Shelley Niro, a Mohawk filmmaker and visual artist hailing from the Six Nations Reserve in Canada, employs parody and understatement in order to convey the nuance and depth of Indigenous identity. Her multidisciplinary practice challenges the clichéd perceptions and circumscribed expectations projected onto First Nations communities. Foregrounding the resilience and authenticity of Indigenous women, her films and photography often involve her family and friends. Conscious of the impact that postcolonial media to have had on Indigenous peoples, the artist is invested in exposing and critiquing the erasures and exclusions of colonialism, particularly in the context of land rights, as well as advocating for Indigenous self-determination through humour rather than didacticism.
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