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

Abstract

This paper, based on summer fieldwork made possible through the auspices of an undergraduate student research award, examines the following themes: 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 almost every aspect of life; and 3) how patriotism relates to these issues. It is a preliminary work that forms the basis for later graduate work, focused on community organizing and deconstructing delegitimizing representations of First Nations activists.