Indigenous Influencer

In this assignment, you will explore how Indigenous voices are represented and shared through modern media. You will examine the work of Indigenous creators (First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit) who use platforms such as social media, video, music, podcasts, or interviews to tell stories, share knowledge, and communicate ideas.

You will compare two Indigenous creators, looking at:

• What stories they tell
• How they communicate
• Why their voices matter today

This assignment is an introduction to Indigenous-created texts that you will return to throughout the course as we study a wider variety of sources and forms of storytelling.

Your Focus

As you work, think about:

• How creators express identity, community, land, language, history, and responsibility
• How media choices (platform, tone, style) shape meaning
• How historical, cultural, and socio-political contexts influence what is being said
• What respectful and responsible participation looks like when engaging with Indigenous content online

Indigenous Storywork

Indigenous Storywork is a way of understanding texts that centers relationships, responsibility, and respect. Stories are not just sources of information or entertainment; they carry teachings, values, and ways of knowing that connect people to land, community, history, and one another. When engaging with Indigenous-created media, Storywork asks you to consider why a story is being shared, who it is for, and what responsibilities come with listening to it.

Storywork also recognizes that stories are shaped by lived experience and context. Indigenous creators often draw on intergenerational knowledge, cultural memory, and responses to historical and ongoing colonial realities. Rather than separating “past” and “present,” Storywork encourages you to see how history, culture, and current socio-political conditions are woven together in modern media, even in short-form or informal platforms like social media.

Using an Indigenous Storywork lens means slowing down and listening carefully. Instead of judging or debating, you focus on understanding relationships, perspectives, and intentions. In this assignment, you are not expected to speak for Indigenous peoples or evaluate their experiences. Your role is to observe, analyze, and reflect respectfully, recognizing that listening itself is an important and active form of learning.

You will use an Indigenous Storywork lens to guide your thinking. This means paying attention to relationships, responsibility, respect, and context, rather than just summarizing content. The goal is to understand how stories function and why they are shared.

Digital Citizenship

When engaging with Indigenous voices online, it is important to be aware of performative engagement. Performative engagement happens when someone responds to Indigenous content mainly to appear supportive, informed, or “on the right side,” rather than to genuinely listen, learn, or build understanding. This can include leaving generic praise, repeating slogans without understanding their meaning, or centering one’s own feelings instead of the message being shared. Even when intentions are positive, performative responses can shift attention away from Indigenous voices and experiences.

Tokenism is closely related and occurs when Indigenous people or perspectives are included in a limited, simplified, or symbolic way rather than being engaged with thoughtfully and respectfully. This might look like focusing on a single Indigenous creator as if they represent all Indigenous peoples, or engaging with Indigenous content only during certain moments while ignoring the broader diversity of Nations, perspectives, and experiences. Tokenism reduces complex identities and stories into something easily consumable, rather than something that deserves sustained attention and respect.

In this assignment, you are encouraged to think carefully about when to speak and when to listen. Respectful digital citizenship sometimes means choosing not to comment at all and instead reflecting privately on what you have learned. Genuine engagement prioritizes understanding, accountability, and humility. Recognizing performative engagement and tokenism helps ensure that your interactions support Indigenous voices rather than unintentionally diminishing or oversimplifying them.

Part of this assignment is learning how to engage safely and respectfully online. You will reflect on when it is appropriate to comment, when it is better to listen, and how to avoid harm or performative engagement.

Why This Matters

Indigenous creators are shaping conversations in media right now. Learning to listen carefully, analyze thoughtfully, and respond respectfully builds skills you will use throughout this course.

You will revisit the creators and ideas from this assignment in later units as we deepen our analysis of texts, storytelling, and communication.

Assignment

1. Creator Snapshot Log You will collect and organize examples of media from 3-5 Indigenous creators, noting platform, purpose, tone, audience, themes, and communication strategies. This log helps you build a clear picture of how each creator uses media to tell stories and share ideas.
2. Comparison (Video or Written Post) Choose two creators to compare:
   • Identify shared themes, key differences, and the communication strategies they use
   • For each creator, identify at least one reference you're unfamiliar with
   • Investigate and explain how the reference's historical, cultural, or socio-political contexts influence current lived experiences
3. Indigenous Storywork Reflection You will reflect on the stories being told and the relationships, responsibilities, and perspectives they reveal. Using an Indigenous Storywork lens, you will explain why these stories matter and what you learned by listening carefully rather than simply summarizing content.
4. Respectful Online Engagement Reflection You will reflect on what respectful and responsible engagement looks like when interacting with Indigenous content online. You may draft a thoughtful comment or explain why choosing to listen rather than comment is the most appropriate response in this context.