Indigenous people are often underrepresented as well as misrepresented in the media through romanticism, omission, and inaccuracies. For this reason, media exposure does not usually have a positive connotation in relation to Indigenous people. However, this is not always the case. Therefore, it is important to ask, “How can the media be beneficial to Indigenous People?” There are several answers to this question but as explained in the journals, “New Media as a Platform for Indigenous Self-Representation and Socio-Political Activism: As Seen Through TimeTravellerTM and Skins” by Amanda Roy, “Reclaiming Culture: Indigenous People and Self-Representation” by Joy Hendry, and “Indigenous media then and now: Situating the Navajo film project” by Sam Pack, one of the most significant ways it is particularly helpful is that it can be used as a tool for self-representation.
In Roy’s journal, she discusses the platform new media provides Indigenous people with, enabling them to self-represent and share cultures through storytelling. Roy states that Indigenous characters are underrepresented in video games 90% of the time. Many stereotypes, such as Indigenous people all wearing feathered headdresses, exist and are often perpetuated, negatively affecting Indigenous people. Roy claims that new media art provides a way for individuals to network and share projects with Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous people everywhere. In this way, non-Indigenous people are exposed to perspectives different than the current dominant ideology. TimeTravellerTM and Skins are two examples of projects that effectively demonstrate how new media art acts as a platform for self-representation. TimeTraveller includes an Indigenous perspective to historical events but also moves away from the dominant ideology of Indigenous people being in the past by imagining them in the future. Skins teaches participants how to use virtual environments such as video games to tell stories. The community partners involved with Skins help to ensure that language and stories accurately represent history and values of communities. These two projects combat stereotypes by making Indigenous people creators instead of consumers in this area, giving them the power to accurately represent themselves.
Similarly, in her book, Hendry focuses on reclaiming culture identity as well as the way the media’s portrayal of Indigenous people gives people the false idea that some entire groups completely assimilated or were exterminated. She claims that although many have good intentions, it is museum curators, novelists, and filmmakers, who believe they are educating consumers, that are creating this image of Indigenous people as people of the past. She states that Indigenous people want to share cultural differences for future descendants. In her book, Hendry attempts to reverse the idea that these people are “recording disappearing worlds” because Indigenous people are very much present today.
Sam Pack’s journal is about the Navajo film project, an experiment conducted by Sol Worth and John Adair in which film cameras were given to seven Navajo people to determine whether the kinds of films they made would reveal something about the way they perceived the world. This experiment played a role in the movement toward Indigenous self-represent through film. Some people view the film medium as more disadvantageous than advantageous to tribal cultures. However, since this film came out, Indigenous people have increasingly become involved with film production and have taken more control of how Indigenous people are typically portrayed in movies. They have used film and other mediums to communicate ideas, self-represent, and to resist “outside domination.”
As seen in these journals by Roy, Hendry, and Pack, media is not always detrimental and can actually be beneficial to Indigenous people as it provides a platform for self-representation and allows them to tell stories and communicate with a wider audience. Although stereotypes continue to come from underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Indigenous people, it is less of a problem with the outlets themselves and more of a problem with the people who inaccurately portray Indigenous people in books and films. If used properly, the media can act as an important tool for self-representation and facilitate the lessening or elimination of stereotypes about Indigenous people and will continue to in the future.
