Image Source : Media Awareness Network

The Impact of Stereotyping on Young People

This is a link to an article published on the Medial Awareness Network website. While the site is  not dedicated to indigenous issues, the featured article reports on how media stereotypes can impact an aboriginal youth’s self-image.

An interesting point was made regarding association with gang activity and how media perpetuates the notion to the extent that youth tend to over exaggerate gang activity base on media messaging that re-enforce the stereotype.

The site may contain useful resources for teachers. Some examples are Deconstructing On-Line Hate and Exploring Media and Race.

Native American wannabes: Beware the Weasel Spirit

This is a link to a lighter web-based news journal with no academic credibility, however, I can tie it to Module 2 reading Cyberspace Smoke Signals.  It just highlights the absurdity to which wannabes have attached themselves to indigenous cultures and, in an not so funny way, how it has been so destructive to some groups ( Lakota).

The image below  is a still from a popular children’s movie called Imagine That. The character, Johnny Whitefeather (claiming to be 1/32 native) portrays an abomination of pan-Indian stereotypes .

Source : IMDB Johnny Whitefeather

Image Source : Shingwauk Project

The Shingwauk Project offers former residential school students with information to assist with claims and also serves as a vehicle to foster “healing and rebuilding”. In addition to providing services to “clientele”, the project aims to educate the public on “the trials of residential school survivors”.

This seems to be an example of a project that provides services within and external to the community( including links to archives that are password protected).

Shingwauk (now part of the Algoma University Campus), was one of three large residential schools along the north shore of Lake Huron. The other two were located in Spanish and Wikweminkong.

It was interesting to read the project’s Text and  Image Policy. While it maintains that the images remain the property of the residential school survivors  who have shared them, educational use is permitted as long as credit is given.  The policy also warns of third-party use for commercial purposes, a subject that has come up in our readings and seems to be a valid a concern when sharing cultural property especially if used by “wannabes” who may distort, confuse, or misrepresent information.

Shingwauk is hosting a national Residential School Gathering on July 1-3, 2011.

The Weengushk Film Institute, located on Manitoulin Island, (ON) has the following vision statement:

Our vision enables the engagement and cultural advancement of underserved communities in Canada and abroad, particularly Aboriginal Youth and students of culturally diverse origins.  We strive to create an environment of understanding and respect for traditions, culture, stories and societal changes of a specific group.

In addition to the cultural aims, it is also an educational institute where students learn many aspects of film and media including, production, and editing using the computer technology.

Promoting the institute has been a challenge. There has been some turnover with Executive Directors . A new posting has recently been released. It is interesting to note  in the qualifications section the following statement.  “Experience working within the Aboriginal culture and community coupled with an understanding of the film and television industry will be an asset” . Management, organization, fundraising, and other “ business” skills are strongly emphasized.

I’m not sure if this is a reflection of some of the challenges involved in sustaining these ventures. There seems to be an inherent challenge in producing works that are viable vs. those that convey focused cultural  messages to the intended (local) audience.

From a review of the web-site it appears that a more pan-cultural approach is taken in order to highlight important issues that affect indigenous group both nationally and internationally.

The following is a trailer for a Weengushk produced film.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS6A0St17m0[/youtube]

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]

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.