Tag Archives: self-determination

Entry19: Songs that tell of the Indigenious struggle

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I decide to include these couple of songs since they represeent another form of media that has been used to express the issues of Aboriginal groups.  The first song is remake of Cherokee Reservation, done by Paul Revere and the Raiders.  Watch the youtube video here   and read the lyrics here .   The words of this song ring so true with mny indigenious groups especially during early civilization.

They took the whole Cherokee nation
put us on this reservation
took away our way of life
Tonmahawk and bow and knife
Took away our  native tongue
taught their engish to our young
Even today there is still the fight over schooling and land rights. So the theme of this song is truly timeless.

I follow this song with Cher’s hit, Half-Breed.  This song tells of the struggles of a female Native American with White ancestory.  The first stanza deals with a very common issue in the past and even in present – how are people of ‘not-pure’ lineage treated.  see the full lyrics here.

My father married a pure Cherokee
My mother’s people were ashamed of me 
The indians said I was white by law
The White Man always called me  “Indian Squaw”
I don’t think Cher’s image in this video is a true representation. This is probabely a case of using an image to promote the song and ideas. Definitely some sterotyping being used here.

Through the use of music, important issues of Native Americians are brought to light.  It’s important to remember that Internet technology was not as proficient/common at the time of these songs.  Music was probabely the best medium to spread a message to hundreds or thousands or more people.  furthermore the greater the diversity of medium spreading a message then the greater exposure, and greater support for the movement.

 

Entry 18 : Creative Spirits

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 “Creative Spirits acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples  as the traditional custodians of the land in which we live and work.”  This website offers much information about the Aboriginals of Australia.   This is a very informative site.

Pages include  Aboriginal culture,   Aboriginal resources,  Photography,  Poetry  as well as other features like:

 

http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/selfdetermination/

Entry 16 – the Nunatsiaq News

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The Nunatsiaq News   is a newspaper written about the Inuit and the North.  This newspaper is published in Iqaluit, Nunavut, in 2 official languages: English and Inuktitut.   Each paper offers news, sports, classified, etc written about the people of the North. Through this medium, the Inuit can control the information and image presented about themselves.  The Nunatsiaq News is also offered online as a virtual newspaper.

Module 3.2. Video as Cultural Mediation

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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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE1eKOMUkxg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnp3yZV4ZfI

Module 3.1. Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights

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“What Protection Of Traditional Knowledge Means To Indigenous Peoples”, is an Intellectual Property Watch article, which combines two interviews with two indigenous groups attending the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).
According to the article, both indigenous groups reported that their knowledge (a part of which they consider sacred), had been published, used, and sometimes misappropriated, without their consent. These indigenous groups are demanding that their knowledge be protected through an agreement on international legal tools that prevent “colonizers” from placing their knowledge in public domain.
“When you receive it, you don’t receive it freely to do whatever you want with it, you have obligations to the land, to whatever it is referring, to the spirits or the ancestors. This is a real problem with the public domain. Tribes have often shared their knowledge in the past but they shared it with people who had similar views and concepts and understood these obligations. But now we are in this world with 7 billion people on the Internet”, says Preston Hardison, policy analyst representing the Tulalip Tribes.
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