Hi -
I'm a grad student in Ottawa, Canada looking at the popular representation
of the Canadian Inuit in the mainstream media in Canada.
I am currently in need of any media references which refer to the
stereotype of any Native North American culture as static and primitive.
I'll provide a couple of illustrations to make myself more clear:
The Innu of northern Quebec and Labrador in Canada have been conducting
protests throughout the 1990s to contest NATO low-level test flights over
Innu territory. Often when reporting Innu protests, the media in Canada
do not focus on the issue of the flights disrupting the Innu communities,
but rather they focus on the Innu use of modern communications technology
to conduct the protest (the Internet, email and faxes). Often the
press stories are framed around such oppositions as: "It is an unhappy
story that pits one of Canada's most ancient peoples against the interests
of the modern Canadian state in the nuclear age." (John Spears,
"Ground-hugging jets fly in face of Innu protests," _Toronto Star_, April
8, 1989, p.D4.). A similar media response occurred when the EZLN (or
Zapatista Army of National Liberation) began to use the Internet to
publicize its grievances against the Mexican government.
If anyone can recall similar media references to the stereotype of North
American indigenous peoples as backward, primitive, hopelessly stuck in an
ancient past, etc - I would be very grateful to receive your input.
Please email me directly at the address below - or if your example
illustrates well this common media bias, please post it to the group.
Thanks in advance for any help provided.
Take care,
Pat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Tobin
Native and Northern Affairs Program
School of Canadian Studies
Carleton University
Email address: ptobin@ccs.carleton.ca
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Tobin
Native and Northern Affairs Program
School of Canadian Studies
Carleton University
Email address: ptobin@ccs.carleton.ca
----------------------------------------------------------------------