From TCI to entrepreneur and publisher

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2017 (3355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Back in high school in the early ’80s at Transcona Collegiate Institute there was a shy student by the name of Trevor Greyeyes. 

By his own admission he is no longer the quiet guy.

Greyeyes grew up in Transcona and, for the most part, his experience in school was the same as any other student. It wasn’t until he was an adult attending university that he became increasingly aware of the difficulties facing the aboriginal community in this city. He is a registered Peguis First Nation Band member residing in Winnipeg.

In 2016, Greyeyes purchased First Nations Voice, of which he was already editor, and is now its owner and publisher. I asked him what the basic premise of the newspaper is, and he said “to offer fair representation of Indigenous people.”

The monthly paper is printed by Derksen Printers in Steinbach and its circulation runs close to 70,000. Copies are distributed free to various Aboriginal communities, as well as to certain subscribers of the Winnipeg Free Press, dependent on their postal code area. Revenues are driven by advertising.

Regular contributors to the paper are Ron Evans, chief of the Norway House Cree Nation and former Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Jordan Wheeler, among others. The stories in First Nations Voice cover issues of concern to the Aboriginal people and range from politics to community news, entertainment and more. Although its target audience is the Aboriginal community, I find it an interesting and educational read.

Last month, Greyeyes offered CBC his thoughts on a controversial editorial in the Writer’s Union of Canada’s magazine, which he says denied the reality of cultural appropriation (defined as taking over the creative or artistic forms or practices by one cultural group for another).

In that interview he said, “This is our moment, this is our time, where we’re standing up with our voices and saying ‘If you want to hear it, hear it from us; you don’t have to hear it from a third party.’” 

After high school, Greyeyes studied at both major universities in Winnipeg and also majored in journalism in the Creative Communications program at Red River College. You may have seen his photo on the orange RRC billboard promoting successful alumni.

In April, Greyeyes was co-winner, with David Robertson, of the 2017 Beatrice Mosionier award for best Aboriginal writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. It was for a short story he wrote, called “Gimiwan Last Nation,” featured in a science fiction anthology for Indigenous writers. The award also honoured his support of Indigenous writers in First Nations Voice.

Greyeyes has also been involved in radio, worked in public relations, and has won awards for his music. He has an impressive collection of guitars, including a six-string banjo.

To read the online version of First Nations Voice, check out firstnationsvoice.com  

Suzanne Hunter is a community correspondent for Transcona.