Author Archives: Evonne Tutkaluk

About Evonne Tutkaluk

I am in my first year of my Masters in Educational Technology

Breaking Down Stereotypes

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I’ve found some interesting examples of stereotypes in media and how these can affect Aboriginal youth and Elders today. One video is Canadian and two are Australian. The first video is of Native actor from Winnipeg, Adam Beach and his story. In contrast, the second two are about teaching people/youth about Aboriginals in Australia and the racist, stereotypes they face and how crime has come to play a role. These two videos describe how issues from after the colonization of Australia are vivid today and how youth and Elders alike are affected. They are described in a way that students would listen, learn and perhaps relate. The video is produced using child-like animations which help the youth target audience relate to what they understand of Aboriginal peoples in Australia. These videos were a unique find that will be a great addition to my resources for future work.

Breaking Down Stereotypes: the Adam Beach story
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oA4aYPlBVA[/youtube]

How to Identify Causes and Prevent Aboriginal Youth from Crime (Part 1)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkF0debKmlM[/youtube]

How to Identify Causes and Prevent Aboriginal Youth from Crime (Part 2)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htv4U0F2zOQ&feature=related[/youtube]

Media Awareness of Stereotypes of Aboriginal Australia

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Stereotypes & Prejudice of ‘Aboriginal Australia’ – Media Awareness

http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/people/aboriginal-australia-stereotype.html

This site is user-friendly and easy to navigate with tons of great information about Australian Aboriginals. I really like the amount and variety of information this site provides about Aboriginals in Australia; it’s like one-stop shopping! This site will be an excellent addition to my resources for my research on Elders and Technology and the prejudice and stereotypes they deal with. This site explains the word stereotype first off and then provides a list of different types of stereotypes that Australian Aboriginals typically face typically reinforced in media. The site provides excellent information about media awareness including a section about critically viewing advertising. Mid-way down the page it has a section about tourist advertising and what it doesn’t tell along with examples of what the tourist industry says (advertising) vs what the news tells us. I really like this section, it is quite revealing of what is missing in advertising in the tourism industry.

The site is organized with menus on the left, right and top as well as more information and links at the bottom. On the left, the menu of the website Australia is split into different sections and links to a variety of pages and topics including: Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Aboriginal Resources, Aboriginal Culture, Arts, Education, Health, History, Land, Language, Law & Justice, People, Politics & Media, Self-Determination, Spirituality, Sport and an Index of Places.

On the right, the site includes links to: various other sites including the Aboriginal Awareness site that provides online training and free newsletters, brain games, related articles, Google Ad’s (of course), racism information and guided tour packages to travel to Australia.

At the bottom, it has a variety of links for easy sharing this site and information in our socially & digitally connected world including: Twitter, Facebook, email, a Share This icon, a button to join the site and become a member as well as member sign in. Under these links, there is a Donate button for anyone to wishes to donate to the site – great idea if it’s going to the right place. Other quick links are provided at the bottom.

How Hollywood Stereotyped the Native Americans

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40Discos.com
Related Videos of Stereotyping Indigenous People
http://www.40discos.com/video/_hJFi7SRH7Q.html

This website is a great resource for Module 2’s theme of Stereotypes of Indigenous Peoples. It has great videos about many different aspects of Indigenous peoples and their cultures including many of the different stereotypes that Hollywood has presented and supported of Indigenous peoples. The Youtube video is embedded on the page and links to similar films with similar themes are listed below with a description of the video and the video on the left. The site is user-friendly and easy to navigate. This site will be an excellent resource for my research on Elders and Technology as the Hollywood representation of Indigenous peoples can’t be ignored.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hJFi7SRH7Q&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

The video How Hollywood Stereotyped the Native Americans includes interviews of Indigenous people (some actors) and their thoughts on Hollywood’s representation of their culture and people. They indicated that growing up with these images on film of their people, they never saw their own image in their reality, instead, they saw the fantasized Hollywood version of how their lives and cultures were and should be. It discusses the ‘white audience’ and how they have influenced the content of Native American films. The portrayal fo the white-man was unrealistically positive, always coming out ahead and better than his Indian foe. They confuse the Native American and Euro-American phenomenon and try to perpetuate the image of the savage Native American and white, Western mainstream Again, this correlates well with Module 2’s Prins (2002) reading and his description of the duality of the “paradox of primitivism”. I love the final quote in the film from a Native American: “A Nation that does not know its history has no future!” That’s a very powerful statement and one Western mainstream should acknowledge.

