MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs

This week: our second, long-overdue MINI INDIGENA of the season features regulars Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King's College) and Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta) as they join host/producer Rick Harp to discuss: • Why we don't necessarily love the idea of a First Nations person as Canada's next top cop • How a few Winnipeggers ain't lovin' some newly-proposed Indigenous names for city streets • Why Kim hates the idea of "Native heritage" as used by settlers • Monthly Patreon podcast supporter Raven asks: "What's your thoughts on the term 'descendian' (someone with distant Indigenous ancestry or connection) vs. 'pretendian'? >> CREDITS: "Apoplēssein" by Wax Lyricist; "Love is Chemical," by Steve Combs (CC BY); "arborescence_ex-vitro" by Koi-discovery

This week: Press Proximity to Power. For our latest TalkBack edition of MEDIA INDIGENA, where monthly supporters of the podcast debrief with us on our latest deep-dive discussion, MI regular Candis Callison and host/producer Rick Harp are joined by listeners as they follow up on their earlier sit-down with Regan Boychuk, an independent political economist and researcher whose paper, "Proximity to Power: The oilpatch & Alberta's major dailies," was the subject of episode 313. // CREDITS: 'Guitarista' by Mr Smith (CC BY 4.0).

On our latest TalkBack edition, where monthly supporters of the podcast share their questions and comments, a follow-up with journalist Dawn Marie Paley about her piece, "Canadian developers are gentrifying Mexico's beaches," published at The Breach. Also back are host/producer Rick Harp and Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University Brock Pitawanakwat, as we pick up where we left off last episode, "How Canadian tourists help endanger Indigenous lands in Mexico." // CREDITS: 'Guitarista' by Mr Smith (CC BY 4.0).

This week: Storming the beaches. Some Canadian property developers hoping to lure so-called 'snowbirds' to sunny beachfront in Oaxaca, Mexico have hit a bit of a hitch: like, the fact that Indigenous people already own the beach. And according to a recent article in The Breach, such land theft by outsiders is all too common in the region, sparking concerns about environmental degradation and unchecked water use, which Indigenous locals fear risk the future of their territory. Put another way: same shit, different shores. On this episode, host/producer Rick Harp and roundtable regular Brock Pitawanakwat (Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University) are joined by Dawn Marie Paley, a Vancouver investigative journalist now based in Mexico, and the author of Drug War Capitalism. // CREDITS: Our intro/extro is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Media bias: something many suspect is at play in mainstream outlets. But proving it—that's a different story. Amidst the daily, dizzy churn that is the news cycle, finding a way to parse out and pin down reasonably comparable data isn't always obvious. But new research out of western Canada seems to have found a clever way around that: by looking at how different dailies treated the same original newswire stories within their respective papers. Spoiler alert: what you got to read depends on where you live. And the closer you lived to the oil sands, the less you're likely to see. On this episode, host/producer Rick Harp and roundtable regular Candis Callison (Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC) sit down with Regan Boychuk, the political economist, roofer and researcher behind "Proximity to Power: The oilpatch & Alberta's major dailies." // CREDITS: Our theme is nesting by birocratic. Sound effects include teletype fast speed by stratcat322 (CC BY-3.0).

This episode, a live debrief with our patrons on 'Oil and Gaslighting,' our December 21, 2022 discussion about the jarring juxtaposition between federal underfunding of First Nations' preparedness for floods, fires and other disasters worsened by climate change on the one hand, and how Canada overfunds the extraction and emissions changing that climate on that other. Back to dialogue directly with patrons are 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. A conversation recorded live on Thursday, January 12, 2023. // CREDITS: 'Guitarista' by Mr Smith (CC BY 4.0); 'Free Guitar Walking Blues (F 015)' by Lobo Loco (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Something of a different turn for us this episode, as we roll into the realm of games. A way to play off another side of our personalities and help host/producer Rick Harp hit his happy place, he somehow cajoled some of our roundtable regulars (and a few special guests) to join him at the table top this past New Year's Eve to play out the old year and bring in the new with a rousing game of Hit or Miss! Among the fun folks who helped us get game the final day of December: University of Alberta Native Studies professor Kim TallBear, UBC journalism professor Candis Callison, Toronto Metropolitan University sociologist Chris Powell, poet/author/media producer January Rogers, and last but not least, Rick okâwiya—Rick's mom—Jane Glennon, ably assisted by hubby Dave. // CREDITS, MUSIC: 'Mike and Ron Jam' and 'Instrumental Prelude' by the Sluts with Nuts (CC BY); 'Did you know? (Curiouser and curiouser)' by Fabian (CC BY); 'Small Song' and 'Synth - Homage to John Carpenter' by Squire Tuck (CC BY); 'Independent Film' by Steve Combs (CC BY-SA); 'Mudroom Jazz' by David Dellacroce (CC BY); 'Free Funny Talk Retro Organ (F 007)' by Lobo Loco (CC BY-SA) // CREDITS, SFX: 'Error' by Austistic Lucario (CC BY 3.0); 'Game Sound Correct' by Bertrof (CC BY 3.0); 'Champagne: Cork Pop and Pour' by ultradust (CC BY 4.0); 'Dat's Right!' by Beetlemuse (CC BY 4.0); 'Complete Chime' and 'Up Chime 4' by FoolBoyMedia (CC BY 4.0); 'bt three tone' by (CC BY 3.0)

This week: Oil and gaslighting. They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Guess which one the Canadian government funds way more than the other for First Nations emergencies like floods and fires? Karen Hogan knows the answer: in fact, the Auditor-General dedicated a whole chapter to it in her latest report, much like her predecessor did nine years prior. Since then, it's been the usual flood of excuses and the burning through of budgets as Canada perpetually reacts after-the-fact to disasters it arguably helped enable through its seemingly unmitigated support for oil and gas extraction. Joining host/producer Rick Harp to run through the report, the response to it from Ottawa, and how Canada's rhetoric on curbing carbon compares to its actions in exactly the opposite direction are MI regulars Kim TallBear, professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience and Society, plus Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC. // CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

THIS WEEK: Our second-ever 'TalkBack' edition of MEDIA INDIGENA, where monthly supporters of the podcast on Patreon get a chance to share their feedback live via Discord about our latest deep dive conversation. This time around, it's a debrief on our discussion of Alberta's new Sovereignty Act. Back to dialogue directly with patrons are Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University Brock Pitawanakwat, as well as Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's department of drama. // CREDITS: 'Guitarista' by Mr Smith (CC BY 4.0); 'Free Guitar Walking Blues (F 015)' by Lobo Loco (CC BY-SA 4.0).

This week: Alberta sovereignty. Sovereign over what and whom, you may ask? Great questions, ones that finally got an answer last week when, on November 29, Premier Danielle Smith introduced her first bill, the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act. Or did they? Already it seems, Smith has done a western walk-back of some of the bill's more controversial aspects—indeed, days after we recorded our discussion about it on December 2—making it a bit of a moving target. In any case, it never hurts to be Indigenously nervous when provincial premiers flirt with secession, especially when it could come at our expense. Joining host/producer Rick Harp at the roundtable once again to walk through the Act (such as it was at the time), and what Indigenous peoples there have to say about it, are Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University Brock Pitawanakwat and assistant professor with the University of Alberta's department of drama Ken Williams. // CREDITS: "The Thought of You," by Squire Tuck; our intro/xtro theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.