MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs

This week's Indigenous roundtable gets up close and personal with the people behind the show. As 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 Taté Walker. So, exactly who are these people? And if they’re gonna be roundtable regulars, shouldn’t we know a bit more about them first? Answering those questions is what this episode is all about. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

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 "Indigenous Services." But will INAC be cleaved so much as cloned? What does this ostensible re-org actually, concretely mean? In light of this unexpected shift, we’re doing a shift of our own this week to go as deep as possible on exactly these questions with special guests Russ Diabo, a Kahnawake Mohawk analyst, writer and activist, and Peter Di Gangi, a land rights researcher and analyst with Sicani Research. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Ottawa gets a new, Indigenous-only courtroom, but does the evidence support the move? Why critics say electronic welfare cards are being used to police the behaviour of recipients in Australia. How Iqaluit’s new beer and wine store hopes to keep a damper on drinking by customers. Rounding out this week’s Indigenous roundtable are host/producer Rick Harp along with the University of Alberta's Kim TallBear (Native Studies) and Ken Williams (Drama). // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week... Why Indigenous people totally relate to recent violence over icons of intolerance in Charlottesville, Virginia; we get into Guam, a strategic US island colony that found itself smack dab in the middle of nuclear brinkmanship with North Korea; and, Inuk singer Tanya Tagaq adds her voice to calls for the Edmonton Eskimos to change their team’s name. Returning to the roundtable are Lakota activist/communicator Taté Walker, and Kim TallBear, associate professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta.

This week's Indigenous roundtable: a new study seems to solidify the link between homelessness and contact with the child welfare system; new data reveals a disproportionate number of Indigenous deaths due to overdose in British Columbia; and, with the big Santa Fe Indian Art market around the corner, we discuss its approach to the perennial debate over "authentic" Indigenous art. Joining us are Lakota activist and communications professional Taté Walker and Kim TallBear, associate professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week: Starvation, experimentation, segregation and trauma—to Mary Jane McCallum, these four words are critical concepts for any student of Indigenous health history. And she should know: a full professor of history at the University of Winnipeg, McCallum has studied and written about the subject extensively, including a recent article for The Canadian Historical Review. With a title that bears those four same words, McCallum’s piece discusses how these phenomena factor into every encounter of Indigenous people with mainstream health care systems, policies and research practices, and thus continue to racialize and colonize Aboriginal people. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week... the conclusion to our conversation with the authors of the recent article, "White Settler Revisionism and Making Métis Everywhere: The Evocation of Métissage in Québec and Nova Scotia." Scholars Adam Gaudry (Native Studies & Political Science, University of Alberta) and Darryl Leroux (Sociology & Atlantic Canada studies, Saint Mary’s University) return to discuss why this urge of some Settlers to 'play Métis' is a fantasy that could prove fatal to the rights of all Indigenous peoples in Canada. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week… the first in a two-part conversation that confronts the confusion and contention around what it means to be Métis. In their new article, "White Settler Revisionism and Making Métis Everywhere: The Evocation of Métissage in Québec and Nova Scotia." Co-authors Adam Gaudry (University of Alberta) and Darryl Leroux (Saint Mary’s University) argue that moves by some settler communities to insert a "Métis" identity into places and periods they don’t belong—namely, outside the Prairie homelands of the historic Métis Nation—all in an effort to "self-Indigenize," don’t just constitute wrong-headed fantasy, but a real and present danger to genuine Indigenous self-determination. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week… a bit of a mid-summer break from our regular format as we take a deep dive into the fiscal infrastructure of colonialism in Canada. As technocratic as that sounds, our guest expertly deciphers how boring bureaucracy can enable inhumane inequity. Our guide on this journey is Shiri Pasternak, Assistant Professor in Criminology at Ryerson University, and the author of a 5-part series entitled, “Resistance 150: Unsettling Canada’s Hidden Economic Apartheid.” It appears on Ricochet.media, a digital news outlet dedicated to public interest journalism. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week... tempest in a teepee: Indigenous people fight to set up a ceremonial camp on Parliament Hill for Canada Day. Did their actions shine a light on the controversy over Canada 150—or simply stoke the flames of a backlash? We also explore how a press conference meant to educate reporters on why that teepee went up seemingly mutated into a media lecture on how Indigenous people ought to conduct themselves. At the roundtable this week are Kenneth Williams, an assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama, plus Lakota activist and communications professional Taté Walker.