
Unreserved
CBC Podcasts & Radio On-Demand
Unreserved is the radio space for Indigenous voices – our cousins, our aunties, our elders, our heroes. Rosanna Deerchild guides us on the path to better understand our shared story. Together, we learn and unlearn, laugh and become gentler in all our relations.
Location:
Canada, ON
Networks:
CBC Podcasts & Radio On-Demand
Description:
Unreserved is the radio space for Indigenous voices – our cousins, our aunties, our elders, our heroes. Rosanna Deerchild guides us on the path to better understand our shared story. Together, we learn and unlearn, laugh and become gentler in all our relations.
Twitter:
@cbcradio
Language:
English
Website:
http://www.cbc.ca/unreserved
Episodes
Two-Spirit artivists share two ways of seeing the world
12/8/2023
ʔasqanaki is a Ktunaxa word that means to tell two versions of the same story. It’s also the name of a new podcast that shares this traditional world view. Host, Smokii Sumac - Ktunaxa and transmasculine poet - speaks with Indigenous storytellers and creators. They talk on topics ranging from representation to sexuality; from language learning to aunties teaching. After learning to see himself in a new way Smokii Sumac hopes to help others look at the world differently through ʔasqanaki. She’s larger than life in Louboutin heels, a fabulous wardrobe and she came from the stars to save us all with love! Miss Chief Eagle Testickle is the shape-shifting, time-traveling elemental alter-ego of Kent Monkman. The renowned Cree artist is known for his larger than life paintings and films that feature Miss Chief. She has sashayed through his canvases challenging Canada’s narrative for 20 years, but we have never known Miss Chief’s story - until now. The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island (Vol 1 and 2) are the visually stunning and salacious memoirs created by Monkman and long-time collaborator Gisele Gordon.
Duration:00:46:11
Healing After Harm: The Buffy Sainte-Marie Investigation
12/1/2023
A month has passed since the investigation into Buffy Sainte-Marie rocked the Indigenous community. The CBC’s Fifth Estate aired the investigative documentary on Friday, October 27th. It cast doubts about the iconic musicians Indigenous identity. In the end the report labeled her a “Pretendian," the term used to describe people whose claims of Indigenous identity have been found false or built on distant family lineage. The report was a bombshell and it hit the Indigenous community hard. Those with connections to Indigenous communities say the story has caused harm and division. Today, we make space for grief: to mourn what Buffy meant in the Indigenous community, to learn why stories like this do so much harm and find out where the Indigenous-led solutions lie to find our way forward. Lori Campbell is using her roles as the Associate Vice-President of Indigenous Engagement at the University of Regina and as a community Aunty to keep dialogue open, and counter the negative comments and conversations that divide. Michelle Cyca is a journalist who has been part of identity investigations in the past. She wrote an exposé for Maclean's magazine about Gina Adams, artist and former professor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. But now she says she’s growing increasingly uncomfortable with the way the media – and the world – delivers and digests pretendian investigations while ignoring the bigger issues. Shaneen Robinson is the Indigenous Music Development Coordinator at Manitoba Music. In her industry, Indigenous music makers are coming together to talk about the pain and the solutions to the pretendian problem in the music world.
Duration:00:54:09
The Root of it
11/24/2023
This week, we chef up some Indigenous cuisine! Share in the spirit – and the science – of cooking with pre-contact ingredients. Unreserved associate producer Aicha Smith-Belghaba also happens to be a chef and it didn’t take us long to see her passion for Indigenous foods. Join us in the kitchen for our first cooking video, as Aicha cooks up decolonial dishes. On the menu: Sweetgrass Tea, Lyed Corn Berry Parfait and Sister Salmon Cannelloni. While Aicha and I chef it up, she’ll introduce us to some fellow foodies in her community of Six Nations, a Mohawk reserve teeming with people working to decolonize their diets. Chandra Maracle is a traditional food researcher from Six Nations. She says a Haudenosaunee approach to food is an essential part of healthy living. Her research focuses on the nutritional qualities of pre contact food – especially as it relates to motherhood. Deyowidron’t Morrow is a Haudenosaunee dietitian and the chair of the Aboriginal Nutrition Network of Dietitians of Canada. The Six Nations foodie combines her work as a dietician with the traditional food knowledge of her ancestors. Concerned about how often we’re eating colonized food like white flour, milk and sugar, Deyo set out return people to Nation-specific eating, based on the uniqueness of land, culture and tradition.
