In 2012 the TD bank put together a report, entitled Debunking Myths Surrounding Canada’s Aboriginal Population. based on their own findings and the findings of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. The purpose was to set the record straight, and replace stereotypes with facts to foster an enlightened national conversation.
Tag Archives: Stereotypes
Common Portrayals of Aboriginal People
Media Smarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy
Media Smarts is an organization which develops digital and media literacy programs and resources for Canadian homes, schools and communities. They work to support adults with information and tools so they can help children and teens develop the critical thinking skills they need for interacting with the media.
They have a section which explores common portrayals of aboriginal people, and provides resources, such as tip sheets, and lesson plans for parents and educators.
Worldviews and Aboriginal Cultures: Where hearts are rooted
https://education.alberta.ca/media/307113/o02.pdf
This article provides an insightful view into the historical relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the European settlers. It reiterates that education is the key to recognizing the wrongs that have been committed and by acknowledging the broken past, bridges to a more positive relationship can be made. It includes information about the major historical events and what kind of impact they have had on the lives of Aboriginal people. It brings to light the notion of incorporating Aboriginal content in ways such as creating a foundation for a solid classroom community or recognizing how our individual actions affect those around us.
module 3 post 4
Project 562
This engaging Tedx Talk by Matika Wilbur tells stories and histories of Native Americans that she has documented during her Project 562, a quest to accurately and authentically show and tell the stories from each of the officially recognized tribes in the USA. (Now 566)
Makita wishes to compact the stereotypes and one-dimensional portrayals of Native American images in the media.
Ted Talk- Changing the Way we see Native Americans https://youtu.be/GIzYzz3rEZU
Project 562 http://www.project562.com
Module 2 Entry 2
New Disney film to exploit the culture of Native Hawaiians?
I was lucky enough to be in Hawaii this week. I heard on the news while I was there was that a local teenager, Auli’i Cravalho, had been cast as Moana in the upcoming Disney film. You can see a brief story/reaction here. This is important to ETEC 521 students as it is another media production that warrants critical analysis as to cultural authenticity, cultural appropropriation and commodification.
Media and Indigenous Representation
The F.A.I.R. MEDIA – (For Accurate Indigenous Representation) Facebook page is an effort to secure accurate representations of Indigenous Cultures in the public sphere. Many of the posts are about stereotypical, racist depictions or cultural appropriation of Indigenous people in the mainstream culture.
Understanding Prejudice
http://www.understandingprejudice.org/teach/native.htm
This is a U.S. website that teachers with a checklist with do’s and don’ts when teaching students about aboriginal issues. The checklist invites the teachers and students to challenge the stereotypes of aboriginal people
The Runner – A Video Vignette on Stereotypes
In an attempt to delve further into the content of module 2, I searched for a website on recognizing stereotypes and how colonialism has defined Indigenous people. What I came across was a Vimeo video published in 2011 called The Runner. This vignette provides the perspective of Canadian youth, teachers as well as academics on this topic. This video talks about the impacts of stereotypes in general and then focuses on how the media represents aboriginals. The “meat” of this piece is the discussion around how media representation (misrepresentation) of First Nations communities affect the individual. This pieces allowed me to get closer to understanding how stereotypes can impact a culture and begin to see how this can begin to possibly erode a culture.
The use of this technology, the video vignette, provides a forum for communicating identity and stereotypes, with the intent to breakdown the stereotypes for future generations. This video could be useful to high school/post-secondary educators to create a discussion around stereotypes and First Nations populations.
To view this video: http://runnermag.ca/2011/11/stereotypes-of-first-nations/
Ronaye Kooperberg (Module 2 – Blog Post 3)
Module 3, Post 3 – 8th Fire: Indigenous in the City
CBC’s Indigenous in the City is the first episode of a four-part series (8th Fire) discusses Canada’s urban Aboriginal population and how they are working in effort to challenge stereotypes and maintain their traditional culture while living in cities among a large population of non-Indigenous people.
In this 45-minutes documentary, various topics are discussed such as stereotypes, racism, crime, poverty, education, residential schools and history from First Nations’ perspectives. Also highlighted are successful stories of a lawyer, comic book author, musicians, a teacher and a multimedia artist, who question, challenge and break down stereotypes. It’s a great film that exposes the troubled relationship between Aboriginal and non-aboriginal people and examines ways in which barriers can be brought down in order to begin building new relationships.
I also found this educator’s guide that presents questions for students to reflect on and answer while watching each of the episodes followed by instructional activity suggestions.
Module 2, Post 3 – Stereotypes
Stereotypes in Media and Beyond
This is an organization that provides companies training to work with First Nations. This article talks about the various stereotypes about First Nations culture and people and provides some links to other resources.
http://www.ictinc.ca/blog/the-enduring-nature-of-first-nation-stereotypes
This is a website that identifies the different stereotypes that have been present in the portrayal of First Nations in various media. It is a general website for digital and media literacy.
http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/aboriginal-people/common-portrayals-aboriginal-people
Catherine