Wasakechak in Métis/Cree Cultural Traditions in Digital Technologies of Film/Media

• In Event: Trickster Chases the Tale of Education: Indigenous Storytelling Disrupting Education

Abstract

In this modern world of technology, Internet, YouTube, and Facebook, Indigenous storytelling is challenged to find relevance and meaningfulness to a younger generation. Indigenous digital film/video are ways of sharing these stories with younger generations (Iseke & Moore, in press). Indigenous media makers have redesigned technologies and used them to reflect the lives, work and knowledge of Indigenous peoples (Verran & Christie, 2007, p. 221) consistent with Indigenous traditional knowledge systems. In Indigenous digital storytelling Indigenous peoples control the images and structures (Hopkins, 2006) and express digital songlines through art and exploring landscapes (Leavy, 2007). In a discussion of Indigenous filmmaking with Indigenous Elders, Iseke explores ideas of storytelling and ways Indigenous film can express Indigenous storytelling. Through film clips from Indigenous Elders sharing stories, Iseke explores the meanings and uses of storytelling in Indigenous communities and the ways stories of the past and today teach about life. The Wasakechak story – a creation story - explains the interconnectedness of all of creation and our own relationships to the natural world, illustrating a foundational concept in Indigenous knowledge systems. It is a teaching story that aids in teaching and learning about living systems and close relationship to place.

Author

• Judy M. Iseke, Lakehead University