JBCCS host Freddie Dixon breathes new life into Cree radio
The DJ booth with a window overlooking Mistissini has become a second home to Freddie Dixon. It’s only a small room with a desk, three microphones, a telephone and two iPads, but it’s where most of the magic happens at the James Bay Cree Communications Society (JBCCS).
In the morning it’s calm and quiet but things get rolling with the weather report at 9 am. “We got a nice view of the sky. When it’s time to do the weather, we just look outside,” Dixon jokes. An hour later, the team gathers to discuss the day’s story lineup. Then they broadcast announcements before the morning newscast.
From 6 to 9 pm each weekday, however, there’s a new show that Dixon co-hosts with an intern, Nick Wapachee of Nemaska, who studies journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto.
The concept for the JBCCS Youth Show is “for youth by youth.” It covers everything from youth conferences to new music – the most popular coming from the N’we Jinan Cree Youth Artist Collective. While Dixon is young, at 25 he already sounds like a radio veteran after only three years in the booth.
So far they’ve profiled exceptional youth, interviewed motivational speakers, and promoted young Cree artists. They also encourage Cree youth to participate in community planning and consultation tours.
“We tried to get more youth to participate in info sessions regarding the Baril Moses Agreement,” Dixon explains by way of example. “We want the youth to be more involved in the planning of their future.”
As all of the programming is done in Cree, occasionally they provide proper Cree terminology to their interviewees. “The goal of the show is to teach Cree youth their language,” Dixon emphasizes.
It’s part of what makes Dixon feel so at home on the air. “I can hear our identity in the Cree language,” he observes. “It’s who I am. I’m not shy anymore. I feel really comfortable in the booth.”
Dixon says hosting the youth show is a blast, but the Elder interviews they air in the morning help ground him for the day.
“It’s a reminder of how life was like before the community was developed, how hard it was,” says Dixon. “We almost lost our language, so I’m really proud of the founding fathers of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement who found a way to re-adopt our Cree language into the communities.”
While his second home is the broadcast booth, his real home is the community. “I was born and raised in Mistissini and my grandmother taught me my Cree language here,” Dixon explains. “I’m just trying to keep my grandmother with me and give back what I’ve learnt to the community.”
But like any language, Cree is a living, growing organism and the hosts of every show are always trying to improve their abilities. Once a week they meet with Elders who listen to the shows and correct some of their mispronounced words. Dixon calls it “Cree radio terminology class,” and says the Elders help the hosts continually raise the quality of their broadcasts.
As soon as it goes live, the booth also becomes a living organism. Aside from information programming, the hosts incorporate the voices of the youth they try to serve. These voices come in different mediums, one being social media. Their iPads are used to respond live to Facebook messages, but the telephone still finds a use for those who call in.
It’s a lot of content for a three-hour show. “Sometimes our enemy is time,” Dixon admits. And, occasionally, time wins. “We have open discussions but sometimes we have to re-open the discussion in the next show.”
Even with all the chaos in the booth, Dixon sometimes wonders if people are listening. But once in a while he’ll get a caller or online feedback saying, “Thank you, you are our Cree teachers.”
That’s when he knows he is exactly where he should be. “I’m so happy I found this job,” Dixon enthuses. “I love it here!”