Tuesday 22 February 2011

The American tribe website i looked at was for the Abenaki nation.

http://www.abenakination.org/

From the outset this website seems to be primarily there to attract donations to the their tribal council, flashing on the first page before we see anything about the people themselves or their culture is 'We would greatly appreciate any support that you can provide!' With details of where to provide it to. This instigation of monetary agenda makes you think initially that their main aim is not celebration and understanding of their history and culture but rather exploitation of it. Working through the site shows more indications of this as the reader is frequently reminded that financial help is needed and donations welcome. The 'marketplace' selling traditional goods has a more prominent position than the information about their history or contemporary life which again shows a greater concern for the commercial aspect of their heritage than awareness of it.

In descriptions of their history they don't particularly focus on the persecution of their people by settlers but more their re-emergence in the last century and what they are doing to further advance that. It champions various programmes they have instigated and initiatives that all focus on the nations community but also the community around them which presents the attitude of the modern day Abenaki to be very socially conscious. They seem to want to work with the communities around them to reduce prejudice on both sides.

Having said that the underlying current through the whole website is money and business, even down to how the website was funded which is stated on every page 'This website was funded through a Rural Business Enterprise Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.' These grants are given to small rural businesses to help them to expand, this ultimately shows that the website was set up primarily as a business and therefore the agenda will always be exploitation of the Abenaki's 'heritage' for fiscal gain.

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