Paper Short Abstract:

In my presentation I will share the collaborative and ethnographic experience I have had with Rocksi. Rocksi and I flew a drone in November 2021 to take some shots for a video of the Day of the Dead (Mexico). I will analyze that moment which was also filmed and uploaded to her YouTube channel.

Paper Abstract:

The main objective of my presentation is to share the collaborative and ethnographic experience I have had with my main interlocutor in my current research. This is the case of Rosalía Martínez, known as Rocksi, who is a young Zapotec-Ayuujk woman, an indigenous influencer who resides in a community in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca (Mexico). Rocksi and I flew a drone in the community of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec Mixe in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca in November 2021 to take some shots for a video about the Day of the Dead. My purpose is to present an analysis of that moment which was also filmed and uploaded to her YouTube channel as part of the videos she makes.

The central idea is to analyze how the use of digital platforms (Youtube) and technologies (drone) contribute to reinforcing the political-cultural dimension of the Ayuujk people and how the appropriation of these platforms also generates other situations such as collective learning or social media reactions from migrants located in the United States. Additionally, I will reflect on how Rocksi manages to amplify the voice of her community through digital platforms to show their specific ways of being indigenous.