Framing Land Governance Issues in Indigenous and Settler Media within Canada
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18584/iipj.2021.12.4.11153Keywords:
Critical Discourse Analysis Indigenous Media Corporate Media Land governance News Frame Child WelfareAbstract
This comparative study examines how the framing of Indigenous land governance issues—such as resource extraction activities on Indigenous territory and treaty negotiation—in Indigenous media differs from that in corporate news. Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis were applied to 66 news texts published in 2018 in large corporate newspapers, such as the National Post, and small Indigenous news outlets, such as Eagle Feather News. Researchers found that Indigenous media connected land governance issues to contemporary issues, such as racism and control over child welfare, as well as historical colonialism and Indigenous-Settler relations, while corporate news generally excluded any discussion of these contextual factors. While the main news frame in the Indigenous press was Indigenous people were not consulted, the dominant frame in corporate news was Indigenous peoples have already been adequately consulted. Corporate news discourse valorized Indigenous traditional territory solely based on its presumed “economic value.” By contrast, Indigenous publications offered a counternarrative, one that positioned land and the rest of the natural environment as something that has absolute value, and as indivisible from all living things, including people.
References
Alfred, T. (2009). Colonialism and state dependency. Journal of Aboriginal Health, 5(2), 42-60.
Alfred, T. (2017). It’s all about the land. In P. McFarlane & N. Schabus (Eds.), Whose land is it anyway? (10-13). Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC.
Big Canoe, G. & Rupert, B. (2002). The Publications Assistance program: Aboriginal publications, a report prepared for the Department of Canadian Heritage. Department of Canadian Heritage.
Becking, M. (2018a, February 15). Constitutions, best practices discussed at Our Past, Present and Future conference. Anishinabek News. https://anishinabeknews.ca/2018/02/15/constitutions-best-practices-discussed-at-our-past-present-and-future-conference/
Becking, M. (2018b, November 19). Anishinabek Nation Chiefs seek to move governance ratification vote to late 2019. Anishinabek News. https://anishinabeknews.ca/2018/11/19/anishinabek-nation-chiefs-seek-to-move-governance-ratification-vote-to-late-2019/
Cattaneo, C. (2018a, January 6). Aboriginal 'Awakening'; Rift grows between Indigenous communities and activists over natural resources in B.C. Montreal Gazette.
Cattaneo, C. (2018b, March 23). First Nation sues B.C., feds over tanker ban; Setback for PM An 'unjustified infringement' on Aboriginal rights. Calgary Herald.
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical race theory: An Introduction. New York University Press.
Denis, Claude. (1997). We are not you: First Nations and Canadian modernity. Broadview Press.
Dusyk, N., Axson, J., & Dullemond, K. (2018). Who cares about climate change? The mass media and socio-political acceptance of Canada’s oil sands and Northern Gateway Pipeline. Energy Research and Social Science, 37, pp. 12-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.07.005
van Dijk, T. A. (2008). Discourse and power. Palgrave MacMillan.
Eagland, N., and Behdad, M. (2018, May 30). Anti-pipeline activists to keep protesting on Burnaby Mountain. The Province.
Furniss, E. (2001). Aboriginal justice, the media and the symbolic management of Aboriginal/Euro-Canadian relations. American Indian culture and research journal, 25(2), 1-36. https://doi.org/10.17953/aicr.25.2.l7u55326lxtn208g
Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. Longman.
Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the news: Discourse and ideology in the press. Routledge.
Francis, D. (2018, June 4). Trans Mountain purchase a black eye for Canada. Calgary Herald.
Gitlin, T. (1980). The whole world is watching: Mass media in the making and unmaking of the new left. University of California Press.
Gunster, S., & Saurette, P. (2014). Storylines in the sands: News, narrative, and ideology in the Calgary Herald. Canadian Journal of Communication, 39(3), 333–359. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2014v39n3a2830
Hackett, R. A., Gruneau, R., Gutstein, D. & Gibson, T. A. (2000). The missing news: Filters and blind spots in Canada's press. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives/ Garamond Press.
