'Unapologetically Indigenous': How TikTok provides a community for Indigenous creators to advocate, educate and entertain

Screenshots of users' @Aichella, @gihhaa, @ThatWarriorPrincess and @ChelazonLeroux

TORONTO — Finding a safe place to express oneself can be difficult, but Indigenous creators have found an online community where they can educate, advocate and be themselves.

Whether they joined out of pandemic boredom or because it was the up-and-coming social media platform, TikTok has become a forum where Indigenous people share parts of their culture, history and a piece of themselves.

For Inuk actress and owner of RedPath Talent, Marika Sila, who goes by @ThatWarriorPrincess on TikTok, the ability to grow a following brought her to the platform.

“It was just a natural attraction because there's so much organic growth there,” she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on June 14.

Gia Pastion, @gihhaa on TikTok, was drawn to the platform when she saw so many other Indigenous people using it and the positive reception they received.

“What initially inspired me to join TikTok was finally seeing my people represented in media, and for it to be so at the forefront of the platform was really inspiring,” she told CTVNews.ca in a Zoom interview on Thursday.

While apprehensive at first, Aïcha Bastien-N’Diaye of Huron-Wendat Nation (Wendake) and Guinean (Jola) descent, @aichella on the platform, says she was won over by other creators’ content.

“I was quickly charmed by its way of enabling the creation of authentic, real and creative content,” she told CTVNews.ca in an email.

And for Chelazon Leroux, Two-Spirit member of Dene First Nation, (@chelazonleroux), it was just the hot new trend to try out.

“Everyone else was doing it, so I figured I would join, not even knowing that there was this community on the platform for me,” Leroux said.

And once she found so many Indigenous creators on TikTok, it changed the way she created her own content.

“It was very surprising to see that there were other Indigenous activists and performers and content creators on the app and it really inspired me to start creating Indigenous-based content more than just following the trends,” she said.

EDUCATE AND ADVOCATE

Sila, Pastion, Bastien-N’Diaye and Leroux have all taken to the platform as a way to educate more people about Indigenous culture and issues.

“My goal is always to be a positive role model for Indigenous youth,” said Sila. “It was more of a way for me to express myself and also to raise awareness about important Indigenous rights issues,” Sila said.

But it’s more than just being able to educate on specific issues, for Pastion, it’s also about simply existing in this world as a young Indigenous woman.

“It's not only about me being Indigenous, it's me cooking and it's me storytelling, and it's me just having fun on this app as a youth,” she said.

She said that people find that content relatable, especially for Indigenous youth who don’t know a lot about their culture outside of life on a reserve, or what Pastion calls: “Rez culture.”

Bastien-N’Diaye has been able to use the platform to educate other TikTokers, and learn new things.

“Through the platform, I can share my experience as an Afroindigenous woman, relate with my communities, and learn more about different cultures,” she said.

“While I have noticed the lack of knowledge in the education curriculum on Indigenous rights, I believe that creating short videos on such topics can go a long way on TikTok. I hope that the increasing visibility of Indigenous content will pique the audience’s curiosity and lead them to do their own research on Indigenous culture.”

She’s been able to insert elements of her culture into TikTok trends, and getting exposed to a wider audience as a result.

“TikTok allows me to celebrate my culture,” she said.

For Leroux, the platform became a space to share stories of her own upbringing and give her space to be exactly who she is.

“It really allowed me to start being unapologetically Indigenous,” she said. “I started to create more content about my experience growing up, using comedy as a way to tell these stories.”

For Sila, the platform’s short-video format is the perfect length for people to learn from without feeling too overwhelmed by information, and she finds people engage more with her education videos than her other content.

“They don't tend to take off as much as videos where I'm raising awareness about Indigenous rights issues or simply just helping people communicate better with the Indigenous community, because I feel like there's so many questions that people want to ask but they're too shy or too polite to ask so I try and help people by answering those questions,” she said.

RECONNECTING

But for each creator, it’s more than just a place for sharing a piece of themselves, it’s something they wished that they could’ve had when they were younger, they’ve found a sense of belonging, a community waiting for them.

“If whatever I do allows that Two-Spirit or queer Indigenous individual to feel a little safer, or to feel a little more encouraged to express themselves, that's all I ever really wanted,” said Leroux.

Through her use of TikTok, Pastion has been able to better embrace who she is and the culture she is a part of.

“I've been able to take away more appreciation for my identity as an Indigenous youth and Indigenous woman,” she said. “For most of my life I felt neglected and I was always pushed to the corner, and now that I've joined TikTok and being among my mutuals, it feels like I can't do anything but embrace who I am.”

Sila has been able to connect to her native language through the app, which has also created a close connection between her and her father.

“One of the best things that I’ve learned throughout this TikTok journey, more of my language, and my dad has really helped me with that, so that's been amazing to be able to just connect with my dad and to learn more from him,” Sila said.

Bastien-N’Diaye said that the community on TikTok has made her feel more supported than ever.

“I had never experienced such a sentiment of togetherness from the Indigenous community on any other platform before joining TikTok,” she said. “Not only that, but I no longer feel alone. Knowing that I have the support of my community helps me find the courage to continue changing the world in my own way.“

“If I had had access to this platform during my youth, I could have expressed myself more freely and been inspired by unique creators. It would have definitely had a positive impact on my growth.”

For Leroux, she wishes her younger self could see her now, or that she could have seen someone like herself when she’d been growing up.

“I'm being the person that I wanted to be growing up, I wish I could have seen myself, or someone who was just unapologetically queer, unapologetically Indigenous in media to show me that it was okay,” she said.

PART OF A MOVEMENT

In recent years there’s been a shift for more Canadians to learn about whose land they’re on. With recent headlines about residential schools, more people are trying to learn a history they weren’t necessarily taught in schools.

For these TikTok creators, the platform provides a space for them to carve out that movement and educate people who are willing to learn about the history of this country.

“It's recorded evidence, things that we might have never been exposed to, or seen for the truth before it could be interpreted by someone else. There's a power to that,” said Leroux.

But, she said that these types of educational posts still get a lot of backlash and denial, and that people need to be willing to learn for there to be momentum.

Sila said that the movement is just in its early stages and the government’s handling of the discovery of children buried at a B.C. residential school could be a tipping point.

“I think it's just the beginning and I think that how the government handles this is going to be really important because if this isn't handled appropriately, it can cause social unrest amongst our nations,” she said.

For Pastion, she’s excited to be part of something bigger than herself, something for her community.

“It is exciting to be a part of that change and be amongst other creators and fighting for my people, and our movements, because I get to tell my grandchildren one day: ‘I was a part of that, I was a part of the big revolution in our community.’”