This week: The function of injunctions. When First Nations challenge the authority of a province or corporation to enact decisions that ignore Indigenous consent, there’s a handy legal tool those non-Indigenous parties can turn to: the injunction.

Basically a court order which forces someone (or someones) to immediately put an end to a particular action, an injunction is, in principle, available to anyone who can make their case. But according to research by the Yellowhead Institute, decades of injunctions reveal how, in practice, they all too often expedite the use of force against First Nations who push back against reckless resource extraction.

Now a new paper extends that research to more closely exam and explain how Canada’s legal system tends to favour corporate over Indigenous interests when it comes to injunctions—a tendency they argue is baked into its very core. On this episode, host/producer Rick Harp and MI regular Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King’s College) are joined by Shiri Pasternak, Associate Professor of Criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University, and Irina Cerić, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Windsor, co-authors of “‘The Legal Billy Club’: First Nations, Injunctions, and the Public Interest”  

Indigenous owned + operated, our podcast is 100%-audience-funded. Learn how you can support our work so we can keep our content free for all to access.

// CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

This week: when culture and commerce collide. Three underground art rings producing hundreds if not thousands of fake artworks worth as much as $100 million: some mind-boggling numbers shared by police during recently-announced arrests of eight people on 40 charges for allegedly forging the work of the late Norval Morrisseau. Known for his bright, bold colours and dramatic composition, Morrisseau’s work vividly conveyed the cosmology of his people. But where some saw something profound, others saw only profit, on both sides of the sale. 

Drawing on the in-depth documentary which helped propel the police invesitigation—There Are No Fakes—our roundtable explores the cultural disconnect that got us here, who’s hurt most by it all, and whether all of those charged—a relative of Morrisseau’s among them—deserve an equal share of the blame. Joining host/producer Rick Harp this episode are Ken Williams, assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s department of drama, and Brock Pitawanakwat, Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University.

Indigenous owned + operated, our podcast is 100%-audience-funded. Learn how you can support our work so we can keep our content free for all to access. 

// CREDITS: "Fern Music (Extended)" by Danny Bale (CC BY 4.0); Our theme is "nesting" by birocratic.

Can a reserve’s chronically unsafe drinking water be associated with a greater risk of suicide for its residents? That’s the lethal link hypothesized in newly-released research entitled “Is Suicide a Water Justice Issue? Investigating Long-Term Drinking Water Advisories and Suicide in First Nations in Canada.” Co-authored by scholars Jeffrey Ansloos and Annelies Cooper, their investigative framework connects the colonial dots between relentless indignities inflicted upon Indigenous communities with the criminally disproportionate rates of premature Indigenous death. 

An Associate Professor and the Canada Research Chair in Critical Studies in Indigenous Health and Social Action on Suicide at the University of Toronto, Dr. Ansloos joins host/producer Rick Harp and MI regular Candis Callison (Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC) to discuss the wider implications of this study. 

NOTE: The Hope for Wellness Helpline is available 24/7 at 1-855-242-3310, its online chat option at hopeforwellness.ca

A wholly Indigenous owned and operated podcast, MEDIA INDIGENA is 100% audience funded. Learn how you can support our work so we may keep our content free for all to access. 

// CREDITS: Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.

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)