Skip to main content
Communication, Art + Technology › Communication
SFU Student

The Lone Ranger Movie Wallpaper
It is important for all of us to be aware of these issues and to speak against it when we see it.

In present day Western civilization, simply taking a walk down a busy street and paying attention is enough to grasp the magnitude of the promotional society in which we live. Restaurants promote their daily specials and unique food fare; buses thunder by covered with the faces of hockey players, or women in bikinis; t-shirts display the infamous Nike checkmark; hundreds of plastic grocery bags decaled in various grocery outlet logos; our fellows float by carrying Starbucks cups, Tim Horton cups, Blenz cups, Waves cups, and the list goes on. Everywhere one looks, a promotional message of some kind isn’t far from sight. Promotion itself has evolved into a state of being and has seeped into the collective consciousness. For us, it has become like water is to a fish; implicit, just as the air we breathe.

Our cultural discourses are bound to manipulation by the promotional lens we are looking through, which in turn cultivates myths and supports ideology.  North American Aboriginal culture has been, and continues to be a tool for promotion through various mediums. Aboriginal culture has been westernized in order for its appeal to coincide with the purposes of consumerism, exhausting it of all its authenticity and integrity by emphasizing a romanticized historical ideology.

The ‘savage’ embodies an ideological framework taken from historical associations of what it means to be ‘Indian’. The Western perspective of an Indian has very little validity in regard to what it actually means to be an Indigenous person in North America. An ‘Indian’, such as those portrayed in films, as sports team mascots or in advertising, is a tool for constructing an impression in association with various products or services.

Because the ‘Indian’ has been so exploited by the media, there is a universal fascination that has occurred surrounding Indigenous culture. However, this fascination is subject to Indigenous people only as they existed in the past. There are no museums that show the horrors of the residential school experience, similar to holocaust museums. There are no tours of dilapidated and crumbling reservations where children are openly huffing gas. There isn’t even recognition that most urban Aboriginal’s drive nice vehicles, carry cell phones and drink Pepsi because this is not what tourists, or even locals, want to see. The authenticity they are searching for can come only from tradition and by answering the demand for tradition; Aboriginal communities suffer sociological effects of marginalization in the Western world.

It is important for all of us to be aware of these issues and to speak against it when we see it. I believe that most people who engage in Aboriginal appropriation are only doing so because they don’t know any better. This society has taught them that it is okay, but it isn’t. We can gently educate others, share our knowledge and experiences and watch the world as it slowly changes.

SFU Student
Christina Coolidge is currently attending SFU as a graduate student in the department of Communications. She is the Indigenous Program Researcher with the Career Services department. Christina is a member of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation and her matrilineal ancestry includes Metis (Cree and Scottish) from the Red River area. She hopes to help build a bridge between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous communities in order to better understand one another and to live together in a spirit of unity.
visibility  80
Aug 15, 2013

You Might Like These... Career Exploration, Indigenous Community Stories

The olympic torch
Olympic Sized Persistence Pays Off

If there’s someone who knows about the terrifying journey that is the work search, it is Marissa Nahanee. She worked on many world class events, including the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Torch relay and visits by Princes Charles and Edward. But Marissa’s job did not just happen to her - she had to work for it.

A picture of actor Justin Rain standing in front of a grey wall
We’re All Actors: CSI Interviews First Nations Actor Justin Rain

“Whenever there is an opportunity to share my experience with people, it usually doesn’t take much for me to jump on board,” states Justin Rain when I ask him about his experiences at a recent event co-hosted by Career Services and the Indigenous Student Centre, “Indigenous Peoples’ Career Stories.”

An indigenous grass dancer
Indigenous Career Services & The Dance of Success

My name is Mike & I'm originally from Little Black Bear’s Band in the Treaty #4 area. I am in my final year of a First Nations Studies degree. Our goal is to determine ways in which the Career Services team can better serve the indigenous student population.

You Might Like These... Indigenous Community Stories

Commmunity members
Metis Nation of British Columbia Annual General Meeting

On the 28th of September 2013, myself, Laura Forsythe and Loryn Blower all attended the Metis Nation of British Columbia Annual General Meeting in Richmond BC. It was a beautiful venue, small and intimate for the important proceedings and cultural connections that were taking place within.

A photo of author
Reflecting on Being a Indigenous Career Speaker: Audrey Tooshkenig

Audrey Tooshkenig reflects on her experience at the 2012 Indigenous People's Career Stories event, and how she managed to overcome a brief dip in her self-confidence to present to a room full of earnest listeners.

A woman and a child
Aboriginal Head Start Association of BC

We are the leader in Aboriginal Early Childhood Education. We are the Catalyst for focusing expertise and creating opportunities to benefit sites. Keep reading to find out more...