Duration:00:54:09
Waubgeshig Rice live in Toronto
11/17/2023
When the apocalypse hits – the best place to be might be the rez! This week, a special presentation of Unreserved: A live studio interview with Anishinaabe author and journalist Waubgeshig Rice on his latest novel, Moon of The Turning Leaves, recorded at the Bram and Bluma Appel Salon in the Toronto Public Library on October 18, 2023. Waubgeshig Rice takes us back into a world he first dreamed up after his own "end of days" moment: A world that fell into chaos after the lights went out but where an Anishinaabe family survives by returning to the land. Moon of the Turning Leaves is the sequel to his 2018 best seller Moon of the Crusted Snow. In that book Evan Whitesky and his small northern reserve deal with the fall-out after a mysterious black out. But we don’t know why it went dark or what happened to the rest of the world. Find out the answers and why Waub says, Indigenous people have already survived their own apocalypse.
Duration:00:49:04
Honouring our Indigenous Veterans
11/10/2023
From museums and monuments to letters and laughs shared around the dinner table, Indigenous veterans are being remembered across Turtle Island. Take a walk with us through the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, where Canada’s military history is told. Indigenous Military Historian Danielle Teillet is our guide. She tells us why so many chose to fight, what they were fighting for and recounts some of the common experiences she's heard from Indigenous veterans. Then we head to Labrador where Heather Campbell passes on the stories of her great great uncle John Shiwak, an Inuk soldier in the first World War. Heather knows his story well because she has been learning about him since she was a little girl. To Heather he is “Uncle John” and her family has been honoring his memory for over one hundred years. And, we land south of the medicine line in Exeter, Rhode Island to visit the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery where a beautiful stone monument honouring Indigenous Veterans now stands. That’s thanks to Lorén Spears, co-chair of the Honouring Indigenous Veterans of Turtle Island Committee and the executive director of the Tomaquag Museum. The monument is the first to honour Indigenous Veterans, even though Native Americans have fought in every war since confederation.
Duration:00:50:49
Two books, forty years of resistance
11/3/2023
This week, In Search of April Raintree celebrates 40 years and a new essay collection traces 40 years of history of Indigenous resistance in Winnipeg. In 1983 Beatrice Mosionier wrote a book about two sisters - separated by the child welfare system; one embraces her Métis identity, the other tries to leave it behind. Much of their journey mirrored Beatrice’s own life. She reflects on how she drew on those memories and how the book inspired a generation of storytellers. Forty years later - her seminal novel - In Search of April Raintree is still a must read. Winnipeg has a long history of grassroots organizing. Many of those groups have been led by women like Kathy Mallett. Kathy is one of the editors and writers behind Indigenous Resistance and Development in Winnipeg 1960-2000. The book traces the growth of Indigenous-led groups, including the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre which she helped create in 1984. Kathy wanted to change the child welfare system to include rather than exclude Indigenous participation in decision making.
