Role of journalists key in furthering reconciliation in Canada

When I began my career in journalism years ago, I spoke to a reporter who told me that his only contact with “Indians” was reading the list of “weekend fatals.” These were all the individuals who had been killed in car accidents or violence.

More often than not the reporter didn’t know how to pronounce many of the names of people or communities. I don’t know how many times I have heard news anchors and reporters butcher the names of communities such as Muskowekwan and Muscowpetung.

Most people didn’t know any aboriginal people, and they did not follow events. We were the invisible people.

I recall that when the civil rights struggle in the United States shifted from non-violence to riots and mayhem, journalists were asking when Canada’s Indian population would turn to violence. This was misplaced and uninformed reporting, and a waste of time. The boarding schools were still in operation at the time, and social workers were shipping off native children in the ’60 Scoop. Both stories received little ink.

Then things began to change gradually.

In 1964 CBC introduced an hour-long show called Indian Magazine, which in 1970 changed its name to Our Native Land. The first host was Johnny Yesno from Ontario. He was followed by Bernelda Wheeler from the George Gordon reserve in Saskatchewan. Yesno, first of all, was an actor and went on to pursue that career. However, Wheeler was a dedicated journalist and stood out as a role model for many young people, including me.

Back then our role models were teachers, social workers and members of the RCMP. Students of my generation continued to move into those careers. Journalism was considered an exotic profession, and Wheeler was our only role model in that profession.

Slowly over the years our people began to tell their stories in our own media, and the critical mass grew steadily. Today we have reporters in all media, especially our own newsrooms at APTN, Missinipi Broadcasting and Saskatoon’s own Eagle Feather news. We also have journalists such as Duncan McCue and Candy Palmater who are heard nationally on CBC Radio, and Betty Ann Adam and Kerry Benjoe who work for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post.

Our stories are now getting out as never before, but we still have work to do.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission recognized this, and in its report issued a call to action that included the following statement: “We call upon Canadian journalism programs and media schools to require education for all students on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations.”

With this in mind, a group of journalists is planning a conference on Reconciliation and the Media for next week. In the spirit of reconciliation, the committee consists of both indigenous and non-indigenous journalists.

The goal of the single-day conference is to bring together editors, news directors and other persons of influence, and raise issues that pertain to news coverage of First Nations and Metis people in Saskatchewan and across the country.

The committee felt that it was very important for decisionmakers be educated and made aware of the coverage that has been afforded indigenous people. While there has been considerable change over the past several decades, more initiatives are needed and the public has to be educated about our history and shared future.

Reconciliation is based on understanding. To bring our two groups together and build a better Canada, we need to break down the old barriers and stereotypes. First Nations and Metis students today are graduating at record numbers. Many of those graduates are entering the professions and working for business, private and government agencies, as well as creating their own businesses.

News media have an important role to play in the new reality. Reconciliation should be the time to turn the corner and move ahead united. It’s a daunting task, but it’s necessary.