Native Communications in Canada Uses of and Access to the Broadcast Media in the 1970'S
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University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1980 Native communications in Canada uses of and access to the broadcast media in the 1970's. Gordon Willis Hunter University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Hunter, Gordon Willis, "Native communications in Canada uses of and access to the broadcast media in the 1970's." (1980). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2813. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/2813 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). 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THIS DISSERTATION LA THESE A ETE HAS BEEN MICROFILMED MICROFILMEE TELLE QUE EXACTLY AS RECEIVED NOUS L'AVONS RECUE Ottawa, Canada K1A0N4 i . V NL-339 (Rev. 8/80) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NATIVE COMMUNICATIONS IN CANADA: USES OF AND ACCESS TO THE BROADCAST MEDIA IN THE 1970 by Gordon Willis Hunter A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Department of Communication Studies in Partial Fulfillment I of the requirements for the Degree ' of Master of Arts at r - ' The University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario-, Canada 1980 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. £> Gordon Willla Hunter' 1980 Q All Rights Res.erved 744050 ( Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Approved: Dr. t Ferguson Dr. T. F. Carney Dr. Gerald Booth Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate Canada's native peoples' use of and access to the broadcast media of radio and television during the decade of the 19 70's. "• In September 1970 the native people of Canada were ^ given an opportunity to express their views and concerns regarding native access to and use of the broadcast media. Convened in Yellowknife, the territorial capital of the Northwest Territories, this Northern Communications Conference was an important first step for Canada's Indian, Metis and Inuit peoples in ^ieir struggle to obtain an ef fective participation in the mainstream of Canadian society through the use of radio and television. Historically, the native peoples of Canada have felt excluded from the main stream of Canadian life. They have lacked the necessary tools, the necessary skills to communicate either among themselves or with the non-native population. In an at tempt to remedy this unsatisfactory situation, the native people embarked on a campaign of self-help through the use of the broadcast media. During this period they developed ways and means of not only gaining an acceptable degree of access to the broadcast media in Canada but they went be-, yond this stage and succeeded in controlling, operating and developing their own unique communications services. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This study, Native Communications in Canada: Uses of and Access to the Broadcas Media in the 1970's, traces the development of native communications in all of the geographic regions of the country, from the media rich South where large concentrations of natives' are located to the newly developed regions of the mid-Canada corridor and the Yukon and North west Territories. This decade, the decade of the 1970's has been in retrospect the Golden Age of native communications in Canada and this thesis observes the rise of native communi cations from its essential infancy in 19 70 to its high degree of sophistication at the end of the decade. Native reactions hnd opinions with respect to their' participation in the broad cast media is art integral part of this study as are the atti tudes and actions of governmental agencies in this native com munications development. The methodology incorporated in this study is essen tially historical. In responding to this investigation, the following steps were taken: an examination of Canada's native peoples*'attempts at gaining control over and thus access to and use of communications through their own na tive communications societies; a survey of the challenges and problems faced by these native communications societies as they sought to improve broadcast communications for Canada's original peoples; and finally the identification of the role of specific governmental institutions in aiding native attempts at gaining use of and access to the broad- IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. cast media in the 19 70's. The first area of investigation, native communications societies, looks at the attempts of the native people to develop their own communications services. Through the latter part of the 1960's and on through the 19 70's, some eleven major native communications^societies were established in Canada. Regional, local or community communications so cieties account for even greater numbers. Many of these f societies 4ev"el°Pe<^ their own radio production facilities and a few even ventured into the area.of television produc tion. One of this group of major societies became the first native organization in North .America to have its own satel lite project. All were developed to giv^ native people the \ access and programming they felt necessary to enable them to survive in the future and to operate in the present. ✓ The second area of investigation, challenges and co operation, is a look at some of the many problems these native communications societies faced during this period. The issue of funding and the search for recognition within the native and the non-native populations are discussed here. Co-operation among the societies became the key ele ment of their survival. Co-operation in funding, in the attempts at the development of national native broadcast systems, co-operation in training personnel for radio and television and even co-operation in *'t)ie overall establish- v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.