Duration:00:50:19
Two films about tomorrow
10/20/2023
Jules Koostachin is a Cree filmmaker from Attawapiskat First Nation. Her new documentary WaaPaKe explores how children of Residential School Survivors “survive the survivor.” Her mother, Rita Okimawininew is a residential school survivor and is at the heart of the film documentary and the heart of Jules’ own story– because so much of her mother’s story has influenced her own. It’s a part of the legacy of Residential Schools but one that is still finding its voice. Let The River Flow is a historical drama by Sami Norwegian filmmaker Ole Giaever. It gives us a glimpse into the Sami struggle for land and cultural survival. The Alta Conflict in Norway saw the Sami people fight back against a dam construction that threatened not just their culture but their very lives. Ester is a young Sami woman but she was raised Norwegian and encouraged by her family to conceal her Sami identity. That all changes when she gets involved as a protester in Alta. Along the way, Ester finds herself and reclaims her Sami identity.
Duration:00:46:43
The Returning of Names
10/13/2023
As Indigenous people our connection to the land is at the core of who we are. Every river, lake and piece of land had a name and a story. It might tell us what the land looked like, who lived there or whether the area had good hunting and fishing ground; stories handed down and remembered. Since early contact, our lands have been renamed by Canada’s settlers. Many of our traditional place names were erased and replaced. Some names were derogatory like Killsquaw Lake in Saskatchewan. Other names are a reminder of a dark history like Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway in Ottawa or Avenue Christophe-Colomb in Montreal. But now that is changing, or rather name-changing. Alestine Andre is a Gwich’in researcher from Tsiigehtshic, formerly known as Arctic Red River. Ingrid Kritsch is an anthropologist and archaeologist from Ontario. For the last 30 years, the duo have been interviewing Gwich’in Elders, and used their knowledge to return about 1000 place names to their traditional territory. Christopher Columbus is often credited with “discovering” the “New World.” Once celebrated as a great explorer – his legacy has shifted from discoverer to invader. But his monuments still stand in many streets, parks, towns and cities. That’s what brings Kahnawake – Mohawk Sean French to march along Avenue Christophe-Colomb . He plans to continue marching until the name of the street is changed. Changing a place name can also heal and repair relations because as Kellie Wuttunee says, names have power. The Cree lawyer from Saskatchewan pulled over to the side of a lake one day in 2017. She looked up to check where she was, a sign read: Killsquaw Lake. That started Kellie on a 2 year mission to change the derogatory name. The traditional territory of the Algonquin people is also known as Ottawa - the Capital of Canada. That’s where you’ll find many references to Canada’s first Prime Minister: Sir John A. Macdonald. While he is rightly memorialized as such, he also had a darker history. Macdonald was the architect of the Indian Act - federal legislation that governs “status Indians” and life on reserves. He also oversaw the expansion of the residential school system. That's why Algonquin poet and storyteller Albert Dumont wanted the name changed. Last September 30, he gave notice to the National Capital Commission - the board that decides on name changes. Dumont said he would protest the parkway that year - and every year until it was renamed.
Duration:00:54:09
The Little Bird Story of the 60s Scoop
10/6/2023
During the “Sixties Scoop” thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their families. These children were forced into the child welfare system and often placed in non-Indigenous homes. The exact number of children taken, of families torn apart, varies – it’s estimated that over 20,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were removed during the Scoop. But many still don’t know this story. Enter: Little Bird. Little Bird is the first television series to explore the Sixties Scoop. It is available on CRAVE, APTN Lumi and will soon air on PBS. This six-part award-winning series follows Esther, raised in a Jewish family but born Bezhig to an Ojibway family, as she searches for her birth family and discovers the truths of her past. The Little Bird family shows us what life was like for many Indigenous people living on the prairies, until a government policy left a path of destruction that devastated families, communities and cultures – the wake of which continues to be felt today. Four of the Indigenous women behind the series take us behind the scenes. Producer/Creator Jennifer Podemski is Saulteaux/Ojibway and Jewish and says it is not “any one person's story” but is reflective of many Sixties Scoop stories. Directors/Writers, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot and Sámi) and Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Heiltsuk and Mohawk) were more like Aunties, taking great care on the set of the series to make sure everyone felt safe to tell this story. Darla Contois is the star of Little Bird in the role of Esther/Bezhig. The Cree-Saulteaux actor from Misipawistik Cree Nation says she brought her own family's experience with the Scoop to inform her role.
