"We're rapping, not trapping": hip hop as a contemporary expression of Métis culture and a conduit to literacy

Abstract

There exists a common essentialized discourse about Indigenous peoples in Canada that has communities frozen in time, leaving Métis culture represented through sashes, jigging, and the fur trade. However, across the country, Métis youth are expressing themselves through hip hop culture. This thesis explores the impacts that being involved in hip hop culture, particularly the creation of hip hop, can have for the Métis young adult participants and the implications for education. It asks how hip hop culture and hip hop pedagogies can have a stimulating effect on Métis students’ educational experiences. The study uses an Indigenous métissage methodology (Donald 2009), and qualitative interview methods along with participants’ hip hop creations –rapping, beatboxing, and graffiti art—to story their hip hop engagements. Three themes emerged: how hip hop can 1) be a vehicle for identity and identifying, 2) build relationships and community, and 3) connect students to school. This study demonstrates the value that hip hop creation and consumption can hold for Métis students, and contributes to the growing body of work surrounding Indigenous hip hop in Canada.