Unsettled: Journeys in Truth and Conciliation

Send us Fan Mail Prominent music publicist and SiriusXM radio host Eric Alper explores the intersection of the music industry, systemic barriers for Indigenous artists and the way forward for truth and conciliation in Canada. In this conversation with cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee, Alper reflects on his 30-year career, his lifelong passion for the magic of storytelling in music, and...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever stopped to think about what happens when you turn on the tap? University of Calgary researcher Kerry Black certainly has—and is keenly aware of how that access to clean, dependable water separates her from many First Nations families. Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee sit down with the engineer and settler to discuss the great water divide and how it connec...

Send us Fan Mail Ian Smith, director of business development with the University of Alberta's Faculty of Engineering, talks about personal actions and impactful programs that tie into his own truth and conciliation journey. Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee talk with Ian about moments of revelation effective approaches, big and small, to truth and conciliation learning to be a music...

Send us Fan Mail John Desjarlais, a professional engineer who grew up in Cumberland House, Sask., explores the values-based teachings of Indigenous peoples and his own Métis upbringing for pathways into more representative codes of ethics for professional bodies. A proponent of practical approaches to engraining truth and reconcilation (or conciliation or reciprocity) in the lives of all Canadians...

Send us Fan Mail Nicole Weatherly's deep connection to the art and genius of her brother, his challenges and his unique essence underpin the space for change she's created under the banner Superstar X. Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee talk with Nicole about what makes her and her website tick, on the eve of Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and the launch...

Send us Fan Mail Deborah Curran's passion for the environment flows through her psyche and the work she does as a lawyer, an academic and a consultant. "If you met me in my 15-year-old self and drew a line, it would be pretty straight to where I am today," says Curran, a professor with the Faculty of Law and the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. Jessica,...

Send us Fan Mail About 10 years ago, a stranger unwittingly revealed facts about Tom Wilson's adoption, pointing the singer and guitarist with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings towards life-changing truths about his identity. His origins had been hidden from him for more than five decades, even though a sense of not belonging and a recurring dream had made him suspect things were not exactly as the...

Send us Fan Mail When your ancestors speak to you, you should probably listen. And in Mike Bern's case, that means using his talent and voice to honour them, his culture, and the loved ones he's lost. The folk rocker from Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick released the album Ancestors earlier this year, with the single no words for goodbye reaching number one on the Indigenous Music C...

Send us Fan Mail Renowned Blackfoot educator Ramona Big Head talks about overdoses and other tragedies, the ripple effect of residential school abuses through generations and families, and hope. Recent deaths in her community and family "knocked me off my feet," she tells cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee . "I think I'm still processing the magnitude of these losses....

Send us Fan Mail Rooted in her own story of domestic abuse, Kristi Lane Sinclair's album Super Blood Wolf Moon oozes strength, perseverance, pain, and vulnerability. The award-winning Haida-Cree singer-songwriter has released a searing, deeply personal, and profound collection of songs, at once driving and anthemic, wispy and gentle, angsty and orchestral. "I didn't want to write th...

Send us Fan Mail In our Season 3 finale, Jessica and George look back, look ahead, and look around. Their discussion of  how the podcast has affected them and others—and where it might go from here—touches on many of the truth and conciliation challenges Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians continue to face. Support the show Join our Facebook community : www.facebook.com/UnsettledJourneys/ Chec...

Send us Fan Mail For musician and luthier Kevin John of Kaslo, B.C., delving into his Indigenous roots is an important part of his own unfolding story. But it's not everything. The full story, he says, is about who the rest of us are, too, and what we can do individually and collectively to make Canada and the world a better place. Kevin—the writer and performer of the podcast's theme mu...

Send us Fan Mail Her heart told her she needed to connect her work to helping others and making a difference. Calgarian Diana Frost's dreamscape looked after the rest, giving her a fully formed outline for what her future as a social entrepreneur would look like. "I needed to do something I cared about, in order to justify the effort and time," she remembers. "And one morning,...

