An old reporter goes after a story, once more -

My trip to Calgary this year included the opportunity of joining the media to cover the 30th anniversary gathering of the Assembly of First Nations and election of a new National Chief.





I had planned to be visiting my son and his wife and family, and since the AFN event was to take place during those weeks, it seemed logical for me to sit in on the activities. My long-time friends and media colleagues Dan and Mary Lou Smoke were happy to sponsor me as the media contact for their University of Western Ontario CHRW radio Show, "Smoke Signals", so there I was, in the Telus Convention Centre, signing in alongside the national and local media reps - just like old times.





What fun, I thought, to be in the midst of media people, wired to the ears with all the latest electronic gadgetry to stay in constant touch with home base editors, and AFN headquarters, and nominee communications folks, trying to outdo one another for the latest bit of news. They were all so busy, and involved, and I was just walking around with my trusty pen and notebook in hand. I felt somewhat dinosaur-ish.





Reporters asked: What final words does the incumbent AFN Chief, Phil Fontaine, have for the members after his nine years' leadership stint? Who does he think is the front-runner in the election of his successor? Who does anyone think will win the election? Can I get the interviews I want (my editor asks for) before the next deadline? It was all very exciting, but I admit I was watching and listening with a sense of deja vu.





I thought back to the earliest days of the Assembly of First Nations, when it was known as the National Indian Brotherhood, and before that, the Indian-Eskimo Association. I began to realize that most of the current lot of reporters weren't alive at that time, but since I was, our points of reference seemed to be different.





I knew we had to report today's activities, but somehow it didn't make sense to me without keeping in mind all those years of history. In fact, I wasn't a reporter in those early years - I was more of an observer or participant who recorded what I saw happening around me. And all those years of history were informing what I was seeing and hearing now, at this Gathering.





There were times when we just had to wait around while people made speeches and presentations, before they could be interviewed, so I stood with the reporters: bright, intelligent young people, all of whom I liked, who sometimes asked questions when I happened to speak of past associations with Indigenous history-makers. The Dene and the Mackenzie valley pipeline project, the Restigouche salmon struggle, the Alice Arm tailings dispute, the Lubicon Cree battle for their land, the Innu low-level flying protesters, Oka, the E.C. Row Expressway, Ipperwash - and I was explaining how these struggles erupted, and why, and how I have watched Turtle Island Indigenous Peoples begin to take back their lives over the years, and why I therefore, see some new dynamics happening at this Gathering.





They listened politely, even respectfully, and it's even possible that some of them got a sense of why history is important in trying to report on Indigenous matters in this country. I followed press, radio and TV reports as best I could, and generally speaking, there was a good effort made to set the stories in some kind of context from an Indigenous perspective.





And so, while I didn't get the hot news stories they did - and I reminded myself that I was reporting to a weekly show which wouldn't be on air until everyone had packed up and gone home, and all the stories from the Gathering had been filed, and read all across the country - it seemed I may have been fulfilling some sort of worthy purpose, even if it wasn't the one my editors expected of me.





On the other hand, I know that we talk often about the need to help media people become aware of Canadian Indigenous history, and Dan and Mary Lou have been teaching that course in London, Ontario for several years now, so I knew they would understand that my secondary purpose might not be in vain.





But there is also the story of what happened within the Assembly of First Nations organization, and that all-night voting procedure. I will try to share that, from my perspective, in my next blog.