For this project I have chosen to focus on the representation of Indigenous peoples in film and media. My main interest is in dissecting the ways in which Indigenous identities are produced and represented in mainstream film and media. A lot of my thinking comes from the film “Reel Injuns”, which works to give a brief history of Indigenous representation in Hollywood film and media. While the film does offer a strong critique and solid timeline of Indigenous representation in film, the colonial implications of these stereotypes and produced identities needs more exploration.
Using the film as a jumping off point for my thinking, I hope to examine the ways in which the production of a hyper-masculine, mythological presentation of Indigenous peoples serves a colonial agenda. I am interested in examining this subject with forms of Indigenous feminisms in mind. I aim to explore the representation of Indigenous women and queer identities and the ways in which these means of representation subvert colonial narratives and offer pathways to resurgence. I would like to compare these forms of representation with the ways in which Indigenous identities are produced in Indigenous film and media