As a budding broadcast reporter, Whit Fraser had covered his share of court cases by the time he stepped into a Spence Bay (now Taloyoak) courtroom in 1970. But as the bright-eyed newcomer to the North watched a bewildered Inuit hunter named Tootalik stand before a territorial judge, charged with a hunting violation, he found himself asking, SA国际影视传媒渨hat's going on here?SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淭o see (Tootalik) standing there so straight, strong and proud and be told he was illegally shooting a polar bear SA国际影视传媒� the insanity of it all. It changed me,SA国际影视传媒� said Fraser in a recent interview with Yellowknifer.

The formative moment is one of many captured in the acclaimed former CBC reporterSA国际影视传媒檚 new memoir, True North Rising. The book, set to released on Oct. 15, is a candid charting of FraserSA国际影视传媒檚 journey as a young journalist navigating a galvanized Northwest Territories during a time of tremendous social and political change.

As Fraser SA国际影视传媒� now retired and living with his wife in Ottawa SA国际影视传媒� writes, he witnessed young, driven Indigenous leaders shake off the shackles of colonialism, while passionate pioneers of broadcast radio, like himself, were there to tell their stories one radio hit at a time.

SA国际影视传媒淚 had no clue what I was getting into when I stepped on an old DC-4 and headed North,SA国际影视传媒� remembered Fraser, who was an early-20-something from Nova Scotia when he accepted a job with CBC Frobisher Bay (now Iqaluit) in 1967.

Three years later, after transferring to CBC Yellowknife, Fraser would say he'd SA国际影视传媒渟tumbled on the best unfolding story in Canada.SA国际影视传媒�

He recalls working in the capital's modest CBC station SA国际影视传媒� a step up from the SA国际影视传媒渂are bones broadcasting,SA国际影视传媒� he'd been tossed into as a rookie in Frobisher Bay.

SA国际影视传媒淲e started every morning with nothing in front of us SA国际影视传媒� just a telephone and personal contacts. We generated all of our own news,SA国际影视传媒� said Fraser, thinking back to a cramped and cluttered newsroom located beside YellowknifeSA国际影视传媒檚 current City Hall.

Fraser and his colleagues weren't without competition in the evolving media landscape of the North.

Fraser said he'd often be chasing stories before Jack SA国际影视传媒淪igSA国际影视传媒� Sigvaldason, the late founder of News/North and Yellowknifer, could get to them first.

Even with the journalistic jousting, the rivals remained close.

SA国际影视传媒淲e were good friends and had good respect SA国际影视传媒� but we always had to beat each other, too,SA国际影视传媒� said Fraser, adding Sigvaldason was a SA国际影视传媒済reat newspaperman.SA国际影视传媒�

Fraser also crossed paths with CBC Yellowknife broadcaster Joe Tobie SA国际影视传媒� one of the many friends in the business that shaped his career and life in the North.

A skilled Dene trapper, Tobie spoke fluent Tlicho and Chipewyan, and knew Slavey and Cree. He'd take to the airwaves twice a week, interpreting Health Canada nutrition and sanitation tips into Dene languages.

The two became friends. They'd hunt caribou and grab beers at the Gold Range. In 1975, Fraser brought Tobie onto to a team of broadcasters to cover the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, the federal royal commission, overseen by Justice Thomas Berger, to weigh the environmental, cultural, social and economical consequences of a proposed pipeline route through the Mackenzie River delta and Indigenous land.

In 1977 SA国际影视传媒� before Berger recommended there be no pipeline until Indigenous land claims are settled and more environmental studies are completed SA国际影视传媒� Fraser found himself taking a stand, and a lot of heat for it.

During a Berger-led hearing in Norman Wells, Fraser stood up, threw his pencil and walked to the witness chair after hearing a bout of racist remarks from non-Indigenous speakers.

SA国际影视传媒淚 don't want the pipeline!SA国际影视传媒� he shouted.

The move put his career in jeopardy, he said, and some wanted him ousted from the North all together, but he'd do it all over again.

SA国际影视传媒淚 felt very strong. There should always be room for the real, tough questions,SA国际影视传媒� said Fraser. SA国际影视传媒淏e accused of being an activist rather than a flack for company or government.SA国际影视传媒�

Fraser would go on to witness SA国际影视传媒渢ears of joySA国际影视传媒� from Inuit, First Nation and Metis in 1982, when their rights were finally enshrined in the Constitution of Canada. Then working for as a national news broadcaster, Fraser saw of efforts of people he'd met in the North come to fruition after years of political struggle.

Those meaningful milestones, achieved through persistence and prevalence, are what Fraser hopes readers of True North Rising will reflect on.

Fraser will return to the North when he makes a book signing stop at the Yellowknife Public Library on Oct. 13.