Digital Drum

The *Solar Idol Contest is an online talent searching, looking for solar energy solutions from high school students across Ontario. We want students to produce a creative 1-3 minute video showcasing their solar energy solution for the world’s climate crisis. Students can produce their videos in English or French, and enter them into the Contest for a chance to win great prizes. Videos will be judged by both student peers and by a panel of judges. Videos will also be featured exclusively on the *Solar Idol Video Channel on Vimeo.

*Solar Idol is an excellent opportunity for Ontario students to get creative, think outside the box and let their imaginations shine. It encourages students to explore the future possibilities of renewable energy production, consumption and conservation.

All forms of renewable energy powered by the Sun are eligible for submission, including photovoltaic, photosynthesis, wind, water, and more!

The video submission deadline is Friday June 1st, 2012!!

For more information, please visit www.solaridol.org or contact shine@solaridol.org

Thank you, and shine on!

The Controversy that is Blackstone

By Melanie Ferris, Anishnawbe Kwe

Blackstone… a one-hour weekly drama that airs on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) creates a strong reaction in viewers. Just check out some of these Tweets from yesterday, February 28:

Dr. Pam Palmater

If images shape aspirations, what does @BlackstoneTV do 4 our FN children? Perpetuates stereotypes & negative self-image. For what? Ratings?

Taiaiake Alfred

@BlackstoneTV Art should make us think in a different deeper way, and not be just a spectacle for colonial consumption.

Ken Sanderson

I watched the 1st few episodes of @BlackstoneTV thinking it would get better & show hope. It didnt, so I couldnt keep watching 

There’s good reason for the strong reaction. The characters are all too real, hitting a nerve with many Aboriginal viewers. Blackstone brings to life complex individuals who struggle with internal dialogue about whether to take that next drink, how to release their haunted and dark pasts, or whether to dump that cheating yet charming jerk of a husband.

I’ll admit that it’s painful to watch a performance such as that of Gail Stoney (Michelle Thrush, who won a Gemini award for her work on this role) or her now-missing friend Tracey Bull. Seeing these women drunkenly stumble through ditches, pick up random men in dive bars, and hitch a ride home to the reserve is disturbing. Many of us know an alcoholic and Thrush’s portrayal of someone suffering with the disease nailed it. Many of us are uncomfortable dealing with alcoholics in person, let alone having to watch them on TV in our downtime.

While you might worry about Blackstone reinforcing negative stereotypes, it is important to look closely at the complex storylines, centering around the two main characters of Gail and her sister Leona. Some of the issues that Blackstone brings to light in its prime-time slot include:

• The trouble with foster care: Tracy Bull’s young daughter Wendy is rightly removed from her reserve home. She is then placed in a beautiful, sprawling house in the city with a white family. While all looks well on the surface, we soon figure out that the family is only it in for the money. They need the extra income since the father is on disability; he whittles away his days drinking booze and being verbally abusive to his wife to numb his feelings of insecurity about not fulfilling his role as the male breadwinner. The family places a lock on their fridge door so the hungry foster children can’t get anything to eat when they needs something. When Wendy feels lonely or bad she sits in the backyard in the dog house, and the foster mom is okay with that. “What can I do?” she asks Leona. Blackstone raises the question for all viewers, “Is foster care really better?” This is a question that advocates in our community, like Dr. Cindy Blackstock, have been asking for years. Our people shouldn’t have to keep asking this question, and I feel that Blackstone does a good job of highlighting the absurdity of the current situation.
• Alcohol is a universal problem: Although Blackstone is a “dry” reserve, we see a non-Aboriginal doctor try to seduce the Chief’s wife, partly by bringing in a nice bottle of wine to the dry reserve. How can the Blackstone resident’s depend on health care from a man who flaunts the cultural expectation of living a clean life in the face of its residents? (And yes, abstaining from alcohol is an expectation if you follow a traditional lifestyle)
• Sexism, abusive relationships, and societal enablers: In Blackstone, women are valued for their bodies—we see this with the dancers at the strip club who make $3000/week but who have to put up with abusive relationships with their male colleagues. Our First Nations communities do suffer from a lot of sexism which often results in abusive relationships, yet it is not just the Aboriginal communities who struggle with sexism and inequality. Many people feel that sexism is a product of colonization, because often in First Nations communities our women would have been revered and respected. Blackstone simply highlights the sexism that exists across all parts of society, yet it also tries to impart an empowering message through the storyline of the two sisters who refuse to partner up with abusive men. “There’s something to be said about living through your mistakes,” says Gail Stoney in the season two finale of Blackstone.
• Lack of concern for missing or murdered Aboriginal women: While Tracy Bull goes missing after hitching a ride with a truck driver, the media refuses to give the case any coverage. Yet at the same time, the media pulls out all the stops to try and locate a missing dancer from the local strip club, who just happens to be a white woman with blonde hair. Blackstone asks why there is such a discrepancy in attention that the two women receive.
• Healing from family rifts: Anyone who knows about Aboriginal families knows that we suffer from intergenerational trauma brought on by the residential schools, foster care system, sixties scoop, and so on. The best thing about the Blackstone drama, for me, is seeing the healing that happens between Gail, Leona, and their mom. This was a family who suffered through generations of alcoholism, yet they have now put their demons behind them and are coming together to try and build a strong and supportive family. It is not easy for them to forgive one another and move forward, but their family unit is inspiring and they have a home that would provide refuge to anyone who is in trouble or needing a good shoulder to lean on.

