LIGHTS, CAMERA AND SOUND Difgerent Indigenous genres in Canadian - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

LIGHTS, CAMERA AND SOUND Difgerent Indigenous genres in Canadian Popular Culture By: Dr. Santosh Bhart

INTRODUCTION • Modes of expression for affjrmatjon, mobilizatjon and politjcizatjon of indigenous identjtjes in Canadian mainstream society. • Elements of syncretjsm/hybridism: blending of indigenous traditjonal culture and mainstream popular culture. • Revival of indigenous cultures as a means to survive. • Means to draw atuentjon to various issues/concerns of indigenous peoples

INDIGENOUS THEATRE: Tomson Highway’s Plays- The Rez Sisters And Dry Lips Oughta Move To Kapuskasing • Indigenous theatre became popular/brought to public consciousness with The Rez sister in 1986. Storyline- Seven indigenous women on the Wasaychigan Hill Indian reserve, decide to travel to the world’s biggest bingo.

• Double-edged success-First, proved to mainstream theatre community that indigenous artjsts can narrate their stories, second- its success story the mainstream audience acknowledged. • The fmip-side of The Rez sisters, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing , produced in 1989. Storyline-Seven indigenous men on Wasaychigan Hill Indian reserve and the game of hockey. • Both plays won Dora Mavor awards for new play in 1987 and 1989 respectjvely and Chalmers Award for the outstanding Canadian play in 1987 and 1990 respectjvely.

• Because of its popularity, mainstream theatre like Montreal’s Centaur Theatre, Vancouver’s fjrehall Arts Centre etc had chosen to stage Tomson Highway’s play. • Non-indigenous people’s appropriatjons of indigenous fjgures like trickster have led mainstream audiences watch indigenous plays and at the same tjme, delve into indigenous cultures. • His plays are also widely read and forms part of universitjes curriculum and anthologies.

INDIGENOUS SCREEN-BASED SECTOR: FEATURE FILMS • Evolving as a new, vibrant and dynamic sector. • Characteristjcs of Indigenous Films • Journey: a personal and cultural pilgrimage to affjrm indigenous identjty in relatjon to sacred land. Past to Present- towards healing from historic oppression. • Oral Traditjon: space to delve into indigenous traditjonal narratjves that can be spoken, sung, performed with new life. Majority of fjlms have indigenous languages and songs as soundtracks. • Time concept: Indigenous cinemas are ofuen slower than their western cinematjc counterparts. It is a “mythic” tjme where ancestral voices engage with future generatjons. • Viewed as documentaries; a sense of intjmacy; cultural resilience.

• Atanarjut, the fast runner : A milestone in indigenous fjlm making: won camera d’Or for Best First Feature at the Cannes Film Festjval in 2001; First Canadian dramatjc Feature Film to be entjrely in Inuktjtut. • Rhymes For Young Ghouls (2013)- a fjctjonal story of a teenage girl and history of abuse of indigenous peoples at residentjal schools; world premiere at the Toronto Internatjonal Film Festjval and was awarded Best Canadian Feature Film at the Vancouver Internatjonal Film Festjval in 2013.

INDIGENOUS ROCK: GENRE OF POPULAR MUSIC • Combinatjon of traditjonal indigenous musical forms and contemporary rock and pop conventjons. • Three conditjons for syncretjsed music- Music Diversity, Cultural Distance and Audience Receptjvity. • Music Diversity: artjsts/performers/musicians should be exposed to difgerent musical forms/genres to create a new form. • Cultural Distance: artjsts/performers/musicians should possess a sense of detachment from cultural communitjes. • Audience Receptjvity: artjsts/performers/musicians should understand the syncretjsed musical forms.

• Examples- Wolfpack, War Party, Walking spirits and so on • Eagle and Hawk is the most celebrated and famous rock band in Canada; received more than 50 nominatjons; awards-Juno, a western Canadian music award and others.

PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES • All genres evolved around 1980’s and gradually gaining prominence; ‘receptjon’ by mainstream culture is stjll a questjon to be answered. • Funding of these genres is limited especially for indigenous cinemas. Natjonal Film Board of Canada, Canadian Council for the Arts and Telefjlms Canada, promote these fjlms and take initjatjve (studio one) to support and foster indigenous fjlmmakers. • These genres also create jobs for indigenous and non-indigenous peoples but to have specialised skilled personnel especially in cinema, is a questjon and how? • Both at Natjonal and Internatjonal level, genres have created awareness especially theatre but how Canadian federal government is going to negotjate their issue of ‘self-government’ is a matuer of discussion and how it will be achieved is problematjc?