Tag Archives: aboriginal media

Module 2 – Post 5 – Who are the Metis?

The Metis Nation of Ontario website provides a great resource for research into Metis culture. The Website provides a look into Metis culture from both a historical and a contemporary point of view, including areas such as language, leaders, symbols and traditions.

The website also provides information on current and ongoing legislative battles that the Metis are engaging in with provincial and federal governments to regain and perpetuate their rights and culture. Particular attention is given to reference to the Powley case, which has reaffirmed the Metis right to maintaining their culture through hunting and gathering activities on their traditional lands.

I think the Metis Nation of Ontario’s website is a good example of using the technology of the internet to both protect and further the culture of the Metis People.

The website can be found here: Metis Nation of Ontario

Module 2 – Post 4 – Aboriginal Portrayal in Media

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The docudrama Nanook of the North shows clearly the stereotype of the simple, noble savage that has been popularized in western culture. That film was shot in 1922, but have societies changed their view much since then? Of course we would like to think so, but is that true? In a study of the portrayal of Aboriginal peoples in film and television, the media literacy charity Media Smarts conducted a study of this subject to see how much depictions have changed over the years. The most common problems uncovered can be best classified as mis-representation. They usually are: Romanticization, Historical Inaccuracies, Stereotyping by Omission, and Simplistic Characterizations. These flaws in the depictions of Indigenous peoples have the affect of skewing the portrayal of these groups in an manner which does not dispel myths and stereotypes but may actually increase them by providing confusing and improperly researched information to audiences. This article is very good at identifying the most significant issues on this subject.

http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/aboriginal-people/common-portrayals-aboriginal-people

Module 2: Post 5 – Aboriginal Education Rates

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Some stats comparing aboriginal education rates compared to non-aboriginal groups according to a 2011 National Household Survey conducted by Statistics Canada. It clearly shows aboriginal Canadians continuing to lag behind non-aboriginals in educational attainment, with the largest gap still at the university level. (source:http://o.canada.com/news/nhs-aboriginal-indigenous-education/).

COMPARING EDUCATION RATES

Highest level of education, aboriginals vs. non-aboriginals:

University degree

Aboriginal: 9.8 per cent

Non-Aboriginal: 25.9 per cent

College diploma

Aboriginal: 20.6 per cent

Non-Aboriginal: 21.3 per cent

Trades certificate

Aboriginal: 14.4 per cent

Non-Aboriginal: 12.1 per cent

High school

Aboriginal: 22.8 per cent

Non-Aboriginal: 23.2 per cent

No certificate, diploma or degree

Aboriginal: 28.9 per cent

Non-aboriginal: 12.1 per cent

A segment from the The Agenda with Steve Paikin, discusses with a panel of advisors on the issue of aboriginal education based on Statistics Canada, 2006 census. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DZC5Cezs1o. What caught my attention the most was aboriginals who attained university degree’s showed employment rates virtually at parity compared to their non-aboriginal counterparts.

Module 2: Post 3 – Deconstructing Stereotypes in the Media

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Today’s blog article in the Toronto Star caught my attention as it deals with debate between the politics of sports, namely NFL football, and racial discrimination: “Washington Ponders ‘Redskins,’ By Any Other Name.” (September 8, 2013).

I feel this ties in with the on-going (and perhaps intensifying) challenge of deconstructing stereotypes we are learning about in this module of the course. Here is a recent video interview (NBC News Sept 6, 2013) of Oneida Indian Nation representative Ray Halbritter from Changethemastcot.org (a campaign to address stereotypes in print and other media).

Although I’m not an NFL fan, I’m a sports fan, and I understand both sides of the issue in using Indian monikers in sports. A dichotomy in the protection of cultural rights exists: one side argues of an 80 year heritage that brings pride out of a winning sports legacy, while the other argues a portrayal that is denigrating and dehumanizing to a large segment of the population.

