Unity '99 was more than just another conference

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Unity '99 may have officially started on July 7, but for a group of about 40 people, it actually started a few nights earlier.

In Regina. On a bus.

Shannon Avison, the Indian Communication Arts (INCA) program director at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC) in Regina, organized the bus trip to Seattle. Thanks to her, students in the INCA Summer Institute program, some journalism instructors and some working journalists were on their way to the largest gathering of journalists ever: Unity '99.

The bus trip originated in Regina, but the people on the trip came from places like Moose Factory, Ont.; Ottawa; Winnipeg; Inuvik, NWT; Montreal Lake and La Ronge, SK; as well as Saskatoon and Regina.

A big part of the trip for this group was just getting to know the other people on the bus.

John Lagimodiere, the president of Aboriginal Consulting Services in Saskatoon, didn't see too many familiar faces when he began the trip.

"I knew one person," he said.

While the traveling time gave people the chance to get to know each other, what remained was the bitter reality of spending about 40 hours on a bus.

"It was freakin' awful," said Danny Eegeesiuk, a summer student in the INCA program. "The best part was making it to Seattle."

The first event of Unity '99 was the opening ceremonies, and it was kicked off with a bang. The bang of a drum, that is.

Music and dances were performed by groups representing the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA); the Asian American Journalists Association (AAHA); the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).

The musical numbers had one common theme: the drum was the only instrument played.

Everyone in the audience was given a pair of drumsticks to take part in the celebration too.

"I was in awe," said Lagimodiere. "The percussion was just fantastic and the crowd interaction with the drumsticks too. I felt like I fit in with everyone else there."

Another INCA student on the trip agreed.

"It started out on the right note, using drums to show that we all have something in common," said Janine Blake, who came from Inuvik. "It really got you juiced up for the week."

Speaking to the audience during the opening ceremonies, Unity '99 and AAJA president Catalina Camia re-enforced the point that all four groups share common ground, and she received a rousing round of applause for her message.

"The picture we paint does not discriminate," she said. "It includes a colorful palette of people and voices. We refuse to sit back and wait for someone else to lead the way. Today we stop asking the question, 'Who will tell our story?' because we know we will tell our story."

Telling the story is precisely what the conference was about. The dozens of workshops each day gave journalists in every news medium the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience with others.

"I attended a workshop put on by [Sage publisher] Bert Crowfoot," he adds. "It was helpful because I realized that when he started up (a newspaper) he went through the same trials and tribulations with lots of hard work and sacrifices. I realized there are others in the same boat as me. It increased my fortitude."

Nelson Bird, a videojournalist for CTV in Saskatchewan, also attended the conference with the group and found the knowledge he gained to be very useful.

"I'm relatively new in TV and the workshops I attended were really helpful," he said.

With more than 7,000 journalists attending the conference, it might seem that 40 people would not make much of a mark.

That was not true with this group.

"We're kind of famous down there," said Blake. "People in the job fair would see that we were from Canada and ask 'Are you one of the people from the bus?'"

And, with more than 7,000 people, it may seem that 40 people could easily get separated for the entire conference.

Again, not so with this group.

A smoking area outside the conference bulding doubled as a meeting spot.

"It was a good place to meet up with others," said Eegeesiuk

"You knew youid see someone you know there," said Blake.

"That's true. Someone would always show up. Even the non-smokers," added Bird.

"That was home base," said Lagimodiere. "No matter where you were, if you wanted to see what others were doing at the conference, that was the place to go."

"It was nice at the end of the day to compare notes with what others took in for workshops," said Bird.

It wasn't all work at the conference, however. A NAJA picnic to celebrate their 15th anniversary and a traditional feast were just a couple of events for people to take in.

People attending the feast were taken to the Day Break Star Cultural Arts Center, located near the ocean. They were treated to a traditional feast of salmon and then to a performance by Native dancers.

"That to me was the NAJA aspect of the whole conference," said Bird. "The feast made me realize that we're together and we're out there. I really felt the kinship, maybe that's because I'm Native."

The unity and kinship was felt at the closing ceremonies too.

"By having the opening and closing ceremonies in the fashion they did was kind of like book ends. It started with a bang and ended with a bang and everything inbetween was so interesting and helpful," said Bird.

Fireworks lit up the room for the closing ceremonies. Singers and dancers representing the four groups gave spectacular performances and impressed the crowd.

While the conference focused on minorities sharing their experiences in the newsroom, it went beyond those boundaries.

"It opened up my eyes," said Lagimodiere. "I'm not usually exposed to some of those cultures. There's a lot of future there for all of us."

For Avison, the chance to show students the opportunities that await them and to help working journalists perfect their craft is what makes her hard work worthwhile. She feels it's not just about educating the students, however. Italso educated the sponsors.

"It gave those organizations the chance to have representatives involved and it helped make them aware of the quality of qualified individuals that are out there for the job. I think (Unity '99) is inspiring for everybody because it's more than what any one of the organizations could do. It's the magnitude of it all," she said.