“Authenticity” Indigenous Media

“Authentic” is a double-edged sword. Discuss this assertion using at least 2 indigenous media examples. How can something be a double-edged sword? How can one thing be dangerous and at the similar time helpful? We are currently living in the 21st century; there have been many lives that lived on this earth before us. These lives have accomplished plenty of work that have gotten us to where we’re today. This being stated it is so exhausting to consider something new to provide you with when it has most likely been accomplished earlier than in the past in one way or one other.

According to dictionary. com authentic means “not copied, false, original. ” To the dominant culture being genuine means coming up with something new to level out the world but as a outcome of, typically phrases have a couple of definition, being genuine does not all the time imply inventing one thing new to point out the world. In reality, to indigenous teams it means preserving their beliefs, on a daily basis actions, culture, and so on intact.

It is keeping every thing they know their ancestors did and what their parents taught them to do with out improvements or change.

In this essay I will be comparing different indigenous teams and how the meaning of” Authentic” is often a double-edged sword to these indigenous groups. For indigenous teams being authentic is important. Not only because it is necessary for them to maintain their culture intact but in addition as a result of it’s an effective political tool. This political software may help them negotiate land, which is among the most essential things for them as a outcome of it is the main tool of survival.

Many critics argue that although these tribes are isolated they are not untouched by outsiders therefore they do not appear to be indigenous, they’re just isolated teams.

Video in the village’s project has been working with many tribes such because the Nambiquara, Caviao, Tikuna, Kijani Iakaha and Kaiapo. Their aim is to introduce them to the art of film to allow them to protect their culture and discover their id inside themselves. They have done this by giving cameras to various indigenous people themselves teaching them the fundamentals of tips on how to report. These people have been given the prospect to document what they need to see about themselves and what they assume is necessary to speak to the world. Although it was a protracted course of that took lots of work and

patience, many villages have had success. For example the Kijani Iakaha group recorded a regular day within the village the place at first of the film the ladies are lined up so they may get pat in their backs and their stomachs with a wood stick. This, to them, represents safety; it helps their ladies all through their pregnancy. They additionally show some of the habits they’ve such as choosing every other’s ticks out. They additionally observe the regular actions of other indigenous villages. They ship the children to fish, the ladies stay in cleaning, cooking and watching the smaller kids and the lads go out to hunt.

They make use of their land by planning and hunting so they can provide items for themselves and their household. Even though these individuals are wearing items that belong to the dominant tradition they nonetheless do what indigenous teams do. The solely distinction that could be taken out of the villagers is what they put on and a few of their traditions; ladies are wearing skirts and males are sporting shorts. When indigenous teams decides to make a change to their culture it turns into dangerous because it gives the government proof that these folks have had contact with the dominant culture.

In the article by Beth A. Conklin, Body paint, feathers, and VCRs: aesthetics and authenticity in Amazonian activism, he states, “The first, obvious idea is that outsiders (anthropologists included) are inclined to see complicated western know-how as a corrupting pressure that undermines traditional cultures. “Real” natives don’t use VCRs. ” Many individuals argue that if indigenous folks work with the camera their focus is no longer in trying to maintain their culture and origin as an alternative it is to attempt to look good for the camera that may doubtlessly lead to a change in their culture.

The cause why it is a massive deal if these tribes are up to date with the dominant world is because being indigenous provides them particular rights, corresponding to land proper and political rights. When uncovered to technology which basically means they’ve been uncovered to society they are no longer innocent and “original” they’re now uncovered and experienced. This, as quickly as again, creates doubts about their originality. To the eyes of the federal government if they’re updated with the dominant culture they’re just taking over land that real indigenous individuals could use.

According to the government and the dominant society an authentic indigenous group is that which does what the typical stereotype of an indigenous group does. They use paint to paint their our bodies in a means which they will specific themselves; a lot of the teams do it for special events corresponding to ceremonies and completely different rituals. They have completely different rituals that represent who they are changing into. This just isn’t all the time true. In the movie Signs don’t communicate the people within the group are carrying common clothes yet they still behave like other indigenous groups.

They nonetheless dislike white man as a result of based on them these solely bring hurt. One of the villagers quotes “My father informed me white man would come to take over our land. ” In this film the villagers speak about an encounter they had with the white man. They thought that they would solely keep and work for a brief time but they end it up staying longer, working exhausting and destroying their land. They are properly conscious of the stereotypes people have about them, they like to stay away from certainly one of their largest menace, white man.

In the other hand within the movie video cannibalism the villagers are strolling round bare, fulfilling the stereotypes, making vulgar jokes that to them haven’t any vulgar intention and with paint throughout their bodies. This group has no problems with the federal government as a outcome of to the government these are the true indigenous people. At greatest, indigenous teams begin to know how they are completely different from not solely the dominant culture or other indigenous teams but themselves as nicely. It can even confirm the stereotypes many individuals consider making it virtually impossible for these to be modified for future technology.

Being genuine may be dangerous as a result of it can restrict indigenous groups from self-determination and development. Authenticity can be helpful as a end result of possibly in some cultures having a primitive lifestyle restores a variety of the good interactions between individuals. There is not as much drama and people’s views can be heard extra easily. Stereotyping brings about hardship for certain cultures, nevertheless, a tradition may learn to embrace stereotyping and never be hurt as much as a result of the reality that they’re primitive and wouldn’t have to grasp what media says about them.

Their portrayal is to folks that they in all probability will never see. Technology might be what’s saving these cultures from many hardships which would possibly be in fashionable society right now. An authentic indigenous tradition does not have to bear the economic difficulties that fashionable societies do. In the tip, many cultures are indigenous, however according to what the modern society defines as authentic, modern society can have the facility to say that a bunch isn’t original and subsequently simply aboriginal, meaning they still have the technologically advanced capabilities, however choose to not use them.

Work cited Dictionary. com. Dictionary. reference. com. LLC. 2012. Web. 14 March 2012 Video in the Villages. Dir. Vincent Carelli. Documentary Educational Resources. 1989. Film. Conklin, B. A. Body paint, feathers, and VCRs: aesthetics and authenticity in Amazonian activism. JSTOR. org. JSTOR. 1997. Web. 14 March 2012. Signs Don’t Speak. Dir. Vicent Carelli, Dominique Gallois. Documentary Education Resources. 1996. Film. Video Cannibalism. Dir. Vicent Carelli. Documentary Educational Resources. 1995. Film.