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MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs

Current affairs roundtable focusing on Indigenous issues and events in Canada and beyond. Hosted by Rick Harp.
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MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs
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Now displaying: 2021
Dec 29, 2021

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 reckoners Eva Jewell (Research Director at Yellowhead Institute, and Assistant Professor of Sociology at X University) and Ian Mosby, (Assistant Professor of History at X University) to hear their insights into what keeps that needle barely moving, and why they worry survivors’ pain is now a new profit centre for settlers.

// CREDITS: Our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Dec 22, 2021

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 these islands," thousands of non-native boaters, kayakers, canoers and vacationers "will no longer be able to access thousands of kilometers of shoreline."

Joining host/producer Rick Harp to interrogate this property rights propaganda and its call to circle the wagons on the water are roundtable regulars Brock Pitawanakwat (Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University) and Ken Williams (assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama).

// CREDITS: "Wavestate-Unheil-4" by Endzeiter; our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic. SFX: "Native Shaker 01.wav" by Sandyrb

Dec 11, 2021

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 political organization to vet the identity of applicants for Métis-specific jobs at the U of S; and their thoughts on the most recent MEDIA INDIGENA deep dive, "Trust, Truth and Treaties."

>> CREDITS: 'Microship' by CavalloPazzo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Dec 4, 2021

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 of such noxious notions—iffy ideas internalized by kids of all ages—are roundtable regular Ken Williams and special guest Sheldon Krasowski, author of No Surrender: The Land Remains Indigenous, who also serves as the director of research at the Office of the Treaty Commissioner in Saskatchewan, and adjunct faculty in Indigenous Studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

// CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.'

Nov 26, 2021

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 Indigenous peoples, practicing in the area of Aboriginal law. He shares his thoughts on this latest paramilitary raid on Wet’suweten land protectors—the RCMP's third in roughly three years—as well as his eyewitness account of solidarity actions in neighbouring Gitxsan territory.

// CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Nov 8, 2021

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 the University of Alberta) and Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College).

>> CREDITS: 'Microship' by CavalloPazzo (CC BY-SA 4.0) 

Oct 29, 2021

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 the party!

Or at least, so says one Postmedia columnist with an axe to grind and a column to fill. In a moment, we’ll subject this settler polemic to some good ol' fashioned line-by-line media critique, carving it open like an overcooked turkey with no thanks given.

Joining host/producer Rick Harp at the 'table this week are regulars Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment) and Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College).

// CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Oct 17, 2021

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 such healers are supposed to embody and exemplify. The real question is how do they persist? How, despite the open secret of such misconduct, is it all too often met with silence?

Joining host/producer Rick Harp to try to speak to those questions and more, plus hopefully nudge the conversation forward about what prevention might look like, are roundtable regulars Brock Pitawanakwat (Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University) and Ken Williams (assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama).

// CREDITS: Our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Oct 1, 2021

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 the University of Alberta’s department of drama) and Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta)

>> CREDITS: 'Microship' by CavalloPazzo (CC BY-SA 4.0) 

Sep 29, 2021

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 recognition?

Joining host/producer Rick Harp at the roundtable this episode are Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University Brock Pitawanakwat, and Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College Trina Roache.

// CREDITS: Our opening and closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Sep 13, 2021

For Canadians, it was a revelation that seemingly came out of nowhere: the confirmation back in May of over 200 unmarked graves at Kamloops, BC, thought to be the remains of young people who decades ago attended one of Canada’s nearly 140 Indian Residential schools. Children who never got to go home to the families from whom they’d been forcibly removed. But if this first came to light late spring, why discuss it now? Because what began as some 200-odd graves has since multiplied to well over 1,000—with more, perhaps many more, expected. Many Canadians professed shock back in May. Has their concern grown in step with the number of confirmed dead? Has it translated into a substantively different approach to the urgent needs of Indigenous kids alive today? Why did it take literal radar to put these crimes on Canadians’ political radar?

Joining host/producer Rick Harp to discuss these questions and more are Kim TallBear, professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta as well as Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College Trina Roache.

// CREDITS: Our opening and closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Aug 31, 2021

On this week’s collected, connected conversations—our final show of the summer—more of our COVID contemplations.

Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance):

Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the School of Journalism, Writing and Media at UBC

Kim TallBear, Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment

Brock Pitawanakwat, York University Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies

Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama

• Broadcaster and scientist David Suzuki

// CREDITS: Creative Commons music in this episode includes “Secret Circuit” by Space Rhythm 2, “Wake Up” by Kai Engel, and “Now You Are Here” by Sergey Cheremisinov. Our opening theme is “Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village; our closing theme is “Nocturne for Anastasiya" by Vlad Cuiujuclu.

Aug 17, 2021

On this week’s collected, connected conversations (the eighth in our summer series): part one of our pandemic ponderings. A disease that’s thrown many into disarray, COVID-19 has come up often on this podcast. And for good reason: disproportionately afflicted with health care gaps, Indigenous peoples' vulnerability made them the subject of dire predictions from the outset of this pandemic.

Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance):

Dr. Jason Pennington, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto; Scarborough General Hospital staff surgeon; joint strategic lead in Indigenous Health, U of T Faculty of Medicine

Dr. Lisa Richardson, clinician-educator, University of Toronto division of general internal medicine; joint strategic lead in Indigenous Health, U of T Faculty of Medicine

Mary Jane McCallum, Professor of History at University of Winnipeg

Brock Pitawanakwat, York University Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies

Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama

Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the School of Journalism, Writing and Media at UBC

Kim TallBear, Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment

// CREDITS: Creative Commons music in this episode includes Hot Soup On Cold Days” and “Rest” by PC III, and “Reservoir Sunset (Full Synth Mix)” by Axletree. Our opening theme is “Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village; our closing theme is “Nocturne for Anastasiya" by Vlad Cuiujuclu.

Aug 5, 2021

On this week’s collected, connected conversations (the seventh in our summer series): the back half of our education investigation. And this episode, it’s all uni, all the time, where talk of 'Indigenization' is all the rage.

Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance):

Kim TallBear, associate professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment

Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama

Adam Gaudry, Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta

Brock Pitawanakwat, York University Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies

// CREDITS: Creative Commons music in this episode include “CRUZIN” by Benedek, “Dasein” by Nihilore, and “Scorch” by Nctrnm. Our opening theme is “Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village; our closing theme is “Nocturne for Anastasiya" by Vlad Cuiujuclu.

Jul 27, 2021

On this week’s collected, connected conversations (the sixth in our summer series): back to school. Well, not quite yet. But it is around the corner, so we thought we’d help you prep with an education-related retrospective. And with so much material to cover, we’ve set aside two dates on our course calendar.

Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance):

Brock Pitawanakwat, York University Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies

Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama

Kim TallBear, associate professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment

// CREDITS: Creative Commons music in this episode includes “The Insider,” by Time to Move and Motivate, “Weapon” by Nctrnm, and “Devil Man” by Drake Stafford. Our opening theme is “Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village; our closing theme is “Nocturne for Anastasiya" by Vlad Cuiujuclu.

Jul 15, 2021

Moose, elk, bison, lobster, salmon: they're just some of the non-human relatives that Indigenous peoples have relied upon for centuries. A reliance that, in turn, made self-reliance possible for those peoples. That is, until it wasn’t—thanks to the kinds of colonial interference and impediments we discuss here in our fifth episode of the summer series, building on our last episode's look at fights over rights to hunt and harvest.

Featured voices this podcast include:

Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the School of Journalism, Writing and Media at UBC

Kim TallBear, associate professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment

This episode is dedicated to the loving memory of Kwetasel'wet (Vera Wood).

// CREDITS: This episode was edited and produced by Stephanie Wood and Rick Harp. Creative Commons music this episode includes “spring_thaw” by The Green Kingdom, as well as our opening theme “Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village and our closing theme “Nocturne for Anastasiya" by Vlad Cuiujuclu.

Jul 5, 2021

On this week’s collected, connected conversations (the fourth in our summer series), we go on the hunt for some rights recognition. Rights rooted in the ‘radical’ notion that Indigenous peoples ought to be able to live off their lands and waters.

But, as we’ll hear over these next two episodes, those harvests are hampered—not only by the imposition of restrictions, but through the endangerment of the non-human relatives we’ve long relied on.

Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance):

Patrice Mousseau, entrepreneur

Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama

• Community organizer and youth advocate Michael Redhead Champagne

• Criminologist Lisa Monchalin

Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the School of Journalism, Writing and Media at UBC

Kim TallBear, associate professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment

This episode is dedicated to the loving memory of Kwetasel'wet (Vera Wood).

// CREDITS: This episode was edited and produced by Stephanie Wood and Rick Harp. Creative Commons music in this episode includes our opening theme (“Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village) and closing theme (“Nocturne for Anastasiya" by Vlad Cuiujuclu).

Jun 28, 2021

On this week’s collected, connected conversations, our summer series walks into the world of leisure and recreation—well, for some, anyway. For, as you’ll hear, it seems us pesky Indians can’t help but spoil settler fun!

Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance):

Brock Pitawanakwat, York University Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies

Kim TallBear, associate professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment

Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the School of Journalism, Writing and Media at UBC

• Criminologist Lisa Monchalin

• Community organizer and youth advocate Michael Redhead Champagne

Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama

Stephanie Wood, Cultural Editor, The Narwhal

// CREDITS: This episode was edited and produced by Stephanie Wood and Rick Harp. Creative Commons music in this episode includes “Phase IV,” by lo-fi is sci-fi, “Montmartre” by Jahzarr, “Beaches” by Alex Vaan, “April” by Kai Engel. Our opening theme is “Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village; our closing theme is “Nocturne for Anastasiya" by Vlad Cuiujuclu.

Jun 17, 2021

This episode, the second in our summer series, part two of our look at law and order—emphasis on the latter. Because even though we’ll begin this episode with discussions about the courts and prisons (building on last episode’s walk-through of policing), there’s a much bigger picture at play here: the enforcement and reinforcement of a social order, an order that works hand in glove with the needs of settler colonialism.

Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance):

Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's Department of Drama

Kim TallBear, associate professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment

Wawmeesh Hamilton, journalist/photographer

Brock Pitawanakwat, York University Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies

• Anishinabe broadcaster and arts administrator Jesse Wente

Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the School of Journalism, Writing and Media at UBC

// CREDITS: Creative Commons music this episode includes Enterprise 1” by Languis, “Dybbuk Box“ by Sergey Cheremisinov, “Distilled” by Nctrnm, “SONNIK 1.0” by SONNIK, “Snowfall” by Steinbruchel. Our opening theme is “Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village; our closing theme is “Nocturne for Anastasiya" by Vlad Cuiujuclu.

 

Jun 7, 2021

With the arrival of warmer weather, it's once again time for another MEDIA INDIGENA Summer Series, our compendia of conversations collected and connected from over the past five years of the podcast.

With over 250 episodes to date, there’s certainly lots to choose from. And yet, there’s one subject that’s never far from the surface whenever we get together—justice. And from cops to courts to incarceration, these next two installments will take us on a whirlwind tour of Canada’s so-called justice system.

Featured voices this podcast include (in order of appearance):

• Anishinabe broadcaster and arts administrator Jesse Wente

• Professor and Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, Pam Palmater

Colleen Simard, writer/designer/filmmaker

Conrad Prince, child health and welfare advocate

Karyn Pugliese, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University School of Journalism

Ken Williams, Assistant Professor of Drama, University of Alberta

// CREDITS: Creative Commons music in this episode includes "Fater Lee" by Black Ant as well as "Friction and "Lakehouse" by Nctrnm. Our opening theme is “Soda Machine” by Kabbalistic Village; our closing theme is “Nocturne for Anastasiya by Vlad Cuiujuclu.

May 29, 2021

Pollution is Colonialism Part Two: fresh off part one, host/producer Rick Harp and MI regular Candis Callison once again sit down with author, artist and marine scientist Max Liboiron. And in the back half of this extended conversation, we find out why Land is not so much a noun as it is a verb, and why anti-colonial is not the same as de-colonial, especially when it comes to methods for pollution science, methods which foreground values of humility, equity, and good land relations.

// CREDITS: ‘Smoke Factory,’ by Jahzzar (CC BY 3.0); our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

May 27, 2021

Pollution is Colonialism: the straight-to-the-point title of a brand new book by Max Liboiron, Assistant Professor of Geography and Associate Vice-President of Indigenous Research at Memorial University, as well as the Director of CLEAR, or Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research. Among the book's core arguments: that any effort looking to resist environmental harms must trace them back to their ultimate source—the violence of colonial land relations. A violence, the author argues, even well-intentioned environmental science and activism can reproduce. In this first of two episodes featuring the author, we discuss how the world became awash in plastics, with part two dedicated to how we might better grasp and grapple with the larger forces producing this toxic legacy.

Appearing alongside Dr. Liboiron, host/producer Rick Harp and MI regular Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC.

// CREDITS: 'Quiet Outro' by ROZKOL (CC BY 3.0); Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

May 23, 2021

This week: redress, compensation and restitution. In short, Cash Back! It's the second half of our effort to put meat on the bones of this call for First Nations economic justice issued in the latest Red Paper of the Yellowhead Institute—viewable at cashback.yellowheadinstitute.org—as we run through the 'Top 10' ways to actually get that cash back from Canada.

Joining host/producer Rick Harp once again are Tim Thompson and Naiomi Metallic of the Yellowhead Institute.

// Our musical theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

May 15, 2021

From Wealth to Welfare. Just how did Canada’s economy end up among the world's largest, anyway? Was it the sheer pioneering pluck of can-do Canucks? A steely determination tempered by visionary imagination and innovation? Exactly what has Canada done to amass, command and enjoy such wealth? Well, according to a hot-off-the-presses report from the Yellowhead Institute, they stole it. Entitled Cash Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper, the report impressively details what can only be described as a colossal, colonial theft, the proceeds of which Canada continues to exploit and extract. Adding insult to imperial injury, not only has this country built itself up via the "transformation of Indigenous lands and waterways into corporate profit and national power," the report's authors argue it's forced "a cradle-to-grave bureaucracy" upon First Nations in the process, placing a "stranglehold on [their] each and every need." The result: a zero-sum economic game, a game Canada’s rigged in its favour to the ongoing detriment of First Nations.

Joining host/producer Rick Harp for part one of this extended conversation about the report are two of its contributors: co-author and board member Naiomi Metallic, as well as Yellowhead Research Fellow Karihwakè:ron aka Tim Thompson.

// CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

May 1, 2021

DILEMMA INDIGENA: For Indigenous peoples living under settler colonialism today, there are few choices that aren’t constrained, a predicament at the heart of a discussion in the brand new book, Regime of Obstruction: How Corporate Power Blocks Energy Democracy.

Just published by Athabasca University Press, its 30-plus contributors include this week’s special guest, Clifford Atleo, an Assistant Professor of Resource & Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, who joins us to discuss his chapter, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Canada’s Carbon Economy and Indigenous Ambivalence.”

// CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

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