MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs

It was a much-anticipated verdict in a much-discussed case: the 2016 shooting death of 22-year-old Colten Boushie, a member of the Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan. His accused killer: 56-year-old white farmer Gerald Stanley, charged with second-degree murder. A charge he was acquitted of last Friday evening, much to the shock, disgust, sadness and outrage of Indigenous people everywhere....

This week: Toodle-loo Wahoo! The majorly racist logo of a major league baseball team is knocked out of the park in Cleveland... sort of. Turfed by Trudeau: The PM's cross country road show gets awkward when so-called 'hecklers' are shown the heck out. Media victim-blaming: Recent headlines about a 15-year old girl seem to put her on trial as much as her accused killer. Joining host Rick Harp this...

This week: The trial of Gerald Stanley, the man accused in the shooting death of Colten Boushie. We'll look at who gets to be on the jury, and who doesn't. Raw numbers: A report leaked to the media reveals just how much governments shortchange First Nations child welfare services in Manitoba. And, the sound of silence: a political activist who would only speak Hawaiian in court finds a seriously u...

This week: the 'Change the Date' debate. We discuss what seems to have been the most controversial Australia Day yet. Plus, divine intervention? As the Chilean government turns up the heat, why would the Pope push the Mapuche to turn the other cheek? And: bison on the brink? It's an animal many still revere — now, a scientist raises fresh concerns about its future. Joining host Rick Harp this week...

This week.. Politician contrition: an Alberta MLA walks back some sweeping off-hand comments about Aboriginal voter behaviour in his riding; A f lyer full of ire: anonymous posters at an Atlantic university proclaim Indigenous people to be the overwhelming "beneficiaries," not the "victims" of European culture. Debunking denial: W e take a deep dive into the playbook of White 'Denialism.' Brock Pi...

This week: Beyak Booted — A Canadian senator's website gets her kicked out of the Conservative Party for controversial content about Indigenous people. Speech impediment —Why would the Nova Scotia government push a school board to re-word its territorial acknowledgement? Under-'PrEP-ed' — Did Indigenous health advocates in BC drop the ball when it came to promoting a drug that helps prevent HIV? /...

This week: #NativeTwitter — more than just a hashtag? Can its influence be felt off-line? Or is it simply a case of tweeting to the choir? Seal for sale — Facebook reverses its refusal of seal-skin-related items on its platform. Split-shooter — a British Columbia court rules that a U.S.-based Indigenous man can legally hunt in Canada because his people's territory pre-dates the border. B ack at th...

  The second of our two-part look back and look ahead on the year almost behind us and the 12 months to come. What is, or what could be, their Indigenous significance? Back at our special four-member roundtable are Ken Williams, an assistant professor with the University of Alberta's department of drama, Kim TallBear, associate professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, and Brock Pi...

What made 2017 a year of Indigenous significance? What might be in store for 2018?  This week's show assembles the fulsome foursome for this year-end exercise, one that will take two episodes to manage. J oining host Rick Harp for all this heavy lifting are  Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's department of drama, fellow  U of A scholar Kim TallBear (associate profes...

Vote vice: we scrutinize the story of a Saskatchewan First Nation politician accused of buying votes with drugs, and muse over how media framing of stories about Indigenous corruption compares to coverage of mainstream political shenanigans ; H arm reduction on the rez: we explore the promise of a public health approach to drug addiction; ' Hawks hoax: will an online prank about the name of Washin...

Monumental fight: US President Trump announces he'll significantly shrink the boundaries of two protected areas in the state of Utah, despite their deep significance to multiple tribes. Urban plot : How Indigenous women in one California city hope to use a non-profit land trust to re-take territory, one piece at a time. Getting reproductive rights reductively wrong ? A politician hoping to lead Sa...

Make BC 'Site C' free: A new summary of research into the mega-hydro project produces a flood of arguments against its completion. Will British Columbia's coalition government listen? H ome is where the hurt is: Rules preventing non-Indigenous people from residing on the Kahnawake reserve are now being challenged in court by some of its Mohawk members. A bsent audience: Canada's auditor general cl...

1. We pore over a poll showing Native Americans who live in "majority-Native areas" in the U.S. face greater mistreatment than anyone else. 2. Pro-development = anti-Indian, or the other way around? We mine recent media narratives that declare environmentalists and First Nations at odds over resource extraction. 3. Breaking the boys club: we discuss musician and poet Joy Harjo speaking out on her...

