A short and sweet note reminding those who haven't yet to please fill out our patron-only listener survey. It's your chance to tell us what you like, what you would change, and what you think of some new ideas we want to explore going forward. Here's the link:
Thank you!
Rick
This week, a look at the legacy of the late Arthur Manuel, whose vision of Indigenous rights was uncompromising.
We also discuss a National Observer report suggesting that the Canadian government is backtracking on its pledge to be more transparent about it...
2017-01-23 04:04:32 +0000 UTC View PostDue to some reported issues with the survey link in my last message, I am re-sending it here:
Sorry for the hassle, and thanks to the people who alerted me to the issue.
Rick
2017-01-18 16:06:23 +0000 UTC View PostA couple of days ago, I shared an update on MEDIA INDIGENA's progress. It took the form of a mini-podcast (a transcript of which you can find below.)
Towards the end, I mentioned that we'd soon send out a survey, one meant just for you, our podcast sustainers. Well, it's now ready to go, eager to record your responses. (If you don't see the link elsewhere in this post, you can see it here: http://bit.ly/MIquestions
...
2017-01-18 04:27:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Forty-five weeks into the program, it's definitely time for an update on our podcast's progress for those who literally make it possible: you.
And what better way to do that than in the form of a mini-podcast? Only this one is reserved just for you, our dear MEDIA INDIGENA sustainers. Please take a moment to listen to this summary of our accomplishments to-date and outline of our vision for the future, with you very much at the centre of it all.
On behalf of ...
2017-01-15 22:35:33 +0000 UTC View PostOn this week's roundtable:
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: Some 4 months after its official launch, critics question its progress to date ahead of its November 2018 deadline.
On-reserve rape kits: Health Canada gets called out for not moving quicker on a request from northern Ontario First Nations trying to take action on sexual assault investigations.
Joining...
On this week's Indigenous roundtable:
A northern Ontario outfit that rents huts to ice-fishers is in hot water after its ad on Kijiji tells Status Indians to stay away! Plus, Canada 150: a century and a half after the country’s creation, what exactly do Aboriginal peoples have to celebrate?
Joining the MEDIA INDIGENA roundtable this month are Lisa Monchalin, author of 2017-01-08 03:49:37 +0000 UTC View Post
On this week's Indigenous roundtable: we look back and ahead—what were the trends and themes that defined this past year for Indigenous peoples and what might the next 12 months bring?
According to our roundtable, 2016 was truly a breakout year for empowering Indigenous media artistry and activism. It also ended with a bang, as heated discussions about identity fraud re-ignited after 2016-12-31 03:39:12 +0000 UTC View Post
This week's podcast, a kind of holiday edition, features an interview Rick conducted back in 2011 with Ryerson University professor Christopher Powell about his then-new book, "Barbaric Civilization: A Critical Sociology of Genocide," published by McGill-Queen's University Press. The interview appears courtesy of NCI-FM, where it first aired.
LISTEN NOW:
On this week's Indigenous roundtable... J
Jennifer Lawrence's 'sorry' butt: the Hunger Games star has apologized after social media slammed her conduct at a sacred site in Hawai'i but critics say her mealy-mouthed words of so-called contrition only made things worse.
Cherokee choose change: a senior legal official with the tribe reverses a 9-year-old ban on same-sex marriage. We'll look into what prompted the decision and where other commu...
2016-12-17 06:56:56 +0000 UTC View PostOn this week's roundtable...
Return to the Rock: last episode, the future of the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline project seemed uncertain, with many opponents fearing the worst. Then on Sunday, to the surprise of many, the Army announced it would not permit construction to proceed. But will the company behind the pipeline listen?
Looming land grab? We'll discuss 2016-12-09 07:52:08 +0000 UTC View Post
On this week's Indigenous roundtable...
Where do things stand with Standing Rock? The struggle in North Dakota against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline continues to face constant pressure from federal and state authorities. With winter weather only adding to the challenges, how much longer can these thousands of activists hold out?
Plus, Pixar Polynesian: the Disney-owned studio's newest animated release is earning cautious kudos for its depiction of a young girl's qu...
2016-12-03 02:50:58 +0000 UTC View PostOn this week's program... The all-too-brown face of child poverty in British Columbia: a new report details the frustratingly familiar reasons why and what to do, but will governments act?
Plus, the bigger picture underlying why educators on a northern First Nation have walked out over wages at a reserve high school. Returning this week to our roundtable, Ken Williams, playwright-in-residence at the University of Saskatchewan and Patrice Mousseau, a jo...
2016-11-27 01:08:39 +0000 UTC View PostThis week on MEDIA INDIGENA...
