Face To Face

His face, voice and clothing have all become synonymous with Rogers Hometown Hockey in Cree on APTN.

It’s not Earl Wood’s first rodeo – he’s been an MC at pow wows and for various sporting events for decades.

The historic first game in March 2019 was, however, the first time Wood had been on television and all that comes with it.

Victoria Redsun says it is difficult to be a young, Indigenous person in an urban environment right now.

The 20 year old Denesuline poet, performer, filmmaker and activist is based in Winnipeg.

She says you only have to walk down the streets of Winnipeg to see the ongoing effects of colonialism.

But Redsun says she felt safe and accepted during her time at the Unist’ot’en healing centre in British Columbia.

Stephen Buffalo feels there is a lot of misrepresentation around the resource sector and Indigenous people’s opposition to it.

Buffalo is the CEO and president of the Indian Resource Council, representing roughly 130 First Nation communities that are producing or have the potential to produce oil and gas.

During this episode of Face to Face, Buffalo discusses opportunities and challenges in the energy sector, recent and ongoing protests and blockades and the Wet’suwet’en conflict.

The future of role of the Metis Nation of Ontario within the Metis National Council is a “pivotal debate” says a spokesperson with the national organization.

David Chartrand, speaking in the second part of a Face to Face interview with Host Dennis Ward that is set to run Tuesday night, is also the long time president of the Manitoba Metis Federation says Ontario is the “gateway to the eastern invasion.”

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is a great opportunity, economically for Metis people says David Chartrand.

The long-time President of the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) is also currently the national spokesperson of the Metis National Council (MNC).

Chartrand recently applauded the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal to uphold the approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

According to Chartrand, Trans Mountain is a nation-building project.

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger jokes about coming up with chants and making protest signs being her arts and crafts while growing up.

Just prior to her birth, Deranger’s family was forcibly removed from their trap line in northern Saskatchewan in order to make way for a uranium mine.

Deranger, who is Dene and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, then spent the early years of her life growing up downstream from the Alberta oil sands.

Elaine Bomberry is a trailblazer in the music industry.

For the past three decades, she has produced award winning shows like Rez Bluez on APTN, and managed Juno award winning artists.

Bomberry also helped co-create a Juno award category solely for Indigenous artists.

But at the start of her career, there were very few Indigenous people working behind the scenes in the music industry.

On this episode of Face to Face: Jerry Daniels has a lot of priorities for his second term as the grand chief of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) in Manitoba.

Improving health outcomes, supporting families, bringing children home, reducing the number of Indigenous peoples incarcerated and tackling the meth crisis are just some of the issues Daniels hopes to address.

On this episode of Face to Face: Clarence Iron has overcome many challenges in his lifetime.

Now, he says he’s let go of drugs and alcohol and has been given the opportunity of a lifetime.

Iron, who is a member of Canoe Lake Cree Nation, recently signed a three-year deal with Rogers to provide play by play for Rogers Hometown Hockey in Cree on APTN.

On this episode of Face to Face: Energy is life – that’s the tagline for one of the videos online promoting the Indigenous Pipeline Council.

The videos are pranks but the reactions from the people in them are real.

The Indigenous Pipeline Council is the work of comedians and environmental rights activists, Gitz Crazyboy and Tito Ybarra.

Crazyboy is from Alberta and grew up near the oil sands.

Ybarra is from the Red Lake Tribe in Minnesota, in the pathway of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline.