Work Cited

Work Cited

"National Aboriginal Day: a Cultural Connection to Hair." Medullaca & CO.. N.p., 12 June 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2015. <http://medullaco.com/blog/national-aboriginal-day-a-cultural-connection-to-hair/>.

Caron, Nadine. "Treating Aboriginal Patients." University of Ottawa- Society, the Individual, and Medicine. University of Ottawa Medicine, 19 Dec. 2014. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <http://www.med.uottawa.ca/sim/data/Aboriginal_Clinical_Skills_e.htm>.

Thompson, Isha. "Thunder Bay teacher's aide crosses a cultural line." Windspeaker 2009. Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ammsa.com/publications/windspeaker/thunder-bay-teachers-aide-crosses-cultural-line>.

Huang, Alicia. "Totem Poles." University of British Colombia- Indigenous Foundations. First Nations Studies Program at University of British Colombia, 2009. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/culture/totem-poles.html>.

We Were Children. Perf. Rene Batson, Taya Ayotte Bourns, Alice Dano. 2012. Film.  

Reel Injun. Perf. Angela Aleiss , Adam Beach, R. Michael David, Clint Eastwood, Chris Eyre. 2009. Film.  

Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii. McNabb Connolly, 2004. Film.

The People of the Kattawapiskak River. Perf. Alanis Obomsawin. 2012. Film.  

Tragedy So Close-The People of Kattawapiskak River Reflection

Tragedy So Close-The People of Kattawapiskak River Reflection

I thought that the housing of more than 1,700 Cree people on the Attawapiskat reserve in Northern Ontario shown in the film is definitely not ideal living situations. Many are living in crowded, unheated shacks with no running water in a -40°C weather. The filmmaker used raw footage of the crisis with footage of the shacks and trailers that housed up to 90 people. This was really shocking to see that people on the reserves, so close to us, are living in Third World like situations. The film also showed the views of the Canadian Government and House of Commons debates on the subject through news footage. Their band chief, Theresa Spence was their main voice.

Another topic in the film that affected me personally was the high rate of teen suicides within the reserves. Though there are many things the community worked for to try fix this ever growing problem. The community raised funds to build, open, and run a sports complex, which I thought was an amazing accomplishment; showing that the community can sustain itself without the help from the government. Yet some television hosts thought that this was the wrong thing do because of the housing crisis.

-Marlee <3

Stand Tall- Totem Pole Research

Stand Tall- Totem Pole Research

As seen in the film The Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii, on the Haida Gwaii island, there are large trees with carvings of animals and people, they are called totem poles. Totem poles have been the most recognizable cultural symbol of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. They are usually between three to twenty meters tall. They were first made to represent and remember ancestors, history, and events by the Pacific Northwest First Nations.  Many people say that the totem poles tell stories, but no, they document stories and histories familiar to community members or particular family or clan members, according to Alicia Huang from the University of British Columbia (Huang, 2009).

Totem poles are usually made from red cedar, a tree that is abundant in the Pacific Northwest. Red cedar is malleable and easy to carve. Carving totem poles takes a great deal of artistic skill and understanding of the cultural importance and forest ecology. Before the harvesting of the cedar tree, most First Nations communities perform a ceremony to show gratitude and respect for the tree and the land.

Totem poles are a visual display of humans, supernatural beings, and animals. These carvings represent a family’s kinship, lineage, crests, and clan membership. So families of the Thunderbird clan on the Vancouver Island, have a thunder bird on their totem poles. The more animal crests on the poles, the wealthier and influential the families are.

There are different types of totem poles that have different cultural and ancestral purpose. Memorial poles are made in honor of a person or event and are usually the tallest and most common. Some are used within the longhouse for support, and stand at the main entrance. Mortuary poles are used to hold grave boxes.  Some poles are even used to put shame on neighboring groups, that had debts to be owned.  

-Marlee <3

Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii Reflection

Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii Reflection

This film showed a large range of emotions from the people of Haida Gwaii as the film takes you through the discovery of the remains of their ancestors to the journey they go on to bring the remains home. The part that affected me the most was when the filmmaker used raw footage to display the Haida people teaching their traditional dances to the people of the Chicago museum as a way to say thanks. It fascinated me that the people of the museum were so sympathetic to the Haida people that their ancestral remains were taken away from them, and needed to be brought home for proper burial. The Haida were doing a hand motion of palms open to the sky and moving them up and down, in their culture this a way of saying thanks.

All the work that the Haida people did in order to bring their ancestors home was mind blowing, all the fundraising and making of traditional bent wood boxes. This just showed how much passion and feeling they had to achieve their common goal, and how much this means to them. It was also interesting to me, to find out that there was so much that goes into the proper burial of the Haida.

-Marlee <3

Hair Significance Research

Hair Significance Research

 
‘Does my hair look good today?’, ‘I’m having a bad hair day’, ‘Wow look at all my split ends’. Girls are obsessed with their hair, it’s got to look good, or their whole day is bad. But no one has stopped and thought of what their hair really means. Not very many people know the First Nations cultures’ many different meanings and representations surrounding long, uncut or braided hair. It is said to be very sacred and enforces the individual’s sense of identity as a member of a particular First Nation.

Hair is a highly dominating tradition within the First Nations cultures. Hair is considered a symbol of power and strength. "The worst thing to do to someone, historically, is to take their hair," explained Teresa Magiskan (Isha Thompson, 2009). Enemies used to humiliate a man by cutting off his hair. Like what happened to Lyna in “We Were Children” when her hair was cut off soon after she arrived at the residential school. "When you've chopped off someone's hair you have taken away their pride," said Magiskan, a traditional healing coordinator for the Anishnawbe Mushkiki Health Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Hair is not cut on a monthly or yearly basis like in the culture most Canadians practice. As Thompson addressed, these sacred beliefs of the traditional first peoples are tampered with in our society and this is intolerable. In the Aboriginal culture it is very different, hair is only cut to mourn the death of a loved one.

According to “National Aboriginal Day: a Cultural Connection to Hair” Medullaca & Co., in other groups it is used it identify tribes from another. For example; Algonquin people are seen with long and loose locks, while the Mohawk people sport shorter looks. Hair also serves as a connection to the land, spirituality, and identity. Hair in braids embodies the binding between the creator, man and all of life. There are commonly three braids representing mind, body, and spirit. Overall health is mirrored by the texture and quality of the hair.

Now I know the meanings of long, beautiful, uncut hair is the Aboriginal culture that exists today and in history.

-Marlee <3

Stolen Identities-We Were Children Reflection

Stolen Identities-We Were Children Reflection

Imagine you are stripped of everything you hold dear and true, and forced into another way of life. I don’t know about you but I would be devastated, especially if I had to experience such terrible things as young as the age of five. That is what Lyna Hart experienced as a First Nations child, who went to residential school. Her story is displayed in the film “We Were Children”.

I was astonished to see that everything of Lyna’s was stripped from her upon arrival that the residential school. At the beginning of the film, on the first day of residential school, the filmmaker uses reenactments of a young Lyna getting her long beautiful hair cut off, while a current day Lyna is explaining her experience, as a voice over. This technique was very effective in displaying the hardship of this tragic experience. Lyna said she could feel the cold scissors cut through her hair as a part of her was taken way. In the First Nations culture, hair was barely ever cut. Lyna’s clothing, her language, her name, and her way of life were replaced with the ‘Canadian society’ and she was taught that her past way was the savage way.

-Marlee <3

The Tribal Look-Reel Injun Reflection

The Tribal Look-Reel Injun Reflection

Every spring one of the hottest styles is the tribal look. This tribal look people always say came from the hippies in America in the 1960s and 70s, but no, it is inspired by the First Nations. In “Reel Injun”, many Aboriginal stereotypes and tradition clothes were mocked by the American culture and films. In the 60s and 70s, hippies embraced and wanted to be like the First Nations. The film technique of long shot was used to view of San Francisco, while Sacheen Littlefeather was describing her experience as an Indian in the 1970s. She was asked if she was a hippie, replying with ‘no, I’m an Indian, what’s a hippie?’ (Littlefeather, 2009). I, personally think that using Aboriginal stereotypes like fringe pants and feather headbands as a fashion statement is a way that American’s show their appreciation for the First Nations. Even though the only way people get the ideas of the culture of the First Nations is from films they see. Most of these stereotypes are not true. There are other events, like the genocides of First Nations people, that were shown in one of the sequences of the film; this was very disturbing to me, showing Native kids a films about genocide. I hope they had a discussion before to prepare them for what was shown.

-Marlee <3