The Indigenous digital stories I chose to reflect on are a
series of digital shorts on the Super, Natural British Columbia (SNBC) website.
The stories focus on the importance of natural elements to Indigenous culture, specifically
whales, bears, water, mountains, and rainforests. While not strictly a research
project, these digital stories are successful examples of participant-created
narratives (Willox et al., 2013). As noted in both the Tekobbe (2024) and
Willox et al. (2013) readings, storytelling is a powerful way for Indigenous
people to rewrite negative and stereotyped narratives in a way that respects
their experiences and knowledge. Each is conducted by a different Indigenous
narrator sharing personal stories about their connection to the land and
animals and their importance to the Indigenous community and heritage. Through
the five stories, I noted overarching themes of environmental responsibility,
responsibility for natural resources, respect for the land, and the importance
of nature to Indigenous culture and values.
Regarding the preservation of Indigenous
stories, having these digital chronicles featured on a prominent provincial
website is excellent exposure. In many cases, people would have to search for
these stories intentionally, and as a result, they likely don’t receive a lot
of viewers. The SNBC website offers a larger, more diverse audience who may not
have intended to view Indigenous stories but view them because they are on the
website.
As a mode
of decolonization, the stories meet the criteria of Mines (n.d.) and Willox et
al. (2013). Mines (n.d.) notes that storytelling belongs to the storyteller and
is a powerful form of Indigenization and decolonization- each video features an
Indigenous leader telling their unique story in their unique way. In the “Illahee:
Whales” story, one may expect to hear only about Whales, but the narrator Moses
Martin of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, discusses the origin and meaning of his
traditional Indigenous name. The other narrator, Carl Martin, speaks of his
family’s history as whalers and the animal’s importance to the survival of his
ancestors. The story isn’t just about whales, but reflections adding rich,
personal details which are an important part of decolonization and Indigenization
(Mines, n.d.; Willox et al. 2013).
One of
the main strengths of digital storytelling is the potential reach. By recording
these stories and making them available online, far more people can access them.
Additionally, the combination of story and picture adds to the impact of the
product. The videos on the SNBC website are of exceptional quality. It seems
that great care was taken to meld the storytelling and visuals to create an
engaging and heartfelt video that may be difficult to convey in the same way
through other media. As I mentioned, just because videos are on the internet
doesn’t necessarily mean people will watch them. So, one potential drawback is
that unless they are featured on a high-traffic website or searched for, they
may not receive much attention. In the context of this specific group of
digital stories, one may question if there is a public relations benefit to
SNBC. This is not a personal criticism of mine as I find the digital stories
respectful and expertly created, but I could envision the criticism that as a
website designed to increase tourism in BC, the digital stories are there for
tokenism and to capitalize on the mystique of Indigenous culture. I think that
would be a very pessimistic and inaccurate criticism but could be accurate in
other cases.
Destination BC, Corp. (n.d.). Indigenous
Storytellers [Review of Indigenous Storytellers]. Super,
Natural British Columbia. Retrieved March 19, 2025, from https://www.hellobc.com/indigenous-storytellers-in-british-columbia/?gad_source=2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgLuLn_eWjAMVBYjuAR0LVwnfEAEYASAAEgLJHfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Mines, S. (n.d.). Storytelling as a Method of Indigenization. Middlebury College and the Western Abenaki. https://sites.middlebury.edu/abenaki/storytelling-as-a-method-of-indigenization/
Tekobbe, C. (2024). Indigenous Storytelling and Ways of
Thinking and Being. In Indigenous Voices in Digital Spaces (pp. 32–51).
University Press of Colorado. http://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.19307138.7
Willox, A. C., Harper, S. L., Edge, V. L., My Word
Storytelling Digital Media, & Rigolet Inuit Community Govt. (2013).
Storytelling in a digital age: digital storytelling as an emerging narrative
method for preserving and promoting indigenous oral wisdom. QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH, 13(2), 127–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112446105
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