Melissa Johns
Here I Stand, Still Guarded
This research project explores Indigenous dispossession and cultural hybridity through an immersive and evocative mode, using digital facsimiles of material biography as vessels of meaning. Under the mixed frameworks of Indigenous theory, hauntology, diasporic theory, autoethnography, and material culture theory, family possessions are assessed as cultural artifacts, highlighting the lived experiences of French-Canadians and Kanien:ke’ha:ka diaspora in temporal and geographical overlap. Key objectives for this research project are the virtual translation of physical belongings as a means of storytelling and experimental archival, challenging official narratives of Canadian culture.
Keywords: Canadian identity, Indigenous Diaspora, Virtual Reality, Storytelling, Memory and Environment, Material Biography, Experimental Archival, Hauntology.