Matt Simmons, a reporter at The Narwhal, knows the importance of learning from a mistake. During a private viewing of a totem pole during an Indigenous ceremony in the Nisg̱a’a territory, in Northwest British Columbia, Simmons’ coworker and photographer Marty Clemens fell off a ladder and touched the totem pole, breaching Nisg̱a’a protocol.
The totem pole is an ancestor to the Nisg̱a’a people and was recently returned to them after it was stolen from the village of Ank’idaa almost a century ago. Only family members of the ancestor are allowed to touch the ancestor. “There was just this indescribable feeling that I knew something very wrong had happened, and I didn’t really understand,” says Simmons.
There is a process for mending a mistake in certain Indigenous communities. First, create a space to recognize your misstep, fix it, and then learn from it. There are also Indigenous tribes, such as the Najavo people, who purposefully put mistakes within their textiles. For some Navajo weavers, the ch’ihónít’i (Navajo weaver’s pathway), or the mistake, represents humility and acknowledges what it means to be human.
Simmons is a non-Indigenous journalist who is committed to decolonizing journalism through his reporting. During his ordeal, he reached out to several people, including his team at The Narwhal to see what he could do to remedy the mistake. After speaking to the Nisg̱a’a matriarch, Simmons says he was encouraged to share his experience with others in hopes that someone else can learn from his mistake. Simmons went on to describe his personal experience in a story called “Decolonizing journalism includes missteps and and teachings” that was published in The Narwhal on Oct.17, 2023. Simmons’ story details the importance of non-Indigenous journalists, of not only reporting in Indigenous communities, but reporting with patience, humility, and most of all respect.
“Reporting in Indigenous communities — especially for non-Indigenous journalists — comes with great responsibility and requires a lot of care,” Simmons writes in his story.
Simmons is unusual. Admitting mistakes does not come easily to mainstream journalists. Traditional reporting of Indigenous stories by non-Indigenous journalists has included stereotypes, biased reporting and colonial practices.
But Simmons is not alone. In the past decade and a half, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous journalists are beginning to see a change within the media, including how Indigenous stories are written.
“The way that the media has changed since 2008, there has been significant progress,” says Alex Shimo, a journalist, author, and professor at Humber College.
Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), Canada’s leading media development organization, published their second Buried Voices report, a report that studied Canada’s media coverage of Indigenous people in 2016.
JHR analyzed the amount of Indigenous stories in the news between 2013 to 2016, and the tone used to tell these stories.
The report found a “major shift” in tone, with an average 30 per cent of stories using a positive tone, compared to 11 per cent of stories using a negative tone over three years.
Stories such as Matt Simmons’s show that progress is being made.
“Decolonization still has a long way to go, but I think it’s important to be aware that what happened with the TRC was seismic, and it did have a profound impact on newsrooms across the country,” says Shimo.
The TRC refers to the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which outlines 94 calls to action to work towards reconciliation in Canada. Among the calls to action, there are several that pertain to the media, including The report, released in 2015, was an element of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history.
Despite this historical residential school lawsuit in 2006, it wasn’t until the recent discovery of unmarked graves of Indigenous children served as a wakeup call for many Canadians in 2021, according to Global News.
It started with 200 unmarked graves found at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, which sparked a cultural shift felt across Canada.
Despite this wakeup call heard across the country, it seems very few Canadians, if any, have learned about residentials schools prior to 2021.
It feels that I was one of a handful of people who learned about residential schools or even Indigenous people during elementary education. Ever since I was a young kid, I have always loved learning about different Indigenous cultures and histories. I can vividly remember my favourite field trip to Crawford Lake, a conversation area in Milton, Ont. Crawford Lake is also called “Kionywarihwaen”, which means “where we have a story to tell” in the Wendat language. The villages around Crawford Lake are believed to have belonged to ancestors of the Neutral and Huron-Wendat peoples, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. During my field trip, my class explored the constructed longhouses and learned about Indigenous history. A local Indigenous storyteller told my sixth grade class the Indigenous mythology of birds. I can remember sitting in the grass and being enthralled as he told my class how birds are considered to be messengers of God.