Send us Fan Mail Are the very constructs of English a barrier on Canada's path to becoming a nation of nations? Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee talk about words—how they serve us, how they fail us, and how they reflect and unlock our identities. Support the show Join our Facebook community : www.facebook.com/UnsettledJourneys/ Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/u...

Send us Fan Mail Learn, listen, write, share—Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee chat about these and other ways to make your 2023 a year of truth and conciliation. Study Indigenization and Indigenous history in your community. Listen to an Indigenous radio station. Journal about your truth and conciliation challenges, successes, and ideas. Regift if you receive something you don't need. Thes...

Send us Fan Mail On the eve of Black Friday, an Indigenous entrepreneur joins co-hosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee to discuss the ins and outs of finding gifts that authentically represent Turtle Island's earliest cultures. Diana Frost, an Algonquin Métis woman, talks about shopping Indigenous in a meaningful way, whether you're online, at a Christmas market, or in a bricks-and-m...

Send us Fan Mail In the second episode of our third season, co-host Jessica Vandenberghe discusses a beautiful and challenging road home. Actually, the July trip took her and her travelling companion, Chris Dennison, through two homelands: the one she grew up in and the one she'd never set eyes on before. Jessica and Chris talk with co-host George Lee about the welcome they received at Dene T...

Send us Fan Mail Our third season launches with co-host Jessica Vandenberghe and her travelling companion Chris Dennison discussing  plans for a summer road trip with special meaning. Jessica is a Sixties Scooper, and this will be her first trip to her homeland, Dene Tha' First Nation, in northern Alberta. Says Jessica: "If I go up there to the north, will something feel like I've b...

Send us Fan Mail Serious about living in a country that can move beyond its colonial machinations? If so, get out of your comfort zone, take some steps to learn about Canada's Indigenous peoples, and advance your own conciliation journey. Those are some of the suggestions business and policy analyst Darryl Lagerquist offers, during a wide-ranging chat with hosts Jessica and George . Darryl, w...

Send us Fan Mail Raylene Whitford has not followed a typical career path. The Edmonton-born Métis woman has trudged around the jungles of Ecuador, the concrete and glass of a five-star hotel in the Middle East, and the corridors of the London Stock Exchange. Oh yeah: she tried roughnecking for a while, too. Now, Raylene is pursuing her doctorate back in Canada, while using her social enterprise Ca...

Send us Fan Mail Co-host George Lee reconnects with a childhood friend from the Syilx, or Okanagan, territory. Arnie Baptiste teaches the Nsyilxcn language for the Penticton Indian Band at Outma Sqilx'w Cultural School. Also featured are cohost Jessica Vandenberghe, a cast of hundreds at an outdoor flea market, and a 10-week-old border collie whose name translates to Black or Dark Moon in Eng...

Send us Fan Mail In this revisted episode, an Indigenous engineer gives his take on creating a better Canada for all its nations and peoples. Jessica and George chat with Steven Vaivada about the roles and approaches of his company, Scout Engineering & Consulting Ltd. You'll also hear about an emerging vision for a utilities and infrastructure corridor that brings together all perspective...

Send us Fan Mail We're celebrating Pride Month and National Indigenous History Month with a rebroadcast of our October 7, 2021, episode. In this episode Jessica and George chat with Lydia Toorenburgh, a two-spirit Métis student from the University of Victoria. Lydia, who studies anthropology, discusses colonial attitudes and practices, inside and outside of academia, along with finding and re...

Send us Fan Mail Co-hosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee reconnect to kick off National Indigenous History Month in Canada and catch up on things they've read and seen, apologies they've heard, and plans they've made for their podcast. Support the show Join our Facebook community : www.facebook.com/UnsettledJourneys/ Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unsettle...

Send us Fan Mail Anyone who thought the Order of Canada would tame Art Bergmann was wrong. Deeply wrong. The singer-songwriter is as biting and anti-establishment as ever, demonstrated by his latest album, Late Stage Dementia Empire, and his unflinching opinions on his country's failings. Jessica and George talk with the veteran of Canada's music scene about residential schools, music, a...