Invalidation in Val d'Or: Why have 37 Aboriginal accusations of police abuse in this Quebec town come up empty?
Smudge Grudge: a BC parent is suing her children's school because she claims it forced them to take part in a religious Indigenous ceremony.
Joining us at this week's roundtable are Ken Williams, playwright-in-residence at the University of Saskatchewan and APTN News & Current Affairs directo...
2016-11-19 22:20:56 +0000 UTC View PostOn this week's program:
Trump triumph... what could the election of this outrageously racist man mean for Indigenous peoples in the US and beyond?
And, another First Nation goes to pot... that is, if the Siksika in Alberta get their way, as Canada’s first Indigenous purveyors of medical marijuana.
Joining us once again at the roundtable are Ken Williams and Patrice Mousseau.
LISTEN NOW:
On this week's Indigenous roundtable…
Triggering Tension: non-Aboriginal hunters in Manitoba are upset after an Indigenous leader made no bones about bagging a bull in a no-kill zone; and, Sticker Shock: an Alberta trucker sets off a social media tsunami due to a giant decal on his rig that reads "one squaw too many."
Joining us this week are two new roundtablers: from Saskatoon, Ken Williams, playwright-in-residence at the University of Saskatchewan and a for...
2016-11-06 06:23:02 +0000 UTC View PostThis week's Indigenous current affairs roundtable discusses the controversial, much-criticized, Muskrat Falls hydro project in Labrador: has an 11th-hour negotiation addressed the critics' concerns? And the Public Health Agency of Canada has shone a spotlight on the issue of family violence in its annual report, including how it impacts Indigenous families. Joining us once again on this week’s roundtable are Colleen Simard and Conrad Prince. LISTEN NOW: 2016-10-29 18:51:47 +0000 UTC View Post
This week on our Indigenous current affairs roundtable: is Alberta all wet when it comes to Indigenous water rights? A recent story in the Globe and Mail suggests the province’s view may be skewed when it comes to whose rights take priority. Plus, a First Nation in British Columbia says it wants to administer drug tests to all its politicians and employees as a way to combat drug abuse. Would it work? Joining us once again are Colleen Simard and Conrad Prince. LISTEN: 2016-10-22 18:31:58 +0000 UTC View Post
This week, our Indigenous current affairs roundtable unpacks recent revelations that, despite federal bureaucrats saying the cupboard for First Nations education funding was full, the Liberals deliberately chose to delay a large chunk of it until after the next election. And, we’ll share our thoughts on 2016-10-15 22:08:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Ottawa's police force is taking some heat after one of its own appears to have posted racist comments on a local newspaper’s website. The commentary followed a story about the tragic and untimely death of acclaimed Inuk artist Annie Pootoogook. The police are investigating, calling her death "suspicious," but won’t get into specifics. Meanwhile, members of Ottawa's Indigenous community are outraged that a police officer would even publicly comment on the case, much less dismiss the idea that...
2016-10-07 22:22:36 +0000 UTC View PostA First Nation that only seems to get the spotlight when bad things happen is once again in the headlines: Shamattawa. Literally left devastated last week after a major fire destroyed key services and infrastructure—including the reserve's only grocery store—it's all the more worrisome when you consider the northeastern Manitoba community is only accessible by plane or boat most of the year. Then there's the disturbing cause of the blaze: according to the RCMP, it was started ...
2016-09-30 06:13:22 +0000 UTC View PostFor 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...
2016-09-22 20:28:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Quick note to let MEDIA INDIGENA patrons know that the show notes for one of my favorite episodes is now available, my conversation with Anishinaabe broadcaster Jesse Wente. It took place following the release of his personal essay about his treatment by police since he was a young man and what he fears could be in store for his children as they grow up.
The full transcript (the cost of which your support helps make possible) may now be viewed here:
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...
2016-09-16 05:32:38 +0000 UTC View PostFor 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 boos...
2016-09-10 02:54:34 +0000 UTC View PostApparently, the last post didn't quite work for some folks, so I am trying a different link this time to share this week's episode about new data on Indigenous homelessness in Canada. LISTEN: http://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=46203815
2016-09-06 04:09:57 +0000 UTC View Post
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...
2016-09-04 05:53:06 +0000 UTC View Post
After long last, we have managed to arrange for the transcription of one of our podcast episodes, one of about six we hope to turn into text over the next little while. And, as patrons, you are the very first to know about...
2016-08-31 03:58:45 +0000 UTC View PostLISTEN: http://mediaindigena.libsyn.com/ep-25-sixties-scoop-survivors-take-canada-to-court
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 institutio...
2016-08-26 16:34:40 +0000 UTC View PostSenseless, 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 ...
2016-08-18 17:07:49 +0000 UTC View Post