We are submitting the digital oral stories of Indigenous-Black community members in Toronto, Ontario and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, created during the Proclaiming Our Roots (POR) workshops in 2017 & 2018. “Indigenous-Black” recognizes Peoples of mixed Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) heritage and African diasporic descent (African, Caribbean, and Black - Canadian).

In revealing historical erasure as a form of colonization, we emphasize that though the histories and experiences of Indigenous-Black communities are not acknowledged in the Canadian consciousness, we have existed in settler-Canada for over 400 years. We live and suffer the legacy of colonization as a People with marginalized dual-identities, but we are not recognized as bona-fide members of Canadian society. These stories bring to light the realities of Indigenous-Black identity at a time of Truth and Reconciliation.

In the POR project, our work is guided by the arts-informed approach of digital storytelling. Digital storytelling is a form of oral history transmission. Like many narrative processes, it can be a decolonizing movement for community members and communities alike. It promotes transformation and empowerment, and we utilized it as a form of resistance and a disrupter of hegemonic revisionist settler-Canadian history within a critical analysis.

We regard the creation of these videos as a process for activism, assisting community members in telling their stories, and to have control of the stories told. These stories, knowledges, and experiences will be readily available and accessible for future generations. They are transformative in nature. They reverse the colonial gaze on Indigenous-Black communities.

https://www.proclaimingourroots.com/partners