Groups and populations known as Indigenous people comprise some of the most marginalised populations on the planet. Their cultures and languages are threatened with extinction due to prejudice, discrimination, and the widespread exploitation and destruction of the environment. These processes are often fueled by the discriminatory attitudes and racism of privileged members of mainstream society. Indigenous peoples themselves have responded to these challenging circumstances and sought to improve their situation proactively through legal recourse, direct action, and activism, including using media and the arts as advocacy tools. Correct knowledge of these conditions is a necessary prerequisite to actions toward social justice, and the author considers it incumbent to work for consciousness-raising and the dissemination of knowledge geared toward the empowerment of minoritised groups. In this way, media literacy, or critical understanding of media and its consumption is a key agenda for the betterment of contemporary society. The question of how we as media consumers can make wise choices in support of Indigenous and minority empowerment is a crucial one.
On the other hand, what has been referred to as Indigenous Media or Fourth Media calls us to go beyond ordinary conceptions of social justice to radically re-examine our very own ontologies and senses of time. This presentation seeks to recap the conditions surrounding the creation and consumption of Indigenous media, and, through sharing examples of Indigenous and Ainu-created media, to consider its meaning and message to us all as 21st century citizens.
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