SBS on Demand: Nations Without Borders

NITV has launched a new five-part global current affairs series, Nations without Borders, featuring in-depth stories from Indigenous Broadcasters from around the World.

The series is now available through SBS On Demand ahead of its broadcast on NITV.

Fronted by NITV journalist and presenter Natalie Ahmat, it features stories from NITV, Māori Television in New Zealand, ‘Ōiwi TV in Hawai’i, the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN) in Canada and Taiwan Indigenous Television (TITV). World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network (WITBN) meet in Sydney for its biennial four-day conference, also hosted by NITV.

NITV Channel Manager and WITBN Chair Tanya Denning-Orman said launching the series during the WITBN conference was the perfect opportunity to showcase what the Network is about.

“Nations without Borders brings audiences important investigative pieces on Indigenous issues as well as stories that celebrate and honour our cultures,” she said.

“The content exchange programs are invaluable to the network and vital in promoting Indigenous stories at an international level.”

The series includes stories of a Canadian Cree woman in incarceration, to the Amis people of Eastern Taiwan fighting a battle against commercial and government property developers, and Maori tribes findings solutions to widespread homelessness.

WITBN already runs a successful news exchange program through a private online platform, where members share content on a daily basis.

The next meeting of the World Indigenous Broadcasters will be held in New Zealand, hosted by Maori Television in 2018.

Episode one – Quest for justice
Canada’s Indigenous TV network APTN unravels the story of Cree woman Connie Oakes, who was jailed for a crime she claims she didn’t commit. More shocking than the murder itself, is lack the of evidence against Connie Oakes which APTN journalist Jorge Barrera uncovered – as he followed the trail of this Indigenous woman’s quest for justice.

Episode two – Malama Honua
In ancient times, Polynesians navigated back and forth across the Pacific Ocean on voyages of discovery and trade. Following a renaissance of this traditional art – the Hawaiians are circumnavigating the world in their double hulled canoe, known as a Hokule’a. Hawai’i’s Indigenous broadcaster ‘Oiwi is following their global mission – to spread a message about the need to care for the earth. This epic voyage has connected them to Indigenous nations around the world and given them an audience at the United Nations.

Episode three – The lost territories
The Indigenous nations of Taiwan have long suffered from colonial intrusion into their lives and a consequent undermining of language and culture. But now the Amis people of Eastern Taiwan are fighting a battle against commercial and government property developers. A coastal construction spree has left Indigenous communities dispossessed of land and bereft of hope for justice. Taiwan’s Indigenous broadcaster TITV documents the struggle of the Amis to defend their traditional way of life.

Episode four – Kimberley healing
A huge gap exists between the health of Australia’s Indigenous nations and its non-Indigenous population. Australia’s Indigenous TV channel, NITV, investigates the case for having more Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander doctors, to lift the state of health within their communities.

Episode five – Homeless
Aotearoa (New Zealand) is facing a housing crisis. Families are sleeping rough as affordable accommodation slips out of reach. The government has promised funding support for social and emergency housing. Maori Television explores how tribes have stepped up to provide traditional solutions to mitigate this modern problem.

Nations Without Borders will be broadcast on NITV from Monday 5 December at 9pm.