Duration:00:54:09
Phyllis Webstad and her orange shirt
9/29/2023
It's Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. September 30th is a day to talk about the effects of Residential Schools; about the trauma that continues to ripple across Turtle Island. It’s a day that honors the experiences of Indigenous survivors, celebrates our resilience and affirms a now familiar phrase: every child matters. It started with an orange shirt. Taken from a little girl in residential school. Every year on September 30 that little girl tells her story. Phyllis Webstad was 6 years old when she was forced to leave her Secwpemc community - Canoe Creek Indian Band - and attend St. Joseph's Mission, near Williams Lake, BC. For the occasion, her grandmother bought her a new orange shirt. But it was taken away from her when she arrived at the school. Phyllis has been sharing the story of her orange shirt for ten years now. She’s written several books about it, including her latest called, Every Child Matters. St. Joseph's Mission operated for nearly a hundred years. It closed in 1981 but many children never returned home. Since St. Joseph’s closed there have been two separate investigations using ground-penetrating radar. One-hundred-fifty-nine potential burial sites were detected on the school grounds. On September 5th of this year, Williams Lake First Nation purchased the site. Chief Willie Sellars of Williams Lake First Nations says they want to ensure the integrity of investigations into children who disappeared while attending the school.
Duration:00:45:30
Music That Carries Truth
9/29/2023
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an opportunity for Canadians to listen to the wisdom coming from Indigenous communities: to learn and unlearn our shared story. Music is a powerful way to share it. Music That Carries Truth was recorded live at CBC Manitoba Studio 11 and features music and conversation with Nadia and Jason Burnstick (Burnstick) and Sebastian Gaskin. It’s folk music that brims with the kind of chemistry that could only come from a husband and wife. Nadia, a Francophone-Métis singer-songwriter, and Jason, a Plains-Cree guitarist, are award-winning duo: Burnstick. Two performers whose voices and musicality blend together with ease. They share songs from their album KÎYÂNAW, Cree for Us and the inspiration behind their music. Plus, they debut a new single: Made of Sin is a powerful response to the 215 graves of children found at Kamloops Indian Residential School at Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc in BC. Sebastian Gaskin is a multi-instrumentalist R&B Singer-Songwriter from Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake). Sebastian writes and self produces music that is anything but formulaic, thanks to eclectic musical tastes in R&B, Hip Hop, Metal,and Punk. Their first EP - Contradictions was released in 2019 and they were recently signed to Indigenous owned record label Ishkōdé Records. The last generation to attend Residential school in their family, Sebastian shares songs and tells us how music saved their life.
Duration:00:54:09
Coming Home
9/22/2023
This week, we learn how history, culture and science can all play a role in bringing people home. For decades, policies like the Sixties Scoop saw thousands of children fostered or adopted out to non-Indigenous families. Now, thanks to DNA detectives, resilience research and mapping projects Indigenous adoptees are finding their way home. You might remember Dean Lerat from last season. He’s an RCMP officer by day and DNA Detective by night. Dean helps people in his community find the families they were separated from by using their DNA. We catch up with Dean at Cowessess First Nation pow wow where he is still busy reuniting families. That's where Rachael Lerat comes in. No relation to Dean but thanks to his detective work she has found her way here. Rachael came to Cowessess First Nation to reconnect with her mom’s side of the family, but also to seek out new connections to her biological father. That journey brought her somewhere completely unexpected! Listen to find out why. Colleen Hele-Cardinal hopes to lead Sixties Scoop adoptees back to their families, communities and themselves by literally drawing a map. As the co-founder of the Sixties Scoop Network, she created an online interactive map so adoptees can upload and share their stories. And she has her own story to tell: Colleen and her two sisters were taken 2000 kilometers away from Edmonton, Alberta to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario as part of the Sixties Scoop. Since reconnecting with her biological family, she now knows she is from Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta. Amy Bombay researches the impacts of residential school and how trauma gets passed down from generation to generation. She was a guest on Unreserved eight years ago. She’s back to tell us what her research reveals about something else passed from generation to generation: resilience.
