Native tradition lives on through CFWE satellite

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It was called the greatest form of communication by Native people since the smoke signal.

And when the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA) took to the airwaves Sept. 22, beaming its radio show via satellite from its Edmonton headquarters, AMMSA president Fred

Didzena said it opened a new era of progress for Native people.

Didzena told a packed house of spectators and staff during the openhouse gala that AMMSA waited five years to sent its message using the high-tech communications system.

AMMSA's Lac La Biche radio station CFWE 89.9 can now be picked up in 10 communities in northern Alberta.

"With 100,000 Native people registered in the province of Alberta, this is definitely a breakthrough," Didzena said.

Station manager Ray Fox told more than 30 people in attendance that Native tradition will live on in Alberta.

And it will just be given a more contemporary appeal.

"We as Native people have a storytelling tradition. Now we have the opportunity to carry on that tradition," he said.

The CFWE-FM radio station started as a pilot project for development of community radio throughout Alberta.

CFWE is a 24-hour-a-day radio station and is set to transmit to more communities within the next three years.

Stations receiving the transmissions now include Conklin, Janvier, Frog Lake, Elizabeth, Fishing Lake and Cold Lake.

The project will eventually include 24 bands, eight Metis settlements and other isolated communities in northern Alberta.