Hajer, M. (1995). The politics of environmental discourse: Ecological modernization and the policy process. Oxford University Press.
Harding, R. (2005). The Media, Aboriginal people and common sense. Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 25(1), pp. 311-336.
Harding, R. (2006). Historical representations of Aboriginal people in the Canadian news media. Discourse and Society, 17(2), 205-235. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926506058059
Harding, R. (2017). Controlling land: Historical representations of news discourse in BC. American Indian culture and research journal, 41(4), 65-92. https://doi.org/10.17953/aicrj.41.2.harding
Hoekstra, G. (2018a, April 20). First Nations cases could decide fate of Trans Mountain. Calgary Herald.
Hoekstra, G. (2018b, May 12). Kinder Morgan learns hard lesson on pipelines; First Nations may not have legal veto, but play a key role in approval process. Calgary Herald.
Hoekstra, G. (2018c, May 30). Opponents not about to back down; Trans mountain buyout: Federal government becomes new target for pipeline expansion protesters. The Province.
Hoekstra, G. (2018d, July 17). First Nations in B.C. eye an equity stake in Trans Mountain expansion. Calgary Herald.
Hoekstra, G. (2018e, August 29). Critical legal decision on Trans Mountain expansion due Thursday. Telegraph-Journal.
Hunter, J. (2018, May 15). Question of First Nations consent looms over Trans Mountain pipeline. The Globe and Mail.
Ivison, J. (2018a, April 14). Under the shadow of another Oka; Trans Mountain splitting B.C. First Nations. Calgary Herald.
Ivison, J. (2018b, September 1). Pipeline stalemate problem is a political disaster. Telegraph-Journal.
Jullian, P. M. (2011). Appraising through someone else’s words: The evaluative power of quotations in news reports. Discourse and Society, 22(6), 766–780. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926511411697
LaFever, M. & Neal, K. (2003, September 27). Enacting public journalism at the Navajo Times: A content analysis comparison with the Gallup Independent. Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271328338
_Use_of_Elite_and_Non-Elite_Sources_at_the_Navajo_Times_and_the_Gallup
_Independent_A_Content_Analysis
Lambertus, S. (2004). Wartime images, peacetime wounds: The media and the Gustafsen Lake standoff. The University of Toronto Press.
Mason, G. (2018, May 26). Kinder Morgan winning battles, but may still lose war. The Globe and Mail.
McSheffrey, E. (2015, October 16). Postmedia’s oily Harper endorsement. National Observer. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/10/16/news/postmedias-oily-harper-endorsement
Meissner, D. (2018, November 27). Trans Mountain pipeline expansion poses risks to homes, land and culture, Indigenous leaders tell NEB. The Globe and Mail.
Morgan, G. (2018a, September 22). New Trans Mountain review met with skepticism, frustration; Oilpatch, politicians concerned there could be more court challenges, delays. The Ottawa Citizen.
Morgan, G. (2018b, October 4). Lack of Trans Mountain deadline adds to frustrations over pipeline bottlenecks; Feds opt for Indigenous consultations instead of appealing quashed approvals. Montreal Gazette.
Narine, S. (2018a, August 28). Indigenous opposition will continue even if court decides in favor of Trans Mountain Pipeline. Windspeaker. https://windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/indigenous-opposition-will-continue-even-if-court-decides-in-favor-of-trans-mountain-pipeline
Narine, S. (2018b, October 12). Supreme Court decision a bunch of B.S., says former Mikisew Cree chief. Windspeaker. https://windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/supreme-court-decision-bunch-bs-says-former-mikisew-cree-chief
Nesbitt-Larking, P. (2001). Politics, society and the media: Canadian perspectives. Broadview Press.
Price, R. T. (2009). The British Columbia treaty process: An evolving institution. Native Studies Review, 18(1), 139–67.
