Page - 166 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Augie Fleras | Ethnic and Aboriginal Media in Canada 166 Elliott 2007). Ethnic media are directed at immigrants/refugees and descendents of immigrants/refugees – those who sociologists define as voluntary minorities because of their decision to come to Canada. Generally speaking, their primary concern upon ‘getting in’ is to settle down, fit in, and move up – without necessarily sacrificing their homeland identity in the process. Rather than challenging Canada or separating themselves from society, the goal is improve the terms of integration, in part through removal of those discriminatory barriers that preclude inclusiveness, in part by capitalizing on special measures when necessary to facilitate the integration. Towards that end, Canada’s ethnic media play a major role in the integration process by providing a set of inward and outward looking functions that facilitate the transition from ‘there’ to ‘here’ by way of the ‘inbetween’ – that is, linking immigrants with home country while bolstering a commitment to Canada. By contrast, aboriginal peoples are defined sociologically as involuntary minorities. As descendents of the original occupants, aboriginal peoples were forcibly incorporated against their will into a colonial constitutional framework. Instead of looking to ‘fit in’ into a society not of their making, their primary goal is to ‘get out’ of this colonial predicament by restructuring their constitutional relationship along the status of a “nations within” status. Nothing less politicized will do for those who claim status as fundamentally autonomous political communities sovereign in their own right yet sharing sovereignty with society at large (Maaka and Fleras 2005). In rejecting a view of aboriginal peoples as ethnic minorities in need of assistance or information, aboriginal media tend to resonate with information that advances aboriginal peoples’ claims as “first nations” for reasserting a right to self-determining autonomy, instead of a dominated people who are subject to dominant values and labels (Retzlaff 2007). Admittedly, not all aboriginal media are politicized. Many incorporate an informational and community agendas that provide Aboriginal peoples with one of the few places where they can find a reflection of their lived experiences (Raudsepp 1996). For example, consider the mission statement by Anishnabek News, an aboriginal paper in Ontario, whole goal is: “…to foster pride and share knowledge about Anishnabek current affairs, culture, goals, and successes”. Objectives include “…Sharing: Provide opportunities for people from the four corners of the Anishnabek Nation to tell stories and record achievements , and to keep our citizens informed about the activities of the Union of Ontario Indians. Strength: To give voice to the vision of the Anishnabek Nation that celebrates our history, language, and culture, promotes our land, treaty, and aboriginal rights, and supports the development of health and prosperous communities.” To counteract and resist the