MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs

For the third time in 9 months, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the federal government to end its discriminatory practice of inequitably funding child welfare services on-reserve. The Tribunal’s initial ruling happened in January, the result of a 2007 human rights complaint. But despite Indigenous Affairs Canada being told to "immediately remove the most discriminatory aspects of [its] funding schemes" for First Nations agencies, the federal government has failed to show the Tribunal how it’s done so. Will this latest order to comply make a difference? Joining us with her observations is lawyer Maggie Wente, part of the legal team advising the Chiefs of Ontario, which has "interested party" status at these proceedings.

According to The Guardian, it's a discovery that "challenges the accepted history behind one of polar exploration’s deepest mysteries." This week, 168 years after it sank, a ship once captained by the famous British explorer Sir John Franklin seems to have finally been found. Known as the HMS Terror, it was one of two large crafts used by the ill-fated Franklin expedition, now the stuff of legend for both Britain and its colonial offspring, Canada. But amidst these tales of Terror's ruin and reported recovery in Arctic waters, we might ask where Arctic people fit into all of this. Our guest this episode is Kisha Supernant, an anthropological archaeologist and associate professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. // Our theme is 'nesting,' by birocratic.

This week: Standing up for the Standing Rock Sioux. For the US state of North Dakota, massive deposits of unconventional oil have brought much prosperity for some, great pain to others. In a bid to get even more of that oil to market, a new project is underway: the Dakota Access Pipeline. But the 1900 km, $3.8 billion project has long been opposed by local Indigenous people, the Standing Rock Sioux, who argue any spill would both devastate regional water sources and desecrate sites of spiritual significance. Pipeline proponents claim it will boost jobs, revenues, even safety, when compared to oil moved by rail or road. My guest this week has been an ardent follower of this struggle. A member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe in neighbouring South Dakota, Taté Walker is the editor of Native Peoples magazine.

According to preliminary new data released this week, Indigenous people in Canada are 10 times more likely to use an emergency shelter than their non-Indigenous counterparts. That's according to the National Shelter Study, a decade-long look at the use of emergency shelter beds across the country. And for the first time ever, the study has tracked stats according to Indigenous identity. Our guest this week is Jesse Thistle, a graduate student of history who once spent much of his young adulthood in and out of homelessness and addiction. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

If families form the bedrock of Indigenous peoples, it seems Canada has devoted decades to their fracture and fragmentation. And, as child advocate Cindy Blackstock notes, were we to label the forced institutionalization of children in faraway residential schools as 'phase one' of that fracturing, the subsequent removal of generations of kids into the homes of non-Aboriginal strangers in the 1960s could be called 'phase two.' The so-called 'Scoop' removed thousands of kids from a number of provinces. But, this week, it was an Ontario court that heard the latest phase of a class action suit seeking compensation for what survivors say Canada denied them: rightful access to "Aboriginal customs, traditions and practices." Our guest is Raven Sinclair, associate professor of social work at the University of Regina, and a Scoop survivor herself.

Senseless, tragic and disturbing: words that rush to mind upon hearing the news of last week’s killing of Colten Boushie. A 22-year-old resident of the Red Pheasant First Nation in western Canada, Boushie was shot to death after he and four other Indigenous young people drove onto the property of 54-year-old, non-Indigenous farmer Gerald Stanley in hopes of getting help with a flat tire. What happened next is still under investigation, but that hasn’t stopped some from drawing and sharing their own hurtful and hateful conclusions via social media. Our guests this week both hail from Saskatchewan: Tasha Hubbard is a documentarian and assistant professor of English at the University of Saskatchewan; Chris Andersen is interim dean at the University of Alberta’s faculty of Native Studies. They share their thoughts as to what Boushie's death—and its contentious aftermath—might tell us about the state of Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations in that province and beyond. // Our theme: 'nesting' by Birocratic.

Will it happen again? Will someone portrayed on-screen by Aboriginal actor Adam Beach be quickly dispensed with, leaving us next to no time to really know his character? According to our guest this week, it's been something of a pattern for Mr. Beach—indeed, it's a fate faced by all too many Indigenous actors in Hollywood, as they appear all too briefly in mainstream television and film productions. Cutcha Risling Baldy is an Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies at San Diego State University. She's also the author of the 2015 blog post, "I Can't Believe You Keep Killing Off Adam Beach, NBC: Gender, Representation, Settler Colonialism and Native Cameos on Television." In the course of exploring what's at stake in how Indigenous people are represented by the major studios, we'll also discuss whether Beach's latest role as SlipKnot in the summer superhero flick, "Suicide Squad," breaks with the pattern she's described. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

When loved ones die, there’s no question who suffers most—their families. And of those who pushed hardest for the newly-launched National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, none fought more fiercely than the relatives of these stolen sisters. Now some of those families have been left disappointed by the details of its terms of reference. Such concerns are echoed by groups like the Native Women’s Association of Canada and Pauktuutit, who say there are fundamental flaws in the Inquiry’s scale and scope. Joining us this week with her reflections is Pam Palmater, Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University in Toronto. // Our theme is 'nesting' by Birocratic.

According to the WHO, food security is “when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” In Canada's north, food access and affordability are critical issues—especially for many Indigenous communities—and government subsidies seem to only go so far. Madeleine Redfern, mayor of Iqaluit (Nunavut's capital city), discusses her territory's challenges with food insecurity and how the 'Nutrition North' subsidy program might be improved to better serve Inuit. // Our theme is 'nesting' by Birocratic.  

This week on the program: Inaction on the Indian Act. Derided for decades, it’s hung in there as one of Canada’s oldest laws. Now there are hints from the federal Justice Minister that its days could be numbered... just not right away. Joining us with her thoughts on the delayed dismantling of the Act is Naomi Sayers, a law student active in legal reform and education who writes under the banner of kwetoday.com.// Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.