NishTV is a website that I created a few years back that promoted Aboriginal stories and culture. I went around the Native community of Thunder Bay and made video stories. I always tried my best to make something exciting or at least lively. I used my creative side to really give each video its own style. In the past year I have completely avoided this website and have been hanging on to it because I had hoped to bring some life to it again. For starters, I had to relocate for a while and ended up losing my hard drive that had all of my NishTV data on it.

Before NishTv, I was an artist. I painted, created poems and did all kinds of artistic projects. In the last year I have had a deep need to be an artist again. Although I love to promote our people’s work and share their testimonies, I found myself needing to express myself. I had holes in my life that needed to be filled. I did this through the many creative, silly and fun video projects I made in the past year. Although I got a lot of mixed responses from friends and the Aboriginal community, mostly because they were used to positive and empowering media content. However, I needed to go on a journey of video discovering and began making a variety of youtube videos. Even though some people found my new video content a tad bit distasteful, dark or uninspiring, I stood my ground because this is what I needed to do as an artist.

My latest website is Ricky Ogima. This website has been a place where I bear my deepest thoughts and craziest moments whereas NishTv was more about promoting others and shedding some light on other people's stories. It was all about culture, the Frist Nations struggles and making our people shine. I love what I did with this project and had some fun because I got to see some people grow and reach new heights of personal development.

I will always feel a deep connection and closeness to the Aboriginal community because of my life experiences and encounters. I have been gradually getting back into writing and promoting other peoples work again because I feel it completes me. Sometimes I need a little attention and at other times I like to give some credit and attention to others. Today I don’t have the energy to manage several websites, so I am trying to combine all projects into one website. I am still trying to find a middle ground because I know that there are so many types of people out there. I still need to explore and enjoy my cultural connection; however, I also want to work on some wild and crazy videos at the same time

It’s hard for me to know what content is appropriate for people because there are just so many differences within the Aboriginal Community. I have encountered Religious Natives who won’t attend Pow-Wow Gatherings and I have meet people with Strong Native Spiritual believes who won’t accept other religious practices. I have also seen a group of people who can drink alcohol and hold a job. Then there are others who don’t drink and raise a strong eye of judgment on those that do. I have seen some dislike towards people who have religious convictions, who are gay or who have a flamboyant personality

For the time being, it seems that many people in the Aboriginal community are selective in what content they view. If you make a video or create a song that has explicit lyrics or stories, many will be bothered by it and cast you aside rather than looking for an understanding of where the video content is coming from or where the artist is coming from. What kind of experiences and encounters did the artist go through? Will the artist heal through his/her creative project and will it touch others?

Yet at the end of the day, all of us want to be a part of this one community. That’s what NishTv was mainly about, community. Not giving bias towards an emerging artist or lifestyle but supporting the voices and most importantly the people behind the art, the living, the culture and beliefs. We all want to be understood, appreciated and respected by the Aboriginal people. In fact, most of the people I have encountered would rather receive a reward of recognition at, for example, the Aboriginal Music Awards than anywhere else, just because of the community connection. I have meet many First Nations people who choose not to go mainstream because they feel most at ease in our community - and I totally understand and appreciate this. I am like many other Aboriginal people who at times needs to be artistic and at other times enjoys seeing newcomers or emerging artists receiving some recognition for their pursuits.

So in conclusion, I will maintain only one website (rickyogima) and hope that people will see a divide between the NishTV content and the Ricky Ogima content that I create from time-to-time. NishTv is about the Native Experience whereas Ricky Ogima is about expression, trying out new things and creating mainstream youtube content.

Thanks for your support

Ricky