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 look at the roles we each can play in movement-building;

iv) A sneak peek of We Need Everyone, Michael's forthcoming book that seeks to “empowers kids to find their gifts & use them to strengthen community.”

>> CREDITS: 'Absorb' by James Hammond (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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 bones of the contentious concept of defunding.

Joining host/producer Rick Harp this week: activist, artist and scholar El Jones, Assistant Professor of Political and Canadian Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University, and one of the lead authors of Defunding the Police: Defining the Way Forward for HRM [Halifax Regional Municipality]. Also at the table this episode, Trina Roache, the Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College.

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

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 truckers, our Indigenous roundtable shares theirs.

Joining host/producer Rick Harp this week are 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), a conversation we recorded the afternoon of February 8, 2022.

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

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 political/historical notes struck by the new Disney series "The Book of Boba Fett";

iv) Q's follow-up reaction to our latest deep dive, "U.S.A. R.I.P.?"

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

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 scenarios and what they might (or might not) imply for Indigenous interests on both sides of the border are 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 and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment.

// CREDITS: ​​​​"A quiet action sequence," by Sami Hiltunen; our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

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.

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

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)

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.'

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.

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) 

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.

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.

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) 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.