MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current affairs

Another week, another 'MINI' INDIGENA (our seventh of the season), where host/producer Rick Harp is joined by yet another pairing of APTN National News alumni, Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism, University of King's College) and special guest Tim Fontaine (Editor-in-Grand-Chief of Walking Eagle News) as they all discuss: i) how a brutal editorial cartoon out of Simcoe County, Ontario about the Pope's so-called 'apology' regarding residential schools has itself prompted not one but two apologies ii) whether anyone's got a decent working definition of decolonization iii) whether 'Reconciliation' is on the brink, if not outright over the edge, of becoming little more than a catch-phrase for Canadians iv) the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe's use of ancient DNA to try and support its claim for federal recognition by the U.S. government // CREDITS: 'Make Love' and 'Everything You Ever Dreamed' by Holizna; 'Clouds' by Lucien Kemper x Fachhochschule Dortmund

For our sixth-ever 'MINI' INDIGENA, host/producer Rick Harp is joined by roundtable regulars—and fellow APTN National News alumni—Ken Williams (assistant professor, University of Alberta's department of drama) and Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism, University of King's College) to discuss: i) how some in Maine fear tribes potentially regaining some measure of sovereignty means they'll 'flex their muscle' on environmental, fish and wildlife, and economic development; ii) whether the recent haul of hardware by Indigenous creatives at the Canadian Screen Awards means we can now get rid of special 'Indigenous' categories; iii) how rampant and illegal poaching threatens wild white sage in California; iv) whether those who toppled the controversial 'Gassy Jack' statue in downtown Vancouver were out of line for not first checking with regional Indigenous people >> CREDITS: 'Blueprint' by Jahzzar (CC BY-SA 4.0); 'In Shadows' by William Ross Chernoff's Nomads (CC-BY); 'Feeling Like A Delicate Cookie' by Captive Portal (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Hardly a day goes by it seems without news of some 'revolutionary' A.I.-driven tool ushering in a brave new world. Less said is who'll be left out or left behind. Which is why, when it comes to Indigenous content, some fear much of artificial intelligence remains superficial ignorance. But can 'The Cloud' incorporate culture? Can we Indigenize as we digitize? And can the digital be made relational? Joining host/producer Rick Harp to tangle with these tricky, trippy questions and more are Kim TallBear, professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, and Trina Roache, Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King's College. // CREDITS: Our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

On our latest 'MINI INDIGENA,' special guest Michael Redhead Champagne (Ininew helper, host, speaker & author) joins roundtable regulars Kim TallBear (University of Alberta Native Studies professor) and host/producer Rick Harp to discuss: i) Is it only propaganda when others do it? The blocking of RT (Russia Today) in some Western countries; ii) How Ukrainian land defenders get to be brave and heroic to Canadian media yet Indigenous defenders don't; iii) Helper, organizer, advocate, rebel—a look at the roles we each can play in movement-building; iv) A sneak peek of We Need Everyone, Michael's forthcoming book that seeks to "empowers kids to find their gifts & use them to strengthen community." >> CREDITS: 'Absorb' by James Hammond (CC BY-SA 3.0)

How should we speak of safety in society? How ought we to understand and manage the origins of risk? And in doing so, where might we position police's role in producing either? Depending on who you talk to, "experiences may vary." Now a new report out of Atlantic Canada's largest urban centre proposes much less of a role for police in the larger justice equation—in some respects, no role at all. Prepared for no less than the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, the report puts meat on the bones of the contentious concept of defunding. Joining host/producer Rick Harp this week: activist, artist and scholar El Jones, Assistant Professor of Political and Canadian Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University, and one of the lead authors of Defunding the Police: Defining the Way Forward for HRM [Halifax Regional Municipality]. Also at the table this episode, Trina Roache, the Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King's College. // CREDITS: Our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week: the occupation of Ottawa. And as truckers and others continue to crash Canada's capital and beyond, it's striking (if not surprising) to watch how these protests have been handled—or not—providing a stark contrast to the often paramilitarized approach taken to Indigenous-led direct actions. Remember the outcry over critical infrastructure, said to be under siege by extremist Indian insurgents? Perspective is everything it seems, and amidst multiple cities' ongoing troubles with truckers, our Indigenous roundtable shares theirs. Joining host/producer Rick Harp this week are Ken Williams (assistant professor with the University of Alberta's department of drama) and Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta), a conversation we recorded the afternoon of February 8, 2022. // CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

On our fourth-ever 'MINI INDIGENA,' the quick + quippy edition of the podcast, special guest Q. Anthony Omene (cultural and political commentator with the Rezistans Nwa media network) joins roundtable regulars Kim TallBear (University of Alberta Native Studies professor) and host/producer Rick Harp to discuss: i) the politics, optics and ethics of citing those who have "fallen from grace"; ii) the increasingly odd directions taken with land or territorial acknowledgments in the U.S.; iii) the political/historical notes struck by the new Disney series "The Book of Boba Fett"; iv) Q's follow-up reaction to our latest deep dive, "U.S.A. R.I.P.?" >> CREDITS: 'Microship' by CavalloPazzo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How would you write a eulogy for the United States? Oh, you didn't realize it was on death's door? Guess you didn't read the Globe and Mail over the holidays, when it published no less than six opinion pieces postulating no less than an imminent U.S. civil war. A civil war most agreed Canada needs to plan for. But is this really the twilight's last gleaming for U.S. Empire? Would American apocalypse trigger Canadian cataclysm? Joining host/producer Rick Harp to flesh out these fretful settler scenarios and what they might (or might not) imply for Indigenous interests on both sides of the border are Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta's department of drama and Kim TallBear, U of A professor in the Faculty of Native Studies and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment. // CREDITS: ​​​​"A quiet action sequence," by Sami Hiltunen; our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week: the racket of Reconciliation. It's been some six years since the TRC issued its final report, complete with 94 Calls to Action. Has Canada listened? How would we know? Well, a couple of years ago we spoke to a couple of scholars who took on precisely those questions, generating a kind of 'report card' on Reconciliation. And suffice it to say, Canada didn't do so hot back in 2019. Did they up their game in 2021? To find out, host/producer Rick Harp has reconvened Reconciliation reckoners Eva Jewell (Research Director at Yellowhead Institute, and Assistant Professor of Sociology at X University) and Ian Mosby, (Assistant Professor of History at X University) to hear their insights into what keeps that needle barely moving, and why they worry survivors' pain is now a new profit centre for settlers. // CREDITS: Our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

Displeasure Island. So distressed is an Ontario cottage owner that Indians could regain a significant say over some nearby islands in Georgian Bay, he's somehow convinced his human rights are under attack. Ridiculous, right? Not to The Sudbury Star, a regional rag which not only took this settler shitshow seriously, it signal boosted their manifesto. An online screed warning readers that, once thousands of islands worth hundreds of millions of dollars are given to natives with "no connection to these islands," thousands of non-native boaters, kayakers, canoers and vacationers "will no longer be able to access thousands of kilometers of shoreline." Joining host/producer Rick Harp to interrogate this property rights propaganda and its call to circle the wagons on the water are roundtable regulars Brock Pitawanakwat (Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University) and Ken Williams (assistant professor with the University of Alberta's department of drama). // CREDITS: "Wavestate-Unheil-4" by Endzeiter; our opening/closing theme is 'nesting' by birocratic. SFX: "Native Shaker 01.wav" by Sandyrb