William D. Peacock

William D. Peacock (1933–1998), known professionally as Bill Peacock, was a Canadian newspaper publisher. In 1984, he published the first Native newspaper in Calgary, Alberta under the pseudonym Elmer Wildblood. It was also the first independently owned and operated Native newspaper in Canada.

Background In 1983, at the age of 50 years, the Toronto native of English and Ojibwa heritage was described as a "reformed drunk" who had been in and out of trouble with the law and with women for much of his life. It was around 1980 that Peacock, then a typesetter at the North Hill News Ltd., a web offset printer in Calgary, contemplated publishing an independent Native newspaper. He continued to speak of it while working at his own Calgary print shop, with Peacock serving as publisher and editor and Helen Wigglesworth as advertising executive director. The paper aimed to serve "the Native and Métis Population" of Calgary and environs, and appeared three years after the founding of Tim Giago's pioneering independent American Native newspaper, Lakota Times of Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

Writing in the first issue on "Indian Solidarity," Peacock explained: "Except for a few, all of North America's Native papers are funded by tribal, state or federal governments, and this in turn has a detrimental effect on news content."

Peacock continued publishing The Native Albertan until at least December 1985.

Death After suffering from cancer for six months, Peacock died in September 1998.