Building beautiful bridges: Indigenous womxn artists using social networking sites to address violence

Abstract

Using Indigenous aesthetics, critical technocultural discourse analysis, and Indigenous storyworks, this study explores how Indigenous womxn's art practices challenge settler-colonizing visual and media representations of Indigenous peoples that feed violence against womxn, girls and two-spirits; and in the digital realm, how sharing their art-stories is testimony to the unique voices of Indigenous womxn's leadership. A critical technocultural discourse analysis of in-depth interviews and social networking site (SNS) posts reveals underlying settler-colonial discourses. Through their art-storytelling, artist-participants use technocultural discourses of generosity, collaboration/reciprocity, calling in/calling out, creating and respecting boundaries and fierceness to shift dominating discourses. In a real sense they are building bridges between on and offline realms, strengthening community networks, and bringing together past, present and future to prevent violence.