Podcasts & Blogs

Since the iPortal was launched in 2005, there have been some significant changes in internet technologies and in the multimedia landscape. Many of these changes have resulted in increased access to media production for previously marginalized people and communities. Indigenous communities in Canada have been especially effective in harnessing online streaming, publishing, and social media; and in using those technologies to bypass traditional media gatekeepers. The result is a growing community of artists, academics, and activists that are using internet based communication technologies to share their stories in their own voices, to communicate their own perspectives, and to challenge the dominant media discourses and representations of Indigenous peoples. The following feed links to a series of Indigenous written/focused blogs and podcasts. These have not been curated for their scholarly value, but rather they have been selected to showcase the variety of perspectives that exist under the label Indigenous content

Healing After Harm: The Buffy Sainte-Marie Investigation

| Unreserved (Podcast -- 54:09)

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.

National Action Plan

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 01:08:55)

We went through the National Action Plan over 400 pg report and were we disappointed after reading the National Inquiry.

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The Root of it

| Unreserved (Podcast -- 54:09)

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.

How Canada Diddles While The World Burns: A Climate Check-in (ep 333)

| MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs (Podcast -- 45:04)

This week, yet another ‘mini’ INDIGENA (the fast + furious version of MEDIA INDIGENA), with some world-wide words for our 333rd episode (!!!), recorded the evening of Sunday, November 12th.

Medicine Hills

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 01:02:58)

Today was solo. I wanted to update on possible changes happening on sacred grounds in central “alberta” on the Medicine Hills. I also released my 2024 book club for those interested.

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Waubgeshig Rice live in Toronto

| Unreserved (Podcast -- 49:04)

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.

Michelle Solo

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 59:19)

I am going solo for this one!  I talk about Igloos and Palestine.

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S01E22: Indigenous Insights: Closing the Bundle w/ Gladys Rowe

| Indigenous Insights: An Evaluation Podcast (Podcast -- 38:22)

In this final episode Gladys reflects on the first season of Indigenous Insights and shares her understandings of Indigenous evaluation and why it is a critical mechanism for decolonial futures.
And, as a sneak peak into the fun of Season Two, Gladys invites listeners into a space of reflection and poetry creation to think about (and feel into) what they have learned/unlearned throughout the journey of this first season.

Honouring our Indigenous Veterans

| Unreserved (Podcast -- 50:49)

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.

Kiran McKay

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 01:19:51)

Kiran McKay from Middle Finger Up podcast joins me to discuss racism as two BIPOC women with mixed families in Canada. You can find MFU Podcast on Insta and https://www.buzzsprout.com/2090958?fbclid=PAAaa02UzRqD3O1Wv7v--jwjnv4mtHQ7j_gf4fR53DmueLnITSeSUuySj5Vkg_aem_Abr5_ZNsyZBKchFgslzrZobj8SqJROE4pYwSWBy5EYotkgrmN9F6xRo_Q6HPYgthNs8

Two books, forty years of resistance

| Unreserved (Podcast -- 50:19)

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.

Do statutes of limitations apply to treaties with First Nations? Canada sure hopes so (ep 332)

| MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs (Podcast -- 40:32)

We wrap up October a titch late with another ‘mini’ INDIGENA (the quick + dirty version of MEDIA INDIGENA), featuring a quartet of tidbits, ranging from a federal security agency’s overt admonishment of Nunavut over ‘covert’ foreign investment in otherwise neglected infrastructure to new highway signs in Saskatchewan overtly delineating its many treaty boundaries to passing motorists.  Joining host/producer Rick Harp the early afternoon of Friday, October 27 were Ken Williams (associate professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama) and Trina Roache (assistant professor of

Peace and Good Order by Harold Johnson

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 01:10:45)

An informed, intimate condemnation of the Canadian state and its failure to deliver justice to Indigenous people by national bestselling author and former Crown prosecutor Harold R. Johnson

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Little Star Artistry

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 01:04:33)

Dorienne Proulx of Little Star Artistry joins us to talk about their business, reclaiming and more. Their website: https://little-star-artistry.square.site/?mibextid=Zxz2cZ

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How might The Voice referendum echo for Indigenous peoples in Australia? (ep 331)

| MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs (Podcast -- 53:00)

This week: another MINI INDIGENA featuring Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta) and Candis Callison (Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC), who joined host/producer Rick Harp Wednesday, October 18 to discuss:

  • where things go from here after a majority of Australians voted to reject the constitutional institution of an Indigenous advisory board known as The Voice

Two films about tomorrow

| Unreserved (Podcast -- 46:43)

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.

Karla Marx

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 01:04:14)

Returning guest Karla Marx comes back to discuss what we are seeing in the community. Want more? See the previous episode: https://x.com/n8v_calgarian/status/1528756775599517696?s=46&t=JEvzEruDfvKWiWQxUm8h7A

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The Returning of Names

| Unreserved (Podcast -- 54:09)

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.

Quality of Life

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 55:58)

This week is solo with us talking about the Calgary Foundation’s Quality of Life report: https://readymag.com/u2680916410/quality-of-life-2023/2/ more hate in Alberta and Wab Kinew!

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First Thoughts on First First Nations Premier of Manitoba (ep 330)

| MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs (Podcast -- 46:36)

MEDIA INDIGENA is back from its summer break with all-new shows, and we kick off with a far-ranging foursome of items, from a historic provincial election in Manitoba to the RCMP opting not to lay charges against a Yellowknife doctor for the unilateral sterilization of an Inuk woman.  Joining host/producer Rick Harp for this first 'mini INDIGENA' of the season (recorded Friday, October 6) are two familiar voices, Brock Pitawanakwat (Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University) and Ken Williams (assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama).

The Little Bird Story of the 60s Scoop

| Unreserved (Podcast -- 54:09)

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.

Countering Hate

| Native Calgarian (Podcast -- 01:03:17)

I spoke about the counter protest here in Calgary, countering the national hate rallies and some reflections of the events of the TRC this week.

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