This week, an extended conversation with Sarah de Leeuw, co-author of the recent paper , Turning a new page: cultural safety, critical creative literary interventions, truth and reconciliation, and the crisis of child welfare. Written with Margo Greenwood, the paper was produced as part of their work at the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health, where Sarah is a Research Associate, M...

1. Downhill and out: Canada's highest court rules against an Indigenous sacred site in favour of a ski resort. 2. White Hot: Conservative Twitter goes ballistic over a white professor's claims that the white nuclear family reproduces white supremacy. 3. Re-Con: We check in on the second-ever Indigenous Comic Convention. Returning to the roundtable are Lakota activist and communications professiona...

1. No joke: Why some racist Halloween stunts have people at one Alberta university upset (if not all that surprised). 2. Re-definition: Can expanding and enriching what homelessness means for Indigenous people help yield better responses? 3. S torm clouds: Why has an award-winning video game about a Thunderbird sparked some political rumblings? Back at the table this week are Brock Pitawanakwat, a...

1. Hatin' on Halloween? Why a non-native writer feels her 4-year-old was cheated of the chance to dress up as " a native princess." 2. Beothuk babble: Is an east coast Indigenous people reducible to their DNA? Some archaeologists and journalists seem to think so. 3. Another meal of seal: We'll digest your comments about our earlier chat regarding one restaurant's traditional menu. Back at the roun...

1. In name only: How did an Ontario city manage to strike up an Indigenous working group—minus any Indigenous people? 2. Ciao, chief! As a gesture of what it calls reconciliation, a school board decides it needs to drop the word "chief" from all of its employees' job titles. 3. Book bind: After a number of contributors pull out of an Aboriginal anthology over the inclusion of an author convicted o...

1. Taste Testy: How the introduction of traditional foods in mainstream settings have inspired some, and incited others; 2. Bad Optics? A massive telescope gets the green light on the island of Hawai'i over the objections of local Indigenous people; 3. Settlement for Survivors: Canada offers $800 million to victims of the Sixties Scoop, but critics claim it's inadequate in more ways than one. Retu...

1. Unfair Share: A group of First Nations take Canada and Ontario to court for not honouring a 167-year-old promise to top up treaty payments as resource revenues rise. 2. CAP Kerfuffle : Is the leader of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples even Aboriginal? 3. Shameful or Shameless? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tells the United Nations that the "failure of successive Canadian governments to respec...

Has there been a media "witch-hunt" of Wab Kinew? A high-profile supporter has sounded a resounding 'yes.' But does the critique imply some Indigenous women are part of the pile-on? Multiple choice, singularly stupid: A BC parent is outraged after her 14-year old is assigned a test asking students to select the correct slur for an Aboriginal woman. Fashion fabrication: Yet another non-Indigenous d...

This week... Kinew Conundrum : will old assault charges against the new leader of Manitoba's New Democratic Party divide the Indigenous community? TB Plea : HIV/AIDS advocate Stephen Lewis issues a passionate call for the feds to step up their response to tuberculosis among Inuit. Unhappy Anniversary : a recent national magazine article suggests that, one year on, the missing and murdered women's...

Fight of the Freedmen : Has a court victory for the descendants of ex-slaves of the Cherokee guaranteed the return of their citizenship? Casting controversy : Why Adam Beach wants other Aboriginal actors to boycott a new television series. Out of Print : why it looks very much like there's no tomorrow for Indian Country Today . Joining host/producer Rick Harp are Kim TallBear, associate professor...

This week's Indigenous roundtable gets up close and personal with the people behind the show. A s long-time listeners know, we at the podcast have brought you a wealth of voices on a variety of topics, week after week. But, as of this very episode, we're pleased to announce a shift to a more permanent roster: joining host/producer Rick Harp are  Brock Pitawanakwat, Ken Williams, Kim Tallbear and T...

Double the fun or double trouble? Seemingly out of nowhere, the federal Liberals have decided to re-arrange the political furniture as part of a late summer shuffle of their Cabinet. What is now Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada will be cleaved in two—in future, First Nations will have to deal with the department of "Crown-Indigenous relations and Northern Affairs" and the department of "Indi...