Some people ask why APTN would air such a show; some say the network should air comedies and sitcoms. If you’re looking for something like, check out Don Kelly’s hilarious Fish Out of Water. But if you like something a little more complex, dark, and even humorous, open yourself up to Blackstone. It is is produced by a Métis person (Ron Scott) and it was written by Métis producer and director Gil Cardinal. The writing is great, and Cardinal himself grew up in a foster care, has written documentaries about living in foster care, children of alcoholics, the Oka crisis, and more. He is a winner of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award.  

I am not going to lie. I cringe and shrink away sometimes when I watch—yet the storyline of the two sisters is empowering for me, a woman who likes stories about the strength of community, sisters, and family healing. Although the show might make me cringe, it is also hilarious at times and the dialogue cracks me up.

Cardinal writes the way that our people actually speak. In tonight’s final episode of season two, Gail is going to ask her sister for some help on something really important. Here is their exchange after Gail asks the question:

“No, I have huge challenges right now,” answers Leona.

“Yeah well so does everybody else,” responds Gail.

“Well that’s easy for you to say Gail, you don’t have a medical condition,” says Leona, who was recently diagnosed with Lupus.

“Oh f*ck that! I mean you’re fine, you already told me that. And you’re strong Leona and if you wanted to we could get around this bullsh*t.”

It might not look so funny in writing but tune into Blackstone tonight on APTN at 10pm Central Time (9pm Eastern/Mountain time or to see the exchange by the two sisters, if you don’t get a laugh out of their intonation and tone, then I think you might need to loosen up a little bit and remember that laughter is good medicine.

If you’re interested in learning more about Blackstone, check out the following:

• An interview with actress Ashley Callingbull from the 8^th Fire: http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire/2012/02/ashley-callingbull-1.html
• Back episodes of Blackstone are online here: www.aptn.ca/blackstone

***

Project of Heart: Have a Heart for First Nations Children

Place: Federal Court inside the Supreme Court of Canada 
301 Wellington Street, Ottawa ON

Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm (breaks at 10:30am, 12pm, and 2:30pm)

Date: February 13,14, and 15th
Purpose: To appeal the decision by the chair of Human Rights Tribunal Hearings on whether or not the federal government is treating First Nations children fairly.

On February 26, 2007, the Assembly of First Nations(AFN) and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society(FNCFCS) filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission(CHRC) alleging that Canada is racially discriminating against First Nations children by providing less child welfare funding, and ths benefits, on reserves.
However, the government of Canada used a legal loophole to dismiss the case. The loophole is that Canada is saying that they “fund” the services to the First Nations children, they do not “provide” the services. Canada says its funding, no matter how inequitable, is not a service and thus they should not be held accountable under the Canadian Human Rgihts Act. Canada’s failure to ensure culturally based equity in its First Nations Child and Family Service Program and to fully implement Jordans Principle is discriminatory according the the FNCFCS and the AFN.

There will be 5 parties(organizations) that will be presenting their opinion and legal arguments (factum) at the Appeal. They are the FNCFCS, the AFN, The Human Rights Commission, the Chiefs of Ontario, and Amnesty International. The responent (Canada) wll also present its argument and will be last to do so. The FNCFCS the AFN will speak on day one. The CHRC and Chiefs of Ontario will speak on day two. Day three will see Amnesty International present their position and lastly, the Government of Canada, represented by the Attorney General, will close the session.

The more people. ESPECIALLY YOUTH that come to witness this event, the greater the message to Canada that the government cannot get away with violating basic human rights of FN children!! 

To see more visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/snowrobot

Here’s some great jewelry to share with everyone. Do you have any music, artwork, new products, or other content that you would like to share with Digital Drum? Click on “your beats” and get sharing!

http://www.unsigned.com/stewartsutherland

Here’s a submission by a musician. Do you have anything you’d like to share on Digital Drum? Click on “your beats” and start sharing. P.S. you can share photo’s, video, links, or audio. Click on the menu.

Tiki Taane, Samantha Crain, Kashtin, Wanbdi, and Yelawolf round out the top five Indigenous artists that we wanted to book in 2011, but couldn’t (due to availability or room in our festival).

Tiki Taane
tikidub.com

Tiki Taane is a multi-platinum award winning artist and considered a pioneer in the New Zealand music scene with a career spanning nearly 15 years. 

Although affectionately known as ‘King of the Dubs’ in NZ, Tiki’s musical influences and appeal are broad, traversing from dubstep, traditional style reggae, old school drum and bass and hip-hop, to more contemporary pop/rock sensibilities.

Samantha Crain
samanthacrain.com

Samantha Crain is a Choctaw singer/songwriter from Shawnee, Oklahoma. Americana, folk, country, and roots have all been used to describe her music in the past and her latest album, entitled You, features memorable fusions of all four.

Kashtin

Claude McKenzie and Florant Vollant are the legendary Innu rock duo, Kasthin. The members of the Maliotenam First Nation in northern Quebec, released “Tshinanu” in 1989, which is one of the biggest hits in Naitve music history.

Wanbdi
wanbdi.bandcamp.com

Wanbdi was the drummer for the acclaimed Native American rock band Indigenous. Wanbdi has been playing, writing and performing music her whole life. In 2010, she released an EP entitled Where the Fishes Go and it’s available on iTunes and wanbdi.bandcamp.com. 

Yelawolf
yelawolf.com

Yelawolf is a rapper of Cherokee ancestry who is quickly becoming a household name worldwide. His recent release, entitled Radioactive, features collaborations with Shady Records labelhead Eminem, Lil’ John, and Kid Rock among other notable stars.