Teaching Indigenous Film through an Indigenous Epistemic Lens

Abstract

Since the institution implemented a mandatory lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I felt that teaching primarily with visual media would ease students' transition to the mandatory remote learning environment, and I introduced filmic narratives aimed to promote hózhę or restoration and healing through decoloniality. Because students are required to write about Indigenous creatives and their work, I assign chapters from Gregory Younging's Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing by and about Indigenous Peoples (2018). The context reports serve as an introduction to the upcoming film we will screen, and I require students to engage in light research for their preparation. Students are expected to integrate and synthesize reading assignments with the films just screened, and I pose questions for small and large group discussion.