Plummer, E. (2018, May 25). Old growth logging intensifies in Nahmint Valley. Ha-Shilth-Sa. hashilthsa.com
Proudfoot, F., & Habibis, D. (2013). Separate worlds: A discourse analysis of mainstream and Aboriginal populist media accounts of the Northern Territory Emergency Response in 2007. Journal of Sociology, 51(2), 170-188. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783313482368
Quan ,D. & Forrest, M. (2018, December 8). Ceremony, tears and accusations; At new first nations talks on trans mountain pipeline, many believe the fix is in. Montreal Gazette.
Rollason, K. (2018, March 2). First Nation sues for $750M over hydro flooding. Winnipeg Free Press.
Roth, L., Nelson, B. & Kasennahawi, M. D. (1995). Three women, a mouse, a microphone and a telephone: Information (mis)management during the Mohawk/Canadian governments' conflict. In A. N. Valdivia (Ed.), Feminism, multiculturalism and the media: Global diversities (pp. 48-81). Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483345383.n3
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. (1996). Final Report, Vol. 3 – Gathering Strength, Ch. 6, Sec. 3.1) [Electronic version]. Government of Canada, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.
Shaw, R. & Chan, C. (2018, August 31). First Nations divided on court ruling; Overturning of pipeline a win for Indigenous rights - but it's a costly victory for some. The Province.
Shaw, R. (2018, November 6). B.C. to consult First Nations on environment assessments. The Province.
Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (2nd Ed.) Zed Books.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (2015). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: Summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. https://nctr.ca/records/reports/
United Nations. (2008, March). United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous peoples. https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf
Walker, C., Alexander, A., Doucette, M.B., Lewis, D., Neufeld, H.T., Martin, D., Masuda, J., Stefanelli, R., & Castleden, H. (2019). Are the pens working for justice? News media coverage of renewable energy Involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Energy Research and Science, 57, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101230
Wente, M. (2018, February 21). The Trans Mountain pipeline will never be built. The Globe and Mail.
Wilkes, R., Corrigall-Brown, C., & Ricard, D. (2010). Nationalism and media coverage of Indigenous People’s collective action in Canada. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 34(4), 41-59. https://doi.org/10.17953/aicr.34.4.05q6170n1m987792
Williams, K. (2003). Understanding media theory. Arnold.
Winter, J. (1992). Showdown at the Oka Corral. Common cents: Media portrayals of the Gulf War and other events. Black Rose.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Robert Harding, Ms. Sterling Ray
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
In keeping with IIPJ's Open Access policy, IIPJ has a shared approach to copyright. A shared approach means that authors do not have to waive all of their rights to the work published in IIPJ. By submitting to IIPJ, the author(s) grant(s) IIPJ the right to:
- Copy edit the article,
- Display the article in perpetuity, and
- Enforce the conditions of the Creative Commons license associated with the article.
All articles published in IIPJ carry the Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives license (click here for the human-readable summary and here for the legal code).
This means that the article can be copied or redistributed without written permission from the author(s) or IIPJ if the following conditions are met:
- IIPJ is appropriately credited as the original source. The reference should include the article's DOI (Digital Object Identifier), which helps us track the dissemination of articles published in IIPJ.
- The article is not being used for a commercial purpose. Users must be able to access the reprinted or republished article without paying any fee.
- The article is not altered from its original form. This means it cannot be edited, transformed, remixed, or truncated in any way. This policy protects our authors from having their work or intent misrepresented.
Any reprints, republications, or distributions that do not meet all of these conditions must be approved in writing by the author(s) of the article and IIPJ.
IIPJ will not grant permission to any publisher that requires authors or IIPJ to waive any of their rights to the article.
Authors who wish to reprint, republish, or distribute their article published in IIPJ for any commercial purpose must obtain written permission from IIPJ and provide appropriate attribution.
IIPJ will consider accepting articles that have been previously published. However, authors submitting articles of this nature must:
- Indicate that the article was previously published,
- Provide details of all previous publications (that is, source, publication date, format, etc.),
- Describe how their IIPJ submission differs from the original publication, and
- Provide written permission to republish the article from the copyright holder(s) if applicable.
