, there is a lack of research regarding modern prejudicial attitudes towards individuals of Aboriginal descent. The present study examines the predictive value of ethnocultural empathy, age, gender, and social desirability on the levels of those prejudicial attitudes. One hundred and sixty eight undergraduate students from the University of Saskatchewan completed a questionnaire, including the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang, Davidson, Yakushko, Savoy, Tan, & Bleier, 2003), the Prejudiced Attitudes Towards Aboriginals Scale (Morrison, 2007), and Form C of the Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Reynolds, 1982). <p>The multiple regression analysis revealed that ethnocultural empathy and age were predictive of modern prejudicial attitudes toward Aboriginals. Participants with higher levels of ethnocultural empathy reported reduced levels of modern prejudicial attitudes. However, contrary to expectation, gender was not a significant predictor variable. Practical applications and limitations of these findings are discussed as well as directions for future research.

Cranial vault thickness (CVT) has been reported at many different osteometric landmarks and features on the vault. Historically, only a few landmarks are used, often bregma, lambda, vertex, and right and left euryon, and frequently comparisons are based only on “thick” versus “thin” to describe the vault overall. What is inherent in this strategy is the use of a few locations to characterize the entire vault. The problem remains that there is little information concerning CVT variation throughout an individual's vault, and the causes of variation within recent Homo sapiens important to investigating thickness variation between species in Homo. This work describes thickness variation over the entire superior vault and compares the sexes, age groups and populations in recent H. sapiens. A proportional grid is applied to the superior vault to measure thickness at 219 sampling points in a geographically diverse sample of recent H. sapiens. Thickness values are analyzed in their two-dimensional spatial relationships to determine patterns of vault thickness. Males were identified to be thicker than females at more lateral locations and along the midsagittal plane, although this finding is not statistically significant. Individuals over the age of 45 years are found to be statistically significantly thicker than individuals younger than 31 years at more lateral locations of the vault. Aboriginal Australians are statistically significantly thicker at more lateral locations of the vault than any other populations, whereas Northern Canada/Greenland individuals were thinner than other populations at these locations. The trend of thicker vaults in the older age group and the Australians is identified across the vault, although is not statistically significant at more locations. Several thickness patterns are identified. The boss thickening pattern is the most common pattern, followed by a midsagittal pattern, a posterior pattern, and an anterior pattern. Some specimens do not demonstrate thickness variation and are coded as undifferentiated. Each pattern is observed alone and in combination with others, signifying that pattern causes are not mutually exclusive. Boss thickening is interpreted as the result of passive bone thickening during normal bone and brain growth during fetal and adolescent development. The midsagittal thickness pattern coincides with inferred strain along the sagittal suture from nuchal muscle engagement during mastication. Previous researchers have proposed adaptive explanations for thickness variation, such as protection from interpersonal violence; the patterns of cranial vault thickness reported here point to normal growth and development of the brain as a driving force, a relationship that could drive thickness variation in other Homo species. Comparing thickness at bregma, and the frontal and parietal eminences for recent H. sapiens and H. erectus, there is no statistical difference between African and Asian H. erectus, and between the on average thicker H. sapiens populations and H. erectus, based on published data. Future work will investigate the presence or absence of thickness patterns in these fossil species.

