MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs

For our eighth 'MINI' INDIGENA of the season, MI regular Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta) and special guest January Rogers (Mohawk/Tuscarora poet, author, and media producer from Six Nations of the Grand River) join host/producer Rick Harp via the Callin app to discuss: i) Jacqueline Keeler’s recent piece, “Striking Down Roe v. Wade Leaves Native Women and Girls Even More Vulnerable”; ii) why the time may be right for a Mister Indian World competition; iii) how the pro sports team that brought us the ‘Tomahawk Chop’ took it upon themselves to add their voice to National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day; iv) intersections between forced sterilization and criminalizing abortion >> CREDITS: 'Microship' by CavalloPazzo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Gift or grift? When it comes to the spoils of colonialism, perhaps none have been more spoiled than the Hudson’s Bay Company. A 17th century creature of empire which drove a global fur trade, HBC would go on to make itself synonymous with Canada, blanketed in the country’s foundational myths. Along the way, exploiting and extracting all it could from Indigenous lands, waters and peoples. These days, such nationalist nostalgia has taken a bit of a hit, it seems; so too, The Bay’s days of department store dominance. Which may help explain the company’s recent embrace of a novel way to launder its reputation: by handing over one of its most iconic buildings to a First Nations organization. But can this present make up for its past? Will this ultimate fixer-upper help renovate the Relationship—or just expose the gargantuan cracks in its foundations? Joining host/producer Rick Harp to construct an answer to these questions and more are roundtable regular Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama, along with special guest Adele Perry, Distinguished Professor of History and the Director of the Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba. // CREDITS: Our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Another week, another 'MINI' INDIGENA (our seventh of the season), where host/producer Rick Harp is joined by yet another pairing of APTN National News alumni, Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism, University of King’s College) and special guest Tim Fontaine (Editor-in-Grand-Chief of Walking Eagle News) as they all discuss: i) how a brutal editorial cartoon out of Simcoe County, Ontario about the Pope’s so-called 'apology' regarding residential schools has itself prompted not one but two apologies ii) whether anyone's got a decent working definition of decolonization iii) whether 'Reconciliation' is on the brink, if not outright over the edge, of becoming little more than a catch-phrase for Canadians iv) the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe's use of ancient DNA to try and support its claim for federal recognition by the U.S. government // CREDITS: 'Make Love' and 'Everything You Ever Dreamed' by Holizna; 'Clouds' by Lucien Kemper x Fachhochschule Dortmund

For our sixth-ever 'MINI' INDIGENA, host/producer Rick Harp is joined by roundtable regulars—and fellow APTN National News alumni—Ken Williams (assistant professor, University of Alberta’s department of drama) and Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism, University of King’s College) to discuss: i) how some in Maine fear tribes potentially regaining some measure of sovereignty means they'll ‘flex their muscle’ on environmental, fish and wildlife, and economic development; ii) whether the recent haul of hardware by Indigenous creatives at the Canadian Screen Awards means we can now get rid of special ‘Indigenous’ categories; iii) how rampant and illegal poaching threatens wild white sage in California; iv) whether those who toppled the controversial ‘Gassy Jack’ statue in downtown Vancouver were out of line for not first checking with regional Indigenous people >> CREDITS: 'Blueprint' by Jahzzar (CC BY-SA 4.0); ‘In Shadows’ by William Ross Chernoff's Nomads (CC-BY); ‘Feeling Like A Delicate Cookie’ by Captive Portal (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Hardly a day goes by it seems without news of some ‘revolutionary’ A.I.-driven tool ushering in a brave new world. Less said is who’ll be left out or left behind. Which is why, when it comes to Indigenous content, some fear much of artificial intelligence remains superficial ignorance. But can ‘The Cloud’ incorporate culture? Can we Indigenize as we digitize? And can the digital be made relational? Joining host/producer Rick Harp to tangle with these tricky, trippy questions and more are Kim TallBear, professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, and Trina Roache, Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College. // CREDITS: Our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

On our latest 'MINI INDIGENA,' special guest Michael Redhead Champagne (Ininew helper, host, speaker & author) joins roundtable regulars Kim TallBear (University of Alberta Native Studies professor) and host/producer Rick Harp to discuss: i) Is it only propaganda when others do it? The blocking of RT (Russia Today) in some Western countries; ii) How Ukrainian land defenders get to be brave and heroic to Canadian media yet Indigenous defenders don’t; iii) Helper, organizer, advocate, rebel—a look at the roles we each can play in movement-building; iv) A sneak peek of We Need Everyone, Michael's forthcoming book that seeks to “empowers kids to find their gifts & use them to strengthen community.” >> CREDITS: 'Absorb' by James Hammond (CC BY-SA 3.0)

How should we speak of safety in society? How ought we to understand and manage the origins of risk? And in doing so, where might we position police’s role in producing either? Depending on who you talk to, “experiences may vary.” Now a new report out of Atlantic Canada’s largest urban centre proposes much less of a role for police in the larger justice equation—in some respects, no role at all. Prepared for no less than the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, the report puts meat on the bones of the contentious concept of defunding. Joining host/producer Rick Harp this week: activist, artist and scholar El Jones, Assistant Professor of Political and Canadian Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University, and one of the lead authors of Defunding the Police: Defining the Way Forward for HRM [Halifax Regional Municipality]. Also at the table this episode, Trina Roache, the Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College. // CREDITS: Our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week: the occupation of Ottawa. And as truckers and others continue to crash Canada's capital and beyond, it’s striking (if not surprising) to watch how these protests have been handled—or not—providing a stark contrast to the often paramilitarized approach taken to Indigenous-led direct actions. Remember the outcry over critical infrastructure, said to be under siege by extremist Indian insurgents? Perspective is everything it seems, and amidst multiple cities' ongoing troubles with truckers, our Indigenous roundtable shares theirs. Joining host/producer Rick Harp this week are Ken Williams (assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama) and Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta), a conversation we recorded the afternoon of February 8, 2022. // CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

On our fourth-ever 'MINI INDIGENA,' the quick + quippy edition of the podcast, special guest Q. Anthony Omene (cultural and political commentator with the Rezistans Nwa media network) joins roundtable regulars Kim TallBear (University of Alberta Native Studies professor) and host/producer Rick Harp to discuss: i) the politics, optics and ethics of citing those who have "fallen from grace"; ii) the increasingly odd directions taken with land or territorial acknowledgments in the U.S.; iii) the political/historical notes struck by the new Disney series "The Book of Boba Fett"; iv) Q's follow-up reaction to our latest deep dive, "U.S.A. R.I.P.?" >> CREDITS: 'Microship' by CavalloPazzo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How would you write a eulogy for the United States? Oh, you didn’t realize it was on death’s door? Guess you didn’t read the Globe and Mail over the holidays, when it published no less than six opinion pieces postulating no less than an imminent U.S. civil war. A civil war most agreed Canada needs to plan for. But is this really the twilight’s last gleaming for U.S. Empire? Would American apocalypse trigger Canadian cataclysm? Joining host/producer Rick Harp to flesh out these fretful settler scenarios and what they might (or might not) imply for Indigenous interests on both sides of the border are Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama and Kim TallBear, U of A professor in the Faculty of Native Studies and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment. // CREDITS: ​​​​"A quiet action sequence," by Sami Hiltunen; our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.