The silence is deafening from Native media

Page 16

Medium Rare

Each day I read three to five newspapers, watch and listen to TV and radio news, devour every Native newspaper that crosses my path. In other words, I work hard to stay informed.

Ever since 9/11, the "war on terrorism," the invasion of Afghanistan, and now the invasion of Iraq, I've discovered I know a lot about the opinions of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Britain, France, Germany and Italy, but I know almost nothing about the opinions of Aboriginal peoples in Canada or how these global events have affected their lives.

For most Aboriginal newspapers in Canada, it seems these event never happened. To read them, one would think that none of it affects Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Perhaps Aboriginal journalists believe, as APTN senior managers decreed immediately following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the war on terrorism isn't "relevant to our audience." I hope not. It wasn't true then. It still isn't.

Immediately following Sept. 11, governments grounded all air traffic, including travel in northern and remote Native communities. Those "taxis of the North," that ferry people to doctor's appointments, job interviews or funerals, suddenly stopped, grounded by security fears. The lives of northern peoples haven't been the same since.

Aboriginal peoples who routinely cross the U.S./Canada border for work, to attend conferences, take part in ceremonies, report dramatic changes. One woman mentioned at a conference that her cross-border rights no longer existed, thanks to new security laws on both sides of the border.

"Border guards knew most of us by name, recognized our right to cross the border. Not anymore. Now, each time we cross they treat us like immigrants, demanding to see our visas or passports. What happened to our treaty right?"

New security laws in Canada and the U.S. undermine civil liberties. Legal protest may be deemed a terrorist activity. Random wiretaps and mail openings can be authorized without court order, and more. All deemed necessary weapons in the war against terrorism.

This is not a whites-only issue. Nor are these government actions, American and Canadian, aimed at people of a particular skin color, religion, political persuasion or region of the world. They affect us all.

Yet, there's hardly a word in our Aboriginal newspapers about these developments or how they've affected the lives and the rights of Aboriginal peoples.

Maybe the Aboriginal media feels the mainstream media is doing the job and they don't have to. Again, I hope not. The mainstream hasn't bothered to ask Aboriginal peoples about their experiences since 9/11 or how their lives have been changed forever.

Maybe we should blame Aboriginal leaders who seem to ignore these issues as well. Except for a presentation by the AFN to a parliamentary committee on some of these new security laws, the organizations and their leaders have been pretty quiet.

But why should that determine whether the Aboriginal media considers these new security requirements a story or make sense of it all to readers. Isn't that their job?

Now the invasion of Iraq has begun. It's too late for the Aboriginal media to ask questions that should've been asked long ago.

For instance, why haven't Aboriginal nations considered, debated, and argued about the justification for this war. Surely nothing can be more important than whether a nation decides to send its young men and women off to fight, maybe to die, in another nation's uniform.

It's happened before. My government, the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, declared war and sent its people to fight as allies in two World Wars. It debated whether to allow its citizens to fight in Korea and Vietnam. But this time, and in the previous Persian Gulf War, the confederacy has said nothing, done nothing.

Why not? The power to govern needs to be exercised. Ignored, or allowed to lapse, it becomes irrelevant and useless. Like a body's muscles, this capacity can urn to fat and flab, eventually become atrophied and useless. But is the Aboriginal media paying attention?

APTN's national call-in show, CONTACT, ran two shows about possible war with Iraq. Lacking the most basic information about the issue from an Aboriginal perspective, should Aboriginal peoples be expected to answer the question intelligently? Short answer: No. They shouldn't.

A quick scan of Web sites, front pages and editorial sections of Native newspapers across Canada finds two newspapers that have at least done something about the new world order.

The Eastern Door is published on Mohawk territory at Kahnawake. "You have to understand," the paper's editor, Ken Deere, warns me over the phone, "Kahnawake has always had a lot of people serving in the American forces."

A lot of Mohawk ironworkers helped build the World Trade Center and many other buildings of the New York skyline. Mohawks have also served in many of America's foreign wars, including the last war with Iraq in 1991. In other words, the predominant feeling here is pro-U.S. and pro-war.

The newspaper printed a story about a local woman "who was called up last week," a letter "from someone in Denver "saying we will fight side-by-side" with U.S. forces, and the response by a U.S. Navy pilot.

But the paper hasn't dealt with deeper questions about this particular war, provided little, if any, explanation how developments since Sept. 11 have affected Aboriginal rights, and provided nothing opposing the war.

Windspeaker printed a story last month (on the back page) of a woman shipping out for the Gulf with the U.S. Navy.

Said Debora Steel, the editor, her paper also ran a couple of stories on the security measures taken after 9/11 and ran Taiaiake Alfred's columns about the U.S. foreign policies that might motivate some people to do the Americans harm.

As for the present war, she said Windspeaker has published "a few columns from Jack Forbes about the parallels between the Middle East experiene and the Native American experience, as well as the piece you mention."

What about the involvement of a lot of Aboriginal peoples in the anti-war movement across the country? Hardly a word. And these are the best examples. Most Aboriginal newspapers in Canada have done nothing at all.

Compare this to the debate in the pages of Native newspapers south of the border. Of the ones I scanned, most aren't doing much better than Native newspapers in Canada.

Indian Country Today is different. It carries the expected stories about Native Americans shipping out with their units. Unlike most, however, Indian Country Today has gone further than most.

Since early last year, nearly half of the 21 columns written by John Mohawk have explored U.S. polices in the Middle East and how those policies have affected peoples there.

He's drawn parallels between American actions in the Middle East with the U.S. record in South and Central America. He's tried to explain how Indigenous peoples in these regions have been affected and drawn links to Indigenous issues closer to home.

Mohawk raises questions about the rationalizations for war and the "war on terrorism." He's raised issues about events halfway around the world and tried to make them relevant to readers on this side. In other words, he's doing what any good journalist- Native or non-Native-should be doing. So is his newspaper.