Andrea Langlois et al - Islands of Resistance - Pirate Radio in Canada

80 • islands of resistance
the name of the reserve that was established by the Federal government
in 1961 for the people of Barriere Lake. In Algonquin it is called
Kitiganik, which literally means “the place we were planted.” Barriere
Lake (or Mitchikinabik) is the community’s former settlement, flooded
in the twenties after the creation of the massive Cabonga hydro-electric
dam and reservoir. To this day, the community’s identity remains
rooted in that place, and they call themselves Mitchikinabikok Inik
— the people of Barriere Lake. Although the radio broadcasts from
Rapid Lake, they decided to call it Mitchikinabiko’inik Nodaktcigen,
“the people of Barriere Lake’s radio,” or Radio Barriere Lake in English.
Norman and Marylynn, who were present at all the training/
planning sessions, also came up with the “Voice of the Forest” part.
After we settled on the name, we ran it by some elders who gave it their
approval.
During the fall, we sought out equipment and held some fundraising
events in Montréal, until we had gathered enough necessary items to
begin broadcasting. By early winter, we had a small 15-watt FM transmitter,
a 100-watt antenna, two old computers newly outfitted with
broadcast and editing software, one microphone, a small mixer, and
a few pairs of headphones. In mid-December, we were ready to install
the radio in the community. Courtney — another supporter from
Montréal and someone who worked tirelessly searching for funding
and equipment for the radio, as well as organizing all the training
sessions — and I planned to visit the community over a weekend to
install the equipment. However, this trip had to be postponed after
the diesel generators that power the community failed for days on
end. Despite having their land flooded for hydro-electric dams, the
community remains unconnected to the hydro grid, relying on dozens
of huge, noisy diesel generators for power. After a spate of freezing
nights, many houses had to turn on extra space heaters to stay warm,
overloading the already to-capacity generators. But by the next weekend,
the power was back on and Radio Barriere Lake would soon be on
the air.
When we arrived in Barriere Lake the following Friday to install the
radio station, we found that many people in the community weren’t
around. Monthly support cheques had arrived, and most people had
made the three hour round trip into town to go to the supermarket
and pick up the next few weeks’ worth of supplies. We had wanted to
have lots of people participate in the installation process, but in the