For the fourth instalment in our Summer '22 series of collected, connected conversations: freedom of speech . From censorship to libel, press access and accountability, there are many facets to free speech, and we’ve sounded off on many of them. Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance): • Ken Williams , Assistant Professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama • Brock Pitawanakwat , Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University • Candis Callison...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 299
On the third instalment in our Summer '22 series: weaponized words . The first of two shows sounding off on speech, we've stitched together a variety of verbiage, from all about threats to speech in part two to all about threats via speech here in part one. Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance): Ken Williams , Assistant Professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama Brock Pitawanakwat , Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University Kim TallB...
Aug 15, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 298
On the second instalment in our Summer '22 series: the battle over belonging . The back half of our investigation into inclusion—or is that excursion into exclusion? They're kind of two sides of the same coin to be honest, minted at our expense. Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance): • Candis Callison , Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC • Kim TallBear , Professor in the Faculty of Native Studi...
Aug 08, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 297
Our season-ender is all about Discord: no, not some disagreement or friction somewhere, but Discord the digital platform, one which lets creators connect more directly and responsively with their audiences, free of all the ickiness of sites operated by huge social media corporations. A platform we’ll soon adapt and adopt as part of our podcast! And not only do we introduce you to the exciting world of Discord and a bit of how we plan to deploy it, you’ll also get to meet the person behind it: Co...
Jul 29, 2022•25 min•Ep. 295
Summer is back and so is MEDIA INDIGENA's Summer Series , our compendia of conversations collected and connected from over the past six years, coming up on 300 episodes of the podcast. Our first two shows of the summer are all about belonging , a subject neither dull nor academic for Indigenous peoples. After all, the Canadian state has worked so very hard to break the bonds that bind us. Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance): • Pam Palmater , Chair in Indigenous Governan...
Jul 27, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 296
For our eleventh 'MINI' INDIGENA of the season, we try something a little different this time ‘round: a face-to-face-to-face discussion recorded Friday, June 24 in Winnipeg! Joining host/producer Rick Harp this episode are MI regular Kim TallBear (University of Alberta professor in the Faculty of Native Studies) plus special guest Tasha Hubbard (Associate Professor, U of A Faculty of Native Studies, writer and filmmaker), as they discuss: • a recent poll which claims “millions” of Canadians beli...
Jul 02, 2022•30 min
THIS WEEK: Return to Restoule —the back half of our conversation about the Restoule case, the litigation some say has advanced a re-consideration and re-interpretation of the 1850 Robinson treaties. In part one (ep. 291), we discussed the principle behind the treaties' unique annuity clause: an annual payment by the Crown to the Anishnabek Nation that would only rise as resource revenues did. An economic treaty right that bakes in a fair share of an expanding pie made with entirely Indigenous in...
Jun 14, 2022•42 min•Ep. 293
Our tenth 'MINI' INDIGENA of the season runs the gamut as usual, with MEDIA INDIGENA regulars Ken Williams (assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama) and Kim TallBear (U of A professor in the Faculty of Native Studies) joining host/producer Rick Harp Saturday, June 11 via the Callin app to discuss... • Riffing off “an African sense of western gender discourses” (as detailed in the book The Invention of Women by Oyeronke Oyewumi), Kim wants to know what Rick and Ke...
Jun 12, 2022•27 min•Ep. 292
This week: Billions in back rent? A pair of treaties covering a territory roughly the size of France are at the heart of a legal fight for a fair share of its resource revenues. Known as the 1850 Robinson Treaties, together they span the north shores of both Lake Huron and Lake Superior, ancestral homelands of the Anishnabek Nation. A Nation forced to sue settler governments over a special section of these treaties, known as an annuity 'augmentation' clause—a yearly payment that’s supposed to gr...
Jun 02, 2022•36 min•Ep. 291
This week, it's another 'MINI' INDIGENA, where we pack in sizzling-hot takes on a flurry of items via social audio. Joining host/producer Rick Harp on Friday, May 20 via the Callin app were MI regulars Ken Williams (assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama) and Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College) as they discussed: • Might more and more settlers in Australia be finally taking climate change a tad more seriously now that it...
May 22, 2022•29 min•Ep. 290
For our eighth 'MINI' INDIGENA of the season, MI regular Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta) and special guest January Rogers (Mohawk/Tuscarora poet, author, and media producer from Six Nations of the Grand River) join host/producer Rick Harp via the Callin app to discuss: i) Jacqueline Keeler’s recent piece, “Striking Down Roe v. Wade Leaves Native Women and Girls Even More Vulnerable”; ii) why the time may be right for a Mister Indian World co...
