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Characters from the water tribes in Avatar The Last Airbender TV show (Katara, Sokka, Korra etc) were based on Inuit culture. As a little kid having the hero's of a popular kids tv show be so obviously Indigenous was very influential. As I have grown up I now see issues with the way the show depicts Inuit culture by using it as the building blocks to create a fantasy world. However, given the limited representation especially in kids media I still consider it to overwhelmingly be a positive example and a step in the right direction. It allows non-Indigenous kids to see positive examples of Indigenous characters and for Indigenous kids to see people like them on TV.

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My mind immediately goes to the main character of Assassin's Creed III, Ratonhnhaké:ton (or Connor Kenway). He is what we would probably refer to as Métis due to one of his parents being European, but identifies himself as Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) because he was raised entirely in that culture, speaks that language fluently, etc. Playing this character growing up was my first time hearing an indigenous language spoken (they had actual speakers provide voices for many of the characters in the game). Connor is a great representation in my perspective, because of the intense research the team underwent to portray this group accurately (which is standard for the early Assassin's Creed games). Additionally, none of the Indigenous characters are villains in the story, and the main character doesn't diminish that aspect of himself to become a hero.

1) Medium: Video game

2) Character

3) Representation: both historical and contemporary. The character wasn't a real person, but the group dynamics, language, and struggles are all authentic to the history of the Mohawk as far as I can tell

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The first film i watched that involved my own culture LOL... 

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This children's book turned movie tells a story of an shrunken Iroquois man Little Bear and his relationship with a young child's. This film lacks the historical depths and avoids focuses on the Iroquois culture- but instead general Indigenous culture. It also perpetuates stereotypes to romanticize Indigenous cultures, limiting Little Bear as a "brave, stoic warrior".

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Disney movie: Pocahontas

Pocahontas was a historical figure, but the representation of her life was definitely fictionalized and romanticized.

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Brother Bear. A Disney movie that is based on different Inuit legends. The movie is about an Inuit hunter who turns into a bear after killing the bear that killed his brother. However, I think that is worth mentioning that none of the cast that voices the characters is of Indigenous descent.

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Medium: TV series - comedy/drama

Representation:

Characters = An ensemble cast of Indigenous teens, Bear, Elora, Cheese, and Willie Jack, navigating life on a rural Oklahoma reservation.

Narrative = This coming-of-age story is infused with humour, supernatural elements, and honest portrayals of rez life, entirely written, directed, and acted by Indigenous creatives.

Created by Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee) and Taika Waititi (Māori), with an all-Indigenous writers' room and majority Indigenous cast. It rejects stereotypes with a lack of noble savages, mystical shamans, or tragic victims, just nuanced, flawed, and funny characters. Grounded in Muscogee Creek and Seminole perspectives, with dialogue in Indigenous languages.

Despite these upsides, there are two major critiques, one being a main focus on the rez life without addressing urban Indigenous experiences. And the show does not address in an upfront way what the cause is for what has occurred in the past to lead the characters to the present. While it tackles poverty and crime, it avoids heavy-handed messaging about colonialism.

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A Netflix relatively new tv-show that depicts real life far up North in community of Iqaluit, Nunavut. It was created by Inuit filmmakers as well as stars Inuit actors. Depicts Arctic life with cultural depth, humour and fights the stereotypes that have been around the life in the North for decades.

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Medium: Movie

Character: Pocahontas

Representation: historical representation.

This is probably the first type of media or general exposure to Indigenous Peoples I had come across.

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Medium: Television series

Representation: Canadian TV show that portrayed a fictional Dene community in the NWT. Showed complex Indigenous life and navigated community, justice, and culture.

Historical or Contemporary: Contemporary

This show stands out to me because I watched it growing up and remember that it challenged stereotypes. Characters were shown in many different roles like police officers, leaders, caretakers, and flawed individuals. This show is connected to my learning journal through self-representation and offers authentic, lived experiences. It shows Indigenous people as humorous, vulnerable, political, diverse, HUMAN. It also challenges colonial narratives.

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This film is based on true events which takes place in Kugluktuk, Nunavut. The Grizzlies film allows viewers to understand isolation, stereotypes, and disadvantages. However, this film also promotes education and represents Inuit living conditions and traditional practices. It is evident the importance of community and encouragement is the theme throughout the film. The film will have many viewers upset one minute and laughing the next. Furthermore, it also displays contemporary issues faced in Nunavut and how isolation is causing high rates of suicide on Inuit youth. Without revealing too much this film is about hope and resilience and is a good watch on Netflix.