Fast forward a decade to my second year at the University of Guelph-Humber. For my final assignment, I did a research paper on the misrepresentation of Indigenous people in the news. I learned how the news depicted the victims of the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit Crisis, as disposable outsiders, sexual deviants, or people who use drugs. And how this very reporting, where victims are portrayed as worthless, may further the violence these people already face. It keeps me up at night to know that the news has such power over people’s lives.
All of this learning that occurred throughout my life led me to write this story about decolonizing journalism and how the field of journalism needs to do better in order to tell Indigenous stories.
Mass media has always had a significant impact on their audiences. Audiences use media representations, including news media, to form opinions of others, including minority groups such as people of colour.
“Media depictions often represent the main, if not the only, source of information for citizens,” says Florian Arendt, from the Journal of Communication, a communication scientist at the University of Vienna in Austria.
But the use of media representation to form opinions of others can be problematic when inaccurate portrayals, such as stereotypes, are used to represent people, especially vulnerable populations such as Indigenous people.
In fact, the news has a long history of portraying Indigenous people using stereotypes.
“An elder once told me the only way an Indian would make it on the news is if he or she were one of the 4Ds: drumming, dancing, drunk or dead,” says Duncan McCue, an award-winning journalist and author, in his book, Decolonizing Journalism: A Guide to Reporting in Indigenous Communities.
In the past, Indigenous people have been misrepresented in the media using several infamous stereotypes, such as the “Pathetic Victim, Angry Warrior, or Noble Environmentalist”, according to the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples, a commission that studied and advised the government on the relationship between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous Canadians, in 1996.
A clear example of the “Angry Warrior” stereotype is shown in the infamous photographs taken during the Oka Crisis. The Oka Crisis, also known as the Kanesatake Resistance, was a 78-day standoff between Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) land defenders, and the Quebec police, RCMP, and Canadian Military in Montreal in 1990. The crisis began after the proposal to expand a golf course and a development of townhouses on disputed land in Kanesatake, land that included a Kanyen’kehà:ka burial ground.
One infamous photo taken during the Oka Crisis in particular was widely shared across media outlets. The photo, titled “Face to Face”, shows a soldier and Brad Loraqoue, a university student and Indigenous activist, in a close stand-off.
“What I think people could have drawn from this is the old idea of the Indian savage in the face of the white nobility,” says Owen Thompson, an Anishinaabe journalist at TMU’s Met Radio and Guelph-Humber alumni.
Another photo from the crisis tells a different story. The photograph shows another stand-off of sorts with a large media scrum surrounding the soldier and Indigenous man.
“Media actively shapes perceptions about confrontation and conflict between Canada and Aboriginal Peoples,” writes McCue in his story, “What it takes for Aboriginal people to make the news,” in 2014.
However, the use of stereotypes to represent Indigenous people is not something of the past.
Indigenous people are still depicted using stereotypes in the news. For example, Yannick Lemay, a cartoon artist, drew a stereotypical cartoon of former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould in the Journal de Quebec in 2019. The cartoon showed Wilson-Raybould, who is Indigenous, wearing buckskin, feathers, and carrying a tomahawk during the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA), formely known as the Native American Journalists Association, created a bingo card as a resouce guide for journalists. IJA says if journalists “score” a bingo while reporting, they need to reconsider their story.
Indigenous people are also frequently excluded by the news media.
JHR found that Indigenous stories were less than 1 per cent of all total news coverage during 2010 to 2013. Despite this time period taking place during the Idle No More Movement and the The Attawapiskat housing crisis.
But many Indigenous and non-Indigenous journalists are actively working to change the narrative in Indigenous stories and decolonize the field of journalism.
The term decolonize can be a challenging word to define and means various things to different people. However a general definition of decolonization is to be free from the effects of colonization, according to Oxford Languages.
“Decolonization is rooted in respect and understanding,” says Kelly Boutsalis, a freelance journalist and Humber alumni.
