“I Wish to be Free of All Things I Am Not and Will Never Be”: Reorientation of Self Through the (re)Framing of (post)Colonial Consciousness in Marie Clements’ The Edward Curtis Project.

Abstract

The works of Edward Curtis are weighty historical records considered as seminal projects that have been the international communities main representations of Aboriginal cultures and their peoples. However, Curtis' projects, as ethno-anthropological work, limit the avenues of representation afforded to Aboriginal peoples; through attempting to preserve an image of authenticity, Curtis' work entraps and filters the multifaceted compontents of Aboriginal culture(s) into a homogenous static group through a colonial lens. In opposition to these colonial standards, contemporary aboriginal literature attempts to carve a path in which Aboriginal people are represented in their own dynamic cultures and identities; the dramatic work of Marie Clements, The Edward Curtis Project, acts as a direct response to the work of Edward Curtis as it (re)frames and problematizes discourse regarding (re)presentation, (post)colonial conscioussness, and the (re)positioning of subject/object dynamics.