C) Evolution of Inuit Broadcasting In Canada

• Creation of the TVNC Consortium

    Television Northern Canada (TVNC) took the airwaves on January 1, 1992. The decision to create a Pan-Arctic Aboriginal network had been taken in 1988 but it took TVNC consortium members three more years to secure the hardware, agreements, programming and financing to build a Northern satellite distribution system. It was incorporated on June 18, 1990 as a non-profit corporation, a consortium gathering two levels of membership. Full members are: the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (Iqaluit, Nunavut), the Inuvialuit Communications Society (Inuvik, Northwest Territories), Northern Native Broadcasting Yukon (Whitehorse, Yukon), the Okalakatiget Society (Labrador),Taqramiut Nipingat Incorporée (Arctic Quebec-Nunavik), the Native Communications Society of the Western Northwest Territories (Yellowknike, NWT), the Territorial Government of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon College (Whitehorse, Yukon) and the National Aboriginal Communications Society. Associate members include other key players in Canadian broadcasting such as Telesat Canada and CBC North.
    Eventually, the TVNC consortium was licensed by the CRTC on October 28, 1991 "to serve Northern Canada for the purpose of broadcasting cultural, social, political and educational programming for the primary benefit of Aboriginal people in the North." (Decision CRTC 91-826, http://www.crtc.gc.ca)
    TVNC's structure is quite original. The network is entirely funded by the federal government: the Federal Northern Distribution Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage made an initial contribution of CAN$ 10 million over four years for capital installations and gives TVNC CAN$ 3.1 million a year for the operation of the network, that is to say to broadcast live and pre-recorded programs produced by its members, in ninety-seven Arctic communities via Anik E-1. Programs are broadcast from satellite "uplink" facilities located in Iqaluit (Nunavut), Yellowknife (NWT) and Whitehorse (Yukon), and re-broadcast over the air by local low-power transmitters (TVNC took over the six existing transmitters of IBC) in each community or cable systems in some southern cities (Rogers, Shaw, Vidéotron...). Thus, TVNC covers an area of 4.3 million square kilometres spanning five time-zones (from the Alaska/Yukon border to the Atlantic coast of Labrador) and reaches 100,000 people.
    As far as members are concerned, the operation is profitable: the costs for producing programs are paid for by the Northern Native Broadcast Access Program (see p. 73) or territorial governments and the distribution via TVNC is free.

• TVNC's Achievement

    When TVNC was incorporated, its mandate included the following set of objectives:

1. To provide television programming in Northern communities which reflects the social, political, economic and cultural life of Aboriginal residents of Northern Canada;

2. To provide educational television programming in Northern communities which is relevant to the Aboriginal residents of Northern Canada;

3. To encourage the preservation and increased use of Aboriginal languages in Northern Canada through modern technological means; and

4. In furtherance of the objectives (1), (2) and (3) above, to establish and maintain satellite and other telecommunications facilities to provide for the distribution of television programming produced by members of the corporation and others.

(www.tvnc.ca)

    In this respect, a close reading of the current schedule (February 1999) can allow us to see how these objectives are met, as far as the Inuit are concerned, after seven years of operation. It has to be said that TVNC's broadcast area is a patchwork made of fifteen aboriginal language groups. Thus, besides English (and French because of the federal funding), TVNC broadcasts in eight aboriginal languages: Inuktitut (32,600 potential viewers in 62 communities); Gwich'in (6,000 potential viewers in 17 Yukon communities); Inuvialuktun (3,500 potential viewers in 6 communities) as well as in Cree and four Dene languages (Dogrib, Chipewyan, North Slavey and South Slavey). TVNC is obviously quite heterogeneous because of the linguistic diversity of the audiences it serves. However, since a majority of Northerners are of Inuit ancestry, the majority of Aboriginal programs are in Inuktitut (at least 13 hours a week). The weekly Inuit programming (as of February 1999) includes:

- Qanuk Isumavit? (What Do You Think?), a live show produced by IBC in which current issues such as education, legislature, land claims or the creation of Nunavut are discussed. (2×1h30mn)

