As I finish my first week back at Midwestern Newspapers after participating in the CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowship in Montreal, I am pondering something that really got my attention this morning.
As you may or may not be aware, these big mainstream media companies are guided by what they call Journalism Standards and Practices. I learned all about these ‘rules’ while I was at CBC.
While I was enjoying my morning coffee with my husband this morning, doing what we always do, watching CTV’s Your Morning broadcast, I was horrified to hear News Anchor Anne Marie Mediwake use the phrase ‘Circling the Wagons’ while reporting on the internal issues of the Federal Liberal Party.
My body immediately reacted. I began shaking uncontrollably, and I was filled with such profound disappointment.
I immediately sent them a message, stating my shock and disbelief that in this day of ‘Truth and Reconciliation,’ such insensitive and racist remarks continue to headline mainstream media broadcasts.
They did respond, saying they were sorry and would pass along the message to their team to refrain from using this remark in the future.
I have not accepted their apology.
It has been almost a decade since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report, with 94 Calls to Action recommended for what some call KKKanada to start making things right with us First Nations, Inuit and Metis people.
Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics states the following regarding Human Rights:
“Recognizing that every person has the right to full and equal recognition and to enjoy certain fundamental rights and freedoms, broadcasters shall ensure that their programming contains no abusive or unduly discriminatory material or comment which is based on matters of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status or physical or mental disability.”
Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. explains in a 2015 blog post:
“’Circle the wagons’ translates to ‘the savages are coming and we are about to be attacked.’ Hollywood movies about settlers in North America moving west to invade and inhabit the traditional territories of First Peoples contributed greatly to the formation of this phrase.”
West Coast Editorial Associates website explained further:
“‘Hold down the fort’ and ‘circle the wagons’ are both based on racist notions about Indigenous Peoples. When fur traders moved across Canada, they built forts to keep Indigenous Peoples out. The phrase “circle the wagons” is the name of a defensive technique used by early settlers for protection against possible attack by Indigenous Peoples. While these phrases may seem harmless, they have racist origins and portray the original inhabitants of this land as savages.”
So, my message to you is to think seriously before speaking. These may be common phrases to you, like ‘let’s powwow,’ instead of let’s have a meeting, or “let’s smoke the peace pipe,” and you may use them innocently enough, but doing so ignores the significance of their cultural and spiritual use.
As the decades pass since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, the mainstream media seems to be lagging quite far behind the rest of the country. As a small community newspaper journalist, I hope that these messages are somehow getting through.
When people like Anne Marie Mediwake repeat such words, people think it’s okay.
Words matter.
If you see or hear something that you think might be inappropriate, it likely is.
May I suggest that you say something!
Miigwetch.
All My Relations.
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Cory Bilyea is an Indigenous journalist currently working for Midwestern Newspapers. She is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, better known as Onkwehonwe, the original people. Cory is a survivor of intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools. She can be reached at cbilyea@midwesternnewspapers.com.
