By Gurpreet Singh
The scripted message from the third installment of James Cameron’s Avatar series parallels what’s taking place in India and Canada.
Even as these two countries are far apart geographically, the struggles of the Indigenous peoples against the extraction industry in both nations are very similar. Avatar is rooted in this very conflict between Indigenous communities and government-backed corporations, which are trying to evict them from traditional lands in the name of progress and development.
While the science-fiction genre of all three instalments, including the first one that was released in 2009, remain the same, the latest film is about how big powers try to divide Indigenous tribes.
In Avatar: Fire and Ash, the state and industry go to the extreme length of arming one group against another to suppress any dissent. The story line depicts how Ash people are given weapons to fight against Na’vi people, who have engaging in resistance since the first installment. This echoes the situation in India, where the government has created parallel militia groups among the Adivasis (Indigenous peoples) to counter those raising voices against oppression.
In Canada, we may not be there yet, as there is no armed struggle going on. But we can see how the provincial and federal governments often prop up Indigenous leadership that is willing to undermine the struggles of their own communities on the pretext of supporting a diversity of opinion. The American Indian Movement south of the border saw this happen. Divide and conquer remains a tool in the hands of people in power.
Avatar is more relevant than ever
Cameron has done a great job by not only keeping the issue alive, but also by trying to give his audience new insights in each Avatar film. If his first installment was about the corporate greed for unobtainium, a rich mineral, the second film, Avatar: The Way of Water, was about the competition for Amrita oil harvested from a whale-like species called tulkun.
The latest one is about the extraction industry’s curiousity to learn how natives of Pandora planet can survive without oxygen masks that colonizers have to wear once they land there.
Cameron’s hard work on Avatar has become even more relevant today due to the growing hostility against Indigenous peoples in Canada. This is due, in part, to right wing rhetoric against land acknowledgements as well as a court ruling affirming that the Cowichan Tribes have title to an area in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond.
One may disagree with the way in which Cameron presents Indigenous peoples in his films. But one can’t overlook his strong message against the privilege enjoyed by the dominant society whose lifestyle has been subsidized by the original inhabitants of the land.
Gurpreet Singh is a B.C. author and co-founder of Radical Desi. In addition, he hosts a daily news and current affairs show on YouTube called Navin Taazi. Follow Gurpreet Singh on Bluesky @gurpreetradical.bsky.social. Learn more about the communities that make up Canada on the Toronto Spark website. In addition, you can find the Toronto Spark on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