The National Film Board of Canada

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Related videos to stereotyping

http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=32975

The National Film Board of Canada has a website that has great videos about many different aspects of Indigenous peoples and their cultures. It provides a description of the films and then links to the films themselves. Links to similar films are listed on the right. The site is user-friendly and easy to navigate. One interesting series in particular (Daughters of the Country) is about a few different Metis women, their experiences (how some feel torn between their people and their husbands – if they married outside the tribe) and how the Metis (in Canada) had become a forgotten people. One of the films was made in Alberta which I found very intriguing (as I’m an Albertan), I love seeing videos created in Alberta’s beautiful landscape. These videos along with many created by the National Film Board of Canada connect with my topic of Elders and Technology as they depict some of the historical views & stereotypes that Western mainstream society articulates about Indigenous peoples in many different dimensions (including technolgoy) – we may say in correlation with Module 2’s Prins (2002) “paradox of primitivism”.

Common Portrayals of Aboriginal People

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Media Awareness Network
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/aboriginal_people/aboriginal_portrayals.cfm

In my Module 2 searches of stereotypes of Indigenous peoples, I came across this great site by the Media Awareness Network and Media Stereotyping and Common Portrayals of Aboriginal People. This site provides excellent links to other related resources (reports, articles, websites, and even contests) on stereotyping and Indigenous peoples such as: Stereotyping Indians by Omission (Peace Party, 2001); Indian Women as Sex Objects (Blue Corn Comics, 2001); The Basic Indian Stereotypes (Blue Corn Comics); Coyote Goes Hollywood (Native Peoples Magazine, 1997); Indian Princesses and Cowgirls: Stereotypes from the Frontier (An Exhibition by Gail Guthrie Valaskakis and Marilyn Burgess, 1997); Daughters of the Country (NFB, 1987); Stereotype of the Month Contest

It describes the background of stereotypes of Indigenous peoples and how Hollywood has portrayed these stereotypes. This site ties in well with my topic of Elders and Technology and closely correlates with our Module 2 discussions of stereotypes. This site does a great job of addressing different types of Indigenous stereotypes as well as Prins (2002) description of ‘the paradox of primitivism’ and the romantic exoticism embedded in white ideology and Hollywood’s depiction of Indigenous peoples.

It is well designed, aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly, easy to navigate, includes 3 different menu bars. On the right it is organized into the following categories: Overview, Media Violence, Media Stereotyping, Online Hate, Information Privacy and Media and Canadian Cultural Policies. At the bottom, further links to Common Portrayals of Aboriginal People. On the left it has page links for Blog & News, Issues, Research, Educational Games, Special Initiatives, Resource Catalogue, Content Cart, Site Directory, & Help. On top the menu includes home, about us, memberships, supporters, press center, contact us (to find contact information, etc.), a French language choice and a search bar. Excellent information, this site will be one that I will use and reference in the future!

Tech for Elders

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Wired – Tech for Elders Must have Purpose
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2003/02/57429

I found a post on a site that caught my attention:  Tech for Elders Must have Purpose. I like the way this post describes technology gadgets.  It focuses on the idea that seniors and Elders will accept new technology and gadgets if they come in familiar packages.  It goes on to describe ways that older people lose basic skills and that technology can help them regain some of their independence.  They provide examples such as:  the cordless telephone, robot nurses and robot pet companions and finding new uses for old technology.  This site would be beneficial for anyone who would like links to interesting examples of how seniors and Elders can slowly be introduced, get used to and benefit from using technology in their daily lives.  Interesting indeed!  This site coordinates very well with my topic of Elders and Technology and will be useful for future research.

