Breaking stereotypes (again)

Photo by Nadya Kwandibens of Red Works
Musician Derek Miller rocks it out at the Hard Rock Café during the imagineNATIVE Film Festival.

A savage male warrior in a loincloth with red war paint across his cheeks stands beside his long raven-haired beauty, who is clad in beaded buckskin with a feather in her hair: these are the pre-eminent stereotypes attributed to native peoples in North America. Instilled in the global consciousness by Hollywood films, they are often the only portrayals people know.

On the dark side of this strife are the negative stereotypes that are attributed to native peoples street-side, stereotypes more prevalent in urban centres and towns near native peoples’ reservations. During the imagineNATIVE Film Festival, which took place last month in Toronto, groups of talented indigenous and native peoples gathered – individuals who not only challenged the stereotypes, but defied them. The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival opened Oct. 15 at the Bloor Cinema with an Australian feature documentary, River of No Return.

This is the largest indigenous film festival and showcases film produced, directed or written by indigenous people from around the globe. The festival has grown since 2000, when attendance numbered around 800; in 2008, the projected numbers of attendees was 16,000. What is truly impressive about the festival is the diversity of indigenous peoples there; they come from countries as far away as Taiwan, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia and as near as the United States. It is easy to forget that indigenous peoples exist everywhere – there are the Saami from Finland, Siberian Yupik from Russia and Maori from New Zealand. The festival brings together numerous indigenous peoples from around the globe, creating a collaborative environment where artists can connect and establish a strong community. The strong friendships created, working partnerships initiated and lifetime relationships solidified here are examples of the community built at the film festival. In terms of this strong element of interpersonal relationship building, it is unlike any other film festival.

The indigenous community comes together not only to support the filmmakers and actors, but also the featured artists, performance artists, curators, programmers, producers, musicians, dancers and traditional people involved in various aspects of the imagineNATIVE Festival.

One of the programmed installations at the Trinity Square Video and A Space Gallery was HOW: Engagements with the ‘Hollywood Indian,’ curated by Ryan Rice (Mohawk). It showcased artists like photographer Nadya Kwandibens (Ojibwe), artist Sarah Sense (Chitimacha/Choctaw) and artist Terrance Houle (Blood), who challenge the stereotypes both in their engaging work and in their daily lives. From Sundance Film Festival programmer Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache) to acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki) to Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated Eagle vs Shark director Taika Waititi (Maori) to River of No Return director Darlene Johnson (Dunghutti), there were plenty of internationally acclaimed, talented indigenous filmmakers able to shift the global consciousness and show there is more to indigenous peoples than meets the eye.

-A reprint from the article 'Tackling global stereotypes of native peoples through film' from Excalibur Newspaper