Tag: Youtube

Political activism

Many Indigenous rights issues are finding a platform on social media channels. Garnering support by self-publishing and sharing via social networks is one way that awareness of Indigenous rights is being fostered.

Duncan McCue and Candis Callison, both faculty members with the UBC School of Journalism, describe how social media is transforming Aboriginal politics and activism: Twitter and Facebook allow for Aboriginal people and groups to “subvert mainstream media” (Mccue) and provide a platform and potential for “media democracy” (Callison) (quotes from CBC podcast Spark). Both McCue and Callison provide examples of political discussions and activism on Facebook and Twitter: Aboriginal community discussions and decisions brought in the open so band members living off-reserve can participate and larger organizations like the Union of BC Indian Chiefs organizing themselves to take action.

Tags Facebook, Musqueam, youth, Youtube

Authentic voice

Authentic voice: Telling our own story

Post author By pattyh
Post date December 2, 2012
No Comments on Authentic voice: Telling our own story

The movie Reel Injun tells the history of representation of Aboriginal people in cinema. Stereotypes and caricatures of Indigenous people are prevalent in the media, whether it be news, Hollywood movies, children’s books, or the television.

Jennifer David, who was involved in the establishment of the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN), and recently participated in a panel discussion called Indigenous Perspectives and Representations in the media, summarizes the stereotypes of Native people in traditional media as falling into one of three categories: victims, villains, or vanquished.

Self-publishing through social media is one avenue that allows for the authentic and diverse voices of Indigenous peoples to be shared, thus challenging these stereotypes and creating new representations of Indigenous peoples in the media.

Tags APTN, Cree, music, Red Power Squad, Youtube

Oral tradition

Orality as an element of Web 2.0

Post author By pattyh
Post date December 2, 2012
No Comments on Orality as an element of Web 2.0

Oral tradition among tribal peoples has allowed teachings to be passed on from generation to generation. Elder Larry Grant of the Musqueam people tells his story about the oral history of great earthquakes on the Westcoast of British Columbia: how he remembers as a child being told by his elders about a powerful earthquake that occurred several generations ago. This “story” was “verified” by recent geological evidence of a massive tsunami that occurred on the coast hundreds of years ago.

Tags Candice Hopkins, Larry Grant, moccasin telegraph, Youtube, Zaccheus Jackson

Language

Language learning

Numerous Indigenous activists and academics have argued the importance of language preservation and language learning in cultural revitalization for tribal peoples (see Baker-Williams, 2000 for a literature review and discussion of language revitalization an its role in decolonization) . As a Cree woman who knows scarcely twenty-five words in my native language, I have a strong desire to learn the language my father spoke fluently but did not teach to me. Living in Vancouver, with no direct contact with family members who speak Cree, I have found creative and engaging ways to use social media in my language learning pursuits. Specifically, I have added many counts to this Youtube posting of a Cree language song by Carl Quinn, which has the lyrics posted as a notation to the video:

Tags Cree, music, Youtube