Northern Native Broadcasting is a non-profit Indigenous communications company in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

which owns and operates

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s whose music and primary content is intended to be of interest to

Indigenous peoples in Canada In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...

. The company founded and owns CFNR-FM in

Terrace, British Columbia Terrace is a city located near the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada. The community is the regional retail and service hub for the northwestern portion of British Columbia. With a current population of over 12,000 within municipal boundarie ...

, and a series of rebroadcasting transmitters, branded as the CFNR Network, that gives the station, which has been on the air since 1992, coverage throughout the

British Columbia Interior , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Interior" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivi ...

in northern and central British Columbia, to an audience of over 150,000 listeners in 70 communities.

CJNY-FM

In 2017, the company was awarded a license for a Class B Native station in Vancouver, CKUR-FM at 106.3 MHz, which was to commence broadcasting in June 2018 and will be heard in

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" is roughly coterminous with the geographic area governed b ...

and the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 Canadia ...

. The frequency was previously used by the

Aboriginal Voices Radio Network Aboriginal Voices Radio Network (rebranded as Voices Radio in 2014) was a Canadian radio network, which primarily broadcast music programming and other content of interest to aboriginal people. As of June 2015, the network operated stations in To ...

until its license was revoked in 2015. According to the station's application to the CRTC, "the primary objective of the CKUR programming day is to reflect – through information and entertainment – the social, political, economic, and cultural concerns of the Aboriginal communities in Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland area. It is also intended to act as a cultural link between Vancouver First Nations peoples and their more remote home Nations." Its music programming will focus on highlighting Indigenous performers as well as

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, and Canadian-centric

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

, and classic hits. According to a media release: "CKUR will provide an aboriginal perspective in Vancouver radio reflecting the values and cultures of the three primary First Nations communities in the broadcast area –

Squamish Nation The Squamish Nation, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw () in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim (Squamish language), is an Indian Act government originally imposed on the Squamish (''Sḵwx̱wú7mesh'') by the Federal Government of Canada in the late 19th cen ...

, Tsleil-Waututh Nation and the

Musqueam Indian Band The Musqueam Indian Band ( ; hur, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ) is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the only First Nations band whose reserve community lies within the boundaries of the City of Vancouv ...

". The callsign was later changed as CJNY-FM as Northern Native Broadcasting named the new station "The Journey". Eventually, after repeatedly extending CJNY-FM's construction permit from ISEDC, CJNY-FM began their signal test on December 5, 2022 and launched on March 3, 2023.

References

Radio broadcasting companies of Canada Companies based in British Columbia Indigenous organizations in British Columbia First Nations organizations in British Columbia First Nations radio stations in British Columbia {{Canada-media-company-stub