Unreserved

Grab your paddles and hop in our canoe as we learn how canoeing does more than bring us closer to nature. This week Rosanna takes us on a journey across Turtle Island to learn how the canoe connects us to our past and carries knowledge into the future. The sights and sounds of the river can teach language and culture and heal intergenerational trauma. This week Rosanna speaks with paddlers and paddling enthusiasts about how canoes are more than objects for transportation, they carry stories and our cultures through time.

Drawing from nimîipuu and Nigerian traditions, beadwork is one way for Afro-Indigenous artist Mikailah Thompson to express her identity. She's one of the people speaking with Rosanna this week about living and creating at the intersections, where multiple cultures, practices and traditions meet.

A moss bag is a traditional way of carrying our babies, sometimes called a baby’s second teacher. The first is their mom. Our women hold important knowledge and this week Rosanna speaks with three warriors who are reclaiming traditional parenting ways. From caring for mothers through trauma using tipi teachings to using story to inspire parents to raise little warriors and passing on Inuvialuit culture. These Indigenous women are holding up those who hold up our worlds - Happy mothers day.

No more pencils, no more books - we’re taking a break from the classroom to learn about the land, each other and our cultures. This week Rosanna speaks with Indigenous educators about decolonizing the classroom. From curriculum bundles that help Indigenous and non-Indigenous teachers incorporate traditional knowledge in their classrooms to communities looking to re-write curriculum completely, Indigenous approaches are changing the way we teach and learn.

Canada’s beloved game has a well-known dark side: a racist, sexist, toxic culture. But Indigenous lovers of the game are using the power of hockey for positive change, making the ice a space for healing, inclusion, and a ton of fun. This episode shares their stories, from elite players to amateur hockey organizers to fans, and explores how and why they use hockey to change lives. And along the way, celebrate that Indigenous people rock at hockey!

Join us in studio where Inuit throat singers share songs and the stories behind their rhythmic patterns and sounds. This week Rosanna speaks with four Inuit throat singers who are reclaiming this almost lost tradition. For nearly a century, Christian missionaries in the north banned the practice as part of government and church efforts to assimilate Inuit. This is a show about survival and reclamation.

This week we’re taking you to Niagara Falls for the second installment of our occasional series Unmapped. Rosanna is unmapping Niagara Falls, aka Onguiaahra – from the Haudenosaunee contributions to the War of 1812 to the Tuscarora women keeping their culture and traditions alive through beading, there is much more to know beyond the iconic waterfall.

Data tells a story, and that’s why survivors of the notorious Mohawk Institute – Canada’s longest running residential school – are reclaiming data and sharing their truths. This week Rosanna speaks with Indigenous people who are reclaiming data to better understand the past and build towards the future. From traditional knowledge passed down through oral storytelling to the records kept by governments and institutions, data is power. Keeping that power in Indigenous hands is data sovereignty.

What can, or should, we do with pieces of the past, such as audio recordings of our ancestors? They can inspire art and action but there are also protocols around how these things are shared. This week Rosanna talks with artists who are combining lessons of the past with their own artistic flare and passing it on to the next generation.

“Humour is the WD40 of healing.” Indigenous playwrights are telling stories their own way – and it includes a lot of laughter! This week Rosanna explores what’s behind a shift in the theatre world that has Indigenous playwrights showing works on about a dozen of the biggest stages in Canada. They’re moving away from the early years of tackling mostly heavy subjects to telling stories that can be playful, unique, dark and funny.

Resistance and rebellion run deep in the history of dance in Indigenous communities. Margaret Grenier’s Gitxsan grandmother hid family items in her walls to protect important dance traditions from destruction. This week Rosanna speaks with dancers and choreographers about how they are reviving, restoring and re-imagining the art of dance.

For many Indigenous people, food memories are intricately tied to family, community and culture. Meet three Indigenous chefs who are using their food knowledge to transport people to the past and inspire Indigenous menus of the future.

