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Chapter 6 | Frits Pannekoek (continued) The voice of anti colonialism is often that of academics like Joyce Green and Colin Samson. The Canadian Aboriginal press, which functions for the most part in English, tends to the middle road, with only a modest dose of anti colonial rhetoric. Windspeaker, first published in 1983 for the Aboriginal people of northern Alberta, is the most widely read of the Aboriginal newspapers. By 1993 it had positioned itself to become Canada’s leading Aboriginal news providers (despite the 1990 elimination of federal funding which left it the only Western Aboriginal voice in Canada). Since Windspeaker’s transformation, its owner, the Aboriginal Multi Media Society has launched Sweetgrass to serve Alberta, Sage to serve Saskatchewan and Raven’s Eye to serve British Columbia. It should be noted that AMMSA also owns and operates CFWEFM radio, which broadcasts to fifty four Alberta Aboriginal communities. The AMMA newspapers are traditional with a strongly independent yet liberal community focus.10 The editorial policy, which would not be out of place in the Globe and Mail, is uniformly critical of the federal government in its treaty negotiations, its fishery policies as well as its own Chief Matthew Coon Come for his statements on alcoholism amongst native leaders. There were also extremely worthwhile articles on the Residential Schools litigations. That being said, its front page lead story on April 1 related to the Aboriginal Juno awards. While the digital versions of newspapers are the most significant “portal” to Aboriginal cyberspace in Canada, there are Native portals like Turtle Island Native Network in Canada and Nativeweb, in the United States from which both Aboriginal and non Aboriginal peoples can gain alternative perspectives.11 Their links emphasize the demoralization of the Aboriginal communities throughout the world in the post colonial context. It is clear that Turtle Island and Nativeweb, which are more in tune with the cyber world are more international than national in their focus, and see Aboriginal issues in a global context. The links to American tribal issues are numerous. What is equally interesting is that Turtle Island does not have a ready link to the AMMA products.12 Commercial and political interests still supersede those of the new Aboriginal international alliances encouraged by the opportunities of cyberspace. Linkages to the United Nations aboriginal issues exist, but do not dominate. The aboriginal chat rooms offer an important location for determining the impact of the e-world on post colonial issues. The most numerous sites in Canada relate to land claims, to self government, to cultural appropriation and to racism and to genealogy, with the most popular topic being genealogy. The most poignant chat rooms were those on the Aboriginal Youth Network which posted several key questions for individuals to join in. The topic of “racism” in the school system, particularly in the teaching of history and native subjects had the largest number of contributors.13 The chat rooms tend to be anonymous — but there is a vigorous policing action in these rooms, since it is difficult to discern who is who, by questioning those who don’t seem to use the correct “sub culture” English rhetoric. Race not culture is a determinant of who can participate. Ellen Baird, doctoral student at South Dakotah State University, argues that in those chat rooms she explored Aboriginal participants had concluded that American Indians in general resist assimilation and take offence at someone who is trying to pretend to be Indian, and are vigilant about protecting Indian identity on the web. ... Ironically, it is the Indian participants who sound more mainstream th an non-Indians in this observed chat room (1998). In Canada there is as yet no literature analyzing native chat rooms. However, a quick examination of the Native-L archives or any of the other chat rooms suggests that in Canada there is less militancy than on the American counterparts. Canadian sites tend to focus on issues regarding land claims and on group identity. Little on the “chat rooms” indicate an interest in history although there is a real commitment to culture and the arts. Genealogy remains a consistently strong interest particularly on the Métis sites.14 Métis chat is very much concerned with the issues of “identity.” These chat rooms, particularly in Canada, evidence the tensions between those who would preserve existing ownership of identities, and those who feel they should be able to join a newly discovered racial connection to culture. The emotion of the chat rooms is real and indicates how important the net might become in the creation of new identities. |
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