“It’s just being very aware of what has happened and where we are today and trying to think differently, honestly, about how we do a lot of the things that we do,” Boutsalis says.
Boutsalis wants to see more Indigenous perspectives in the media rather than the “go-to” white non-Indigenous perspective typically used in news stories.
“Decolonizing is bringing the Indigenous point of view back,” Boutsalis says in Matriarch Movement, an Indigenous podcast that elevates female Indigenous voices.
However, the number of Indigenous voices is not only lacking in sources for news stories, but in the newsrooms themselves.
Approximately, eight in 10 journalists in Canadian newsrooms are white, according to a study done by the Canadian Association of Journalists in 2023. In comparison, roughly five per cent of journalists identify as Indigenous.
Kaila Jefferd-Moore, a program lead at Northern Journalism Training Initiative (NJTI), says there is also a need for Indigenous journalists in leadership roles.
“We need to be in positions of power. We need to be managers. We need to be producers. We need to be editors,” says Jefferd-Moore.
NJTI is a training program designed to supply Indigenous people and northern Canadians with skills needed to work in the media and communication sector, according to their website. The training consists of a four-week program that draws from Indigenous and northern knowledge.
“We are building a future where Indigenous and northern people play leading roles in media making in the north,” she says.
However, Jefferd-Moore says that the program does not decolonize journalism, but rather Indigenizes it. Indigenization refers to the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge and practices, according to the University of Saskatchewan.
“To decolonize, when you really break it down, it is to strip away the colonial infrastructure and systems at work,” Jefferd-Moore says
She says decolonizing journalism entirely may not be possible for journalism.
“However, I do think we can be more culturally competent. I do think we could be more trauma informed. And I don’t know if that’s decolonizing journalism or not,” she says.
In the meantime, the NJTI will continue working to fill the gap of Indigenous journalists in Canadian newsrooms.
However, it’s also important for non-Indigenous journalists to learn how to report on Indigenous topics because journalism cannot solely rely on Indigenous journalists to tell Indigenous stories, says Thompson, the journalist at TMU’s Met Radio.
Decolonizing journalism is a group effort, like cooking a big meal at a gathering, says Thompson. “Everyone’s got to play their part. And if you don’t take the bread out of the oven or get the meat off of the grill, it’s going to burn, and none of us are going to have a great time,” says Thompson.
In fact, one of the calls to action outlined in the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission includes journalism schools teaching students about the history of Indigenous People, Indigenous law and treaties.
Duncan McCue has taken up this call to action. McCue has been teaching a course called Reporting in Indigenous Communities (RICC) since 2016. The university course not only teaches postsecondary students about the history of journalists reporting in Indigenous communities, but allows journalism students to travel to local Indigenous communities to write multimedia news stories.
Without the proper education around reporting in Indigenous communities, the problem can only get worse. And Humber College’s Indigenous Education & Education department knows what happens when young non-Indigenous journalists are not properly taught to report in Indigenous topics.
Multiple staff members of Humber’s Indigenous Education & Education department say that they have had negative experiences when approached by Humber and Guelph-Humber media students who were working on a story.
The department staff say students, who they have never met before, approached them to be sources for their stories, sometimes about highly sensitive and traumatic topics such as the MMIWG2S+ crisis and residential schools.
Kaitlynn McLeod, an Objiwe and Cayuga Justice Studies student and work-study in the department, says the problem is not an isolated issue because nearly every member of Indigenous E&E shares this experience.
The occurrences happen approximately twice per month, but sees more occurrences during months like September, when the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation takes place, McLeod says.
However, McLeod says her and staff are not against speaking to students for stories.
“It’s so important to be getting these answers and this knowledge from the actual indigenous sources,” she says. “But, it’s the intent and the approach that has caused some issues.”
These experiences have made staff reluctant to meet with journalism students. Although McLeod says she understands that most students have good intentions and recognizes the importance of writing Indigenous stories, the experiences have left her feeling frustrated.
“We’re still people and you don’t necessarily know what a person’s been through or how connected they are to certain things,” McLeod says, referring to topics such as residential schools and the MMIWG2S+ crisis.
