Culture as a project: design, self-determination and identity assertion in indigenous communities

The ultimate goal of this study was to create a better understanding of how design practice might play a part in addressing complex social problems within indigenous communities. This study was conceived as a Participatory Action Research project, and realized in collaboration with members of the Atikamekw Nation, one of Quebec’s First Nations. As a collaborative project, it addressed issues that were considered as very significant by Atikamekw artisans, artists and cultural stewards. The main goal of the collaborative project was the development of an approach of design workshops that could enhance the Atikamekw artisans’ creativity, their capacity to represent themselves, and at the same time, increase their appreciation of their own cultural heritage. This study had two levels: (1) In a context-specific and practical level, it aimed to conceive an approach to design workshops that could tackle the issues identified by the Atikamekw partners. (2) In a theoretical and wide-applicable level, it aimed to develop a better understanding of the roles a social designer can play in long-term community projects and to develop a conceptual framework that could inform social designers who want to work with indigenous communities – by articulating concepts from social science with key notions of design studies. This conceptual framework was articulated around two main concepts: empowerment and identity assertion. I adopted the definition of empowerment proposed by Naila Kabber (2001): empowerment is the expansion in people’s ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them. I argue that strategic life choices are linked to a project. Since being trained as a designer entails learning how to think and act by projects, nurturing people’s inherent capacity to design might encourage their empowerment. Regarding identity assertion, I argue that graphic design practice refers to an essential human power: the power to create representation in order to assert who you are and to influence how you are perceived by others. In this sense, a graphic design intervention might be about increasing the power of self-representation of ‘invisible’ groups, enabling them to project and convey a recognizable identity, particularly through the use of visual symbols. Therefore, at the heart of this dissertation is the notion that the capacity to conceive and realize projects is a fundamental lever of self-determined change. This capacity is particularly important to indigenous peoples who are striving to redefine their place in the world and to forge a better life while dealing with the legacy of colonialism and the consequences of postcolonial policies. I suggest that culture should be regarded not only as a heritage to be preserved and transmitted but mainly as a project of a good life for those societies. By project, I mean that culture, as a life pattern, is the matrix for future development. Ultimately, I suggest that the main role of a social designer in long-term collaborations with members of indigenous communities is to support the capacity of local populations to create projects that are aligned with their cultural matrix, in pursuit of the good life as that culture defines it.

Keyphrases: Social design, indigenous cultures, social innovation, empowerment, self-representation, participatory action research, Atikamekw Nation, visual symbols, self-determination, graphic design, cultures autochtones, innovation sociale, design social