Do major league sports teams like the Braves, Blackhawks, and Redskins fall under the motive of “wanabees” described by the Zimmerman et al (2000) reading? As he asserts, “Many Indian people see wannabes as a hodgepodge stereotype of their cultures, with practices taken out of context, usually in a disrespectful way.” (p. 72) One of the things that comes to my mind in sports media is the Atlanta Braves Tomahawk Chop Chant song. I can totally understand how this is viewed as offensive to native groups and why they will continue to fight for legislation change that prohibits media from portraying Indians as “a people of the past with little present-day material on it, a major stereotype rejected by many Indian people.” (p. 76).

I do believe that sports organizations and fans do not mean any offense to native groups, but I agree with the stance that “The point is that it’s about context… If you called them the (Washington) ‘Americans’ and had a contemporary native image, that’s inclusive. That’s much different than singling us out and calling us by that name and have the image of a stereotypical native American from the 19^th century, as though we’re not still around.” – Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonians National Museum of the American Indian.

Module 2 – Post 3 – Virtual Museum

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The Virtual Museum of Canada has a great website entitled “Back to Batoche”. The website is a virtual museum of sorts, and includes both historical and contemporary information on Metis culture. The website is organized into two sections with many subsections each:

1885 Batoche

Involvement from Other Places

Duck Lake
Fish Creek
Red River
Western Canada
Central Canada

Areas of Interest

Tipi
Farm Life
General Store
House Visit
School/Post Office
Church
Cemetary
Battlefield
Middleton’s Zareba
Red River Cart
Northcote

Key People

Gabriel Dumont
Louis Riel

Present day Batoche

Areas of Interest

Festival House
Race Course
Voyageur Games
Grandstand
Fire Pit
Souvenir Stand

Visit Town of Batoche

Visitor Reception
Church
Zareba
East Village
Rifle Pits and River Lots

The website includes video clips, sound recordings, photographs, and drawings that depict the various sections. The website also includes interviews, recipes, games, language lessons, and more. It would be a great resource for anyone wishing to explore aspects of Metis history related to the 1885 Resistance and/or contemporary Metis culture.

The website is here: Back to Batoche

Module 2 – Post 2 – National Film Board of Canada

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While researching Nanook of the North and looking for other film based cultural media, I came across the Daughters of the Country film series that was produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The series dramatize general themes and time periods in Metis history, from 1770 to present day. Film descriptions provided by NFB Canada. All films are available on the National Film Board of Canada’s website for online viewing, and/or purchase.

The films are:

1) Ikwe – This film features a young Ojibwa girl from 1770 who marries a Scottish fur trader and leaves home for the shores of Georgian Bay. Although the union is beneficial for her tribe, it results in hardship and isolation for Ikwe. Values and customs clash until, finally, the events of a dream Ikwe once had unfold with tragic clarity.

2) Mistress Madeleine – This film, set in the 1850s, unfolds against the backdrop of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s monopoly of the fur trade. In protest, some Métis engage in trade with the Americans. Madeleine, the Métis common-law wife of a Hudson’s Bay Company clerk, is torn between loyalty to her husband and loyalty to her brother, a freetrader. Even more shattering, a change in company policy destroys Madeleine’s happy and secure life, forcing her to re-evaluate her identity.

3) Places Not Of Our Own – This film, set in 1929, depicts how Canada’s West, home to generations of Métis, was taken over by the railroads and new settlers. As a result, the Métis became a forgotten people, forced to eke out a living as best they could. At the forefront is Rose, a woman determined to provide her children with a normal life and an education despite the odds. But due to their harsh circumstances, a devastating and traumatic event transpires instead.

4) The Wake – This film , set in contemporary Alberta, is the story of the love affair that blossoms between a well-meaning Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and a young Metis woman. The Metis have a strong sense of community but there is also a feeling of separateness defined by racial origins and economics. In this atmosphere, the romance offers a new sense of hope. Then, during a dark winter’s night on a frozen lake, something happens to change the lovers’ lives forever.

The films are available here: National Film Board of Canada

Module 2 – Post 1 – Thinking Critically

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Assessing and Validating Resources— Aboriginal Heritage

The Assessing and Validating Resources document was created by the Library and Archives of Canada as a tool to help researchers in vetting their sources. As quoted from the document: ” The assessment tool for validating appropriate content introduces critical thinking and analysis when locating and using both primary and secondary sources. The following checklist assists the researcher to consider how resources present Aboriginal documentary heritage, in text and imagery.”