Duration:00:46:17
Cafe Daughter: The Honourable Dr. Lillian Dyck
9/14/2023
Cafè Daughter is a movie inspired by the life of a little girl with a secret that would drive her passion for science, advocacy, and ultimately lead her back home. At 78 years old the Honourable Dr. Lillian Eva Dyck is a former Canadian Senator, a highly respected neuroscientist, and a champion of Indigenous rights. Born in 1945 to a Chinese father and a Cree mother, Lillian grew up in small-town Saskatchewan working at her family's cafè. As a residential school survivor, her mother Eva was taught to be ashamed of her Cree identity and encouraged her children to keep that part of who they were hidden. Lillian’s life inspired first a play, and in October, a feature film called Cafè Daughter. The film is an adaptation of a play of the same name, by Cree playwright Kenneth T. WIlliams. Both Lillian and Kenneth are members of George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan and Kenneth says it was a fateful encounter with the former senator that sparked his creative flame. Mohawk filmmaker and director Shelley Niro was immediately drawn to the story because it reflected much of her own experiences. The same thing happened to Keith Lock, one of the first Chinese-Canadian filmmakers in Canada. He has been involved with Cafè Daughter since its early development as a play.
Duration:00:54:09
Search the Landfill
9/8/2023
This week, a powerful season opener featuring a daughter leading a resistance with a call to Search The Landfill. Cambria Harris is the daughter of Morgan Harris, one of four Indigenous women who Winnipeg police say was murdered by the same man. Morgan is believed to be buried in the Prairie Green Landfill, along with a second woman Marcedes Myron. Police were led to a serial killer after the remains of Rebecca Contois were discovered in a city garbage bin and at the Brady Landfill. The remains of a fourth woman - named by the community as Buffalo Woman - is still unknown. Listen, as Cambria invites us into her home. She shares personal memories of her mother who “always made time for us,” despite a system that kept them apart and why, at only 22 she is leading the call to bring all of these women home. Come gather around the sacred fire burning at Camp Marcedes in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Hear why demonstrators from across Turtle Island are organizing now around the issue of MMIWG2S+ and calling on authorities to search a Winnipeg landfill. Firekeeper, Goldstar, welcomes us to the sacred fire at Camp Marcedes and explains why he keeps the flame burning. Jorden Myran says she is at the camp for her sister, Marcedes Myran, whose “bright smile could light up a room.” And Helper, Danielle Pelletier who lost a cousin to violence, supports, educates and comforts those who come to fire. Please take care while listening to this episode.
Duration:00:54:08
Star people
6/23/2023
Nicole Mann and NASA made history this past October when Mann became the first Indigenous woman in space. A member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Nicole rocketed into orbit 20 years after Chickasaw astronaut John Herrington became the first Indigenous person in space. She spent 157 days on the International Space Station as the mission commander and conducted research and experiments to prepare for explorations to the moon and Mars. Wilfred Buck is a star Knowledge Keeper from Opaskwayak Cree Nation and he’s on a mission to restore Indigenous knowledge of the universe. This Canada Day, the author of Tipiskawi Kisik: Night Sky Star stories, shares the Cree knowledge of Keewatin over the Winnipeg skyline. But if you think fireworks are the main event? Think again. Wilfred is using new tech to tell ancient stories - drones. Jennifer Howse is an Education Specialist at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory at the University of Calgary, nestled in the Foothills of the Rockies. Jennifer, who is Métis from Alberta, reveals the night skies to young people - as a way to reveal their connection to the stars. Using a giant telescope, she shows them bright stars and distant planets that some have never seen before. Connecting youth to the constellations helps her teach them about the impacts of light pollution.
