MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs

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...

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, r...

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. Creat...

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 P...

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...

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 d...

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...

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...

THIS WEEK // Survey says: We opine on a poll asking Canadians what they think should be done regarding Indigenous peoples. Statistically insignificant: The auditor general does a number on the federal government's glaring gaps in data for First Nations reserves. D oggone DNA: Think you can trust those genetic tests that tell you how 'Indian' you are? Guess you missed that recent story of a lab tha...

This week — Yellowhead, Red Flags: We discuss the emergence of the Yellowhead Institute, a brand new First Nations think tank; we also look at why it's sounding the alarm over the Liberal government's 'Indigenous Rights, Recognition and Implementation Framework.' S in of Omission: Why did the publisher of a famous Métis autobiography remove references to an alleged rape by an RCMP officer? This we...

Bitumen Buyer Beware? The Canadian government has just announced it will buy the beleaguered Trans Mountain pipeline project. Will their gamble pay off? And who loses if it doesn't? * Trump-aganda! When it comes to a recent boast that Americans "tamed a continent," is POTUS 45 honestly all that brutal compared to other presidents — or just the most brutally honest? Two minutes for stereotyping: a...

Sick and solo: why does Quebec still force northern kids who fly down south for care to do so all alone on air ambulances? Pity porn: we discuss a recent column critiquing the continued categorization of Indigenous people as dead, dying or doomed. Bitter brew: a VICE investigation exposes a Canadian coffee dealer's efforts to support the white supremacist movement. Joining host Rick Harp at the ro...

1. Love for lava: Why some Indigenous people in Hawai'i reject any effort to divert the flow of what others see as the utterly destructive output of the Kilauea volcano. 2. Home away from home: First Nations youth whose only chance for an education is far away in Thunder Bay advocate for a student residence in the city. 3. Living laboratories: a class action lawsuit seeks compensation for decades...

This week // From bad to worse: amid accusations that racism drove an Indigenous dean of law away from Lakehead University, some question why it's replaced her with a judge who jailed anti-mining Native leaders. Uneducated guess: how a white parent's paranoia almost turned two Native teens' dreams of college into a potential nightmare. Decision day: Quebec's Superior Court quashes parts of Kahnawa...

Saddle up for our Settler sexuality sequel! Building on last week's exploration of how Settler norms impact Indigenous notions of intimacy and interpersonal connections, we more explicitly discuss the erotically infused insights of Mohawk/Tuscarora writer, poet and broadcaster Janet Rogers. Insights she shared with our own Kim TallBear (associate professor of Native Studies at the University of Al...

On this week's roundtable: Settler Sexuality . A subject at the heart of two recent talks by our own Kim Tallbear (one at the sex-positive communities event ConvergeCon, the other at SoloPolyCon), we thought we'd use it as an opportunity to take a longer look at an often troubling and taboo topic. In particular, we discuss the insights of her keynote — "Yes, Your Pleasure! Yes, Self-love! And Don'...

1. Who will next lead the AFN? Two candidates say they're set to run; a potential third is thinking about it. We'll review the field of would-be leaders of the Assembly of First Nations. 2. Mutual benefit agreements: we look at what might drive First Nations to sign deals with the company behind the Kinder Morgan 'Trans Mountain' pipeline expansion. 3. Tiny houses: how big of a dent could they mak...

THIS WEEK // Big Steps: How some ancient footprints confirm (y et again) what Indigenous people keep telling scientists —how we've been here for a very, very long time. / A Whale of a Culture: We peek through a window into how Iñupiaq people continue to co-exist with, and connect to, the creatures whose world they share. / ' Take it to the Altar': A viral video vividly illustrates how 'Canada Read...

THIS WEEK // A 'Nope' from the Pope: Why does His Holiness seem wholly against saying sorry for the crimes of Church-run residential schools? / Exoneration Examination: The Canadian government just cleared the name of six First Nations leaders wrongfully sentenced to death in 1864. But was it motivated by justice — or just politics? / Standing Rock North? We look at whether on-the-ground resistanc...

THIS WEEK / 'Sorry' for the racism: As National Geographic tries to atone for its problematic history with non-white people, we assess how much credit (and critique) they deserve. / 'Sorry' for the sexual harassment: As Native American writer Sherman Alexie continues his free-fall amid accusations of mistreating women, we'll read into his story for larger lessons. / 'Sorry' (not sorry) for the jou...

This week, the sound of two Indigenous podcasters podcasting, as MEDIA INDIGENA host/producer Rick Harp sits down with Wayne K. Spear ( waynekspear.com ), a self-described "writing machine" whose prolific nature extends to audio as well. A Six Nations (Haudenosaunee) gentleman from southern Ontario, Wayne's world also includes work in organizational development and executive coaching, often for In...

This week... 1. A fair share of the pot: why a push to tax cannabis on-reserve is itself a taxing debate. 2. Cottage clash: why can't a First Nation get full market value for its lakefront properties from its non-indigenous tenants? 3. Irreconcilable differences: an Indigenous student council says its members are fed up with being little more than an 'economy' to the University of Saskatchewan. Jo...

Once upon a trigger: Did a school board and the media over-react after a parent found a children's book about residential schools upsetting? Dumb pun: a Thunder Bay newspaper says it's sorry for running a headline that makes light of a potential hate crime. Bite your tongues: A B.C. politician criticizes the province for investing more money in Indigenous languages revitalization instead of more c...

This week: A tale of two trials. Late last week, a jury found the man accused of murdering 15-year old Tina Fontaine to be "not guilty." The decision dealt another blow to those still processing the acquittal of the man once charged with the murder of 22-year-old Colten Boushie. Our roundtable is among those still working to process these court decisions, trying to make sense of how the Canadian j...

W ar in the west: as Alberta battles British Columbia over pipeline expansion, we look at whether a new front could open up against First Nations / R evisiting the review of resource projects: the Liberals claim their new bill better includes Indigenous perspectives in the assessment of energy mega-projects. Does it go far enough? / W hat's in a nickname? The US president jeeringly calls her 'Poca...