Indigenous Futurisms
Using tools like slipstream, worldbuilding, science fiction and anthropological First Contact scenarios, Indigenous communities construct self-determined representations and alternative narratives about their identities and futures.
[2] In so doing, the movement questions the digital divide, noting that Indigenous peoples have at once been purposefully excluded from accessing media technologies and constructed as existing outside of modernity.
[3] The widespread use of personal computers and the Internet following the Digital Revolution created conditions in which, to some extent, Indigenous peoples may participate in the creation of a network of self-representations.
Concepts of time, space, identity, and belonging are redefined, offering insights into indigenous worldviews and Spiritual practices.
Ultimately, indigenous futurisms serve as a powerful tool for recognizing colonialism, genocide, and how to more peacefully coexist with one's gender and environment.
[8] American Indian boarding schools in the last 100 years have been responsible for beating Indigenous children into learning and accepting customs from America at the time.
The concept of time in Indigenous Futurisms moves away from Western linear interpretations, both culturally and within the genre of speculative fiction.
[14] Historical themes of colonialism, imperialism, genocide, conflict, the environment, trade and treaties, which have impacted Indigenous cultures, are recurring and reexamined, creating new narratives in the process.
[15] Artists play with questions of race, privilege, and "Whiteness", both in history and within the speculative genre; they are expanded upon, subverted, erased, reversed, etc., thereby linking culture to time, space, and what lies in-between.
[16] The term biskaabiiyang (Anishinaabe), used by Dillon, exemplifies how Indigenous creators reflect on the impact of colonization by returning to their ancestral roots, conflating past with present and future, as well as reframing what the world would or could be like.
Amparo Chi[25] is an artist selected to showcase her work in the riverside art exhibit for indigenous futurisms.
Amparo Chi is a Chicana artist raised in Los Angeles, a city dense with Hispanic culture in many forms like art.
[29] Her artwork, Arbol de la Pura Vida,[30] captures a family tree of sorts that also happens to center around women.
Ramirez's work, Arbol de la Pura Vida,[30] emphasizes to strong familial connects that are formed within this culture and that it remains many generations later.
Art is a way to emphasize the meaning behind their urgency to continue their heritage and keep in touch with the history that their ancestors have lived through so that the next generations can keep growing.
[33] The continued development of Indigenous Futurists frameworks account for the diversity of creative efforts and histories between the First Nations, Inuit, and Native American filmmakers and communities[33] to influence the outside world.
[citation needed] Thunderbird Strike features significant artistic components and lots of indigenous imagery.
Additionally, the popular game Fallout: New Vegas features a DLC titled Honest Hearts that showcases Indigenous culture in a dystopian future.
Various tribes exist in the new region of Zion Canyon and the connection to nature is showcased with rain and friendly dogs being introduced to Fallout: New Vegas for the first time.
Virtual reality (VR) is a medium in which the concept of screen sovereignty can be used to combat misrepresentation of Indigenous people in media.
Because Indigenous people are often misrepresented in media, VR has become a place to creatively express Native American culture and ideas.
[41] VR is used by many Indigenous practitioners to reimagine traditional storytelling and express themselves and their culture, promote health and wellbeing, and foster self-esteem and pride.
[42] The 2167VR Project (2017), in partnership with the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (TIIF), commissioned the works of many Indigenous artists such as Danis Goulet (Métis), Kent Monkman (Cree), Postcommodity and Scott Benesiinaabandan (Lac Seul First Nation), notable for his work Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky.
[13] This immersive project exhibits virtual reality works set 150 years forward in time, paralleling Canada's 150th anniversary, each offering a different perspective on the role Indigenous peoples and identities will have in building the future.
Following the pandemic, the MoCNA has transferred the collection to an online gallery and made available a VR experience that the public can access through their devices.
[46] The term was inspired by Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism, all of which encapsulate multiple modes of art-making from literature to visual arts, fashion, and music.
Our progress is to preserve our culture ... to live in the present, I have to remember my past.”[49] Artists working within the field of Indigenous Futurisms include:
