Transmissions: The Future Possibilities of Indigenous Digital and New Media Art

Abstract

Abstract

Hyperrealism and Other Indigenous Forms of ‘Faking It with the Truth’

“…First Nation use of the Internet remodeled it, in ways beyond big‐data surveillance, informatic monopolizations, or the development of prefabricated platforms, the stock‐standard preoccupations of Western Internet history, with the development of groundbreaking participatory platforms, such as CyberPowWow (1997–2004), or the web‐based, Cree worldview of Cherly L’Hirondelle’s nikamon ohci askiy (Songs because of the Land ) activated by appropriate participant interaction through narration. Far from posing a threat to Indigenous cultures, technologies of the digital are understood as what Heather Igloliorte, Julie Nagam, and Carla Taunton call “a tool of Indigenous resilience, cultural continuity, and a conduit for storytelling” (, 11) or what L’Hirondelle simply calls “a tool kit for survival” ().…”

“…A primary requirement for Indigenous media organization remains, as Ingloolik artist Erin Yunes () argues, that “mainstream content be framed in Indigenous cultural contexts and broadcast in local languages,” lest technology negates the potentialities for Indigenous sovereignty. Pioneering uses of the Internet beyond neoliberal values of “access,” “speed,” and “boosting productivity” are arguably what Indigenous artists continue to lead the field in developing today (see Igloliorte, Nagam, and Taunton ; Lofts and Swanton ; and in Australia, specifically, the work of Jenny Fraser)…”

The Artificial as an Intelligent Indigenous/Indigenizing System

“…Heather Igloliorte, Julie Nagam and Carla Taunton (2016, 11) argue that “‘technology’ has always been a tool of Indigenous resilience, cultural continuity, and a conduit for storytelling.” Indigenous new media forms and practices are designed based on relational knowledge and grounded in recognition and principles of care, what Angie Abdilla identifies as distinctive forms of “Aboriginal social cohesion, well‐being, environmental sustainability, culture, and spirituality” (Abdilla 2018, 67). In this worldview, machines are not treated as enslaved or subservient to human will but as human relatives for Indigenous and First Nations peoples (Lewis 2018).…”

Emergence and Restraint: Indigenous Performances during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Many Indigenous organizers included digital technologies as part of a diverse lineage of "tools of survival" and a means to enable long-distance gathering well before the COVID pandemic. 17 Recently, such virtual events have created opportunities to celebrate artists and their works, lend attention to community causes, and facilitate efficient donations to mutual aid funds. Certainly, my connections to these groups remain thin under these circumstances, and there are people without easy access to online spaces whose voices matter and whose presence is missed.…”