Aboriginal people make a great contribution to Australian sport in conditions of considerable adversity, and yet their contribution goes largely unacknowledged. This study investigates the experiences of one Aboriginal family with an extensive history of involvement with Australian Rules Football using methodologies which seek, and value, Aboriginal perspectives on their involvement. It privileges Indigenous knowledge. The study focuses particularly on the involvement of the Hayward family in Australian Rules Football - the game they love - and in which they have been intensely involved for many generations. The study describes how the Haywards of southwest Western Australia, like most Aboriginal families, experienced an extensive period of colonisation in which their social and cultural autonomy and power were eroded. The historical experience of Aboriginal Australians is vastly different to that of mainstream Australians, and grossly inequitable, not only in terms of economic and educational opportunity, but also in terms of access to sporting opportunities. In many ways, the story of the Hayward family is representative of the experiences of many Black sportsmen and women over the past hundred years. It is suggested that, in order to understand Aboriginal participation and foster the development of Aboriginal sportspeople of all ages, an understanding of the context of their lives is crucial. This study then, explores my extended family's experiences as participants in mainstream sport. It describes how the Haywards, like their community contemporaries, have confronted the limited opportunities afforded to them in their ambitions to gain access, equity of participation, and appropriate reward for effort in their sporting endeavours. / Over many generations of Aboriginal participation in the game, there has been considerable inequality of opportunity to enter and participate. In their efforts to participate, members of the Hayward family faced many obstacles unacknowledged by non-Aboriginal players, administrators and spectators. The study shows that many of these obstacles had little to do with the sporting prowess of the Haywards. Every past and present player interviewed as part of this research told of circumstances where they felt that they had not been given a fair go - be it by an umpire, a team official, opposing players, players from their own team, or the crowd. For every case of acceptance of Aboriginal players by a football club, there are many stories of rejection by other clubs. Despite these obstacles, the study found that the Haywards (like many Aboriginal people) see sport (and particularly football) as significant in their lives. They love the game but, equally importantly, they believe that sporting prowess can open a path of entry to mainstream society, provide important economic advantages and offer opportunities for broader social participation while maintaining strong traditions of Aboriginal virtuosity and relationships. The study concludes by suggesting that, despite the adversities encountered by this family in their desire to participate in football, there has been much in the game that has brought pleasure, a sense of success, satisfaction and achievement to them. While this is the story of one family, I believe it provides important insights into experiences common to many Aboriginal families and sportspersons, and that this research deepens our understanding of Australian social history. Football has been, and continues to be, a valued part of the lives of many Aboriginal people.

The Aboriginal settlement known as ‘The Block’, Aboriginal Redfern or Eveleigh Street, forms an Aboriginal neighbourhood in inner Sydney. Since its deliberate and largely unexpected formalisation in 1973, this urban Aboriginal presence continues to unsettle the largely non-Aboriginal community that surrounds it and geographically binds it in place. The Block was founded as the ‘Black Capital of Australia’ and stakes a claim in the heart of Australia’s first and most prominent city, Sydney. The ‘return’ of Aboriginality, however, to a place from which it had been banished, remains a (post)colonial paradox.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka beskrivningen av kanadensiska urinvånare i kanadensiska historieläroböcker, från ett postkolonialt perspektiv,för att se om de innehåller någon form av fördomar. Med en kvalitativ metod,och i jämförelse med tidigare genomförda studier inom samma område, analyseras fyra kanadensiska historieläroböcker för gymnasinivå. mina sammanfattningar visar att läroböcker är mindre fördomsfulla idag än för tjugo år sedan, men från ett postkolonialt teoretiskt perpsektiv innehåller de fortfarande tendenser av en världsuppfattning som stammar från kolonialt tänkande. / The aim of this study is to examine the portrayal of Canadian Natives in Canadian history textbooks, through a postcolonial theory, to see if they contain bias or prejudices. With a qualitative method, and in comparison to previously conducted studies of textbook bias, four Canadian high-school history textbooks are analyzed. My conclusions show that textbooks are less bias than twenty years ago, but that they from a postcolonial theory perspective still carry tendencies of colonial conceptions.

