CRTC Hearings, November 30, 2000

Burnaby, British Columbia

Support for Aboriginal Voices Radio

Tara and Tania Willard

on Behalf of Chief Arthur Manuel

INTERIOR ALLIANCE SUBMISSION

Madame Chair, Commission Members, Broadcasters, Members of the Public:

We speak to you today, acknowledging we are here in Coast Salish

territory.

We address you as emissaries of Chief Arthur Manuel of Neskonlith, a

Secwepemc Community close to the Shuswap Lakes in the South Central

Interior of British Columbia.

Both of us are band members of Neskonlith. Chief Manuel is also the

Chairperson of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council and the Interior

Alliance. The Interior Alliance includes 5 Interior Nations including

the Okanagan, Nlaka'pamux, St'at'imc, Secwepemc and Southern Carrier,

whose traditional territories cover one third of the province of British

Columbia. The Peoples of the Interior Alliance have never ceded,

released or surrendered their land to which they hold Aboriginal Title.

Chief Manuel also co-chairs the Assembly of First Nations (AFN)

Delgamuukw Implementation Strategic Committee (DISC), fighting for the

recognition of Aboriginal Title and Rights on a national basis. One

important part of the 6 point DISC Strategy to implement Aboriginal

Title is Communication and Community Participation. We understand that

it is essential to get indigenous communities involved in the exercise

of Aboriginal Title and also inform the non-native community about the

importance of our traditional territories to our peoples.

An Aboriginal Voices Radio station would not only invite the active

participation of Aboriginal communities, it would also enable them to

pass their own information and points of view onto mainstream society.

A national radio network would help us develop a broader perspective on

different issues of concern to indigenous peoples. In the case of the

Interior Alliance and DISC our main focus is Aboriginal Title, we work

together with indigenous peoples all across Canada in defense of our

traditional territories and join in the struggle of changing the

extinguishment policy of the federal government.

Through a national Aboriginal Radio network we could show that the

national dimension, depth and positive implications of the Delgamuukw

Process to Canadian Society.

As indigenous peoples we have maintained our inherent rights to

self-determination and the land, still for the past centuries we have

been mainly excluded from mainstream society and economy. This includes

the communications branch. We have a right to radio and to do it in a

way that is adapted to our societies and can help create meaningful

change.

As young indigenous persons living in the city we deserve better access

to communications. The growth of our Native populations indicates that

the young people are in need of ways to communicate our diversified

talents in all areas. We need the infrastructure and communication

links to share our voices with other urban and rural native communities,

as well as the rest of Canada.

Aboriginal Radio would link urban native youth more to our communities

and also enable us to have our own creative input in developing new

expressions of indigenous culture. We have a responsibility to our

communities to ensure that the next generations, our children and

grandchildren, will grow up in an environment that fosters public

education about the issues that concern our people. One important

aspect in the maintenance of our cultures is the perpetuation of our

languages and the sharing of our experiences in order to foster

relationships with each other and the non-Aboriginal community.

Chief Manuel supports this important initiative and by sending us as his

representatives he also expresses that it is important to link together

the experiences and needs of indigenous peoples living in cities and on

the reserves on a national level.

Especially if you take into account that the whole of British Columbia

and Canada is the traditional territory of indigenous peoples to which

we collectively hold Aboriginal Title. Aboriginal Title in a broader

sense does not only cover our right to land, it also encompasses our

right to express our own culture and the right to self-determination.

The creation of a national Aboriginal Radio service is a step in the

right direction.