Faye Ginsburg, in her essay ‘Indigenous media: Faustian contract or global village?’ discusses the importance of videos produced by indigenous people in pursuit of self-determination as an act of resistance with the intention of making their voices heard in the face of cultural domination be Western media.
One should note that American and Australian indigenous people began to make their own videos in the early 1970’s, which became more prevalent by late 1980’s. The films produced typically tackle indigenous cultural and historical themes, promote indigenous art (music, dances, stories), rituals, sports, health, elders’ biographies, and mostly, the contemporary life of those indigenous groups.
Faye Ginsburg proposes “that when other forms are no longer effective, indigenous media offers a possible means – social, cultural, and political – for reproducing and transforming cultural identity among people who have experienced massive political, geographic, and economic disruption.” (p. 94).
The article can be retrieved on: https://files.nyu.edu/fg4/public/pdfs/Ginsburg%20-%20Indigenous%20Media%20Faustian%20Contract.pdf
Below are movie trailers of two Indigenous documentaries, Croker Island Exodus, and Coniston, telling stories of struggle, survival, self-determination, love, and compassion.