Re: [Paddlewise] ACA Greenland certific

Tim;

When I say 'denigrates the ACA' I mean that the ACA is now taking a
stance that it is wanting to certify aspects of seakayaking that have
little to do with the critical judgement and the skills necessary to be
safe on the water and instead is wanting to stand in a place of
authority over an area of seakayaking that has, in the past (and outside
of Greenland), been relegated to historical and ethno-kayaking buffs . I
also find it denigrating to the developing role of the ACA as the
national "benchmark" of kayaking safety in the US to develop a course
such as this (with certification as the goal) simply because there is a
demand in the market. It makes matters infinately worse that the culture
that created seakayaing and evolved with and because of seakakyaking for
well over a thousand years was not even consulted. 
It speaks at best to a gross insensitivity and at worse to an attempt at
control over an area to which it has no right other than
self-proclaimed. 
The crux of the contoversy is the ACA wanting to grant certification. 
Certification allows the ACA and its instructors to charge applicants
and students for instruction for which it is not qualified to provide. 
Who is certifying the certifiers?  What connection do they have to the
Greenland National Kayak League or to the elders that sanctioned them? 
You say that the need to provide consistancy between their instructors
is the compelling reason for the ACA wanting to establish a
certification process.  This sort of rational can be used to justify
anything.  
If the ACA is willing to compromise its standards in this instance for
the sake of market demands or any other non-compelling reason, it brings
the entire organization into question.

John Winskill

Mattson, Timothy G wrote:
> 
> Ahhh come on John, the desire by the ACA to define a Greenland-style
> paddling certificate in no way denigrates the ACA.
> 
> There is market driven demand for instruction in Greenland-style paddling.
> Maybe you aren't the sort of person who likes to take kayaking classes, but
> I for one find them quite valuable.  When I bought my greenland paddle a
> couple years ago, I  would have loved some instruction with the paddle.
> 
> There is demand in the market, and the ACA jumped in to provide some
> consistency between instructors.  This is clearly in the scope of their
> charter --- not some desire to validate their personnel preferences.
> 
> I'm not saying they couldn't have handled this better. Maybe they've jumped
> the gun and the style needs to gel more before a course can be defined.
> Maybe they should have consulted with Greenlanders before defining the
> course.  But to say the course denigrates the ACA is going  a bit too far.
> 
> --Tim
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John C. Winskill
> To: Nick Schade
> Cc: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
> Sent: 7/12/99 12:21 PM
> Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] ACA Greenland certific
> 
> Nick;
> 
> I agree with you.  If the ACA feels compelled to certify Greenland-style
> paddling, let them call it something else.
> Another point:  I fail to understand why the ACA wants to do this at
> all.  The ACA understood in the light of standing for paddling safety
> and consistant standards in the United States makes sense to me.  Their
> wanting to certify a technique that is outside of the safety/standards
> issue is confusing and really serves in my view to denigrate the ACA.
> It's as though a group of people are wanting to validate their hobby and
> thereby themselves.  OK, so they like thier skinny paddles.  It's a
> personal preference thing.  There's no reason to build a whole official
> certification process around it.
> Who BTW, is certifying the certifiers?  If they feel so passionate about
> it why don't they get their training from the source?  Consult the
> Greenlanders.  Its not an unreasonable request.
> 
> Then again, I'm thinking;  You know, I had the first Romany on the West
> Coast, and I'm sure, one of the first in the country.  What say I create
> a Romany paddling certification school.  The WSR (Winskill School of
> Romany's).  What do you think?  We could begin classes for instructors
> this fall.  Any takers?
> 
> John Winskill
>
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************