Les relations entre l'État canadien et les Autochtones sont, depuis 1876, principalement régies par la Loi sur les Indiens. Le 9 octobre 2001, le ministre des affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien présente à la Chambre des communes la Loi sur la gouvernance des Premières nations (LGPN), projet de loi qui, d'affirmer le ministre, constitue une politique charnière en droit fédéral canadien. En effet, la LGPN a pour objet de compléter et de modifier la Loi sur les Indiens afin de préparer, selon les dires du ministre, les communautés autochtones à leur éventuelle émancipation politique. Le discours du gouvernement canadien suggère que la LGPN ouvre la voie à la décolonisation du droit fédéral autochtone puisqu'elle rompt avec l'approche coloniale inhérente à la Loi sur les Indiens. Une grande majorité d'Autochtones s'oppose toutefois à l'adoption de ce projet de loi, l'interprétant comme une reconduction de la politique colonialiste fédérale. L'objectif du présent mémoire est de déterminer si la LGPN annonce véritablement la fin des rapports coloniaux entre le gouvernement canadien et les Autochtones ou si, au contraire, elle n'est que l'expression moderne d'une mesure législative colonialiste. Notre analyse se fonde sur une grille d'identification du colonialisme que nous aurons préalablement établie. Après avoir démontré que la Loi sur les Indiens constitue un exemple paradigmatique de colonialisme, nous tenterons de déterminer si la LGPN se distingue véritablement de la Loi sur les Indiens. Nous conclurons que, bien que comportant certaines mesures positives, la LGPN témoigne de 1'hésitation du gouvernement canadien à changer la nature des relations qu'il entretient avec les Autochtones. / Since 1876, relations between Aboriginals and the federal Crown have always been defined by the Indian Act. On October 2001, the First Nations Governance Act (FNGA) was introduced in the House of Commons by the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northem Development. According to the Minister, the bill is pivotaI in seeking to amend and complement the Indian Act in order to prepare Aboriginals for their future political emancipation. The purported purpose of this new policy is to operate a fundamental shift away from the colonial approach ofthe Indian Act. However, the majority of Aboriginals are opposed to the enactment of the bill since, in their view, it only entrenches the colonial approach embraced by the federal govemment's policies. The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the FNGA will in fact shift away from the colonial approach of the govemment toward Aboriginals or if, on the contrary, is about modemizing colonialism. Our analysis begins with a definition of a framework using indicators to identify colonialism which we will have previously drawn up. Using this framework, we will first demonstrate the colonialist nature of the Indian Act, to then determine whether the FNGA in fact distinguishes itself from the Indian Act. While the FNGA contains sorne steps in a direction of shift away from the colonial approach, it largely reveals that the Canadian govemment still hesitates to change the nature of its relationship with Aboriginals.

The purpose of this study was to examine eight elementary school social studies textbooks using the method of content analysis to analyze the treatment of Indians in the books selected for the study. <p>It was conceded at the outset that not all teaching about Indians is done in social studies programs and not all information about Indians is presented through textbooks. However, it was recognized that the textbook is the basic guide for many teachers and students, and often the single source for historical information presented in social studies courses in elementary school classrooms.<p> For the purposes of content analysis of the textbooks the guidelines of Berelson for content analysis were used to develop the categories. The procedures developed by Dr. Hargopal Dhand of the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon were modified to suit the purpose of this study.<p>Data Work Sheets and Data Summary Sheets were used to gather and record information concerning frequency of occurrence of paragraphs devoted to Indians in the textbooks, topical classification of the paragraphs, illustrative and decorative features of the textbooks, classification of Indians presented, tribes selected, major topics discussed and approval or disapproval of Indians presented. The data were tabulated in both numerical and percentage form.<p>A pilot study and validation procedure were carried out with students and professors of the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan in order to validate the method.<p>It was found that generally the books analyzed gave an incomplete historical picture of Indian-Canadians. It was also found that Indian themes received low priority in the number and quality of illustrative and decorative features in the books.<p> Indians were presented in such a manner as to detract from an understanding of the diversity of Indian cultures, languages and personalities. Indians were presented in a manner that lends itself to the encouragement of broad generalizations concerning an extremely wide variety of people that are classified as Indians.<p>It was also found that there was a lack of variation in the tribes presented; there was a failure to reflect the richness and variety of Indian cultures in Canada; there was a high degree of unfavourable or negative presentation of Indian characters.<p> For the most part Indians just are not there except for the initial contact-with Europeans, the beginning of the fur trade and a brief re-emergence during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.<p> It was concluded that for the most part the textbooks analyzed will not contribute positively to helping Indian and non-Indian elementary school students in Saskatchewan know and understand the Indian dimension of Canadian history and culture.