Join us as we check out some birds, hit the halfpipe and prepare for the sugar bush. You'll hear how Indigenous nature enthusiasts are empowering others to get outside and claim space in the Great Outdoors.

There are a lot of love stories out there, but not everyone can see themselves in them. This week we hear from Trans, Queer and Two Spirit artists on how they’re pushing against heteronormative narratives in today’s love stories and love songs. So everyone can see - and hear - themselves in love.

It was an invitation to reconnect with the land, but Robin Wall Kimmerer's bestselling book ended up being more of a call to action. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is now ten years old. Robin tells us how her humble book of essays spread like seeds in the wind around the world, selling more than 1.6 million copies in the US alone. We also hear from readers and friends who were inspired by the book and took action in their own lives to change their relationships with plants, animals, rain drops...and each other!

We're headed to New York, baby! This episode is part of a travel series from Unreserved called Unmapped. The series invites us to look for the Indigenous presence in some of the most iconic travel destinations around the world. Meet the people who are nurturing community and raising the visibility of Indigenous pasts, presents and futures.

Many Indigenous entrepreneurs start their own businesses to fill a void that the mainstream is missing -- because they want to create businesses that were better aligned with their values and the values of their communities. From coffee to tech to cosmetics, we hear from entrepreneurs who dared to do things differently. The result is business success - and mainstream industries are starting to take notice.

This we go back, waaaaaay back to our second episode ever as a national show. Unreserved turns 10 this year and we’re celebrating how far we’ve come and getting excited about the journey ahead. This episode features 2014 throwbacks to award-winning Cree journalist Connie Walker, Kagagi superhero creator Jay Odjick, Winnipeg visual artist Casey Adams, science educator Wildfred Buck, and -- since we're talking about stars -- we decided to throw in one of our all-time favourite interviews with astronaut Nicole Mann (2023),

This week, ‘tis the season for traditions and gathering around songs and stories. Indigenous people love a good story! Especially during the long cold nights of winter. For Anishinabeg and Gwich'in Knowledge Keeper Jack Hoggarth, sharing traditional stories like those of the Anishinaabe spirit Waynaboozhoo is a connection to our ancestors. Community, friends and families would come together to tell these tales, passing them down through generations and creating winter-time traditions that continue to this day. Cree Métis musician Don Amero has been growing with his Christmas concert Amero Little Christmas for 15 years. Local holiday shows have become traditions in communities across Turtle Island. In Winnipeg, that means an evening with Don Amero, his band and his glitter ball suit jacket. Inuk classical singer, Deantha Edmunds enchants with a holiday concert of her own that honours a 200-year-old tradition of singing carols in Inuttitut. Songs and Stories of Christmas in Labrador took place on a wintery December night in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Deantha invited her 13 year old daughter Annabelle to sing along with her.

From Solstice ceremonies to Siqinnaaiut, we share stories that lead us to light out of the dark days of winter. The winter solstice will soon be upon us. That means shorter days and longer nights. Many Indigenous Nations take this time to slow down and acknowledge a new season. For Sarah Sunshine Manning - it means decolonizing the calendar - starting with Christmas. Sarah and her family stopped celebrating Christmas a few years ago and started celebrating Solstice. Sarah is a Shoshone-Paiute writer and director of communications for NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy organization. She’s on a mission to get us to rethink the way we spend our holidays, both in money and time. The winter solstice is a special time of year for many. It’s a time to slow down, pause, reflect and gather. For Nakota/Cree artist and designer Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway it’s a time to bring community together. Since 2018, she's been creating a safe space for Indigenous women in Regina to come together for solstice ceremonies. Each year – around the middle of November – the sun sets over the small community of Igloolik in Nunavut and it doesn’t return for almost two months. But when the sun returns it’s greeted with the crooked smiles of children and a song. Siqinnaaiut – or “the return of the sun” in Inuktitut – is cause for great celebration where Monica Ittusardjuat grew up. The educator, a cultural advisor and the senior editor at Arvaaq Press recalls childhood memories of men hunting by starlight and silhouette and children playing games by the light of the Qulliq during the dark winter months.