Idea+or+Purpose

== The stories are about social change - but it is a change that must take place in our minds. The stories talk about who we are - alive, funny, direct, confident, and maybe for some, even a little rude. ==

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (2006, p. 164).
As an artist and activist, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas informs his Haida Manga with a political impulse. That impulse seeks to engage the reader in a re-consideration of what it means to be an indigenous person - and an indigenous artist - in modern Canadian society.

The Haida manga form becomes a means of breaking free of the narrow constraints of what it means to be a 'traditional' Haida artist. To Yahgulanaas, 'tradition' is a sterotype that has pigeonholed indigenous creators into a narrow definition of art. "In colonial society a small space is reserved for the indigenous person: a space defined as spiritual and sacred, because those spaces are not seen as having too much power invested in them..." (Yahgulanaas, 2008).

"I look at our community today and I see that people are ignorant generally about the humanity of indigenous people. Frequently, Indian people are seen in simplistic, superficial ways," he says.

"We're either dirty savages, drunken Indians, or artists. It's all phony. It's a Canadian myth. I think these comic books act as a vehicle to open it up more. We haven't yet been described as regular people." (Yagulanaas as quoted in Schmidt, 2005).

With Haida manga, Yahgulanaas creates an innovation that positions Haida art as vibrant, accessible and contemporary. By meshing elements of traditional Haida art with the manga comics format, Haida manga takes both in an interesting new direction.

Of his critically acclaimed Haida Manga story Red, Yahgulanaas notes, “Red becomes a real test of whether there is an interest, I think, in Canada, to explore the mythology of what is the Indian, in a populist form (Yahgulanaas as quoted in Haines, 2010).

References:
Haines, R. (2010, Feb 22). Red: A Haida manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas [web log]. retrieved from @http://joeshusterawards.com/2010/02/22/red-a-haida-manga/

Schmidt, R. (2005, Jan 13). Rockin' with Haida manga [web log]. Retrieved from @http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/IndianComicsIrregular/conversations/topics/107

Vancouver Art Gallery and Douglas & McIntyre (2006). Raven travelling: Two centuries of Haida art. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.

Yahgulanaas, M. N. (2008). Notes on Haida manga. Geist, Fall 70. Retrieved from @http://content.yudu.com/Library/Azy3p/Geist/resources/56.htm