Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with the possibilities of media agency, or, the revitalization of cultural traditions through digital means, by Indigenous peoples as one possible form of decolonizing education. It provides reader with an in-depth account of the ethnogenesis of the Metis people, the turbulent history that followed their emergence as a unique Aboriginal group, and the subsequent silencing of their stories after their defeat by the incoming colonizers. The book examines the unique history and contemporary realities of the Metis people in Canada are an apt representation of this reality. It describes vulnerability of Indigenous groups like the Metis who seek to undertake research but who are lacking in resources and capacity to undertake the work. The book explores how a project of digital storytelling with everyday people from a remote Indigenous community in northern Alberta enabled the reclamation of voice and story.