All too frequently, media depictions of indigenous peoples gives a very one-sided picture of them as passive victims, and fails to capture the resilience and vibrancy of modern indigenous lives. Perhaps mainstream media and culture are more comfortable with that image of indigenous peoples, but now and again a more rounded and complete account of indigenous peoples appears.
According to this news story, the Lakota Peoples Law Project speaks favourably about the depiction of life in the Pine Ridge Reservation in the National Geographic Article, “In the Shadow of Wounded Knee.”
Both the newstory and the National Geographic article provide informative and balanced stories on indigenous life and the way in which history is a source of strength and identity in the present, not a tale of unmitigated victimhood and suffering. These are stories well worth reading, that give an unblinking and insight view into contemporary indigenous lives.
These media stories tell a different story, removing the all-too-prevalent and inaccurate portrayal of indigenous peoples as nothing but victims.
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