The indigenous groups of Australia and Canada represent two groups of people that have historically been displaced by British colonialism and efforts at cultural assimilation. Australian and Canadian aboriginals not only were but also in many cases still are victim to institutions that endanger their traditional values. These descriptions, while not inaccurate, are not particularly productive. Much of the discourse surrounding the history of relations between the settlers and the settled emphasizes the abuses and the apologies, but not the advances. A particular area of interest for examining communities in Australia and Canada is the radio stations that they produce. These radio stations respond to the communities they serve, but also serve to create communities that can strengthen indigenous community bonds and to create new collaborative atmospheres with non-indigenous community members in the process.
To illustrate this point, I call the reader’s attention to two radio stations: The Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association (TEABBA) in Northern Territory, Australia, and CBQM, which broadcasts from Fort McPherson in the Northwest Territories, Canada. There are many similarities between TEABBA and CBQM: both are located in northern territories and seek to connect remote communities, both broadcast country music, and both are maintained by collaborative aboriginal efforts. Departing from these more obvious similarities, it is in the creation of and maintenance of radio stations, that TEABBA and CBQM both create new communities of productive collaboration that move past the complex histories of interaction.
CBQM was the subject of a feature-length documentary by Dennis Allen[1](Watch it here). CBQM appears as an integral contributor in the Fort McPherson community. The radio station, run by community members, invites the town RCMP officer, the town minister, and all of the other residents of Fort McPherson into an involved community space. In the Australian context, Daniel Fisher writes, “the work of Aboriginal radio is an exercise in cultural brokerage and intracultural connection” (288)[2]. This comment applies equally to the processes of radio production in northern Canada. CBQM provides a space where community members can discuss all matter of topics from wolf sightings, nighttime egg vandalism, weather and music. In addition to providing community members with a forum to discuss more trivial aspects of daily life and interaction, CBQM also creates new possibilities for interactions. For example, the radio station instigated community participation in bingo. Concerns about equal access to the radio were answered by one radio announcer who said, “If you want to go on CBQM then just phone the Board of Directors and they’ll give you the keys”.
Another beneficial aspect of radio in the context of the internet age is that radio stations are available online (CBQM Online). Technology enables radio to further strengthen community bonds by way of reaching out to diasporic community members, and to individuals who are not members of the community but who share concerns in the issues expressed on the radio. Radio has the ability to create a new environment of equal access, which serves to reflect, strengthen, and build communities.
[2] Fisher, Daniel 2009 Mediating Kinship: Country, Family, and Radio in Northern Australia. Cultural Anthropology 24(2): 280-312.
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