However, staff say there are a variety of ways the insensitivity can be avoided. Students are encouraged to do research prior to reporting, especially on sensitive topics, inquire about having discussions with the presence of Karry Anne, the Indigenous counsellor, and use the Humber College Indigenous research guide.
McLeod also emphasizes that some people may not be able to speak on specific topics, especially those who suffer from intergenerational trauma or are on their own healing journey.
“That hard part is trying to figure out what to ask, how to ask it, [and] if you should ask it at all,” says McLeod.
Boutsalis, the freelance journalist, frequently speaks to journalism students about decolonizing journalism, including at Humber’s Indigenous Knowledges Gathering last November.
It’s important to be aware of the harm that can be caused when publishing someone’s story, but understanding that, Indigenous or not, “every single source you speak to is a person,” says Boutsalis.
However, Boutsalis feels some non-Indigenous journalism students have a fear of reporting on Indigenous stories, which causes them to avoid reporting on the subject. She says she discourages this attitude.
“Telling these stories is so important, and I think the sensitivities around it are warranted. But…it would be really great if non-Indigenous journalists weren’t afraid to tell our stories and just to go in with respect and good intentions.”
At the same time, it’s important to think differently about journalism when covering Indigenous communities, says Patty Loew, an Indigenous journalist and now retired professor at Northwestern.
“There’s just a whole different set of values that we as mainstream journalists need to go into Indigenous communities with in order to really tell an authentic story,” Loew says.
Traditional reporting in mainstream journalism does not always align with Indigenous protocols, including who gets to speak publicly for a story, says Loew.
“Speaking publicly is something that is usually the purview of clan chiefs or cultural leaders, tribal chairs and tribal presidents, or hereditary chiefs,” says Loew. “And so as mainstream journalists, we like to go into an event and stick a microphone in somebody’s face and say, how do you feel? Well, that might not be appropriate in an Indigenous community.”
Loew has led the Tribal Youth Media initiative, a media project that works to create the new generation of Indigenous storytellers and land stewards, since 2006. The Tribal Youth Media initiative works within four Indigenous communities in the upper Great Lakes area and helps Indigenous youth learn to tell their own stories. Through a grant, participants were provided with technology such as phones, handheld cameras and a $500 scholarship.
Loew adds that the Indigenous communities were constantly consulted, including Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs), elders, and parents, to ensure all the information was allowed to be shared publicly.
“Reporting in Indigenous communities is all about relationship building,” says Loew. “Mainstream reporters really need to create connections within a community if they expect to cover it and reflect it honestly and authentically.”
Relationship building is something that Simmons has been working on in his career as a journalist. He often visits Indigenous communities outside of a deadline, to build relationships and trust with sources. He works to build trust by priortizing his relationships with sources rather than the story.
“Being willing to let a story go for the purposes of building that long term trust is really difficult and goes against what most journalists think of as reporting, but I think it’s just necessary,” Simmons says.
Simmons is also given the time “to do things right” for his work at The Narwhal, which includes double-checking facts with Indigenous sources. He also has his work looked over by his co-workers, including cultural fact checks, to assure his work doesn’t perpetuate disrespect unintentionally towards Indigenous communities.
However these practices don’t align with mainstream journalism, where deadlines are firm and material is usually never shared with sources prior to publication. Simmons wants to see this change in the world of journalism, where editors and newsrooms shift to accommodate the time that’s needed to tell Indigenous stories.
“There’s been such a long history of abuse of Indigenous voices and abuse of Indigenous stories, sort of perpetuating colonial ideas and ways of being,” says Simmons.
An example of a colonial practice is a non-Indigenous journalist going into a Indigenous community, taking their story and leaving without ever being heard of again by the community, says Simmons.
Simmons hopes to change this colonial approach in journalism.
“It’s the responsibility of every journalist in this space to change that and to step up. And it requires a lot of humility, and also patience. And this is the one that I think is hardest for a lot of journalists, is the patience involved.”
