INCA Students Rewrite History in First-Ever Showcase

April 1, 2025

“Journalism is the first [rough] draft of history.” Doug Cuthand quoting Philip L. Grahan, Publisher, Washington Post, 1963)

“INCA students are rewriting history—based on research skills developed at First Nations University of Canada.” Dr. Merelda Fiddler-Potter, Associate Professor, Indigenous Journalism and Business Communication, 2025.

Students from the new four-year Bachelor of Indigenous Journalism and Communication Arts (INCA) program at First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) are taking a shot at rewriting history and presenting their work in a Showcase on Monday, April 7 from 8:30 – 12 noon.

The goal of the showcase is to ask and answer the question: Can We Rewrite History?

While many would answer, “No!” to that question, the students in a new course, Colonial and Anti-Colonial Frames in News Media (INCA 392), discovered that rewriting that first draft is possible and, through the creation of poster projects, the students can reveal critical lessons about the importance of understanding history, context, and representing multiple perspectives in their role as journalists.

“Each student selected a news story produced by a mainstream newspaper outlet in North America between 1800-1990,” said Professor Merelda Fiddler-Potter. “Treating these stories as a ‘first draft’ of history, students then looked for missing context and perspectives, and rewrote them to add Indigenous perspectives, historical facts, and other relevant information. Students then created conference-posters comparing the two versions.”

The conference-posters will be presented at a showcase at the First Nations University of Canada (Regina campus) on Monday, April 7, from 8:30 – 12 noon.

“This is such a great way to share students’ research,” said Shannon Avison, Associate Professor and INCA Program Coordinator.”

“Conference-posters are used extensively at academic conferences,” said Avison. “They are effective for presenting research, encouraging engagement and discussion, and for getting feedback in an informal setting.”

Events Details:

Date:  April 7th, 2025 – One Day Exhibition

Time:  8:30am – Noon (light refreshments will be served)

Location:  First Nations Veterans Memorial Tipi (Atrium), First Nations University of Canada, Regina Campus, 1 First Nations Way

This event is open to the public. Students and staff look forward to seeing you all there.

**The staff and students of INCA would like to send a special thanks our partners at PTRC Sustainable Energy for their generous support in Printing our posters.

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Merelda Fiddler-Potter
Associate Professor, Indigenous Journalism and Business Communication
E: mfiddler@firstnationsuniversity.ca

Kristin Francis
Director of Communications
E: comm@firstnationsuniversity.ca

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