Aboriginal Peoples Television Network

Looking at different Indigenous media throughout the course thus far has been a big eye-opener for me. For this essay, I listened to and examined the delivery of four different media pieces that look at barriers in the Indigenous communities today. I examined a podcast from CBC Radio 1, a TV segment on APTN InFocus and one news article each from Two Row Times News and Anishinabek News. All sources have an interlocking theme of intergenerational trauma and how we are addressing these issues today.

Rosanna Deerchild is the host of Unreserved, a podcast on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, who looks at historic but prominent issues within Indigenous populations today. Cindy Blackstock is a renowned advocate for human rights. She brought a case of systemic discrimination concerning Indigenous children’s access to health care to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and ended up winning (Deerchild, 2018). This marked a massive change for the rights of Indigenous children on reserves all over (Deerchild, 2018). She works in Social Work and specifically focuses on the rights of Indigenous people at the societal level (Deerchild, 2018).

Speaking to different cases with complete morality and passion for justice, Cindy sheds light on the ongoing discrimination against Indigenous and the evident systemic will, to keep the effects of colonization alive.

As the podcast starts, I realize that I will be hearing first-hand from an Indigenous women’s perspective about problems that influence the ways the Indigenous are treated today. As Cindy Blackstock opens up about her own identity and history of her experiences as a woman who has some Indigenous background (Deerchild, 2018).

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I note the realness she speaks with; she is not trying to direct anyone’s thinking; she is simply speaking her truth. Keeping a conversation going about issues such as Jordan’s Principle is just one way in which Cindy helps change the narrative, shedding light on systemic problems deeply rooted (Deerchild, 2018). She is able to add an Indigenous lens by conveying her thoughts and experiences while advocating for positive change.

Melissa Ridgen, interviewer on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, did an extremely informative segment with Hani Ataan Al-Ubeady, the community engagement coordinator for Immigration Partnership Winnipeg (APTN, 2018). The piece speaks to the barriers newcomers face when having access to learning about the Indigenous people of Canada. Specifically, they speak to the newcomer’s misconceptions when entering the city of Winnipeg, where there is a large Indigenous population (APTN, 2018). They provide us with specific examples from people living within the city, as well as people who have just entered Winnipeg and their experiences with stereotypes and the Indigenous population. Poverty, crime and addiction were all mentioned as the forefront of general stereotyping of First Nations people (APTN, 2018). Overall, the news article focuses on the misinformation people are given while the hope is that immigrants are given informational seminars about Indigenous people’s history within Canada in the same way more common information like banking and legalities are given (APTN, 2018).

This is a barrier that had not come to my thoughts before viewing this segment. The members they had speaking on the panel were new or formerly new to Canada and were able to speak to the lack of education surrounding the Indigenous population (APTN, 2018). As a society in general, unless you are furthering your education in a program such as Social Work for example, the education upon Indigenous people’s issues and history are not presented to you properly. I think APTN was able to shine a huge light on the inadequate system we have set up for newcomers. The lack of education can add to the numbers of racism that are already present in Canada, and that we need to address it holistically through further access to the histories and backgrounds of Indigenous people’s (APTN, 2018). When people become informed instead of confronted with stereotypes and discrimination, their minds are more open to critical thinking in terms of compassion which contributes to Canada’s future (APTN, 2018).

Smith, (2019) writes about “Orange Shirt Day” and how Canadore College in North Bay, is raising awareness and showing support by handing out and wearing orange shirts for children who died in residential schools and the intergenerational trauma that has followed (para., 1-2). The article goes on to highlight the National Truth and Reconciliation ceremony where children’s names were identified in honor and remembrance of the abuse they suffered in residential schools (Smith, 2019). It ends with an explanation as to how Orange Shirt Day came to be, while a young Indigenous girl was given an orange shirt by her grandmother and sent to residential school, only to have it taken away and never seen again (Smith, 2019).

The article used impactful statements from students, which provoke emotion in the reader, such as the desire to sympathize. The college students acknowledge the repercussions of residential schools along with the brutality and dehumanization that took place there, and that it is still deeply interlocked in Indigenous people’s lives today, as some see directly in their families (Smith, 2019). Seeing students take such initiative in making their voices heard when it comes to understanding the impacts that residential schools had on so many lives is another way the media that I have analyzed throughout this paper is taking a step towards reconciliation.

On September 30th, also known as “Orange Shirt Day,” we remember the children that suffered and died as a result of residential schools. This year, coincided with a ceremony held in Gatineau Quebec, which was led by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (The Canadian Press, 2019). The members spoke to the still painful trauma while providing a big step towards closure through the exposure of the names of around 2,800 children who died during this time (The Canadian Press, 2019). The NCTR stated more names had to be identified, as many as 150,000 children have suffered at the hands of the residential schools at some point in their lifetime (The Canadian Press, 2019). The Canadian Press’s (2019) article ends by stating there is a responsibility to the 1,600 other children that have been confirmed deceased as a result of residential schools but have not yet been identified and that they will continue to carry on their investigations (para., 20-23).

I thought this article was well written and refrained from using any sort of stereotypical headlines or terminology. The lens that was used for this particular article was not written by an Indigenous author but still provoked emotion in the reader through multiple statements from Indigenous advocates like Ry Moran, who is the director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (The Canadian Press, 2019). Although presenting a lot of facts, the article conveyed a sort of emotion that is deeply attached to the families and history of these acts.

In conclusion, all four sources cover presently important topics that are starting on their way towards reconciliation between Indigenous people and not only Canada but nationally. We see the barriers and examples of intergenerational trauma through Rosanna Deerchild’s podcast with Cindy Blackfoot. Speaking as a well-known Indigenous woman who grew up seeing the marginalization first-hand, going on to get into Social Work and furthering her knowledge in the area of Indigenous stereotyping, discrimination, and policies (Deerchild 2019). We see examples through the television show APTN InFocus which features immigrants speaking to the lack of education on historic intergenerational trauma that the Indigenous are still dealing with today (APTN, 2018). Meanwhile, the two print sources deal with a much narrower topic within Indigenous injustices but are still able to shine a light on the horrific historical events that took place in the process of colonization and lead to intergenerational trauma.

I have now been exposed to a lot of mainstream media where Indigenous issues are filtered through an oppressive lens. The only news that appeals to the dominant interests in our society or follows the same stereotypical storyline is what gets published. Having the opportunity to address barriers and problems that Indigenous communities are facing through the recognition of these struggles themselves, provide a more factual basis for the viewer. Through the analysis of both news articles, Two Row Times News and Anishinabek News, as well as that of a CBC Radio podcast and APTN news segment, I have concluded that the most impactful and thought-provoking media is when it comes from those who have personal experience with the Indigenous discrimination. Having Indigenous people speak in the media to not only current events but also the pain still suffered from past events helps shed a more factual lens on the struggles they face.