- Takuginai (Look Here), a children show hosted by puppet lemmings teaching Inuit children Inuit cultural values as well as Inuktitut syllabics and numbers. (30mn)

- Qajisaut (To See, To Find Out), a program designed to help young Inuit caught between two cultures. (30mn)

- Kippinguijautiit (Things to Pass Time By), a popular entertainment show featuring modern and traditional Inuit music, Arctic sports and special events. (30mn)

- Qimaivvik (Pass on Knowledge), a cultural program including stories, legends and traditional skills (e.g. igloo building or hunting). (30mn)

- Igalaak (Window) CBC's daily news (on weekdays only) in Inuktitut, live from Yellowknife, with reports from bureaux in Iqaluit, Whitehorse and Montreal. (30mn)

TVNC February 1999 Schedule (Weekdays)

ET	PT	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WENESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
12 pm	9 am	Environment Canada
		Labradorimiut	Suangaan	TNI Presents	Nunavimiut	KSB Presents
1 pm	10 am	Takuginai	Metawetan	Takuginai
		Tell-a-Tale Town
2 pm	11 am	Saving Energy	Qimaivvik	Kippinguijautiit	Qaujisaut	Spirit of the Land
			Dene Weekly	Spirit of Dene	Extreme Sport
3 pm	12pm	Environment Canada
		Environment Canada
4 pm	1 pm	Dotto's Data	Frame by Frame	Saving Energy	KSB Presents: ITN	NFB Presents
		Spirit of the Land
5 pm	2 pm		Indigenous ...	Sharing Circle		Planet Earth
		Takuginai	Maamuitau	Wawatay
6 pm	3 pm	Igalaaq
		Qaujisaut	TNI Presents	Nunavimiut	Kippinguijautiit	Labradorimiut
7 pm	4 pm	No Name ...	The Way ...	Planet Earth	Netsilik	Frame by Frame
		Wawatay ...	KSB Presents		Mewatan
8 pm	5 pm	Tamapta's ...	Qanuk Isumavit?	Qimaivvik	Indigenous ...	Dene Weekly
		Kippinguijautiit		Qaujisaut	Qaggiq	No Name ...
9 pm	6 pm	Qaggiq		Spirit of the Land	Nedaa	Suangaan
		Spirit of Dene	IBC Vintage		Haa Shagoon	Tamapta's ...
10 pm	7 pm	Sharing Circle	Dotto's Data..	No Name ...	Spirit of Dene	Kippinguijautiit
		Nedaa	Haa Shagoon	Tamapta's ...	Vintage Nedaa	Extreme Sport
11 pm	8 pm	Yukon Legislature				Wawatay
						Maamuitau
12 am	9 pm	Northbeat
		Nedaa	Environment Canada

ET: Eastern Time PT: Pacific Time Programs in Inuktitut

(www.tvnc.ca)

    As we can see, these programs combine a large variety of topics and interest that are important to the Inuit. Historically, Inuit have maintained an oral tradition to retain their history and culture. Now, television contributes to this oral transmission of knowledge. Shows such as Takuginai and Qimaivvik are vital instruments to preserve and rejuvenate Inuit culture (including language) among children and youth (60% of the Inuit population is under 25). The CRTC noted for example that the "younger Native population [was] gaining a renewed interest in their language and had a greater appreciation of Native values and traditions. It also stated that it was "evident that these programs were addressing the specific linguistic, regional and cultural needs of their audiences". According to Shellene Moore, TVNC "has been transforming its Northern audiences and empowering 100,000 individuals with its innovative programming."(www.crtc.gc.ca)
    Thus, we can say that TVNC and Inuit broadcasters meet their objectives with much success. However, we can also argue that they do so at the expense of other Northern Aboriginal linguistic groups that have little (Dene, Gwich'in, Cree and Inuvialuktun) or no access to TVNC and most of the time no access to CBC North Radio because they represent marginal segments of the Arctic population (and a fortiori a VERY marginal segment of the Canadian population).

< Previous Page                    Next Page >