Martine St-Victor: indigenous voices deserve more space

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The stories that are told and who is telling them should reflect who we are as a society. It’s a metric that I established as a communications strategist and as a major media consumer. When news does emerge, and particularly when it lasts longer than the usual “news cycle,” the angles of the story and who contributes to it matter. Different perspectives emerge and we are reminded that no group is monolithic.

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Take last week’s “unequivocal apology” from Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops for abuses committed by members of the church community who participated in the management of residential schools. For some members of indigenous communities, the apology was not enough. For others, such as David Chartrand of the Federation of Manitoba Metis, the apology and $ 30 million committed by the CCCB as various reconciliation initiatives are important first steps on the long road to reconciliation.

When I grew up, school history books did not include indigenous history in a meaningful way. That is a great reason why I now want my understanding of indigenous issues to be shaped by indigenous peoples themselves. And for that to happen, entities such as the main media must make more space for the members of these communities. The APTN specialized channel offers an important and varied programming, and its presence on television should be applauded. But its impact as a smaller network is limited.

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Still, progress is being made. At ICI Première, the main radio station of Radio-Canada, for example, Mélissa Mollen Dupuis presents Kuei! Kwe!, a weekly show that highlights the talent and fearlessness of First Nations members. Lawyer and activist Alexis Wawanoloath was a recent guest, as he was in NOOVO Election Night Special transmission. Wawanoloath, a former MNA and a regular on the NOOVO Le Fil news program, was on set to comment on the position of federal parties on issues that are a priority for indigenous communities.

Appearances in the mainstream media of people like Mollen Dupuis and Wawanoloath should be normalized; You shouldn’t be able to count them on one hand. in a recent interviewIndigenous Canadian actor Michael Greyeyes beamed with hope as he described what he has seen in the last 10 years: more and more stories told in an indigenous style. “Our communities are finally gaining access to platforms and forms of communication that previous generations could only dream of,” he said.

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Regarding gestures such as the apology from the CCCB and the one from Québec Bill 79 – “A law that authorizes the communication of personal information to the families of indigenous children who disappeared or died after being admitted to an institution” – it would be easy to see them as part of a necessary settling of accounts in indigenous matters. But a more accurate assessment would be to call them Canadian affairs. The burden and responsibility to do things well does not lie with the indigenous communities, but with the rest of us.

Months after the adoption of Bill 79, Ian Lafrenière, the minister responsible for indigenous affairs, appointed anthropologist and former Radio-Canada journalist Anne Panasuk as special consultant on indigenous affairs to advise on the implementation of the bill. Panasuk has reported extensively on the missing indigenous children. Over the years, she has told her stories on television, in a poignant podcast, and most recently in a book: Auassat: À la recherche des enfants disparus. Last week, when television host Guy A. Lepage asked Panasuk if she had noticed a change in public perception of indigenous communities and issues, she answered yes. “More and more, people understand that there has been trauma and that things cannot remain as they were,” he said. “I think things will never be the same again.”

At ET Canada, Greyeyes reminded viewersthat indigenous stories contain hope and healing. So let’s hear more from them. Today, National Truth and Reconciliation Day, and every other day.