On this, the first episode of Colour Code, we try to figure out Indian Status: who gets it, what it means, where it came from and how it resonates in Canada and indigenous communities today.

We talk to: Stephanie Pangowish, a comedian with the indigenous troupe Manifest Destiny’s Child, Michael Etherington, cultural program manager of the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, and Damien Lee, who grew up on the Fort William First Nation outside of Thunder Bay, Ont.