The Native Voice: The Story of How Maisie Hurley and Canada’s First Aboriginal Newspaper Changed a Nation

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Description

In 1945, Alfred Adams, a respected Haida elder and founding president of the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia (NBBC), was once dying of cancer. After decades of fighting to increase the rights and recognition of First Nations people, he implored Maisie Hurley to help his people by telling others about their struggle. Hurley took his request to both heart and mind, and with $150 of her own money, started a small newspaper that would transform a powerful catalyst for change: THE NATIVE VOICE. At that time, the Welsh-born Hurley had been an advocate for First Nations clients in court. She did not have a law degree, but was once graced with the courage and confidence to challenge all who stood in her way. When defending a First Nations woman accused of stealing a hotel clerk’s wallet, she seared the hapless plaintiff with this type of withering cross examination that his off-colour rejoinder earned him a night in jail for contempt after he refused to pay the fine. After Hurley launched THE NATIVE VOICE, it became the official newspaper of the NBBC, some of the largest democratic First Nations organizations in the country, but she continued to serve on the editorial board as publisher and director for a few years without remuneration. At a time when telecommunication was once expensive and ceaselessly inaccessible in Aboriginal communities, THE NATIVE VOICE reported relevant news and stories of on a regular basis life to First Nations right through the province, including hard-won rights such as the right to vote provincially (1949) and federally (1960). As the official publication of the NBBC, the VOICE chronicled both the realities of Aboriginal life and a vision for the future, enabling and inspiring overdue change in Canada. Maisie Hurley’s dedication to making improvements to the lives of those she known as “my people” was once honoured through several First Nations naming ceremonies by people of the Skeena, Squamish/North Vancouver and Comox areas. The story of the NBBC, THE NATIVE VOICE and Maisie Hurley offer an inspiring testament to the power of cooperation and vision to create powerful change.

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