Federal gov't removes poster after online backlash over Indigenous stereotypes

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canadatook down a poster advertising Indian status cards after receiving backlash online for stereotyping Indigenous people.

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The poster was postedoutside theIndigenous Affairs (INAC)office in Yellowknife. It depicted three people with status cards, but it was the woman in the middle who prompted anger.

Alyssa Jean, who posted a photo of the poster on Facebook, wrote, "that image representation mimics Pocahontas, which is a misrepresentation of this status."

On that post,JessiMcLeodwrote "just a weirdcoincidence?!"and posted a side-by-side photo of Pocahontas.

CharlotteOvervold, a NorthSlaveyDenewoman who lives in Ontario, said the representation of the Disney film Pocahontasis a "horrific" misrepresentation of Indigenous women.

"As an Indigenous woman who has often had to fight this racist stereotype of an outdated portrayal of an Indigenous woman, this is a huge part of the problem."

Overvoldwas so offended by the poster that she went to theINACoffice inGatineauand asked them to take it down. But she was told she would have to contact her member of Parliamentand petition to have it replaced, taken down, or improved.

The photo of the woman was also posted onINAC'swebsite, but it was taken down sometime on Monday.

'Policing our identities'

Crystal Fraser, a historian of Canadian history and Indigenous issues, said the poster had a few other problems, like the background, which she says resembled previous posters for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The poster included images of a bison, eagle, bear and wolf. Fraserquestioned the inclusion of the animals and a mountain scene because she says there's a "growing urban population of Indigenous people who don't really foster this connection to the land and to wildlife anymore."

"The federal government is still concerned with policing our identities, with presenting static images of Indigenous people that don't reflect our lives anymore,"Fraser said.

AutumnSchnell, Indigenous collective co-ordinator forCiTR, a University of British Columbia radiostation, said, "that picture made me feel very separate from the rest of Canadian society."

"It still kind of makes us seem and feel like the other."

INACdid not provideCBCwith an interview, but acommunications advisor said in an email, "in light of the reactions shared on social media, the banner was taken down and will not be used in the future."