I recently watched a film called "Reel Injun" and thought it was interesting. There has been more public dialogue in the last few years about using stereotypical images to define First Nations people in our country. This has included ideas about Halloween costumes (The "I am not a costume" movement) as well as discussions about the sports teams using stereotypical images and team names that are based on a Nation's culture. I have friends on my social media accounts that agree and ones that don't. One friend thought it was honouring her culture to dress like her during Halloween and others that are offended so I became aware that the discussion was not simply a black and white answer, "Don't wear costumes are use names that are based on another's culture because it's rude" because some people feel that it is helping promote awareness of their culture.
I think Thomas King hit the nail on the head when he wrote "I'm not the Indian you had in mind." He makes sure we understood that he does not want to be and is not a stereotype. He wanted people to question the stereotypical Indian because things have changed and no one is so simplistic. Upon reading that, I thought of the times I have heard people questioning the use of snowmobiles for the Inuit because they like the image of dogsleds, for example. When reading his article I had to admit that I, too, had prejudicial expectations of certain things. For example, when being taught how to make beaded bracelets for Sto:lo days, I had a thought pop into my head about how it wasn't 'really' the traditional culture because plastic beads were probably a newish invention. After reading Thomas King's ideas about this, I realized how arrogant that was. It's arrogant, also, to talk about dogsleds as the 'only' way to be Inuit based on an archaic view of what Inuit means. And how dare we even question what other people do and how they evolve both as individuals and as a culture! Anyway, I originally wrote this because of the film "Reel Injun". I feel that movie had these same ideas present. However, it struck me as particularly sad that a young First Nations person may not realize he was the "Indian" in the cowboys and Indian movies and that the Indians always lost in those movies, outsmarted by the cowboys (even though the cowboys were often bad at everything else). What an awful realization it must have been. Just to be clear, I didn't find it sad that he didn't realize that he was an "Indian" but that he didn't even recognize what they were really saying until later. What an awful image we were creating about them! I think some of those ideas took hold of our culture and exist still today. It's likely one of the reasons that some people think the First Nations people are so homogenous, even though there are so many nations that are so different from each other. I live in Alberta right now and as I teach social studies (which a more-than-usual dose of FNMI culture in the course), I have to make sure that the students understand that the Cree are different from the FN in BC, who are different than the northern groups, who are very different than the matriarchal peoples who inhabited the Great Lakes region, who are different than the east coast peoples, etc. The movie was very interesting. If you have a chance to watch "Reel Injun" and want to challenge your own stereotypes, do it!
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AuthorMasters in Education student at the University of New Brunswick, I am avidly interested in the future of education, especially for First Nation, Metis and Inuit students in Canada. I believe change is going to come from these sectors who have the most room for growth and the most interest in seeing the status quo changed. Archives
March 2016
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