Building dams, constructing stories: The press, the Sekani and the Peace River Dam, 1957--1969.
Between 1957 and 1969, the print media overwhelmingly portrayed the construction of a large dam on the Peace River in northern British Columbia as necessary for economic development in the region, while failing to discuss the repercussions of the project for the Sekani who lived in the valley that w...
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University of Northern British Columbia
2009
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ftarcabc:oai:arcabc.ca:unbc_15928 2024-06-02T08:12:52+00:00 Building dams, constructing stories: The press, the Sekani and the Peace River Dam, 1957--1969. Nathan, Holly (Author) Binnema, Theodore (Thesis advisor) University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution) 2009 electronic Number of pages in document: 149 https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/unbc%3A15928 https://doi.org/10.24124/2009/bpgub622 English eng University of Northern British Columbia https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/unbc%3A15928 uuid: f59e9bdb-cb4a-44ec-a5b7-f634ce02f9eb bib-number: MR48738 isbn: 978-0-494-48738-9 https://doi.org/10.24124/2009/bpgub622 lac: TC-BPGUB-622 Copyright retained by the author. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Journalism -- Social aspects -- Case studies W.A.C. Bennett Dam (B.C.) -- Press coverage Sekani Indians -- Press coverage -- British Columbia -- Peace River Region Hydroelectric power plants -- Press coverage -- British Columbia -- Peace River PN4749 .N38 2009 Text thesis 2009 ftarcabc https://doi.org/10.24124/2009/bpgub622 2024-05-06T00:30:44Z Between 1957 and 1969, the print media overwhelmingly portrayed the construction of a large dam on the Peace River in northern British Columbia as necessary for economic development in the region, while failing to discuss the repercussions of the project for the Sekani who lived in the valley that would be flooded. This study explains how and why that happened. Media coverage, analyzed in the context of communications theories, reveals that although the local and regional mainstream press showed interest in aboriginal issues, it ignored the potential consequences of the dam for the Sekani despite concerns raised at the time, particularly by an aboriginal press seeking to politicize the general public. Because of the significant role of mainstream press structures and journalistic practice, stories conveyed notions that development had no negative consequences, and that marginalization of Indians was caused by factors unrelated to industrial resource exploitation. This study contributes to our understanding of aboriginal history, the history of hydroelectric development, and the history of the media by exploring press coverage of the W.A.C. Bennett dam and the Sekani during a period marked by significant changes in the structure of the Canadian media and the practice of journalism in Canada. The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b1601608 Thesis Peace River Arca (BC's Digital Treasures) Canada British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) W.A.C. Bennett Dam ENVELOPE(-122.203,-122.203,56.017,56.017) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Arca (BC's Digital Treasures) |
op_collection_id |
ftarcabc |
language |
English |
topic |
Journalism -- Social aspects -- Case studies W.A.C. Bennett Dam (B.C.) -- Press coverage Sekani Indians -- Press coverage -- British Columbia -- Peace River Region Hydroelectric power plants -- Press coverage -- British Columbia -- Peace River PN4749 .N38 2009 |
spellingShingle |
Journalism -- Social aspects -- Case studies W.A.C. Bennett Dam (B.C.) -- Press coverage Sekani Indians -- Press coverage -- British Columbia -- Peace River Region Hydroelectric power plants -- Press coverage -- British Columbia -- Peace River PN4749 .N38 2009 Building dams, constructing stories: The press, the Sekani and the Peace River Dam, 1957--1969. |
topic_facet |
Journalism -- Social aspects -- Case studies W.A.C. Bennett Dam (B.C.) -- Press coverage Sekani Indians -- Press coverage -- British Columbia -- Peace River Region Hydroelectric power plants -- Press coverage -- British Columbia -- Peace River PN4749 .N38 2009 |
description |
Between 1957 and 1969, the print media overwhelmingly portrayed the construction of a large dam on the Peace River in northern British Columbia as necessary for economic development in the region, while failing to discuss the repercussions of the project for the Sekani who lived in the valley that would be flooded. This study explains how and why that happened. Media coverage, analyzed in the context of communications theories, reveals that although the local and regional mainstream press showed interest in aboriginal issues, it ignored the potential consequences of the dam for the Sekani despite concerns raised at the time, particularly by an aboriginal press seeking to politicize the general public. Because of the significant role of mainstream press structures and journalistic practice, stories conveyed notions that development had no negative consequences, and that marginalization of Indians was caused by factors unrelated to industrial resource exploitation. This study contributes to our understanding of aboriginal history, the history of hydroelectric development, and the history of the media by exploring press coverage of the W.A.C. Bennett dam and the Sekani during a period marked by significant changes in the structure of the Canadian media and the practice of journalism in Canada. The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b1601608 |
author2 |
Nathan, Holly (Author) Binnema, Theodore (Thesis advisor) University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution) |
format |
Thesis |
title |
Building dams, constructing stories: The press, the Sekani and the Peace River Dam, 1957--1969. |
title_short |
Building dams, constructing stories: The press, the Sekani and the Peace River Dam, 1957--1969. |
title_full |
Building dams, constructing stories: The press, the Sekani and the Peace River Dam, 1957--1969. |
title_fullStr |
Building dams, constructing stories: The press, the Sekani and the Peace River Dam, 1957--1969. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Building dams, constructing stories: The press, the Sekani and the Peace River Dam, 1957--1969. |
title_sort |
building dams, constructing stories: the press, the sekani and the peace river dam, 1957--1969. |
publisher |
University of Northern British Columbia |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/unbc%3A15928 https://doi.org/10.24124/2009/bpgub622 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) ENVELOPE(-122.203,-122.203,56.017,56.017) |
geographic |
Canada British Columbia W.A.C. Bennett Dam |
geographic_facet |
Canada British Columbia W.A.C. Bennett Dam |
genre |
Peace River |
genre_facet |
Peace River |
op_relation |
https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/unbc%3A15928 uuid: f59e9bdb-cb4a-44ec-a5b7-f634ce02f9eb bib-number: MR48738 isbn: 978-0-494-48738-9 https://doi.org/10.24124/2009/bpgub622 lac: TC-BPGUB-622 |
op_rights |
Copyright retained by the author. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.24124/2009/bpgub622 |
_version_ |
1800759439197732864 |