Tag Archives: indigenous storytelling

Module 4 Weblog – Posting #5 – Community Storytelling

My final weblog post provides an example of an Indigenous community representing themselves through the use of digital storytelling.

The Georgina Island Storytelling Project is a project of the Chippewas of Georgina Island in Ontario. The site hosts a collection of existing stories and invites the contribution of new stories. The stories cover the history of the community beginning in the 1800s up to the present day. Viewers may search for stories based on a variety of topics such as commerce, island life, health, and governance and administration. The site itself also includes links to information regarding services in the community.

The combination of all of these stories provides a very vivid idea of each contributor’s personal story, and also of their sense of themselves in the larger community. As a living project, the site also provides guidance and options for those who wish to share their own stories and add to the expressions of the heritage and identity of their people.

Module 4 Weblog – Post #4 – Healing Through Storytelling

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Through my research, I have come to understand that a key strength of digital storytelling is not simply the media file that presents the story; more specifically it is the process that led to the creation of that media.

Kookum (Grandmothers) and Youth Circles is a workbook developed to support an Equay-wuk (Women’s Group) workshop held in the winter of 2012. This group supports the needs and interests of women in the 31 First Nation communities in remote Northwestern Ontario. The workshop and the workbook both provided opportunities for both elders and youth to consider the stories that they had to tell, including their experiences of the Residential Schools – either first hand or through inter-generational impacts.

Reviewing the workbook provides tremendous insights into the types of reflection and strategies that can help contribute to people sharing their own stories as a means of healing themselves and, in some cases, those around them.

Module 4 Weblog – Post #1 – Traditional Languages – New Media

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The Our World website shares the results of a series of film making workshops that have been carried out in numerous First Nations communities in BC and Yukon. The project was originally a National Film Board initiative, but more recently has been supported by an organization known as Bite Size Media.

The stories found on this site are all examples of First Nations collaborating with elders to learn more about their language and culture. Most of the videos are narrated in a traditional language, and in some cases, share traditional stories, songs and dances. However, many of the pieces also share very poignant perspectives on the loss of culture and the film makers’ struggles to define their own identities. The site is organized according to the places in which the film making workshops have taken place. As such it provides a sense of the unique nature of each people and its youth as well as how these media pieces were received by the communities in which they were created.

One of the most notable things that I found about this site was the range of approaches and techniques chosen by the young people who created these digital stories. The videos are visually very diverse and have clear and distinct voices. Nonetheless, I found, they all result in a very similar and significant impact on the viewer.

Module 4 – Post 2 – The Metis Raconteur

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Susan Greig is a health care professional and storyteller who lives in the lower mainland of BC. Through her blog, “The Metis Raconteur” Susan shares her Metis heritage and culture with others. From the blog:

“Traditional Métis storytellers related family and community history, stories, lessons and customs around camp fires, or while going about daily activities such as sewing, harvesting berries, or hunting and fishing. Following in my ancestors footsteps I have been writing and telling stories since the fourth grade and my most cherished memories of storytelling are the narratives I would weave for my children at bed time each night. Blogging is also storytelling and this is where I plan to chronicle more of my family story and to share items and news about Métis culture, particularly anything to do with writing or the arts.”

While most of “The Metis Raconteur” site is dedicated to Metis current events and happenings, links are also provided to Metis associations from across Canada, other Metis bloggers, as well Susan’s paintings and published books. The site is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and provides god insight into Metis culture. I recommend browsing through when you have a chance – it’s worth a read.

The blog can be found here: http://metisraconteur.com/

Module 3 Weblog – Post #2 – Native Daughters

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The role of women in preserving traditional Native American language and customs is outlined in the multimedia article Native Storytellers Connect the Past and Future. This article is found on the website Native Daughters, a project of the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

The site includes contributions by a group of Native American women and young girls described as:

Artists
Environmentalists
Healers
Lawgivers
Leaders
Storytellers, and
Warriors

Through video clips and text content, some very interesting perspectives are shared. While similar topics/themes are covered in these pieces to some of the film and video material from Module 3 of this course, there are certainly areas where the perspectives differ, e.g. the idea/definition of warrior. For me, this is an important reminder of how critical context/place/community is to Indigenous knowledge and culture.

Module 3 – Post 3 – Voices in the Wind Productions

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Voices in the Wind Productions is the website of Dr Judy Iseke, who is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Research and Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Dr. Iseke’s work is focused on “challenging the appropriation and misrepresentation of Indigenous Knowledge in mainstream art and media.” Dr. Iseke received a $500,000 grant in 2012 for Michif language research, the results of which will be presented on the website. The site also contains some short films (descriptions sourced from the website) with aspects of storytelling and traditional knowledge:

How the Spirit Moves – In this animated short film, we see the human beings who enter the lodge in their spirit form and the animal spirits who help them heal.

