Indigenous TikTok: Movement or Moment
Although it has only been available internationally since 2017, TikTok is an immensely popular mobile app that allows people to create, share, and consume short-video content. Indigenous influencers produce a plethora of content from sharing their personal stories, cultural heritage, musical performances, beauty and fashion tips, social commentary, and more. They are inspirational role models to fellow indigenous followers and teachers to their non-Indigenous followers. Due to the novelty of internet activism, some may wonder about its effectiveness in delivering real-life results.
Current Indigenous Influencer Landscape
Currently, over 4.8 million TikTok’s have been tagged with “#indigenoustok” attracting almost 1 billion views. The hashtag is often used by Indigenous people to gather on TikTok to discuss Indigenous experiences, cultures, communities, research, stories, and more. Many Canadian content creators have accumulated mass followings and catapulted themselves into internet stardom.
Michelle Chubb (@indigenous_baddie) of the Bunibonibee Cree Nation and what is currently known as Winnipeg, Manitoba. She provides beading tutorials, traditional dancing, and get-ready-with-me videos alongside direct call-outs to Indigenous injustice, such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and the impacts of residential schools. Her content also revolves around her life as a young Indigenous woman facing discrimination, intergenerational trauma, and being a new parent. A brief examination of Chubb’s comment section will reveal that many followers look to Chubbs as a role model. In an interview with PBS News Hour Chubbs, stated “when I was younger I didn’t have many people to look up to,” noting a lack of accurate Indigenous representation in the media. The availability of positive Indigenous representation for today’s youth is a major benefit of Indigenous influencers such as Chubbs.
Another prominent content creator is Tia Wood (@tiamiscihk), of Cree and Salish descent from what is currently known as Alberta, Canada. Since becoming an active TikTok user in early 2020, Wood has gained over 2 million followers and 46 million likes.
In one of her most recent posts, Wood is portraying Americans and Canadians while lipsyncing a voice saying “What did I ever do to you?”. As an ambient techno beat begins to play, Wood appears with the caption of “Indigenous peoples” while turning towards the camera with a confused expression. Following the rhythm of the music, images appear depicting residential schools, the Indian Act, the Dakota War of 1862, and recent pipeline protests. The harrowing video is accompanied by the caption, “& that’s just the tip of the iceberg”. In her short video, Wood addresses the denial of Indigenous oppression, violence and genocide. Wood’s video embodies the availability of topical, informative, and educational video content available on TikTok. Reactions in the comments were users sharing their connection to the historical events depicted while others sharing their disdain for Indigenous history not being adequately covered in elementary and secondary education.
The Decolonial Approach in Social Media
Adopting a decolonial approach is one way to counter traditional and oppressive epistemologies. According to Mitchell, Thomas, and Smith (2008), a decolonial approach, “requires authentic power-sharing with Indigenous Peoples through partnerships that respect Indigenous knowledge, lifeways, research methodologies, and cultural protocols” (p. 353). A decolonial approach prioritizes coexistence, collaboration, and reciprocal dialogue.
Twitter, as is a long-standing popular and political social media platform. Using the larger availability of Twitter will provide insight into the possible outcomes of TikTok that have yet to be widely discussed. Kim et al. (2018) recognize Twitter as a “space where [Black, Indigenous, and] communities of colour can talk to each other and build their worlds” (p. 151).
In the case of Indigenous communities, scholar Watson (2019) argues that social media coverage about missing and murdered Indigenous women help to counteract the lack of adequate reporting by major media networks. Watson (2019) praises social media movements and hashtags such as “#AmINextfor” for providing, “new opportunities for resisting the continued oppression of Aboriginal women”(p. 208).
Possible Limitations
A challenge to social change on social media is the digital systems of oppression. Search engines, algorithms, and other technological systems contain biases as they were created by humans that exist in unequal social apparatuses. People with biases, prejudices and unique lived experiences craft algorithms that can be infused with those same ideals. TikTok has notably faced immense criticism for promoting Eurocentric attractive young people to its nearly 1 billion user base. Acknowledging social media can be tainted is important to address the misconception of the internet being neutral and free from interference.
Despite the constraints, there are many positive affordances of Indigenous TikTok content creators yet to be explored. I hope for governments and institutions to listen to the demands of Indigenous people for independence and sovereignty. This includes adhering to the guidelines set out in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. As previously discussed, the video component and editing abilities on TikTok allow for greater creative storytelling. Popular users are quickly becoming inspirational figures to Indigenous followers and teachers to non- Indigenous followers. As the discourse on TikTok continues to evolve and change I hope to see more scholarly literature become available.
References
Cole, K. (2021). How Indigenous creators are nurturing a space on TikTok to educate and entertain. PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/how-indigenous-creators-are-nurturing-a-space-on-tiktok-to-educate-and-entertain
Corntassel, J., Edgar, R., Monchalin, R., & Newman, C. (2020). An everyday Indigenous resurgence during COVID-19: a social media situation report. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 16(4), 403–405. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180120968156
Golash-Boza, T. (2016). A critical and comprehensive sociological theory of race and racism. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), 2(2), 129–141. doi:10.1177/2332649216632242
Hall, S. (1992). Five The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power [1992]:. In D. Morley (Ed.), Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity and Diaspora (pp. 141–184). New York, USA: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478002710-010
Jones, N. N. (2016). The technical communicator as an advocate: Integrating a social justice approach in technical communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 46(3), 342–361. doi:10.1177/0047281616639472
Kim, D., Russworm, T. M., Vaughan, C., Adair, C., Paredes, V., & Cowan, T. L. (2018). Race, gender, and the technological turn: A roundtable on digitizing revolution. Frontiers, 39(1), 149–177. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/ fronjwomestud.39.1.0149
Mitchell, T. L., Thomas, D., & Smith, J. A. (2018). Unsettling the settlers: Principles of a decolonial approach to creating safe(r) spaces in Post‐secondary education. American Journal of Community Psychology, 62(3–4), 350–363. doi:10.1002/ajcp.12287
Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity,education & society, 1(1).
Watson, K. (2019). Missing and murdered indigenous women: The role of grassroots organizations and social media in education. Canadian Woman Studies, 33(1), 204–210. http://ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/scholarly-journals/missing-murdered-indigenous-women-role-grassroots/docview/2226333470/se-2?accountid=13631
