From Walleye Wars to Water Protectors: Struggles for Native Representation in the Media

From articles discussing the walleye wars to modern day coverage of water protectors, Native Americans and the media have often had struggles of equal representation, context and attention in native communities and the news that exists around them. The intricate relationship between Indigenous communities and media outlets has run a course that has sowed distrust, closed attitudes and often one-sided encounters, producing stories that reflect the same attitudes.  

In more recent times, the emergence of Native-owned and run news sites has led to a renaissance in the way native communities and their news are perceived. Sites such as “Indian Country Today,” “Indianz” and “National Native News” have grown in popularity providing accessible and relevant news to not only indigenous communities but nationally as well.  

“The ones through the Native-run side, I believe, dive a little bit deeper into the context of the topics,” said Michael Zimmerman Jr. Zimmerman is the multicultural initiatives manager at UWM, teaching the Potawatomi language on campus. 

“They give a little bit more context on the native side of things, which is more than what your average news site would do,” he continued. 

Zimmerman points to the oversimplification and lack of time given to the complexities that make up identity or issues. While recognizing that identity is a complex for anyone to understand, Zimmeran adds that many misunderstandings come from the lack of information provided to the public on Native issues.  

“The more information that’s available is usually in everyone’s best interest,” said Zimmerman 

While many point to the fact that spending more time in indigenous communities could improve the relationship between indigenous communities and media outlets, more is needed to be able to continue the progress of improvement that has been seen over the past 20 years. 

While this may be partly true, this can be harder in areas more affected by misinformation and the frustration that comes with it.  

“In areas where there’s a lot more, ’you guys got this wrong’, or ‘you guys are constantly get wrong,’ giving some attention to what is the commonality in what is being pointed out and misrepresented and what is wrong,” he explained. “And then figuring out in a way that’s in partnership with those groups, how to go about changing that.” 

“I think making very concerted efforts to engage in partnerships with folks as opposed to just saying this is how it’s going to be,” he added. “Or being vague and later on using it for some strange concept of we had a partnership without explaining what that was.” 

Zimmerman also stresses the fact that in order to change how Native issues are presented in media outlets it takes a collective effort of education and problem solving on both sides to overcome communication issues.  

“At some point it is incumbent on someone to help the other side see what it is that they’re claiming is being misrepresented.” he said. 

Groups such as the Native American Journalist Association, established in 1983, hold missions that reflect the suggestion given by Zimmerman. The Native American Journalist Association holds the goal of working with colleagues across the media industry to give accurate news with much needed context to ensure responsible and just reporting on Native peoples and communities. 

The age of technology and information had only just recently aided the inclusion of native representation in the news cycle, previously only focusing on local and regional focus, the expansion to national news has aided in the information needs in Indigenous communities. 

The truth of the matter is representation is personal and with the growth of Native journalists entering newsrooms, starting media platforms and disbursing more contextualized news on native issues, the relationship between Indigenous communities and people are beginning to mend itself.