Abstract

This thesis explores how northern Aboriginal girls use media in their daily lives and identity negotiations. Using participatory action research methodologies, namely Photovoice, I examine how a group of Tłįchǫ girls in the isolated community of Behchokö, Northwest Territories engage with and discuss media, particularly as it relates to their conceptions of themselves and their community. This research demonstrates that participants are deeply engaged with media and the global discourses it transmits. Drawing on critical scholarship in girlhood studies, critical indigenous studies, rurality, resilience and identity studies, I argue that these youth have a tendency to see their traditional culture as inconsistent or incompatible with this media and dominant culture, resulting in a fractured sense of identity. To aid in dealing with this conflicted identity and bolster their self-concepts as strong, resilient people, I argue, participants draw narratives of strength out of the many different types of media they encounter. These narratives of strength contribute to an emergent sense of injustice that relates to global discourses on marginalization, structural racism, and the past, present and future experiences of Aboriginal peoples.