A Living History of Metis Families as told by Dorothy Chartrand – Dorothy Chartrand, a Métis grandmother, tells the story of her Metis families as their lives are affected by the political and social change that impacted Métis lives in the 1800s to today.

Grandmothers of the Metis Nation – This film shares Metis grandmothers stories and histories told by the grandmothers and a narrator, to understand the complex roles and responsibilities of Metis women in the past and today.

Understanding What Life is About – Storytelling with Tom McCallum – Tom McCallum (White Standing Buffalo), Métis Elder and storyteller, explains that stories are a history of our people from many lifetimes and that stories are real. In English, with some Cree, he shares 6 entertaining stories which have been animated.

Paper Mache Totem Poles – Misrepresentation, appropriation, and denigrating Indigenous knowledge is still common practice in educational institutions despite efforts of critical educators to challenge these practices.

If you have time for only one, I recommend “Paper Mache Totem Poles”, as it does a nice job of exposing problematic representational practices common to Western education

Module 3 – Post 2 – Longhouse Media

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Image Source: http://www.longhousemedia.org/about.html

After viewing this week’s video, “March Point” I wanted to try to find out more about its origins. Through an internet search, I discovered that March Point is a production of Longhouse Media, a Washington State non-profit organization. The production was completed as part of their “Native Lens” program.

“The mission of Longhouse Media is to catalyze indigenous people and communities to use media as a tool for self-expression, cultural preservation, and social change.”

The Longhouse Media website provides information on the organization’s current and past video productions (including March Point), their mandate and rationale, latest news and upcoming events, and also links to many other Indigenous artists and Native Organizations.

I found the website to be visually appealing, quite user friendly and easy to navigate. I liked the fact that the website was very positive in nature, and seemed to be based around a message of hope. I also really appreciated the information provided on the “About Us” and “News” pages as they give a lot of background information as to both the history and future of this talented and dedicated group.

The website can be found here: Longhouse Media

Module 2 – Post #3 – Generational Journeys

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As part of my research into digital storytelling as a means of expression for indigenous culture and knowledge, I have been seeking out digital stories that are shared online for public review and consideration.

Six such stories have been made available through the Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence, and their project kiskino mâto tapanâsk: Intergenerational Effects on Professional First Nations Women Whose Mothers are Residential School Survivors . Each storyteller, in this project, has a unique perspective on the long term effects of the residential school system on her family and relationships. However, as Lisa Forbes states in the opening of her video story, there is a great value in viewing all of these pieces together, to understand the collective strength of their message. Each woman has the opportunity to introduce her digital story, providing insight into her choices and her motivation for the piece. While much of the material has a sombre tone, there is also a common thread of strength and resilience passed along from one generation to the next. The journeys of these storytellers provide snapshots of the ongoing legacy of the residential schools, but also reflect the plans and hopes of these women for the generations that follow them.

Module 2 – Post #2 – “Return of Treasures”

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While contemplating the ideas of culture and commodification in this Module, I discovered a website that has been compiled by the U’Mista Cultural Society. The website associates the meaning of U’Mista with the return home of captives who may have been abducted in raids. It then identifies the return of artifacts or treasures of the Kwakwaka’wakw people from foreign institutions and collections as a form of U’Mista.

A wonderful link from this site is the Story of the Masks. This site uses text, images, video and simple games/quizzes to introduce and share the stories of the Kwak’wala speaking people of the Northwest Coast of B.C. The site includes many personal accounts of how masks and/or regalia, along with their stories, have been passed along through generations.

This site is also part of a much larger, quite interesting institution known as the Virtual Museum of Canada. This initiative seems to me to be a wonderful way to allow a diverse range of communities and groups to share their stories and educate others about their culture while at the same time protecting the things most sacred to those cultures and ensuring that they are physically located in the places where they belong.

The Story of the Masks has given me much food for thought as I pursue my research regarding digital stories and indigenous knowledge and culture.

Mod 2:1 Mary Greyeyes

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A popular representation of First Nations people is that of the “noble savage.” The character of Nanook in Nanook of the North is a prime example of the noble savage who lives off the land using traditional tools against the elements of nature. The noble savage is a romanticized representation that serves to contrast First Nations peoples with modern western culture. At best, the noble savage image makes us gaze in awe at a long-gone past, at worst it is a deliberate misrepresentation that reinforces a stereotype.

There is a photo in the Canadian War Museum archives once labelled, “Unidentified Indian princess getting blessing from her chief and father to go fight in the war.” and currently, wrongly, labelled, “Mary Greyeyes being blessed by her native Chief prior to leaving for service in the CWAC” Neither is accurate. It is interesting to think of the purpose of this picture with the captions originally given it. I’m not sure that I would have questioned the second title (the first does seem far fetched) but it certainly serves to paint a rosy picture of First Nations people in the second world war. The story of this picture does not belong to me so I will let you read it from the source.