Appropriation Of Video Tools By The Kayapo example essay topic

ASPECTS OF SOCIAL CHANGE The Kayapo had already integrated into their daily activities various tools and practices from the modern surrounding societies, such as managing medical instruments for basic treatments. Young people, duly trained, had been acting as health promoters. They also used radio to communicate with other Kayapo groups living within the Xingu Indigenous Park. Instead of just being subjects of documentary films, the Kayapo quickly understood the advantages of video technology as a communication tool for transforming their social and political reality. Thus, the appropriation of video tools by the Kayapo strengthens the notion that people can master their own history, as long as they can master their own representation in the media.

The control of the Kayapo on the manner they are represented, as "hi-tech" Indians, is also a culturally valid statement on their identity, as they conceive their culture both from the point-of-view of permanence and transformation, according to Frota. During the early 1990's the Kayapo used video for numerous social struggles. They successfully sought political and financial support from non indigenous public opinion, NGOs and governments, both in Brazil and abroad to compel the Brazilian state to legally recognise their territory and their rights to control its resources. They have accomplished this by various means including: political lobbying of Brazilian governmental officials from the President down, demonstrations in major Brazilian cities, alliances with the environmental and human rights movements, and extensive coverage of Kayapo actions in print media and radio. By maximis ing the use of audio-visual communication they have managed to project representations of themselves, as well as appeals for political and monetary aid, partly through videos shot and edited by them, which have gained wide attention from global audiences in the First World. The assimilation of Western ideas of culture through the interaction with the anthropologists and the use of modern technology like the camera gave the Kayapo a means of preserving their own culture in the face of opposition by the Brazilians.

The Kayapo performed their "culture" as a strategy in their increasingly confident opposition to the state, according to Turner. By the 1990's the Kayapo had obtained videos, radios, pharmacies, vehicles, drivers and mechanics, an airplane to patrol their land, and even their own missionaries. MEDIA & METHODS In third world countries, video has been embraced in much the same manner as radio was for a previous generation, as a technology for training, information gathering, political agitation and cultural preservation. The appropriation of video has been seen as a key way for economically deprived communities to gain some measure of democratic control over information and communication sources now controlled either by the state or multinational corporations. The term "indigenous media" is generally employed to cover those aspects of visual representation over which "indigenous" people and others have direct control. Media helped the Kayapo people to get their message out to the rest of the world.

The Kayapo people turned video around into a tool to make the public see their side of the situation. "As an anthropologist I had become a cultural instrument of the people whose culture I was attempting to document. How could this be done by people who many of us view as underdeveloped and inferior? Have we not underestimated their intelligence?" states Turner.

The determination of the Kayapo to use video to document their own culture made them re-enact ancient dances and rituals that most of them had not seen. Thus video became the tool for perpetuating and reaffirming their cultural values. The technical potential of video enabled them to immediately see the recorded material, and to strengthen the identity and the cultural bonds within the community. During their political struggle, the Kayapo recorded everything that was said, done, promised and agreed upon. The government wasnt able to deny any promises made because the Kayapo had a record on video. "From the moment they acquired video cameras of their own, the Kayapo have made a point of making video records of their major political confrontations with the national society", says Turner.

CONSTRAINTS By bringing Western technology into their villages, the Kayapo are also allowing some of the western culture that they resist to infiltrate their own culture. The danger of losing their culture will increase for future generations who become more acclimated to western culture. Yet, it is not the introduction of video that started that process; the Kayapo had already been exposed to several other aspects of modern life. In reality, the video project contributed to reaffirm the cultural identity that was at risk. Some Kayapo leaders sought to mask the extent of Kayapo involvement in ecologically destructive activities, such as mining and logging, to avoid alienating international support, particularly among environmental organisations.

Issues of the "authenticity" of some aspects of Kayapo self-representation inevitably arise, and represent serious political problems for the Kayapo.