Duration:00:52:16
The art of the mash-up
6/16/2023
This week, we speak with two Indigenous artists who mash-up traditional with contemporary as a way to carry on culture Joshua De Perry, a member of Long Lake 58 First Nation, is a fancy dancer who you might see strutting his traditional style at a pow wow. But he’s just as comfortable on a dance floor break-dancing to the beat of his own music. Also known as Classic Roots, the music producer and DJ blends pow wow and electronic music to create pow wow techno. And that’s not his only mash-up. During his DJ sets - Joshua also wears his colourful regalia - his feather bustle bouncing to the heavy hitting beats. Carrie Okemaw, from Manto Sipi Cree Nation and Berens River First Nation, has been beading and sewing powwow regalia for over 20 years. She learned the art of beadwork from her grandmother and aunties. Inspired by the bright floral patterns the Cree designer created her own fabric line with a contemporary twist. Now her designs show up in many other creations – from jewelry to ribbon skirts. The possibilities for her bright flower designs are limitless. Plus three friends of Unreserved drop by to share their suggestions of what music to listen to, TV shows to watch and what books to read this summer! Our favourite Indigi-Nerd, writer and filmmaker Sonya Ballentyne tunes us into what to watch on the big and small screen. Some great Indigenous music picks from the producer of the Indigenous Music Countdown, Dave McLeod. Don’t forget a good book! Tli Cho Dene author and Pop-culture Uncle Richard Van Camp shares his top three books to read this summer.
Duration:00:47:39
An "Indspired" episode
6/9/2023
We're celebrating four Indspire Award recipients who create, educate, and inspire The Indspire Awards represent the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its own people. Every year, a dozen First Nation, Metis and Inuit people are chosen for their outstanding achievements across Turtle Island and beyond. Nations Skate Youth is where Joe Buffalo and his team teach kids to skate, as a way to empower, inspire and instill pride. Joe is a legend in the skate community. Not just for his gravity defying feats on a board but also because of his incredible story of survival and resilience. He survived one of Canada’s last residential schools, confronted substance abuse in his life, and after picking up his first skateboard turned pro and became a legend. This year the Samson Cree man was recognized with a Sports Indspire Award. One of this year’s Youth Recipients is Willow Allen. She is a fashion model, a cultural content creator with over a million followers and a soon to be social worker. After being discovered on Instagram, the Inuvialuit beauty has walked runways from Singapore to New York for big name brands like Clinique, Louboutin Beauty, and Canada Goose. But because home is where her heart is, Willow, who is from Inuvik, Northwest Territories also teaches people online about life in the north – just as her dad taught her on the land. Building cabins with her grandfather inspired Reanna Merasty to build a career as an architect focused on holistic homes. Now, Reanna is an architectural intern. She also co-founded the Indigenous Design and Planning Students Association at the University of Manitoba. Reanna is a recipient of a Youth Indspire Award for her advocacy and dedication to changing the field of architecture. Lori Campbell is a 60s Scoop adoptee: one of about 20-thousand Indigenous children who were removed by the government and adopted into mostly non-Indigenous families. She was lost - disconnected from her culture until she enrolled at the University of Regina. There she found a community of “aunties and uncles” that guided her on a journey of self-discovery. Now, as the Associate Vice President of Indigenous Engagement of the same university, she is on a mission to make universities a resource for other Indigenous people who want to find their way home.