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Disney allowed Johnny Depp to represent an Indigenous person inappropriate way. This is not an old film that people can brush under the carpet as "oh it happened years ago before people knew better."

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Brett Mooswa is an Indigenous TikTok influencer that makes videos that address and poke fun at Indigenous stereotypes in mainstream media. In this video, he is waving to get someone's attention but gets mistaken for blessing the land.

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Wildhood (2021) is a Canadian coming-of-age drama about Link, a teenager who embarks on a journey with his younger brother to find their mother. Along the way, he meets Pasmay, a two-spirit Mi'kmaq dancer, who helps him reconnect with his Indigenous heritage and identity.

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The Marrow Thieves is a fictional book by Métis author Cherie Dimaline. It is an futuristic 'dystopian' book where Indigenous people are hunted down for their bone marrow. It focuses on a group of Indigenous youth and elders that explore their identity through language, and kinship. Not only does this represent Indigenous identity but it also shows how Indigenous people were treated and feared for their lives during the residential school era. Because of this I think it can be considered both historical and contemporary.

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The representation of indigenous people was through the animated movie Brother Bear. Indigenous people were represented through the characters Kenai and Denahi, who are part of an indigenous group. It follows the main character, Kenai turning into a bear to gain an understanding of his brother's death by a bear attack, and his progression to come to terms with it. As the story progresses, he regains the appreciation he has for bears. The representation, however, was not the most accurate and was more of a contemporary take on an early indigenous community.

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Medium: Movie

Representation: Character and storyline

The Grizzlies follows a non-Indigenous teacher as he takes a position in a Northern community, it follows him as he has new experiences and engages with the community. It follows the teacher and his students as they engage with hardships. It allows the teachers eyes to be opened and learn more about Indigenous peoples. I would say this representation is contemporary.

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Medium: This is a film.

Representation: The film represents Indigenous peoples through its characters and storyline, focusing on an Indigenous mother and a resistance movement fighting against a state that forcibly removes children. There are strong themes of family bonds, resistance, and survival. The storyline clearly parallels real experiences such as residential schools and government control over Indigenous children.

Historical or contemporary: The film is more contemporary as it is set in a futuristic world, however, it does depict historical experiences of Indigenous peoples and connects them to ongoing contemporary issues.

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This graphic novel—both historical and contemporary—by David Robertson with illustrations by Scott Henderson is an epic series that follows a Cree family through three centuries of history and seven generations. The story follows a young Cree man struggling with his identity and familial issues. From stories shared to him by his mother, the young man learns about the history of his family through oral storytelling. Their years of war, struggle through smallpox, and residential school, to his present life where he grapples with the effects of intergenerational trauma. He must confront the past to face the present. It is a beautiful rendition of real struggles Indigenous people face regularly, and how the unfair treatment of them in our history continues to effect them to this day. It also signifies the importance of symbolism, oral storytelling, physical healing, and historical significance within Indigenous lives. That healing means a variety of things to different people, and this novel entertains a glimpse into what that is like for some Indigenous people.

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Beans is a 2020 coming of age / drama / historical fiction film centered around the titular Beans, a Mohawk youth living in Kahnawake in 1990. What makes this coming of age film different is that it is set amongst the backdrop of the Oka Crisis - the event itself, and the way that white media portrayed the event, leading to racist violence. The film makes use of real archival footage of counter-protestors, policemen, and SQ forces in several scenes, cementing its story in real history and choosing not to diminish the truth of those actions through dramatization. The representation of all characters in the film is historical through a contemporary lens. The event happened in the past, but the way that the film is written and shot is very contemporary, visually similar to the modern day. It's a pretty good movie. I saw it at a drive-in movie theatre in northern Manitoba. Check it out.

https://gem.cbc.ca/beans

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This movie tries to represent a historical depiction of Inuit culture in Alaska. An elder of the community is using story telling to teach children the importance of respecting the spirits of living things and the spirit of their ancestors. Kenai (the main character) begins to loose his connection to the spirits, so a community elder asks the spirit of his past brother to help guide Kenai through his grief. Kenai shows that he no longer values the life and spirit of other living things by killing a bear out of anger. His brothers spirit then turns Kenai into a bear to get Kenai to reconnect with his cultures values and beliefs. While being a bear Kenai learns the value of life and understands the power spirits have on environment around him.

