In this back half of our longer-than-expected mini INDIGENA, host/producer Rick Harp picks up where he left off (drinking deeply of coffee, commodity fetishism and character actor Wallace Shawn) with Kim TallBear (University of Alberta professor in the Faculty of Native Studies and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience and Society) and Candis Callison (UBC Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the School for Public Policy and Global...

For our latest mini INDIGENA (the sweet + sour version of MEDIA INDIGENA), we yank on the global supply chain linking locals in Campbell River, B.C. to the opening of what’s only the second “Indigenous-operated, licensed Starbucks store” in Canada. And just like last time—when our MINI went long on what we meant to be just our opening topic—our content cup once again runneth over, as we eat up an entire episode exploring the ethics of commodity-based commerce as carried out by Indigenous...

This week: building upon last episode's commanding talk by MI's own Kim TallBear, in which she highlighted the insatiable settler drive to consume all things Indigenous—including so-called ‘identity’ claims staked by individuals—host/producer Rick Harp discusses her insights with fellow roundtable regulars Ken Williams (associate professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama) and Brock Pitawanakwat (associate professor of Indigenous Studies at York University), a conversation...

On this week’s program: a plethora of pretendianism! So much, in fact, it’s going to take two whole episodes to fit it all in. And here in part one, we take our deepest dive yet into the ultimate underpinnings of pretendianism—the political imperatives of whiteness.  Driving the insatiable settler urge to possess every last thing, fueling the desire to assume and consume imagined Indigenous 'identities.' Indeed, such self-serving self-Indigenization is very much a byproduct of the colonial...

This week: 'Close Encounters of the Colonial Kind,' the title of a talk given by our very own Kim TallBear (University of Alberta professor of Native Studies) at “Of the Land and Water: Indigenous Sexualities, Genders and Ways of Being,” hosted earlier this year in Whitehorse, YK by the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning. Although rooted in her by-now familiar terrains of sexuality and science, Kim’s monologue was a bit of a departure from what we’re used to here on the podcast:...

Our lead story: residents from James Smith Cree Nation react to the conclusion of the Saskatchewan inquest into the in-custody death of mass killer Myles Sanderson, whose September 2022 stabbing spree killed 11 and injured 17.

On this week’s Indigenous round table: legal limbo? Did the Supreme Court's recent rejection of Quebec’s constitutional challenge to Bill C-92 really cement the self-determination of Indigenous peoples on child welfare? Or did it seal in the status quo, one where the feds still hold all the cards and all the funds? A ruling described as “very beautiful” by one leader, hailed as paving “the road… for the transfer of authority” by another, such celebrations risk missing the core point of...

This episode, another ‘mini’ INDIGENA (the easy-peasy version of MEDIA INDIGENA)—one where the first item went way longer than anyone expected!  Joining host/producer Rick Harp on Tuesday, February 6th were Kim TallBear (University of Alberta professor in the Faculty of Native Studies) and Candis Callison (UBC Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the School for Public Policy and Global Affairs), as they discuss the multiple Indigenous actors within Mni Sóta...

For our first mini INDIGENA of 2024, Candis Callison (associate professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and Graduate School of Journalism at UBC) and Kenneth T. Williams (associate professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama), joined host/producer Rick Harp this Friday, January 19th to discuss: Norway to pay Sámi reindeer herders millions for violating their human rights How Canada led efforts to weaken original UN Indigenous rights declaration Why the...

For our final episode of 2023, a live audience recording from the spring, when we took part in the ICA 2023 Pre-conference, “20 Years of Podcasting: Mapping the Contours of Podcast Studies,” hosted May 24th and 25th at Toronto Metropolitan University. Entitled, “Independent Indigenous podcasting as knowledge production,” this four-person roundtable was a rare opportunity to bring folks together in one place—Rick Harp, Brock Pitawanakwat, Kim TallBear—along with Candis Callison, who joined us...

This week, our penultimate program of 2023 reunites Kim and Ken for another mini INDIGENA (the rough and ready version of MEDIA INDIGENA) to discuss an array of items, including: a response to pushback against our discussion (ep 334) about state vs. federal recognition of tribes in the U.S. the mass resignation of CN Rail’s Indigenous Advisory Council, citing “the company's ineffective use of the Council's strategic input” plans announced for Anishinaabemowin version of the first...

