Aboriginal peoples of Canada are often plagued by harmful stereotypes that misrepresent their heritage and their culture. Many of these racist ideologies, which work to impede Canadians understanding of Aboriginals, are facilitated and maintained by the media. One way to help correct this crisis of Aboriginal misrepresentation is through strategies of self-representation.
A fundamental way to break down racial discourse in the media is through self-representation. When non-Aboriginals represent Aboriginals in the mainstream media, the messages of Aboriginal people are often neutralized, which helps to ensure dominant ideologies are maintained.
In order to gain a better understanding of Aboriginal Canadians; who they are, their opinions, and what is important to them, the best place to turn for information is directly to Aboriginals. Through Aboriginal self-representation, the public is more likely to understand the Aboriginal perspective, and thus, have accurate information to form their own opinions, versus simply adopting the opinions provided by the sometimes bias media outlets.
Although it seems reasonable that a country as multicultural as Canada would have an equally diverse media landscape, this type of media environment remains an idealistic goal. However, in recent years, the magnitude and diversity of Aboriginal media has grown enormously. This increase in Aboriginal media has helped to foster a better understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and has helped to dismantle harmful stereotypes that damage the native identity.
Aboriginal media provides a platform for the opinions and perspectives of Aboriginal people to be expressed and an outlet to raise awareness about topics that are important to Aboriginal people. In the past, when Aboriginals had extremely limited access to media resources, they were forced into silence and stripped of the opportunity to have their opinions publicized and their own voices heard.
Today, however, Aboriginal peoples have become much more active within the media landscape. For example, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), began nine years ago and is owned and operated by Canadian Aboriginals. APTN has an established presence within the Canadian media landscape and is recognized as the world’s only Aboriginal television network.
Although APTN represents a major accomplishment for the development of Aboriginal media, the representation of Aboriginals in the media remains an uphill and ongoing battle.
In the past thirty years there have been substantial improvements within the Canadian media landscape, which have helped to provide better representation and recognition of Aboriginals. Despite improvements; however, there is still a long way to go in order to correct the social norms that currently support the existence of racism towards Canada’s Aboriginal populations.
