When Dr. John Kelly spoke to Media Club members and guests on November 16, 2015 about Journalism in Aboriginal Communities, his main message was that we need to learn to understand one another.
The room fell silent as he quietly explained “Many reporters go to an Aboriginal community with preconceived ideas. They think they can just go there and report. But you can’t,” said Kelly who is not only an adjunct professor at Carleton University but who is a Haida from Skidegate Village on Haida Gwaii.
“The problem is language,” he said before suggesting that it will take reporters who speak the same language to be able to accurately report about Aboriginal communities, people who will take the time to learn what does work and what doesn’t work. Cultural protocol has to be observed. The proper channels need to be followed, like seeking out the community elders first and getting to know them to gain trust.
“It’s a commitment,” he said. Reporters need to be willing to roll up their sleeves and help wash the dishes, to take time to learn, and to discover storytelling.”
At one point Dr. Kelly noted that not many indigenous young people are choosing to study journalism. One of the many questions asked by a member of the engaged audience was since that’s the case how can non-Aboriginal journalists tell the stories that need to be told when they are given so little time to research, write and file a story. There is, of course, no easy answer to that dilemma.
Dr. Kelly read his poem called Potlatch, spoke about his uncle who is a cultural development First Nations co-ordinator on Haida Gwaii, about his culture’s 10,000 –
20,000 years of cultural development, and about artist Bill Reid. He mentioned two books – The Owl Called My Name that was written by Margaret Craven, and The Curtain Within: Haida social and Mythical Discourses by Marianne Boelscher. He noted, too, the website (www.riic.com) that Duncan McCue, a UBC adjunct professor and reporter for the CBC’s The National, launched to help journalists report about Aboriginal communities.
Other messages our speaker left us with were to explore what we have in common, move toward each other with thanksgiving, “join us in healing”.
The audience remained long after the meeting ended, discussing his talk and asking questions.