(In)Visibility and (Mis)Representation: First Nations and Social Justice

• Main Author: Thorne, Niki
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Victoria 2010
• Subjects: First Nations
• Online Access: https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/platforum/article/view/1112

This paper, based on summer fieldwork made possible through the auspicesof an undergraduate student research award, examines the followingthemes: 1) the construction of First Nations activists as the Dangerous Other,delegitimizing calls for social justice; 2) the construction of indigenouspeople as helpless victims in need of saving by a colonial government,drawing attention away from centuries of colonial interference in almostevery aspect of life; and 3) how patriotism relates to these issues. It is apreliminary work that forms the basis for later graduate work, focused oncommunity organizing and deconstructing delegitimizing representationsof First Nations activists.