This tool seems like it would be very helpful to use in the evaluation of cultural resources. The questions are straight forward and easy to understand. In addition, the questions explore a variety of important areas related to content production, language, imagery, Indigenous knowledge vs world views, and traditional vs contemporary portrayals of First Nations Inuit and Metis. While the resource could be made easier with the addition of a scale or checklist, it nevertheless provides though provoking questions that encourage critical reflection. I can’t help but think that if the US school system used this kind of tool then maybe a book like “The Education of Little Tree” would not have made it into their curriculum.

Assessing and Validating Resources— Aboriginal Heritage

Module 1 – Post #5 – Sharing Insights

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Media Indigena is a multimedia magazine which began as a collective of 7 Aboriginal bloggers from Canada, but seeks to aggregate and debate Indigenous news and creative/interactive works from across the world.

The site offers multimedia content and commentary on current issues in Indigenous arts and culture, business and politics. Of all the sites I have visited so far in my research, this one has presented some of the most interesting snapshots of Aboriginal contributors exploring expressions of their cultures and the relative states of their traditions and knowledge. One of the posts from June of last year is titled Why there ain’t no such a-thing as “Aboriginal culture”. This post touches on the important distinctions between terms such as “nations”, “confederacy”, “bands”, etc. It also demonstrates the challenging balance of interests between uniting against colonialism and maintaining strong identities as individual and unique cultures. This is a theme that I’m sure we will return to throughout this course.

As I proceed through my research, I’m sure that the voices that come through in this online magazine will provide important benchmarks against which to check my assumptions.

Module 1 – Post #3 – Elder Stories

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As we have progressed through Module 1, my attention has been drawn numerous times to the idea of film and rich media as vehicles for the sharing of indigenous knowledge and storytelling.

www.ourelderstories.com is the home site for Voices in the Wind Productions, by Dr. Judy Iseke (Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Research). Dr. Iseke’s work “…includes challenging appropriation and misrepresentation of Indigenous knowledges in mainstream art and media as well as sharing Indigenous pedagogies in educating communities and aiding in sustaining Indigenous cultures.” The site offers downloadable files for Dr. Iseke’s five short films, a number of her journal articles, and Cree and Michif language links.

Each of Dr. Iseke’s films tells a story of its own. One of the films, “Understanding What Life is About”,offers concrete messages about the use of storytelling in Indigenous communities.

I hope to delve further into the strengths and weaknesses of sharing traditional culture through digital media. However, right now, for me, these works stand as examples of how effectively a message can be communicated when simple words,sounds and images are combined.

Module 1 – Post 1: Residential Schools

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Reading the Hare article pinched a nerve for me. It reminded me of a made for TV Canadian movie called Where the Spirit Lives (click to view in new window) which came out in 1989. I remember my impression of the movie as a young boy coming to know the dark yet true past of Canadian Heritage. As a Canadian born Chinese, who’s great great grandfather helped build the railroad, I think it made me somewhat more sensitive to this “painful legacy” that Canadians share.

Having watched the movie again in adulthood and learning about Indigenous Knowledge in Education, I think the film does a remarkable job in depicting what these schools were like, for students and teachers. I’m sure much worse things happened that could not be presented in the movie, but it fits in with what Hare describes as “the denigration of indigenous knowledge that was embedded within traditional cultural practices, values, ways of living, and languages…and the inter-generational trauma it (residential schools) left for individuals, families, and communities.” (p. 98 & 101)

With my Christian background, it also saddens me how deceptive and powerful religious lies can be, and the danger of misguided zeal in many ‘missionary’ work – past and present. Well, I don’t have an answer for how we can learn from past mistakes, but as Lee Brown and Hare point out, there needs to be some kind of “nurturing of emotional, social, cognitive, and spiritual development” that promotes, rather than destroys community. And we are starting to really learn that the old industrial-age education model is outdated and needs serious reform.