Back from our brief hiatus, this week's show speaks frankly about why the Liberal government's proposed Indigenous Languages Act is mostly notable for what it doesn't say. Joining us this week is special return guest Lorena Fontaine , Indigenous academic lead and associate professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Winnipeg. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.
This week... Another BC battlefront: Why Wet'suwet'en resistance to the Coastal Gas Link pipeline project is—and isn’t—so complicated to understand. Revitalizing MEDIA INDIGENA: Why us taking a break after 147 consecutive weeks is the best guarantee of many more episodes to come. L earn more on our website . Joining us for this special episode—recorded as a livestream with our supporters on Patreon —are Candis Callison, Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies at Princeton University, Kim TallBear...
This week, the second installment in our two-part conversation with Darrel McLeod, author of Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age. Winner of the 2018 Governor-General’s award for non-fiction, Mamaskatch has been lauded for its raw, revealing portrait of McLeod’s early years. Covering just over three decades, the book’s proven inspiring to many who have faced similar hardships. That includes host Rick Harp's mother, Jane Glennon, who once again joins in on the discussion. Last time out, we delved int...
This week, we present part one of our two-part conversation with Darrel McLeod, whose memoir recently won this year's Governor-General’s award for non-fiction. Also joining host/producer Rick Harp for this special edition of the roundtable: Rick's mom, Jane Glennon (née McCallum). According to the jury that awarded McLeod the $25,000 prize, " MAMASKATCH: A Cree Coming of Age dares to immerse readers in provocative contemporary issues including gender fluidity, familial violence, and transcultura...
Policing the police: A new review of Thunder Bay law enforcement finds the quality of their investigations so flawed many need to be re-opened; Fighting fakery: How a BC media outlet is trying to tackle inauthentic 'Indigenous' art; Off track : Why is Mexico’s new president pushing for a railroad no one seems to want, least of all indigenous peoples whose lands would be threatened by it? Joining host/producer Rick Harp at the roundtable once again are Brock Pitawanakwat, assistant professor of I...
This week, we share two presentations delivered on day two of the International Symposium on Indigenous Communities and Climate Change, hosted this December 6th and 7th by Princeton University in New Jersey. Part of a line-up featuring nine speakers in all, we share talks by MEDIA INDIGENA roundtablers Candis Callison (“Communal Lives and Climate Change: Convening spaces for Indigenous publics, narratives, and knowledge”) and Rick Harp (”Indigenous Independents: Navigating the Challenges of Indi...
1. How to deal with denial? Can links be drawn between minimizing the intent and impacts of residential schools of the not-so-distant past with the contemporary practice of forced/coerced sterilization of Indigenous women in Canada? A question top of mind this week for roundtabler Ken Williams as he contemplates the implications of the story of a Canadian imprisoned in Germany for Holocaust denial. Does arguably comparable commentary regarding anti-Indigenous atrocities in Canada merit the same ...
1. Fighting fire with fire? Why some say the massive blazes ripping across parts of California did not have to be so furious or fatal, if only the state would listen more to Indigenous peoples. 2. Cultural linchpin or not-so-scenic buzzkill? Why some Ontario cottagers ain’t so 'wild' about the return of rice to the region. 3. Media muzzle? A southern U.S. tribe suddenly takes back the press protections it had only put in place three years prior. Joining host/producer Rick Harp at the roundtable ...
1. Child and family fraud? How a potential class action lawsuit against one B.C. social worker has exposed some gaping vulnerabilities in a system supposedly set up to care for kids. 2. Lodging complaints: What the mainstream media missed in its coverage of how a convicted child-killer ended up at an Indigenous-based correctional facility (though she's been subsequently removed). 3. Libellous or frivolous? An Alberta First Nation launches a million dollar lawsuit against one of its own over comm...
THIS WEEK... What’s in a name? Everything, for Indigenous families hoping to reclaim their people's traditional naming practices. What gives with philanthropy? The author of a new book on the subject says it’s time to decolonize the sector. Grief over Greyhound: What will First Nations who once relied on the bus service do now that it's ceased operations in western Canada? Host/producer Rick Harp is joined once again by Candis Callison, Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies at Princeton Univers...
