b'HISTORYBRIDGESIndigenous media leaders overon voice, BARRIERS legacy and sovereigntyS By the 1990s, the foundation built byBy Bryan Hansentorytelling has longmore than just a magazine. Under the played a crucial roleearly print publications had grown intoeditorial lead of Anishinaabe media veteran for Indigenous culturesa revolution of communication media.Millie Knapp, the publication deepened around the worldnotIndigenous publishing and broadcastingits roots through community storytelling, only for knowledge sharing, but also ininitiatives were taking root in new, ambi- photography and cultural reflection.sustaining culture in the face of oppres- tious ways, fuelled by growing demand sion, displacement and colonization. Sinceand a hunger to reclaim the narratives ofMainstream media only showed us one contact, Indigenous communication acrossIndigenous peoples for broader audiences.of three ways: dead, drunk or dancing, Turtle Island has demanded innovationAt the centre of that shift was Aboriginalsays Knapp. We were either historical and reimagination in resistance to colonialVoices Magazine (AVM), a print publicationartifacts, portrayed through addiction and impact, building bridges over barrierslaunched by renowned Indigenous actordysfunction, or flattened into romanticized meant to suppress Indigenous survival. and activist Gary Farmer. Alongside apowwow images. Thats what I walked growing roster of creatives, Farmer helped In 1968, the Alberta Native Communi- carve out space where First Nations, Inuitinto . and its what I wanted to push back cations Society began publishing Theand Mtis peoples could tell their ownagainst as an Indigenous editor.Native People, widely recognized asstories, in their own words. Knapp, who came up through Turtle one of the earliest Indigenous-ownedFarmer says he viewed AVM as more thanQuarterly and Sage Magazine, brought a newspapers in Canada. Just a few yearsjust a publication. I always saw AVM as partgrounded, expansive approach to AVM. I later, in 1973, Wawatay News launchedof sovereignty, he shares. We needed awanted people to see themselves reflected out of Sioux Lookout, Ont., and quicklyvoice that wasnt filtered through colonial became a lifeline for remote Nishnawbeon the page, she says. We wrote for Aski Nation communities across theinstitutions. Something by us, for us. PrintIndigenous readers first. Her editorial north. These early publications not onlywas our weapon. It gave us the chance tostyle challenged the tropes of mainstream informed community members, but alsospeak to our people directly, without trans- journalism. With teachings rooted in laid groundwork for the intricate, ever- lation or distortion. Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe world-evolving Indigenous media ecosystem weLaunched in 1993 and publishedviews, she leaned into complexity, nuance see today. throughout the 1990s, AVM quickly becameand cultural sovereignty.Gary Farmer. Millie Knapp. Elaine Bomberry.28 Spring/Summer 2025'