The purpose of this study was to examine eight elementary school social studies textbooks using the method of content analysis to analyze the treatment of Indians in the books selected for the study. <p>It was conceded at the outset that not all teaching about Indians is done in social studies programs and not all information about Indians is presented through textbooks. However, it was recognized that the textbook is the basic guide for many teachers and students, and often the single source for historical information presented in social studies courses in elementary school classrooms.<p> For the purposes of content analysis of the textbooks the guidelines of Berelson for content analysis were used to develop the categories. The procedures developed by Dr. Hargopal Dhand of the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon were modified to suit the purpose of this study.<p>Data Work Sheets and Data Summary Sheets were used to gather and record information concerning frequency of occurrence of paragraphs devoted to Indians in the textbooks, topical classification of the paragraphs, illustrative and decorative features of the textbooks, classification of Indians presented, tribes selected, major topics discussed and approval or disapproval of Indians presented. The data were tabulated in both numerical and percentage form.<p>A pilot study and validation procedure were carried out with students and professors of the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan in order to validate the method.<p>It was found that generally the books analyzed gave an incomplete historical picture of Indian-Canadians. It was also found that Indian themes received low priority in the number and quality of illustrative and decorative features in the books.<p> Indians were presented in such a manner as to detract from an understanding of the diversity of Indian cultures, languages and personalities. Indians were presented in a manner that lends itself to the encouragement of broad generalizations concerning an extremely wide variety of people that are classified as Indians.<p>It was also found that there was a lack of variation in the tribes presented; there was a failure to reflect the richness and variety of Indian cultures in Canada; there was a high degree of unfavourable or negative presentation of Indian characters.<p> For the most part Indians just are not there except for the initial contact-with Europeans, the beginning of the fur trade and a brief re-emergence during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.<p> It was concluded that for the most part the textbooks analyzed will not contribute positively to helping Indian and non-Indian elementary school students in Saskatchewan know and understand the Indian dimension of Canadian history and culture.

Technological initiatives should be contextualized in the social, cultural and economic sectors. As information and communications technologies (ICT) have evolved with the process of globalization, ICT has played a significant role in supporting the development for both the marginal group and developing countries. In spite of the increasing numbers of ICT development projects, there is a lack of the robust research and evaluation regarding to ICT project outcomes. This study attempts to examine the ICT projects carried out in the Aboriginals community in Taiwan. Drawing the attention to the issues of power, identity, culture, and society, the postcolonial perspective is adopted. As the nature of the problem and the lack of previous understanding of the phenomenon, the interpretive ethnographic method is deployed in order to explore the cultural and social issues involved. During the two-year research, three ICT projects are examined through participate observation, interviews and related data retrieve. From the reviews of these ICT projects, the findings present in three themes: ¡§Technological Utopianism¡¨; ¡§Power Struggle¡¨ and ¡§Polarization¡¨. Although project Principal-initiator, teachers-project members and Parents- the community agree on the potential of ICT, they approach and expect ICT differently as their disparities in their position in the ICT projects, ICT literacy, and limitation from their social/economic reality. Each stakeholder has faced different context and carried different perception and vision toward ICT and ICT projects. After the ICT projects are carried out, the unanticipated and hidden gap of perception results in dissatisfied stakeholders. Although the media cover the project outcomes with positive tone, and both TY School and Principal obtains the reputation in ICT education, teachers are reluctant to execute ICT project and parents are disappointed and think the projects don¡¦t really help them. In order to accomplish these ICT projects under the disharmony, Principal takes advantage of his power from administration of school, knowledge legitimacy, and the control over resources. The power-laden process occurs and the communication gap is unable to close. Moreover, the relationships between stakeholders are eventually polarized. As failing to taking account of the dynamic context difference and lacking of communication, ICT projects in this study fail to deliver its promise to the people they intended to serve.