Elders’ Voices

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Elders’ Voices – The History, The People, The Voices
http://www.abheritage.ca/eldersvoices/

Throughout Module 1 we’ve discussed educational goals and how Indigenous communities are different in this regard for a number of reasons and how these differences complicate how Elders are connecting with younger generations.  Technology is very intimidating for Elders and this site acknowledges this fact.  It is a very descriptive site that addresses many of the challenges and barriers as well as benefits of technology use for Elders.  It is well designed, aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly, easy to navigate and organized into three topics:  The History, The Peoples and The Voices.  This site is a useful resource for local Indigenous Peoples or for any others who would like to learn about Alberta and Canadian Indigenous Peoples.  There are various links embedded in the many pages of the site that connect to other sites and examples of Indigenous people and technology use (including challenges and barriers along the way).  This site directly confirms my original thoughts about educating Indigenous Peoples and my reflection on the Lee Brown video.

A direct quote from the site:
“Every line on the face tells of a story experienced rather than heard; every gesture and expression carries the weight of a cultural memory that has been guarded and preserved against the ravages of time and circumstance. These are the stories of Aboriginal Elders, the ones who remember and who speak to the ancient ways of ancient peoples.”  It is for these reasons that this website has been created.  This site reveals how Elders communicate their knowledge and keep cultural traditions alive through their work and daily lives.

Aboriginal Elders Online

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Aboriginal Elders Online – Unique challenges facing Aboriginal Elders
http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/10-11-wt1/www/J_Loyer/challenges-elders.htm

This is one of my favourite finds so far!  This site ties in well with my topic of Elders and Technology.  It is well designed, aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly, easy to navigate and organized into challenges & benefits of technology, social media and elders, tips, references and credits and contact information.  This site does a great job of addressing challenges Aboriginal people encounter with technology as well as unique challenges Aboriginal Elders face and challenges facing seniors in general (as comparison) and will be a great reference for my future work and anyone else, including Indigenous Peoples, that would like to learn more about Indigenous Peoples, their culture, traditions and technology.  I really liked how this site cleverly includes strategies to encourage Elders to explore and experiment with computers and other technology tools (hand-held devices).  Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Skype are social media sites are described as great motivators to encourage internet use by Elders.  This site also describes challenges that caregivers to Elders and seniors are faced and to accommodate for these challenges, tutorial videos and links to relevant sites and other examples of Elder technology use are included to help ease the anxieties.  The site provides advice for Elders on the Tips page: challenges and benefits, approach with caution, get educated and take advantage of accessibility technology.

Digital Stories Preserving History

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Burnett Mary Regional Group – Digital Stories – a new focus to preserve history
http://www.bmrg.org.au/information.php/2/106/382

In my searches of my topic, I stumbled upon a site that highlights workshops and one was specifically about how digital storytelling is saving the stories of Elders from extinction.  However I’m quite angry that there were no links to the information they were describing.  I would have liked to see some examples of what has been created to document histories of local families.  The idea sounds great but disappointing that there’s no proof to see what they’ve come up with.  A good lesson in what to remember to include on a site:  if you talk about examples, provide links or copies of the examples so the audience you’re trying to reach can understand what you’re trying to describe.

Australian Aboriginal Elder’s Stories

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Nganyinytja – Aboriginal Elder of the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia.
http://www.yoni.com/cronef/nganyinytja.shtml

This site was an interesting but frustrating find.  I do love the title:  “Much harm has come from forgetting the land..”  It goes on to describe: “The Australian aboriginal people have lived in harmony with this huge and mainly desert continent for many thousands of years. They know the secrets of the land and they respect and care for it.”  This site compares Western mainstream culture which they term “white government” and Indigenous peoples’ culture through specific Elders stories.  Elder, Nganyinytja, stories and her contributions will be an great addition to my list of resources for future work.  Others who are interested in learning about authentic Elder stories and traditions would also find this an interesting read but they may be discouraged to read further due to the organization of the information.  Although this site includes interesting information, I was disappointed in the aesthetics and design of the site.  The links are all at the bottom and not embedded in the text (perhaps on purpose to ensure you scroll through everything to the bottom).  I would have liked to see more diversity in the topics and suggested links and sources included.  I think it was meant to be a stand-alone piece of writing.