Aboriginal Newspapers: Their Contribution to the Emergence of an Alternative Public Sphere in Canada Shannon Avison A Thesis in The Department of Communication Studies Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Magisteriate of Arts (Media Studies) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada August 1996 (c) Shannon Avison 1996 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 161 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, nie Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your hk Vorre réterence Our Me Notre retbrence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/filrn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thése. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT This thesis explores the contribution of the regional Indian, Metis and Inuit newspapers to the development of an alternative political public sphere for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. It argues that although the development of the newspapers was an important aspect of the political and cultural developrnent, these newspapers were, to use Habermas' terminology, "feudalized" by the politi- cal organizations that created them, the Canadian state that funded them and the marketplace that determines their fate today. Using Jurgen Habermas' concept of the public sphere, this thesis considers the contribution that these publications made to the process of public opinion at the regional and national levels in Canada. It concludes that the regional newspapers did contribute to the national Aboriginal public sphere, but that state policies and financial exigencies limited their contribution and prevented them from realizing their full potential in the lives of Aboriginal Canadians. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere gratitude to al1 those who supported me in the preparation of this thesis. Special thanks to rny thesis supervisor, Lorna Roth, for her personal and academic support over the last two years. I am grate- fui to Amir Hassanpour whose enthusiasm for my research and constant encour- agement was very important to me during the long process of planning, researching and writing this thesis. Kim Sawchuk provided help and encourage- ment, and her advice regarding strategies for completing an MA thesis have been invaluable to me. To Bill Gilsdorf and Chantal Nadeau, and to the other faculty members in the Department of Communication Studies, my thanks for your encouragement and support. I also want to acknowledge the support I received from the members of Senior Management and the Board of Governors of the Saskatchewan lndian Federated ColIege (SIFC), who granted me an Education Leave to complete my Master of Arts in Montreal. And to professor Dr. David R. Miller, and my colleagues at the SlFC who have taught me a great deal in the last ten years, my sincere gratitude. I am also indebted to the editors, publishers and board members of the Native Communication Societies who spoke candidly about the newspapers that are the subject of this thesis. Doug Cuthand and Bert Crowfoot especially Iv have been tremendous sources of information, and have provided clarification, explanation and insig hts that expanded my appreciation of the role of the newspapers in the lives of Aboriginal Canadians. On a personal note, I am deeply indebted to Sean St. George whose interest in my work, and ability to pull me away from it to enjoy Montreal, have made these last two years a great experience. And to Our son, Liam St. George Avison, who is the most wonderful and exciting person I know, I give al1 my love. To great friends, Alexandra McHugh, Tom Axtell, George and Caroline Oblin, Dianne Reid, George Hargraves, my cousin Henry Avison, and to the students of the graduate programs in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia, my thanks and an open invitation to visit Regina. To my parents, Richard and Lois Avison; rny grandparents Mary lnez (Fry) and Henry Reade Charles Avison, Catherine Mildred (Scott) and Ernest Clernin- son, my brother Scott and sisters Heather and Wendy, and my son Liam, my love and dedication. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRDNYMS AFN Assembly of First Nations AMMSA Aboriginal Multimedia Society of Alberta AMNSIS Association of Metis and Non-Status lndians of Saskatchewan ANCS Alberta Native Communications Society CYI Council of Yukon lndians DIAND Department of lndian Affairs and Northern Development DSOS Department of Secretary of State FSIIFSIN Federation of Saskatchewan Indiansllndian Nations I NM lndian News Media JBCCS James Bay Cree Communications Society MSS Metis Society of Saskatchewan NACS National Aboriginal Communications Society NAN Nishnawbe-Aski Nation NCC Native Council of Canada NCP Native Communications Program NCS Native Communications Society NCSNS Native Communications Society of Nova Scotia NBBC Native Brotherhood of British Columbia NIB National lndian Brotherhood NNBAP Northern Native Broadcast Access Program SIFC Saskatchewan lndian Federated College UBClC Union of B.C. lndian Chiefs UNN United Native Nations UNSI Union of Nova Scotia lndians UOI Union of Ontario indians us1 Union of Saskatchewan Indians v i TABLE OF CONTENTS APPROVAL ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS vi 1 INTRODUCTION Toward a Critique of Histories of the Mass Media The ldea of the Public Sphere Research Question Parameters of the Research Project Significance and Contribution Subjectivity in the Research Research Methodology Limitations of the Methodology Review of the Literature and Documentary Sources Organization of the Thesis II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Situating Habermas 26 Habermas' Liberal Model of the Bourgeois Public Sphere 30 Alternative Models of the Public Sphere 41 Traditional Aboriginal Public Spheres 51 An A Priori Model of a Modern Aboriginal Public Sphere 57 III SITUATING THE RlSE OF THE ABORIGINAL PUBLIC SPHERE Introduction The lntroduction of Print Among the Indians The lntroduction of Literacy Arnong the Inuit Canadian lndian Policy The Grand General Council and The lndian Post World War I Attempts to Create a National Public Sphere IV THE REGIONAL ABORIGINAL NEWSPAPERS lntroduction A Landmark Publication: The Native Voice The Early Regional Organizations and Publications vii The 1969 White Paper on lndian Policy 116 The Development of Organizations and Publications to 1973 120 V A NEW DAWN FOR ABORIGINAL NEWSPAPERS The Native Communication Program: 1973 - 1990 Native Communications Societies The Reliance on Governrnent Funding Termination of Funding: The 1990 Federal Budget The lmmediate Reaction to the 1990 Budget Regional Native Newspapers: 1990 - 1995 Rethinking the History of the Aboriginal Newspapers VI THE ABORlGlNAL PUBLIC SPHERE: CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS Understanding the History of the Aboriginal Newspapers 'l95 The Future Contribution of Newspapers 198 INTERVIEWS REFERENCES viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Toward a Critique of Histories of the Mass Media As communications scholars interested in the history of media have O bserved: [Plress histories are dominated by considerations of white, middle-class interests that tend to support the impression of a homogenous press, engaged in economic battles while ideologically united behind a specific notion of democracy. There has been little effort to correct this impression by recalling the cultural and political struggle in which numerous "alternative" publications and journalists expressed their cornmitment to different, if not oppositional, ideas about democracy (Hardt, 1990: 350). This observation is grounded in Hanno Hardt's research regarding the place (or lack of place) of newsworkers in journalisrn history; it is also true of Aboriginal journalism in Canada, which has been almost cornpletely ignored by Canadian communications scholars. As Hardt points out, the general lack of interest in minority or alternative journalism is reflected in textbooks about media in society which provide: description and media statistics that lack historical grounding and, ultimately, result in the fragmentation of knowledge and the confusion of factual reporting with critical interpretation. These developments illustrate the continuing need for competing or oppositional interpretations of journalism history, based on gender or ethnicity (Hardt, 1990: 358). In his study of freedom of expression in traditional Native American societies, Bruce E. Johansen suggests: we need to look at communication not only as an interdisciplinary field, but also as a multicultural one. It is a suggestion that seeks not to replace one tradition with another, but one which seeks to complement existing knowledge with new viewpoints and interpretations, so that we may gain a more cornplete understanding of historical forces at work during any given time, in any given place (Johansen, 1991: 67). The ldea of the