Remixed methodologies in community‐based film research

• Published in: The Canadian geographer 2020-12, Vol.64 (4), p.576-589
• Main Authors: McCreary, Tyler, Murnaghan, Ann Marie F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Archival studies; Archives & records; Authority; autochtone; Collaboration; Collaborative work; Colonialism; Community; Community involvement; community‐based film; Conventions; Courts; Education; film communautaire; Governance; Indigenous; Indigenous peoples; Interviews; Land use; methodology; Motion pictures; méthodologie; Native North Americans; Research methodology; Resilience; School districts; Wet'suwet'en; Witsuwit'en
• ISSN: 0008-3658; 1541-0064
• DOI: 10.1111/cag.12641

This paper explores how remixed methodologies can inform research in Indigenous communities using short films, combining archival and contemporary footage. Drawing on the lineages of Indigenous and feminist community‐based research methodologies, we develop a three‐part conception of remixed methodologies. We emphasize, first, the need to resituate the process of knowledge production within relationships between researchers and Indigenous community members. Second, we stress the importance of reconsidering the intended outputs of community‐university collaboration to centre community goals. Third, we underscore how remixed methodologies can disrupt the narratives surrounding settler colonial archival resources, resituating historical footage with relation to contemporary Indigenous contexts. We apply this framework to our collaborative work with the Witsuwit'en Cultural and Language Authority and the Office of Aboriginal Education at British Columbia School District #54, combining archival and contemporary films to create Indigenous education resources. Specifically, we remixed footage of Witsuwit'en traditional activities from two 1927 National Museum of Canada films with contemporary interviews and footage of Witsuwit'en governance and land use activities. We highlight how making archival films relevant to contemporary Indigenous community goals required disrupting the conventions of scholarly authority, designing collaborative outputs to suit community aims, and resituating knowledge production within the context of Witsuwit'en resilience in the face of colonialism. Les méthodologies remixées dans la recherche cinématographique communautaire autochtone Ce texte explore comment les méthodologies remixées peuvent enrichir la recherche dans les communautés autochtones à travers l'utilisation de courts métrages combinant des enregistrements d'archives et d'autres plus contemporains. En s'inspirant des approches méthodologiques communautaires autochtones et féministes, nous proposons une conception cinématographique renouvelée fondée sur trois principes. En premier lieu, nous insistons sur la nécessité de resituer le processus de production des connaissances dans le cadre des relations entre les chercheurs et les autochtones. Deuxièmement, nous soulignons l'importance de reconsidérer les résultats attendus de la collaboration entre la communauté et l'université afin de favoriser les objectifs de la communauté. Troisièmement, nous soulignons la manière dont l