Duration:00:54:09
Good medicine from two top Indigenous medical professionals
6/2/2023
Two Indigenous health care professionals; two leaders in their field. They talk about the challenges and the opportunities to fix a broken healthcare system that too often harms Indigenous people. Dr. Alika Lafontaine says Indigenous people are starting to take their place in institutions like the medical field. He would know, he’s done it as the first Indigenous physician to head the Canadian Medical Association - the largest advocacy group for Canadian doctors. Dr. Lafontaine, who is Oji-Cree and Pacific Islander, is positioned to make change. Dr. Lafontaine tells us how he uses his position as a leader in his field to uplift others, just as he has been lifted up by others before him. As one of only a few Indigenous pharmacists in Canada, Jaris Swidrovich knows about making space. When they started in the field, Indigenous pharmacists were few and far between. Longing for community, they founded the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada to support other Indigenous pharmacists and make room for Indigenous ways of teaching and healing. Jaris, who is Saulteaux and Ukrainian, is also an assistant professor in the University of Toronto’s faculty of pharmacy.
Duration:00:49:38
A new era of archaeology
5/19/2023
Archeology that reconnects the past, present and future of Indigenous history Archaeology has always studied Indigenous history without us. It was something that was done to, instead of with Indigenous peoples. But a growing number of Indigenous archaeologists are pushing back against the colonial boundaries of the field. Cree/Metis archeologist, Paulette Steeves makes the case that Indigenous peoples have lived on Turtle Island a lot longer than previously thought. The Canada Research Chair in Healing and Reconciliation says archaeology’s deeply held beliefs that we originated somewhere else are rooted in racism. The professor at Algoma University authored The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere in 2021. It is the first book written from an Indigenous perspective on the Paleolithic archaeology of the Americas. Cree/Scottish Curator of Indigenous Collections and Repatriation at the Royal BC Museum, Kevin Brownlee believes archaeology is about more than digging up the past. It’s uncovering our histories to pass on to our children. As a 60s scoop adoptee, he had questions around where he came from. Archaeology helped bring him a deeper understanding of that history. Now, he wants other Indigenous youth to have access to that same knowledge. A new generation of archaeologists are now recovering their past as a way to reclaim narrative. Anishinabe Odjibikan is an archaeological field school in Ottawa. Anishinaabe Algonquin youth like Jennifer Tenasco, Breighton Baudoin and Kyle Sarazin help clean, sort and catalogue items left by their ancestors thousands of years ago because they believe Indigenous people should be telling their own histories.
Duration:00:54:09
5 rising musicians share their songs and success
5/12/2023
Today, the beautiful resistance of Indigenous music makers carrying powerful messages Digging Roots is Raven Kanatakta and Shoshona Kish. The blues/folk/soul duo just won a JUNO Award for their latest album Zhawenim. Their fourth studio album takes inspiration from skylines and mountain ranges; something the couple call Anishinabek Songlines, an ancient way of creating music. Rising star Aysanabee also got to shine on Canada’s JUNO stage this year. The singer/songwriter from Sandy Lake First Nation gave an emotional performance of his song, We Were Here featuring Northern Cree. We catch up with him to find out where his album Watin, about his grandfather, has taken him since its powerful debut. It’s rage and recovery with Kristi Lane Sinclair on her new record Super Blood Wolf Moon. The Haida/Cree rocker takes us through her personal journey as a survivor of domestic violence and PTSD. But more than that it is a journey of reclamation, healing and ultimately, the power of women who rise above it all. Zoon, also known as Daniel Monkman, represents young two-spirit identity in their latest record Bekka Ma’iingan, available now. Anishinaabemowin for ‘slow down’ and ‘wolf,’ Bekka Ma’iingan is both a grieving and a celebration of lost loved ones. From escaping a religious cult, to receiving JUNO nominations Jayli Wolf has seen a lot. Her 2021 debut EP Wild Whisper helped her work through intergenerational trauma and the shame she experienced as a young queer woman. Ultimately, the Anishinaabe woman reclaimed the Indigenous identity she had been displaced from. On her new record, God is an Endless Mirror, set for release this summer, Jayli shares her spiritual awakening. Plus a taste of the latest music from Indian Giver, Wyatt C. Louis, Sebastian Gaskin, and Andrina Turenne
Duration:00:51:57