Birthday of Thaioronióhte Dan David

Born on this day in 1952 in Syracuse, New York, Thaioronióhte Dan David was raised from the age of four at Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk territory. Remembered as the father of Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and a mentor to countless young journalists around the world. He remembered about his vision when starting APTN - “The dream was that these journalists would actually do real news for a change instead of constantly softening their words and tone to make it more appealing or appeasing to a Euro-Canadian overseer.” In 1990, he was working for CBC when the crisis erupted in Kanehsatà:ke. CBC refused to have him cover the events. He snuck in to the reserve anyways with diabetes medicine and other supplies and hosted a radio show for the community. In 1994, Thaioronióhte was asked to travel to post-apartheid South Africa to help train journalists to cover the first election. Following his experiences there, he came home to launch APTN.