Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Fort Resolution (Oct 21/02) - Fort Resolution residents will soon be able to tune into an aboriginal language radio station.

Yellowknife's CKLB, which offers 75 per cent of its programming in aboriginal languages, plans to begin broadcasting to the community before Christmas.

The radio station had been broadcasting in the community up to about three years ago, when some of its equipment in the community went missing.

Executive director Sabet Biscaye says the Native Communications Society of the NWT it will spend more than $5,000 to install new equipment.

"We're making every effort to get on air as soon as possible," she says.

There is also an effort in Fort Resolution to raise another $5,000 to reintroduce programming produced in Fort Resolution to be broadcast locally on CKLB.

Fundraising to purchase the necessary equipment has been ongoing for over a year, and organizers have so far raised $1,400.

Georgina Biscaye, the co-ordinator of the Deninu Ku'e Chipewyan Language Working Group, says it's hard to raise funds in a small community.

"We're going to have to do a lot of raffling and a lot of fundraising," she says. "We need more community organizations to pitch in."

Georgina Biscaye says local programming, including that in the Chipewyan language, could focus on youth and elders, and feature such things as radio bingos and community announcements.

Biscaye says it is really important to elders, in particular, to have Chipewyan-language programming.