Ahkameyimok Podcast with Perry Bellegarde

This conversation with the late Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney, Canada's 18th Prime Minister, was originally posted in August 2020. "Some people said, 'well there is racism in Canada but there is no systemic racism.' And to those people I said, 'You've clearly never read the Indian Act, because it reeks of systemic racism.'" The Right Honorable Brian Mulroney, Canada's 18th Prime Minister, is National Ch...

Bryan Trottier needs little introduction. The Hockey Hall of Fame player was a key member and leading scorer for the New York Islanders Stanley Cup dynasty of the 1980's, and then with Pittsburgh Penguins of the early 90's. He is also incredibly proud of his Cree-Metis-Chippewa heritage, and his hometown of Val Marie in southern Saskatchewan. In this fun and fascinating conversation, he talks with...

The host of the popular CBC Kuper Island Podcast on the challenges and revelations from reporting about one of Canada's most notorious Residential Schools.

Chief Perry is thrilled to be joined Douglas Sanderson and Andrew Stobo Sniderman for a fascinating and thoughtful conversation about their new book, "The Valley of the Birdtail." It is a heart-rending, true story about racism and reconciliation. Divided by a beautiful valley and 150 years of racism, the town of Rossburn and the Waywayseecappo Indian reserve have been neighbours nearly as long as...

"The survivors felt if this had been white children, the community wouldn't be the ones having to investigate their own genocide." - Kimberly Murray The Ahkameyimok Podcast is back! And for this return episode Chief Perry Bellegarde is thrilled to have Kimberly Murray as his guest. She is the new Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated...

****As we move into 2022, we're reposting Perry's episode on Hope, one of the most popular of the past year. We hope it brings you joy and inspiration as we enter the New Year.**** ***Encore Episode*** In his seven years as National Chief, Perry Bellegarde focused on the importance hope: "Always leave more hope in a room than was there when you arrived." Over the run of the Ahkameyimok Podcast, no...

A holiday message from Perry Bellegarde, with best wishes for the year ahead from Perry and the Ahkameyimok Podcast team.

*** In light of revelations that the NHL Chicago Blackhawks covered up a case of sexual abuse of one it's players by a member of it's coaching staff, we are re-posting this powerful interview with former NHL player and sexual abuse survivor Sheldon Kennedy. This interview originally aired in January, 13th, 2021. *** ***This interview contains subject matters and details that may not be appropriate...

*** In honour of the first ever National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th, we are re-posting this interview with Marie Wilson, who was a Commissioner on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2009 to 2015. This interview was originally published June 3, 2021. *** ***The subject matter and content of this episode may be triggering for some listeners. The National Indian Resid...

***Encore Presentation*** ***This interview with Dr Lorna Williams originally aired on Jan 21, 2021 *** What is the state of First Nations languages in Canada? One of the leading experts on the promotion and restoration of Indigenous culture and language, Dr Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams of the University of Victoria, joins the Ahkameyimok Podcast to discuss that ahead of the Symposium on Indigenous L...

ENCORE PRESENTATION ***This interview with federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was originally aired on March 3rd, 2021*** ***With the Akhameyimok Podcast on hiatus and a federal election underway, we are re-running National Chief Bellegarde's best interviews from the past year with leaders and senior members of the main federal political parties to help provide a sense of where they stand on issues i...

ENCORE PRESENTATION ***This interview with the Green Party Leader Annamie Paul was first posted on October 15, 2020, shortly after she won the Green Party leadership and before in-fighting broke out within the Green Party caucus and organization*** ***With the Akhameyimok Podcast on hiatus and a federal election underway, we are re-running National Chief Bellegarde's best interviews from the past...

ENCORE PRESENTATION ***With the Akhameyimok Podcast on summer hiatus and a federal election now underway, we are re-running National Chief Bellegarde's  best interviews from the past year with leaders and senior members of the main federal political parties to help provide a sense of where they stand on issues important to First Nations and Indigenous people. **** ***This interview with the Libera...

ENCORE PRESENTATION ***With the Akhameyimok Podcast on summer hiatus and a federal election now underway, we are re-running National Chief Bellegarde's  best interviews from the past year with leaders and senior members of the main federal political parties to help provide a sense of where they stand on issues important to First Nations and Indigenous people. **** ***This interview with Erin O'Too...

"I just wanted to buy a painting, really." Kevin Hearn of the Barenaked Ladies is our guest on this episode of #Ahkameyimok. He and Perry talk about his new documentary, "There Are No Fakes," which exposes a massive art forgery ring surrounding the work of legendary Ojibwe painter, Norval Morrisseau. When the Barenaked Ladies started producing chart topping, international hit songs in the late '90...

As National Chief, Perry Bellegarde has always focused on the importance hope: "Always leave more hope in a room than was there when you arrived." Over the 57 episodes of the Ahkameyimok Podcast, no matter how difficult the conversation or the issue, he always ends by asking his guests this question: What brings you hope? As his time as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations comes to an e...

On this Canada Day, a special episode on the devastating and ongoing impact of the Residential School system. The shocking find of 751 unmarked graves at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan is another heartbreaking validation of survivor accounts of the horrifying abuse and neglect Indigenous children endured at these government funded, church run institutions...

"For those of us who are survivors of the oppression of our languages and the part of the cultural and physical genocide brought on us by the Church and State that ran Residential Schools... the day the that Bill C-91, the Indigenous Languages Act, received Royal Assent was a memorable occasion that was long overdue." This week, Ron Ignace was appointed as Canada's first ever Indigenous Languages...

"The Feds founded the first three federal residential schools in 1883 in Alberta and Saskatchewan. First Nations people formed the majority of the population and were power brokers in that area and one of the ways to deal with them was treaties, the other way to deal with them was to take their children hostages." John Milloy's award winning book, "A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the...

***The subject matter and content of this episode may not be suitable for all listeners*** "We did hear of children's bones being found in the foundations of buildings when (Residential) schools were dismantled. We heard of children being thrown into furnaces. These were children. The little ones who have woken up in Kamloops this week, these are children calling out to all of us now." Marie Wilso...

**** Encore Presentation **** Bill C-15 - the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Act - is now moving to the Canadian Senate, after passing successfully through the House of Commons, a last crucial step before becoming law. In honour of this important step, we are re-running one of our most popular interviews in the past year, with Chief Willie Littlechild, the man who wrote the very...

Conner Roulette won Gold this month, playing for Team Canada at the Under 18 World Hockey Championships in Texas, helping defeat Russia in the championship game. A forward with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds and a proud member of the Misipawistik Cree Nation in Treaty 5 territory in Manitoba, Roulette had a strong tournament, with five points in seven games, include goals in the both the quarter a...

"The Mi'kmaq are not leaving. We've told the associations, we told the DFO, we told anyone who would listen. The Government has to do something, and that is to help make space in the waters for us, because we are going there, because we have a right to be in those waters." Chief Terry Paul, of the Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton joins the Akhameyimok Podcast to discuss the systemic racism be...

"We've been working really hard with the government of Canada on meeting their 5% target of procurement from Indigenous business. We did some work with them to look at where they spent their money and compared that to Indigenous businesses in Canada and found that Indigenous businesses could actually serve 24% of the government spend. So 5% is a minimum target. It is definitely achievable." Tabath...

"The rule of thumb, "Nothing about us, without us," also applies to the United Nations and we (First Nations people) should always be in the room, participating in conversations, when there are global decisions being made that will come back and impact us." Sheryl Lightfoot is the first First Nations woman from Canada to be appointed as the North America Representative to the United Nations Expert...