On this week’s round table: colonial carbon culpability. Calling it a “first-of-its-kind analysis,” a recent study by Carbon Brief has crunched the numbers on some 170 years of emissions, seen through the lens of climate justice. Entitled, “How colonial rule radically shifts historical responsibility for climate change,” the report adds a critical dimension to addressing the question of what—and who—has brought us to the brink of depleting our cumulative carbon budget, the maximum CO2 our...

This week: where there’s smokes, there’s fire. Does a recent ruling by Quebec’s Superior Court have the potential to dramatically alter Canada's constitutional landscape? Known as R. v. Montour and White, the case takes its name from a pair of Mohawk tobacco traders who refused to pay millions in excise taxes on goods brought across the Canadian border. Import duties the defendants said violated the Covenant Chain, a series of treaties with the Haudenosaunee dating back to the mid-1600s. A...

This week: controversy at the Congress. The National Congress of American Indians, that is. And according to its website, NCAI is “the oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities.” A little too representative, claim critics, who allege entities are permitted if not encouraged to join the Congress as tribes with insufficient claims to being tribes.  The core concern: recognition. Not...

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. No doubt sub-consciously inspired by the recent 5-year(ish) anniversary of our deep discussion of the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report—which gave us 12 years to act decisively and radically on carbon emissions to keep life viable for humanity by capping the increase in average...

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...

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 ...

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...

For the eighth and final installment of our 2023 Summer Series, "Indigenous Journalisms"—our audio book club based on Reckoning: Journalism's Limits and Possibilities—co-author and MEDIA INDIGENA regular Candis Callison and host/producer Rick Harp finish out the series with Anishinaabe journalist, author and speaker Tanya Talaga as they discuss the chapter's conclusion. ✪ Indigenous owned + operated, MEDIA INDIGENA is 100%-audience-funded. Learn how you can support our work to help keep this...

For the seventh installment of our 2023 Summer Series, "Indigenous Journalisms"—an 8-part audio book club based on Reckoning: Journalism's Limits and Possibilities—co-author and MEDIA INDIGENA regular Candis Callison and host/producer Rick Harp welcome back Anishinaabe journalist, author and speaker Tanya Talaga to discuss the excerpt 'Sioux Lookout: Training New Journalists.' ✪ Indigenous owned + operated, MEDIA INDIGENA is 100%-audience-funded. Learn how you can support our work to help...

For the sixth installment of our 2023 Summer Series, "Indigenous Journalisms"—an 8-part audio book club based on Reckoning: Journalism's Limits and Possibilities—co-author and MEDIA INDIGENA regular Candis Callison and host/producer Rick Harp sit with veteran Shoshone-Bannock journalist Mark Trahant one last time to discuss the excerpt "Geographies and Destabilizing 'the Local.'" ✪ Indigenous owned + operated, MEDIA INDIGENA is 100%-audience-funded. Learn how you can support our work to help...

For the fifth installment of our 2023 Summer Series, "Indigenous Journalisms"—an 8-part audio book club based on Reckoning: Journalism's Limits and Possibilities—co-author and MEDIA INDIGENA regular Candis Callison and host/producer Rick Harp welcome back veteran Shoshone-Bannock journalist Mark Trahant to discuss the excerpt 'Perspectives, Expertise, and Knowledges.' ✪ Indigenous owned + operated, MEDIA INDIGENA is 100%-audience-funded. Learn how you can support our work to help keep this...

For the fourth installment of our 2023 Summer Series, "Indigenous Journalisms"—an 8-part audio book club based on Reckoning: Journalism's Limits and Possibilities—co-author and MEDIA INDIGENA regular Candis Callison and host/producer Rick Harp welcome back Anishinaabe journalist, author and speaker Tanya Talaga to discuss the excerpt 'Countering Erasure.' ✪ Indigenous owned + operated, MEDIA INDIGENA is 100%-audience-funded. Learn how you can support our work to help keep this podcast free...

For the third installment of our 2023 Summer Series, "Indigenous Journalisms"—an 8-part audio book club based on Reckoning: Journalism's Limits and Possibilities—co-author and MEDIA INDIGENA regular Candis Callison joins host/producer Rick Harp and special guest Anishinaabe journalist, author and speaker Tanya Talaga to discuss the excerpt 'Settler-Colonialism and Journalism.' ✪ Indigenous owned + operated, MEDIA INDIGENA is 100%-listener-funded. Learn how you can support our work to help...