I never imagined that the occasional conversation about aboriginal issues with a certain unnamed weekly columnist and staff editorial writer in this same section would turn into a monthly column for me.
But about a year ago, he and I were sitting down for lunch in Halifax. I had just returned from Rapid City, South Dakota, where I covered the trial of a former member of the American Indian Movement charged with a 28-year-old murder of Anna Mae Aquash, a 31-year-old woman from my community, Indian Brook First Nation.
We were in the midst of pondering and debating the details of this trial when he suggested, “You should write a column about these things.”
It’s the same sort of conversations we’ve had over the years on various Aboriginal issues. We’ve discussed our views on coverage of the Assembly of First Nations election for National Chief and the Burnt Church conflicts in northern New Brunswick.
But I didn’t immediately act on his suggestion. A year had passed quickly before I got the official call from this newspaper asking me if I was interested in submitting a monthly column. It didn’t take me too long to accept their offer.
So here I am. Perhaps I should tell you a little about myself. I was born in Truro, N.S. and raised on the Indian Brook First Nation, near Shubenacadie, N.S. My band is the Shubenacadie band. I’m a Shubie girl and very proud of it.
I was one of two Mi’kmaq students from Indian Brook to graduate from Hants East Rural High in Milford, N.S. in 1987. From there, I went to university where I studied political science at Saint Mary’s University and journalism from Ryerson University.
I’ve worked for CBC Radio in Halifax, Toronto and Saskatchewan. And I’m no stranger to this newspaper. My byline has appeared in this newspaper numerous times in the news section during the mid to late 1990s. In fact, when I first began work at the Chronicle-Herald, I was the first Aboriginal person to work in the newsroom in its entire publishing history.
Over the years, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my last name from folks who hear it for the first time. I’ve always been told by my father that “Googoo” is the abbreviated Mi’kmaq word for owl. And I’ve taken pride in knowing that my surname is one of the last remaining Mi’kmaq family names still around. So, if I ever get married, you can bet I’m keeping my last name.
But the significance of my last name didn’t stop the silly taunts I got on the playground in elementary school – goo goo gaa gaa, googooly eyes. Thinking about it makes me want to roll my googooly eyes. But my favorite nickname came from one of my classmates while I was attending journalism school in Toronto – Radio Googoo. It’s a line that came from a Queen song, Radio Ga-Ga, in the early 1980’s. I guess he was making reference to my weekend part time job with CBC Radio during the time. So, if anyone wants to call me that, by all means. You have my permission.
For the past five years, I’ve been the Halifax Correspondent for APTN National News with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. And as I keep telling everyone, my day job is also my dream job. It was always my goal to cover Aboriginal issues when I entered this profession. And I had good reason to aspire to this goal. There are very few Aboriginal people working in this profession. Until I joined APTN, I was quite used to being the only Aboriginal journalist working in mainstream media newsrooms.
I’ve traveled to all parts of the Atlantic region in the past five years – to Burnt Church, N.B. to cover the fishing dispute, to Newfoundland to cover stories of Mi’kmaq people there fighting to get band status from the federal government and to Labrador to cover stories of Innu children addicted to sniffing gasoline fumes in Sheshatshiu and Davis Inlet.
I understand I have some big shoes to fill here. After all, up until a month ago, a well-known and respected Mi’kmaq historian by the name of Daniel Paul had this space in the newspaper. He chronicled the history of Aboriginal peoples in the Maritimes in these pages for more than ten years.
I hope to do the same but in my own way. I intend to write about the people I meet in my travels around the region. I intend to provide some news analysis to current events happening in Aboriginal communities in this region. And lastly, I intend to offer up my own views and insight as an Aboriginal person on day to day issues and events happening locally, nationally and internationally.
Maureen Googoo is a Mi’kmaq journalist living and working in Halifax.
