Representation Of First Nation Peoples

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Representation of First Nation Peoples Through the Analysis of Map of the Human Heart and The Black Robe.

One of the major themes seen throughout some Canadian films is that of First Nations peoples and how they are represented. Map of the Human Heart and The Black Robe are two films showing a representation of First Nations people in Canada. Both deal with the colonization of indigenous peoples and how white influence can come to destroy an otherwise peaceful and tranquil society. We as the viewer are able to gain an understanding of how colonial rule came to dominate the landscape of Canada and how indigenous people were forced to assimilate into their new surroundings there by giving up their own cultures and beliefs. These representations are of the annihilation of traditional customs and beliefs held onto the First Nation peoples of Canada. Representing First Nation peoples is a major theme in Canadian National Cinema. By analyzing how these first nation characters are portrayed in the film does much to help us understand if these people are being portrayed correctly in these movies. Since one of the major themes in both of these films is the “whiting out” of native cultures, how do these new white influences play in the films? Both of these movies portray the down fall of these ancient cultures that they have struggled to maintain throughout years of colonization and interference from Western European societies and how their true heritage and customs were lost in the process.
Throughout both of these films we find that white Western European men have intruded on first nation peoples land in hopes of claiming it for themselves as well as turning the “savages” that inhabit the land into a functional member of this new society that has been planned. In Map of the Human Heart our protagonist is struck with the “white man’s disease” as a young child and goes with Walter to be cured. This is the first insta...