This week... The Will of Brazil : Indigenous advocates raise huge red flags over the election of super right wing president Jair Bolsonaro. Duty Delayed: The Supreme Court rules that Canada does not owe a duty to consult First Nations in the creation of any laws affecting them. Pre-school prevention: What would be so wrong with a new daycare aimed at Indigenous kids? Ask a certain group of property owners in Saskatoon. Joining host Rick Harp once again are Brock Pitawanakwat, assistant professor...
This week, part two of our live show at the University of Winnipeg on the potential impacts of cannabis legalization on Indigenous peoples in Canada. Part one featured matters of jurisdiction and justice; this time 'round, we look at the way some dream of an economic jackpot while others foresee a nightmare of mental and moral jeopardy. Sponsored by the UWSA, the evening featured roundtable regular Kim TallBear (University of Alberta associate professor of Native Studies) as well as special gues...
On this week’s program, recorded live in Winnipeg, we stir the pot now that Canada’s cannabis countdown is complete, making it only the second country in the world to legalize marijuana. But what could this all mean for Indigenous peoples? Some see cannabis as the great green hope, but others aren’t nearly so high on the plant’s prospects for prosperity. In part one of our discussion, we explore matters of jurisdiction and justice with University of Alberta associate professor of Native Studies ...
Twelve years. According to a new report from the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that's how long we have to act both decisively and radically concerning the climate if we are to keep life viable for much if not most of humanity. Here's another number: 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to the same IPCC report, that’s the maximum increase in average world temperatures, relative to pre-industrial levels, that our planet can sustain before it will simply be unable to sustain...
This week, our special live-audience episode in Edmonton, where we discussed... Protocol Schmotocol: What one professor’s slide into another’s DMs on Twitter in search of help on a highly-sensitive subject can teach us about ethical research... 'Indigenous Renaissance': Just one of many pointed phrases in the victory speech of Maliseet musician Jeremy Dutcher at this year’s Polaris Music Prize ceremony. But as Indigenous artists continue to rack up recognition in the broader arts world, should w...
This week we bring you 'part two' of last week's round table, one that ran unusually long because of our extended discussion about APTN’s controversial reality show, "First Contact." Those outstanding two topics are... Prime directive: A leaked video seems to show Canada’s PM scolding First Nations leaders for their time 'mismanagement'; plus, Settler solidarity —what might it really look like? Two examples from the Antipodes could show the way. Still seated at the round table: Brock Pitawanakwa...
Provocative or problematic? We discuss why opinion is sharply divided over 'First Contact,' a new APTN mini-series showcasing Canadians’ deep ignorance about Aboriginal peoples. And, with our discussion going so in-depth and protracted, we eat up the time normally devoted to three topics! Joining host/producer Rick Harp at the roundtable this week are Brock Pitawanakwat, assistant professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Sudbury, and Candis Callison, visiting professor of Canadian St...
1. 'Sinful' ceremony: a Cree community finds itself at spiritual odds over whether to allow a pow-wow some regard as blasphemous. // 2. Must the show go on? Robert Lepage's first attempt to tell "the story of Canada through the prism of [white-Indigenous] relations”—minus a single Indigenous actor—got cancelled. Now it appears the famous Quebec playwright will get to stage the show after all. // 3. Boyden’s back, and there’s gonna be trouble! Why a movie adapted from a controversial author’s wor...
Is a controversial pipeline now a pipe-dream? Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal has just ruled that plans to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline are to be put on hold until the government gets its act together on the potential impacts of greater oil tanker traffic on marine ecosystems and on its failure to meaningfully consult Indigenous peoples. But is this ruling a slam dunk? What’s to be made of the heated, even hysterical, reaction from some quarters? And where could or should things go from h...
1. Man camp controversy: decades-old abuse allegations against hydro-dam workers finally surface in Manitoba. Might it spark a flood of similar complaints? 2. Stat spat: talk of a new federal holiday commemorating the survivors of residential schools gets mixed reviews 3. Mac attack: why the reputation of John A. Macdonald (Canada’s first prime minister) is getting taken off its pedestal—literally. Back at the roundtable are Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's depa...