May 10, 2022•31 min•Ep. 289
Gift or grift? When it comes to the spoils of colonialism, perhaps none have been more spoiled than the Hudson’s Bay Company. A 17th century creature of empire which drove a global fur trade, HBC would go on to make itself synonymous with Canada, blanketed in the country’s foundational myths. Along the way, exploiting and extracting all it could from Indigenous lands, waters and peoples. These days, such nationalist nostalgia has taken a bit of a hit, it seems; so too, The Bay’s days of departme...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 288
Another week, another 'MINI' INDIGENA (our seventh of the season), where host/producer Rick Harp is joined by yet another pairing of APTN National News alumni, Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism, University of King’s College) and special guest Tim Fontaine (Editor-in-Grand-Chief of Walking Eagle News ) as they all discuss: i) how a brutal editorial cartoon out of Simcoe County, Ontario about the Pope’s so-called ' apology ' regarding residential schools has itself prompted not one but two ...
Apr 22, 2022•28 min
For our sixth-ever 'MINI' INDIGENA, host/producer Rick Harp is joined by roundtable regulars—and fellow APTN National News alumni—Ken Williams (assistant professor, University of Alberta’s department of drama) and Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism, University of King’s College) to discuss: i) how some in Maine fear tribes potentially regaining some measure of sovereignty means they'll ‘flex their muscle’ on environmental, fish and wildlife, and economic development; ii) whether the recent...
Apr 16, 2022•30 min
Hardly a day goes by it seems without news of some ‘revolutionary’ A.I.-driven tool ushering in a brave new world. Less said is who’ll be left out or left behind. Which is why, when it comes to Indigenous content, some fear much of artificial intelligence remains superficial ignorance. But can ‘The Cloud’ incorporate culture? Can we Indigenize as we digitize? And can the digital be made relational? Joining host/producer Rick Harp to tangle with these tricky, trippy questions and more are Kim Tal...
Apr 10, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 285
On our latest 'MINI INDIGENA,' special guest Michael Redhead Champagne (Ininew helper, host, speaker & author) joins roundtable regulars Kim TallBear (University of Alberta Native Studies professor) and host/producer Rick Harp to discuss: i) Is it only propaganda when others do it? The blocking of RT (Russia Today) in some Western countries; ii) How Ukrainian land defenders get to be brave and heroic to Canadian media yet Indigenous defenders don’t; iii) Helper, organizer, advocate, rebel—a ...
Mar 05, 2022•27 min
How should we speak of safety in society? How ought we to understand and manage the origins of risk? And in doing so, where might we position police’s role in producing either? Depending on who you talk to, “experiences may vary.” Now a new report out of Atlantic Canada’s largest urban centre proposes much less of a role for police in the larger justice equation—in some respects, no role at all. Prepared for no less than the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, the report puts meat on the bone...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 12 min
This week: the occupation of Ottawa. And as truckers and others continue to crash Canada's capital and beyond, it’s striking (if not surprising) to watch how these protests have been handled—or not—providing a stark contrast to the often paramilitarized approach taken to Indigenous-led direct actions. Remember the outcry over critical infrastructure, said to be under siege by extremist Indian insurgents? Perspective is everything it seems, and amidst multiple cities' ongoing troubles with trucke...
Feb 10, 2022•47 min
On our fourth-ever 'MINI INDIGENA,' the quick + quippy edition of the podcast, special guest Q. Anthony Omene (cultural and political commentator with the Rezistans Nwa media network) joins roundtable regulars Kim TallBear (University of Alberta Native Studies professor) and host/producer Rick Harp to discuss: i) the politics, optics and ethics of citing those who have "fallen from grace"; ii) the increasingly odd directions taken with land or territorial acknowledgments in the U.S.; iii) the po...
Jan 15, 2022•33 min
How would you write a eulogy for the United States? Oh, you didn’t realize it was on death’s door? Guess you didn’t read the Globe and Mail over the holidays, when it published no less than six opinion pieces postulating no less than an imminent U.S. civil war. A civil war most agreed Canada needs to plan for. But is this really the twilight’s last gleaming for U.S. Empire? Would American apocalypse trigger Canadian cataclysm? Joining host/producer Rick Harp to flesh out these fretful settler sc...
