Daring to change the Indigenous narrative
(Pictured from left to right) Chloe Hazzard (CH), Victoria Salituro (VS), Alexandru Titu (AT), and Connor Martin (CM) are fourth-year Media Production students from Toronto Metropolitan’s RTA School of Media. As part of their thesis project, the group created Faces of Resilience, a three-part mini docu-series highlighting Indigenous success through showcasing Indigenous leaders and innovators and telling the stories of how they got to where they are today.
The docu-series features Jenn Harper, the founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty; Lyle Thompson, a professional lacrosse player from the Onondaga Nation, hawk clan; and Pamela Palmater, a Mi’kmaq lawyer from Eel River Bar First Nation, New Brunswick, professor at Toronto Metropolitan University for the Department of Politics and Public Administration, and director for the Centre of Indigenous Governance. We spoke with the team about the creation of Faces of Resilience and how they have utilized media production as a tool for changing the often negative narrative of the Indigenous community portrayed in the media.
Can you tell us about your program and how you started developing Faces of Resilience?
VS: In the second semester of our third-year, we took a project development class where everybody in our program had to pitch and develop a series.
CH: We all watched Connor pitch the project, it was her idea, she went up in front of the class and proposed the idea, and then we joined the team based on that.
How did you form your production team?
CM: The person who pitches, pitches a series, and crosses their fingers that people will be interested in it and join their team! It's funny because we're all friends and they always like to tell you not to work with your friends - so when I first pitched the series I wasn't thinking about working with any of these guys.
AT: I've always loved documentaries and making a positive impact using this form of media. When it came to my fourth-year, I thought, "this is something that I really wanted to do," making positive change and telling stories with a great team of people.
VS: I've known Connor since first-year university, and she's always been very passionate and willing to educate me on Indigenous peoples and history, especially topics that I never learned in school or experienced myself. When Connor pitched the series, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.
CH: When I heard Connor's pitch, I knew that even if we shot this on an iPhone, it was still going to be impactful. That's why I wanted to be a part of it.
Often, in educating people about the history of Indigenous peoples, and just Indigenous peoples in general, a lot of it is negative, and it's heavy. For me, I didn't really want to educate anyone else. I wanted to make a documentary for Indigenous people.
Can you tell us a bit more about your initial mission and goals for producing the docu-series?
CM: I wanted to do something different than any other documentary has done - so I chose to take a positive stance. Often, in educating people about the history of Indigenous peoples, and just Indigenous peoples in general, a lot of it is negative, and it's heavy. For me, I didn't really want to educate anyone else. I wanted to make a documentary for Indigenous people. We see a lot of the same things over and over again, and that's not what we're all about. We have a lot of successes to talk about, and we have a lot of good things happening in our community. I think a lot of times when we talk about ourselves to other people, we get stuck in what has happened to us rather than being proud of talking about what we're doing now. I wanted to shift the way we talk about ourselves!
How did you go about choosing your interview subjects? How did their stories and experiences help in forwarding the message of the docu-series?
CM: The first interview subject was Pamela Palmater; she's a lawyer and activist and was active in the media at the time. Then there is Lyle Thompson, who's a lacrosse player who had recently had one of the announcers say something really negative about him during a game (see article Philadelphia Wings announcer fired after making racist remarks toward Swarm's Lyle Thompson (external link) ). Then I went to Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto and found Cheekbone Beauty. I looked into Jen Harper, the founder, and found out she had a really important mission and vision for her company. That's how I picked the different subjects.
They all had very different and powerful messages. Still, they had the same underlying message - that success isn't about how much money you have and how many cars you have and stuff like that. Success is about happiness and fulfillment.
It's a really good message that even in the face of adversity, you can keep pushing and keep going. It's this idea of resilience that we keep going back to that is really meaningful.
What’s something new that you learned from producing Faces of Resilience?
VS: We went to visit Lyle's reserve, and before that, I had only ever been to Six Nations, where Connor is from. It was a good learning experience to hear from Lyle about how he grew up, how he didn't have electricity or water, and that despite all of that he is such a positive person.
CH: For me, it was learning from Jen, especially when she talked about how many schools on reserves are in poor conditions and the impact those conditions have on people and how it can affect every aspect of your life.
AT: I learned a lot from Pam. She has a 'warrior mentality,' and it's inspiring to see how she pushes through things and keeps going. It's a really good message that even in the face of adversity, you can keep pushing and keep going. It's this idea of resilience that we keep going back to that is really meaningful.
CM: For me, the biggest impact the docu-series had on me is a bit different from the others. It was learning that if you believe in something, even if you're not fully confident in doing it, do what you can to move past that mindset. Confidence was one thing I didn't have a lot of when we first started, but then I got to work with a team that was so supportive like these guys. My fear was always wondering, "would anybody else care as much as I do?" And to see that this team cared gave me a lot of confidence in getting this made.
How did receiving support from the Office of Social Innovation (OSI) and other community partners help in developing the docu-series?
CM: Chloe and I sat down for a meeting with my friend Laura, who had previously worked with OSI and she said, “you need to specifically talk to OSI because this is what they do - and if they can't help you, then they can point you in the right direction to get you help for your documentary.”
CH: It was nice to know that we had support at Toronto Metropolitan. To have that support and backup gave us a lot more confidence when planning everything.
If you're second-guessing yourself about doing something because you think people are not going to be interested, do it anyway.
What advice would you give to other students at Toronto Metropolitan looking to start their own social innovation and social justice project?
CM: I had a lot of back and forth when I was developing the idea and thinking about pitching because I had never done anything like this before. I was also hesitant because I was one of the only Indigenous people in the program, and I wasn't sure if people would care. That was my fear. If you're second-guessing yourself about doing something because you think people are not going to be interested, do it anyway. There's always going to be somebody out there that needs to hear that message, and it will have a positive impact on them.
VS: The advice I would give is that what you make doesn't have to be this high production and high-quality project to put out there. The message is what counts the most. If you have a good message and want to put it out in the world to help educate other people, then do it!
What’s next for Faces of Resilience?
CM: First, we want to look into different festivals that we can submit it to. The intention was to create these first three episodes as a pilot, and we'd like to make a couple more.
VS: We also want to share it with a much bigger audience. We initially premiered the documentary to a lot of close family and friends, which was awesome. Still, we want to get the message out to more people.
CM: If anything, say nobody wants to take our documentary, worst-case scenario. I think the biggest thing for us is that people who want to see it get to see it, such as Indigenous youth.
Learn more about the Faces of Resilience docu-series by visiting www.instagram.com/thefacesofresilience/ (external link, opens in new window) .
Are you a student at Toronto Metropolitan University with a project that will advance systemic change for social justice? You may be eligible for OSI’s Social Innovation and Activism Fund (SIAF).