Our ninth and final episode of our Summer Series collects and connects conversations about pipelines, in particular, the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project. Featured voices in this episode include (in order of appearance): Indigenous Resource lawyer Merle Alexander; Kim TallBear, associate professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, and Candis Callison, associate professor at UBC's Graduate School of Journalism; Brock Pitawanakwat, assistant professor of Indigenous studies at...
On this week's episode, the second-last show in our Summer Series , we revisit the troubling death of Colten Boushie—the 22-year old member of the Red Pheasant First Nation shot and killed back in August of 2016 by a then-54-year-old white farmer named Gerald Stanley. Featured voices this episode include (in order of appearance): Documentarian and University of Saskatchewan assistant professor of English, Tasha Hubbard, as well as Chris Andersen, then-interim dean at the University of Alberta’s ...
Our seventh Summer Series episode collects and connects conversations about Thunder Bay , a small northwestern Ontario city where a huge amount of hostility has been directed at Indigenous people. It’s a negativity so persistent and pervasive, it is seemingly ingrained across a variety of the region’s institutions. Featured voices in this podcast include: CBC journalist Jody Porter; Karyn Pugliese, Executive Director of News and Current Affairs with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, plu...
Our sixth Summer Series episode collects and connects conversations about language : more specifically, the politics of Indigenous language rights and funding in Canada. Featured voices this episode include: Lorena Fontaine, an associate professor of Indigenous Governance at the University of Winnipeg; Karyn Pugliese, APTN's Executive Director of News and Current Affairs, along with Lisa Girbav, radio broadcaster and student from the Tsimshian territory; Kim TallBear, associate professor of Nati...
This week's episode, the fifth in our Summer Series, wraps up our two-part conversation with the Yellowhead Institute's Hayden King and Shiri Pasternak about their critique of the Trudeau government's Indigenous Rights, Recognition and Implementation Framework, a comprehensive set of laws and policies that, if implemented, could fundamentally change the course of Indigenous rights in Canada. Creative Commons music in this podcast includes the song 'Endeavour' by Jahzzar. Find our more at freemus...
The fourth show of our Summer Series begins our two-part look at an emerging set of proposed laws and policies that, if implemented, could majorly affect—some say threaten—Indigenous rights in Canada. It's called the Indigenous Rights, Recognition and Implementation Framework , a wide-ranging, fast-moving initiative of the Trudeau government. In these next two episodes, Hayden King and Shiri Pasternak of the Yellowhead Institute share their concerns with the Framework as detailed in their specia...
Our third Summer Series episode collects and connects conversations about food: it’s a veritable buffet of some of our most filling discussions, from access to traditional foods to culture clashes over Settler vs. Indigenous diets. Featured voices this podcast include Iqaluit, Nunavut mayor Madeleine Redfern; Kim Tallbear, associate professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta; Lakota activist and communications professional Taté Walker; and Candis Callison, associate professor at UB...
Our second Summer Series episode collects and connects conversations about education : from inadequate funding to lack of Indigenous representation in many school curricula, we explore systemic issues and the lived experience of some Indigenous learners in this realm. Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance): Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama, along with journalist and entrepreneur Patrice Mousseau; Brock Pitawanakwat, an ...
For the first episode in our MEDIA INDIGENA: the Summer Edition series, we take a deep dive into water , from its status as a fundamental human and treaty right, to more nitty-gritty matters of funding, infrastructure and accountability. Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance): Amanda Klasing, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch; writer/designer/filmmaker Colleen Simard plus child health and welfare advocate Conrad Prince; entrepreneur and commentator Robert Jago, alo...
THIS WEEK / Separation anxiety: as the U.S. catches criticism for splitting up migrant families and isolating their kids, some wonder if the concern comes off as just a little bit selective / Tipi takedown: an encampment set up near Saskatchewan's legislature in honour of stolen Indigenous youth is removed for being 'disruptive' / Right idea, wrong route: the Supreme Court rules that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal does not have the legal mandate to go after discrimination in the Indian Act. ...
