By Xavier Kataquapit
We are all part of a great change in human civilization. Whether we know it or not, we are living through humanity’s first steps into the modern digital age.
I grew up in the 1980s in my remote home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast in northern Ontario. Back then, it really felt like we lived in another world because we only had one reliable radio signal and three television channels with up-to-date news and content. Long distance phone calls were available, but everyone was constantly concerned about the cost of using a phone, so it was only reserved for the most important calls.
A generation before the 1980s, there was no direct connection to the outside world in my home community. My parents, Marius and Susan Kataquapit, were both born on the land on the James Bay coast in a very traditional lifestyle that had not changed for thousands of years.
This is all in very stark contrast to the world we know today. This past week through a moving remote satellite high speed internet connection, I contacted with my family as they travelled on the James Bay Winter Road. I talked to my brother Joseph and his family as they travelled from Kashechewan to Attawapiskat. I was amazed to watch a live feed of the road in front of them as they headed north while we carried on a conversation for their hour-long drive.
Our parents' generation had travelled alone on this very same land without any contact with the outside world and now I was having a live streamed conversation with my brother as he moved over the frozen muskeg in a half ton truck and I was located 500 kilometres away.
Modern technology is great and a lot of fun but if we are not careful in how we use it, it can easily become something that negatively affects our lives. The major social media platforms we all use and enjoy are all controlled by a small group of companies and corporations that design their systems to keep us all engaged and online all the time.
A recent famous quote from Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings has him saying that ‘We are competing with sleep’ and it demonstrates how much control these platforms have gained over us. The only thing stopping them from becoming even more invasive is the fact that we all need to stop our day to sleep.
I enjoy social media as much as anyone, but I do my best to pay attention to my connection to these platforms and follow people doing important work, such as the awareness campaign my cousins are running through ‘Here We Stand - Call To Action’. Their youth led movement, led by Jeronimo Kataquapit, serves to draw attention to critical environmental concerns in the north to protect the James Bay lowlands and First Nation traditional territories in northern Ontario. Over the past year, I’ve been amazed by the technology Jeronimo and his family have used to raise awareness of the land and water through live stream events held on the territories they are protecting. I was happy to see him this past week as they broadcast a live stream from the Nawashi River, 140 kilometres north of Attawapiskat. He was there with his uncle Robbie Koostachin, who is also my cousin. Nawashi River is the homeland of my mother, Susan (Paulmartin-Rose) Kataquapit and her Paulmartin-Rose family. Mom and her siblings were born on this river, and it felt very comforting to me to hear that my cousins were enjoying the land where our parents and our families were raised.
We can connect to these online platforms and become endlessly lost but there are also ways we can use this technology to become aware of important social issues that affect all our lives. When you go online to scroll through your favourite social media platform, stay aware of what you are doing and why you are doing it. Remember that these corporately controlled social media feeds are just meant to keep you entertained for as long as possible.
Experts suggest that one of the ways you can deal with the non-stop scrolling is to simply stop, even for a minute or two. The moments you take to stop help to reset your brain to pay attention to other things around you. Taking a break helps you connect with family and friends, think about other things you enjoy, or be reminded of what is truly important in your life.
If we don’t actively take control of this technology, then the technology and the companies behind it will take control of us. It is good to stay connected, but we should all stay connected to one another on our own terms.