Imagining Drumbytes and Logging in Powwows: A History of Community Imagination in Canadian-Based Aboriginal New Media Art by Maria Victoria Guglietti, Lie., M.A. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Cultural Mediations Carleton University Ottawa, Canada May 2010 ©Copyright 2010, Maria Victoria Guglietti Library and Archives Bibliothgque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'Sdition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre r&f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-67887-9 Our file Notre r6f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-67887-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la BibliothSque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduce, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada ABSTRACT This thesis proposes a history of community imagination within the Aboriginal new media field in Canada. Aboriginal new media art is an artistic field that emerged in the mid-1990s, when Aboriginal contemporary artists and cultural producers adopted the Internet to articulate a presence online. A significant aspect of Aboriginal new media art is its commitment to develop, perform and represent community through technological means. The central argument of this study is that Aboriginal new media art is an artistic field where community is imagined and practiced. This work of imagination does not passively reflect cultural relations of production and reproduction, but mediates these relations, affecting the development of the field. At a theoretical level, this study develops a program that bridges the gap between studies of community imagination and imagined communities. To this end, it engages with an interdisciplinary body of work that encompasses the sociology of culture, cultural studies, community informatics and research on online communities and sociality. At a methodological level, this thesis reconstructs the development of community imagination through the discursive analysis of online projects as well as interviews with Aboriginal new media artists, government art officials and Aboriginal curators. As a result, the history of community imagination is divided in three moments, each defined by a hegemonic model of community imagination: community empowerment, community as online performance and community as poetics. 111 For Caecilia and Raphael 111 Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Paul Theberge, who patiently guided me throughout this learning process. I am also indebted to Dr. Ruth Phillips and Dr. Karim H. Karim, who provided valuable insights and encouragement during revisions. I am also grateful to the artists, curators and program officers that agreed to discuss their work and views of Aboriginal new media art with me. This history would have never been written without their help. Special thanks go to Nicole Forrest, Wanda Dalla Costa, Jeremy Siemens and J.C. Schmidt, who edited this document with care and respect. There are no words of gratitude that are enough to thank my husband, Raphael Neurohr, for his love and support during this project. His enthusiasm and belief in my research often surpassed my own. I am also infinitely grateful to my parents, Marta and Roberto Guglietti, for their patience, support and babysitting. Finally, thanks also go to my brother, Guillermo, whose humour helped put things in perspective, and to Caecilia, my daughter, whose daily company gives meaning to everything I do. 111 111 Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments iv Preface vii Introduction 1 Chapter One: Native and Non-Native Imaginations of Community 12 Community as a Problem 14 Romanticizing Aboriginal Community: Countercultural 20 Movements Go Native Aboriginal Politics and the Imagination of the Pan-Indian Community 23 The "New Reservation Narrative": Urban Aboriginals Imagine 34 Community Imagining Community within the Aboriginal Art World 42 Chapter Two: The Study of Community 59 Community 60 Community and Media Practices 66 The Cultural Production of Community 74 Chapter Three: Theoretical and Methodological Program 90 Aboriginal New Media Art as Object of Study 92 From Texts to Spatial Relations 96 Tracing Community in the Aboriginal New Media Art Field 104 The Discursive Analysis of Community Articulations 109 The Historization of Community Articulations 112 Chapter Four: Networking: The Community Empowerment Model 114 Aboriginal Media in Canada: Imagining the Local 116 Aboriginal New Media: The Internet as Communal Promise 124 Aboriginal Artists Adopt the Internet: The Drumbytes Network 134 Chapter Five: The Formation of the Aboriginal New Media Art Field: Community as Online Performance 150 Toward an Aboriginal New Media Art Field 153 CyberPowWow. The Imagination of Community as Online Performance 176 Chapter Six: The Institutionalization of Aboriginal New Media Art: Community as Poetics 200 The Persistence of Community as Online Performance: Drumbytes.org and Treaty Card 203 The Institutionalization of the Aboriginal New Media Art Field 217 The Imagination of Community as Poetics: Plain Truth, Wepinasowina, 239 Ten Little Indians and Imagining Indians in the 25th Century Chapter Seven: Conclusions 261 A Study of Community Imagination and Imagined Communities 262 The Meaning of Community 266 Theoretical and Methodological Program: Possibilities and Limitations 270 The Future 276 Appendix 279 Bibliography 290 111 PREFACE I decided to investigate the imagination of community in the Aboriginal new media art field in order to challenge the still pervasive stereotypes of Aboriginal resilience to technology and romanticizations of Aboriginal tradition and community. The reason why I focused on an artistic field rather than other cultural phenomena is because Aboriginal artistic practices have always been regarded as crucial in the production of collective identity and knowledge. In fact, it was Metis political leader Louis Riel who, in 1885, highlighted the crucial role of artists as cultural mediators and leaders: "My people will sleep for 100 years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back."1 In their search of new modes of artistic expression, Aboriginal new media artists have demonstrated that the Internet can be a medium of Aboriginal expression and a means to create and empower community. In an article published in 2005, Aboriginal video and new media artist Dana Claxton notes that: "Contemporary Aboriginal art in Canada has played several roles, one of which is pedagogical in nature."2 These words indicate Aboriginal artists' awareness of their own role in the dissemination and preservation of their culture. Contemporary Aboriginal art is not just the expression of an individual aesthetic vision but a platform where tradition, identity and community are negotiated. The main goal of this thesis is to explore this continuous and fascinating work of imagination. 111 Manitoba Metis Federation, "Louis Riel Quotes." 2Claxton, "Re:Wind," 16. The historical reconstruction of community imagination in the field of Aboriginal new media art is an academic enterprise that would have been impossible without the participation of Aboriginal new media artists, curators, funding officers and cultural facilitators. Their stories are vital to reconstruct the practices of community that preceded, followed and emerged from the projects. These stories were gathered through a series of interviews conducted between April 2007 and March 2008; further details of the interview process can be found in the Appendix. Despite the important role played by the interviews in this project, it would be inaccurate to label my relationship with my informants as "collaboration." My contribution is timid compared to what I learnt and gained from our dialogue. Also, a true collaboration would have involved the artists' participation in the development of my methodological and theoretical framework. I did not request this kind of participation nor