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medium: novel

historical or contemporary: contemporary

This book is about a dystopian society where Indigenous peoples are captured for their bone marrow as they are the only ones that can dream and their marrow is harvested and implanted into non-Indigenous peoples so they can dream too. It can be interpreted as a parallel to how children where treated when it came to the residential school system.

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What came to mind for me was the movie Prey, the film portrays Native American culture and characters, with a predominantly Indigenous cast and crew, and is set in the 18th century Comanche Nation.

The film presents the Indigenous as the heroes of their own story, challenging historical tropes that often depict Indigenous peoples in a negative light. This shift in narrative is seen as a significant step forward for Indigenous representation in Hollywood.

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Medium: Film

Representation: Dances with Wolves is an early childhood memory of Indigenous lifestyle and wellbeing being compromised by non-indigenous settlers as well as the first time I saw indigenous people in conflict with each other on film. By todays standards, it is filled with cliche and troupes although at the time the story of someone from "away" coming to an indigenous territory and finding relatability and a sense of belonging that they want to defend and preserve actually rang true for me as I spent my early years living away from my home community in Newfoundland and felt like someone from away as well whenever I returned home.

Historical or Contemporary: Historical

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Snotty Nose Rez Kids are a music duo of the Haisla nation, close to where I am from. They make hip hop music, and although I don't typically listen to it, they've gained enough popularity to travel worldwide touring their music. They showcase their own culture in their music, showing how they are still Indigenous even if they are not entirely traditional. Despite their contemporary appearance, they also utilize many symbols that would appear as traditional, ex. braids.

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Medium: movie.

Representation: Based on the story line of the Mayan kingdom at the height of their power. They attack smaller villages and sacrifice their captures to appease the gods. They eventually run into the Spanish crusaders. Which began the brutal decimation of the Mayan people.

It is a historical movie that represents the events at that time period.

The movie itself portrays Indigenous people as war hungry savages that need to satisfy their hunger for violence. For a first impression that is what came to mind but knowing the history of the Mayans it is not entirely true.

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Medium: Film

Historical or Contemporary: Historical (loosely based on real events)

Representation: Pocahontas (Disney movie) portrays Pocahontas as a young, adventurous Native woman who falls in love with a European settler.

One of the first Indigenous representations to come to my mind is the Disney film Pocahontas, which depicts her courageous and inquisitive nature through the lens of her interactions with the European colonizers. The film, though based on historical people, applies to their lives pretty freely and flips around important happenings. The picture paints Native Americans as wanting to be seen and understood in a much more simplistic and romantic way, with the main character depicted as the usual, "noble and peaceful" stereotype. Likewise, it distorts a real past situation and disregards the multiplicity of Indigenous cultures and their north American political struggles at the time. These kinds of visuals can definitely affect the way non-natives perceive both the history and the natives. This instance is related to my Learning Journal as it is a clear-cut example of how popular media can distort and simplify the storyline of the Native peoples.

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This play is written about an Indigenous character searching for her identity. While this play does have historical elements to it, it is more of a contemporary piece.

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This Television show is called reservation Dogs. This representation is a contemporary representation of what it's like to be an indigenous person living on the reservation. It portrays indigenous comedy and jokes, as well as indigenous slang that is commonly used.

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She is not a fully Indigenous woman and yet they portrayed her as one on the TV show "Yellowstone" another mis-representation.

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Heroes of Olympus - novel series by Rick Riordan

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Heroes of Olympus - novel series by Rick Riordan

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This series features numerous teenagers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Piper is described as half Cherokee, and the teachings of her Indigenous culture inform her moral and ethical guidelines. It serves as a contemporary representation.

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Piper McLean is the Greek demigod daughter of Aphrodite and Tristan McLean. She is the Head Counselor of Aphrodite’s Cabin and one of the demigods of the Prophecy of Seven. She is the ex-girlfriend of the late Jason Grace and is currently in a relationship with Shel. Piper got her name from her Grandpa Tom, who noted her strong voice and hoped that she would one day learn all of the great Cherokee songs, including the Song of the Snakes. As opposed to many other children of Aphrodite, Piper…