Representation of Indigenous people in mainstream media is undergoing a tectonic shift, from being perceived through the dominant lens of white settler society, which mostly oversimplifies and misrepresents minority communities, to being represented by Natives exploring their own multi-faceted identities. This representation of Indigenous people by Indigenous people is necessary to upend centuries of cultural appropriation and bring to the fore the voices of creatives who have lived experiences to share.
Last year, the UN’s We Are Indigenous initiative highlighted the importance of breaking media stereotypes through Indigenous storytelling and advocated for the heterogeneity of the community to take center stage, stating “Indigenous peoples have every right to be as diverse, broad, and multidimensional as they choose to be as human beings and it is time that media begin representing them as such.” That the popular media landscape is changing to open itself up to diverse narratives can be seen through shows such as “Reservation Dogs.” Created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, the show demystifies the romanticized vision of Native Americans through humor.
Storytelling, through different forms of media, is an effective tool in dismantling media-based prejudice against Indigenous communities. By expressing their own individual stories, Indigenous creatives reclaim the narrative and establish themselves as complex individuals, and reject the one-dimensional, or even caricatured, characters and plot lines so often employed by the media.
This week’s web series and podcast picks focus on works by Native creators who shed light on the unique experiences of being Indigenous. “Querencia,” a web series written and directed by Mary Galloway, explores the complex Indigiqueer identities of two women of differing cultural upbringings. “All My Relations,” a podcast created by Matika Wilbur, discusses the representations of Native people and their relations with their ancestry and their land. Shayla Oulette Stonechild’s podcast, “Matriarch Movement,” highlights the moving journeys of powerful Indigenous women, creating role models for the Indigenous community in the process.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s latest web series and podcast selections.
Web Series
“Querencia” – Written and Directed by Mary Galloway
“Querencia”
An eight-episode web series, “Querencia” charts the journeys of two Indiqueer women who meet by happenstance and fall in love. Abe, played by series writer-director Mary Galloway, is an emotionally closed-off urban young woman who remains disconnected from her Indigenous heritage, and her polar opposite Daka (Kaitlyn Yott) is open-hearted and culturally connected to her Native roots. Through the series, they navigate their sexuality and their complex and often contrary outlooks towards their Indigenous identities.
In a news release, Galloway admits that her yearning for representation on-screen led to the creation of the series. “Growing up, I had no one who I could look to on-screen that I felt wholly connected to,” she says. “I hope that this show gives our Indigiqueer young adults something to turn to, to connect with, and to feel like they belong.” This feeling of belonging is something that Galloway wants the members of the queer and Indigenous community to take comfort in.
The representation of the Indigenous community is of immense importance to Galloway. In an interview with Xtra Magazine, she emphasizes, “It was so important for me that I was giving a voice to the Indigenous community in an authentic and real way.” By being faithfully represented, one feels a sense of belonging. She adds, “If you see yourself on the screen, then you think that you do belong in this world and that there are other people out there, that you are not alone.”
“Querencia” is streaming on Revry.
Podcasts
“All My Relations” – Directed by Matika Wilbur
“All My Relations”
“All My Relations” is a podcast that provides a platform to discuss different aspects of Native peoples’ experiences, and their relations, with regards to land, ancestry, and one another. Directed and hosted by photographer Matika Wilbur, and co-hosted by academics Desi Small-Rodriguez and Adrienne Keene, the podcast strives to create a safe space to share and discuss their lived-experiences of being a Native. Exploring a diverse range of themes including sovereignty, gender, literature, history, sex, and politics, each episode of the podcast has a new guest delving into a discussion in their area of expertise with the hosts.
Furthering the narrative by using the Indigenous tradition of disseminating information — the oral tradition — “All My Relations” was created to make Indigenous voices accessible in mainstream media. According to its mission statement, the podcast aims to keep on “fighting and resisting settler colonialism, while also celebrating and uplifting their communities and cultures.”
The podcast focuses on concerns and issues of significance to the Indigenous community. In an episode called “ThanksTaking or ThanksGiving?,” the complex history of Thanksgiving is put under the scanner from an Indigenous perspective; in “Native Appropriations” the problems of cultural appropriation are discussed while providing alternative ways to honor the Native community. The podcast intends to do away with dismissive attitudes towards Indigeneity and instead tries to “offer an alternative, to move beyond bland stereotypes and misrepresentations, and engage in the messy, beautiful, and complicated parts of being Indigenous.”
Learn more about “All My Relations” on its website, and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts.
“Matriarch Movement” – Created by Shayla Oulette Stonechild
“Matriarch Movement”
A podcast designed to empower Indigenous women, “Matriarch Movement” aims to bring the narratives of powerful female figures to the fore. Created and hosted by Shayla Oulette Stonechild, each episode of the podcast comprises an interview with a distinct Indigenous woman rising in her field. The concerns and issues raised by the guests are discussed in detail, in light of their experiences as being part of the Indigenous community. The objective of the podcast is to offer a “new category of Indigenous role models.”
In an interview with Refinery29, Stonechild talks about how the absence of representation of Indigenous women on-screen inspired her to turn to those in her community — like her mother and grandmothers — for support and representation. This lack gave birth to her resolution for the search of Native role models for young Indigenous women, leading to the conception of the podcast. In the episode with Falen Johnson titled “The Future Is Indigenous,” the discussion veers toward the importance of Native storytelling and the necessity for Indigenous people to be in control of their own narratives so that the homogenous narratives created by the mainstream can be subdued.
Upon being asked about what empowers Indigenous communities, Stonechild says that it is resilience that has made the Indigenous people thrive. She adds, “they wanted to erase us; so the fact that we’re still here, just to wake up and to be breathing as an Indigenous person is a political statement in itself, because at one point we were supposed to be extinct. The fact that we’re still here is powerful enough.” Through “Matriarch Movement” Stonechild, along with her guests, promotes and builds a heterogeneous community of resilient and unique women that address the gap in representation of Indigenous women in media and beyond.
Learn more about and listen to “Matriarch Movement” on Spotify.