Jan 13, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 280
This week: the racket of Reconciliation . It’s been some six years since the TRC issued its final report, complete with 94 Calls to Action. Has Canada listened? How would we know? Well, a couple of years ago we spoke to a couple of scholars who took on precisely those questions, generating a kind of ‘report card’ on Reconciliation. And suffice it to say, Canada didn’t do so hot back in 2019. Did they up their game in 2021? To find out, host/producer Rick Harp has reconvened Reconciliation reckon...
Dec 29, 2021•55 min•Ep. 279
Displeasure Island. So distressed is an Ontario cottage owner that Indians could regain a significant say over some nearby islands in Georgian Bay, he’s somehow convinced his human rights are under attack. Ridiculous, right? Not to The Sudbury Star , a regional rag which not only took this settler shitshow seriously, it signal boosted their manifesto. An online screed warning readers that, once thousands of islands worth hundreds of millions of dollars are given to natives with "no connection to...
Dec 22, 2021•45 min•Ep. 278
In this latest “rapid roundtable” on multiple topics via Clubhouse, Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta) and Brock Pitawanakwat (Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University) join host/producer Rick Harp to discuss: the postponement of an Indigenous papal visit due to Omicron; how to support those reeling personally and professionally due to their defraudment by pretendians; the University of Saskatchewan formally asks a Métis pol...
Dec 11, 2021•29 min
On this week’s Indigenous round table: the gulf in understanding between settlers and First Nations people over treaties. A gap recently reinforced by none other than CBC Kids, the junior wing of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, after it hosted a 'debate' about whether Indigenous peoples should even get land back. A debate it grounded in the myth that treaties were all about First Nations losing their lands and rights. Joining host/producer Rick Harp to discuss the persistence and perils o...
Dec 04, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 276
As long-time listeners know well, this isn’t the first time our podcast has looked at long-standing Wet’suwet’en efforts to block outside incursions into their territory. Indeed, last August’s double episode, 'Resource Resistance,' situated their struggle at its core. This time ‘round, we invite on a new perspective regarding recent events on the ground as well as the bigger political and economic picture. A lawyer from the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Kris Statnyk works exclusively with Indige...
Nov 26, 2021•53 min•Ep. 275
Our second crack at a “rapid round” of shorter conversations on multiple topics recorded via Clubhouse includes discussions on... whether '#LandBack' has been drained of its radical potential after an Indian Affairs minister's apparently unironic use of the term; how some people "Indian Up" their appearance for non-Indigenous audiences; and the retreat of Alton Gas from its Shubenacadie River project. Joining host/producer Rick Harp are Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at...
Nov 08, 2021•26 min•Ep. 274
When it comes to advancing Indigenous causes, is making settlers 'feel bad' a winning strategy? At least one settler pundit says 'no,' and he’s rounded up some Indigenous people who seem to agree with him. At issue: the apparent cultural war on Thanksgiving, where bad attitudes toward the cherished holiday have spilled across the U.S./Canada border like so much rancid gravy. And as the time of year nears for Americans to feel supremely thankful, leave it to some Indian ingrates to try and spoil ...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 273
CBC News has recently reported that a number of women have come forward with allegations of sexual assault against an Ontario medicine man. Although allegations are not the same as charges or convictions, the stories the women have shared are reminiscent of an all-too-familiar scenario: the kind of stories we’ve all heard whispered about certain healers, spiritualists or elders—individuals you ought not be alone with. Needless to say, it’s a perverse inversion of the roles and responsibilities s...
Oct 17, 2021•45 min•Ep. 272
On our first-ever “rapid round” of shorter conversations on multiple topics (recorded via the social audio app Clubhouse), we discuss: provinces that won't make Orange Shirt Day a holiday; the stripping of a residential school advocate’s name from various Edmonton locations; and what happens on Twitter when an Israel state official tweets in support of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Day. Joining host/producer Rick Harp on this inaugural audio experiment: Ken Williams (assistant professor with...
Oct 01, 2021•24 min
Carbon coup. When it comes to fighting climate change, have Indigenous activists made much of a difference? Do we really know what their myriad anti-pipeline actions add up to? Turns out, a lot—now with the numbers to back it up. They come from a recent report that’s literally quantified the amount of greenhouse gas emissions either stopped or delayed thanks to Indigenous-led activism. But will this more concrete sense of the impact of Indigenous leadership translate into greater respect and rec...
Sep 29, 2021•43 min•Ep. 270
