If you're in need of support, dial 988 or text WELLNESS to 741741.

• Blais, M. & Dupuis-Déri, F. (2019). The Montréal Massacre is finally recognized as an anti-feminist attack. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-montreal-massacre-is-finally-recognized-as-an-anti-feminist-attack-128450
• DiBranco, A. (2019). The First Anti-Feminist Massacre. Political Research Associates. https://politicalresearch.org/2019/12/06/first-anti-feminist-massacre
• Diebel, L. Two women on Marc Lépine’s death list speak out. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/two-women-on-marc-l-pine-s-death-list-speak-out/article_5a2f6b99-e8f7-5506-8e56-765704555700.html
• Gerster, J. (2019). Feminism met gunfire at École Polytechnique. It’s taken 30 years to call it what it was. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6242996/ecole-polytechnique-violence/
• Global News. (2019). Remembering the women killed in the École Polytechnique massacre. https://globalnews.ca/news/6187845/montreal-massacre-victims/
• Lindeman, T. (2019). ‘Hate is infectious’: how the 1989 mass shooting of 14 women echoes today. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/04/mass-shooting-1989-montreal-14-women-killed
• Monin, G. (2025). Monique Lépine lived a mother’s worst nightmare. The Sault Star. https://www.saultstar.com/opinion/gene-monin-monique-lepine-lived-a-mothers-worst-nightmare
• Scott, M. (2014). Polytechnique massacre: Lives forever changed. The Gazette. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/polytechnique-massacre-lives-forever-changed
• The Canadian Press. (2024). A timeline of the legacy of the Montreal massacre. CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/a-timeline-of-the-legacy-of-the-montreal-massacre/
• Wilson-Smith, A. (1999). Lépine Massacre Ten Years After. Maclean’s. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/lepine-massacre-ten-years-after-en-anglais-seulement
• Woloshyn, R. (2024). Polytechnique murderer Marc Lépine had her on his kill list. She never forgot the moment she found out. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/fifthestate/francine-pelletier-montreal-massacre-1.7401282

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• Wayne Garnons-Williams, BA (Windsor), LLB (Queen’s), MPA (Dalhousie), LLM (Oklahoma) is the CEO of the not-for-profit registered charity, the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada. Wayne is a lecturer at the University of Waterloo, United College, bachelor of Indigenous entrepreneurialism program. He is also the Senior Lawyer and Principal Director of the law firm Garwill Law Professional Corporation. Further, he leads an international business entitled Indigenous Sovereign Trade Consultancy Ltd. and is the founding President of the International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization (IITIO) a 501 (c)(3) educational charity incorporated in Oklahoma with international representation from Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Canada. He is past board secretary of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, past Chair of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Appeal Tribunal, past Chair of the National Council of Federal Aboriginal Employees and is currently on the board of directors of the International Law Association and is one of the founding members of the Working Group on Indigenous International Trade. Wayne was instrumental in advising on the development of Indigenous trade policy for Canada as well as being appointed lead Canadian Indigenous negotiator for the Indigenous Peoples Economic Trade and Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA). Wayne is also a Research Fellow specializing in International Comparative Indigenous law at the University of Oklahoma, College of Law as well as a Senior Legal Fellow for the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law. He was appointed by Order in Council as a member to the NAFTA Chapter 19 Trade Remedies roster and then appointed in 2020 as a CUSMA Advisory Committee Member on Private Commercial Disputes, Article 31.22. He is the Council for Aboriginal Business 2019 award winner for Excellence in Aboriginal Relations, the 2020 Queen’s University Alumni Award winner, the recipient of the 2020 International Legal Specialist in Peace, Justice and Governance Award from the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the 2024 United States-Canada Law Institute recipient of the Sidney J. Picker Award for contributing to the development of US-Canada relations, the 2024 H.R.S. Ryan Law Alumni Award of Distinction in recognition for outstanding contributions to the faculty, university, and legal profession, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law and the 2024 Oklahoma Supreme Court Sovereignty Symposium medallion for outstanding contributions in furthering Indigenous legal issues. Wayne is from the Moosomin First Nation, Treaty 6.

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• Alston-O’Connor, E. The Sixties Scoop: Implications for Social Workers and Social Work Education. University of Windsor. https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5816/4747
• Cameron, C. (2018). The Sixties Scoop tried to extinguish our culture and our spirit. It failed. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/sixties-scoop-1.4595402
• Hoye, B. (2025). 10 years after apology, '60s Scoop survivors call for support beyond 'grossly inadequate' payout. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/sixties-scoop-apology-decade-anniversary-1.7564426
• Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. (2017). Sixties Scoop Agreement in Principle. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-northern-affairs/news/2017/10/sixties_scoop_agreementinprinciple.html
• Kestler-D’Amours, J. (2017). ‘Mixed feelings’ over Canada’s ’60s Scoop’ settlement. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/10/11/mixed-feelings-over-canadas-60s-scoop-settlement
• Métis National Council. (n.d.). Sixties Scoop. https://www.metisnation.ca/sixties-scoop/
• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (2021). 60s Scoop Inquiry. https://nctr.ca/uncategorized/60s-scoop-inquiry/
• Sherlock, T. ‘We Need to Take Care of Our Own Children’: Inside the fight for Indigenous jurisdiction over child services in Canada. APTN News. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/we-need-to-take-care-of-our-own-children-inside-the-fight-for-indigenous-jurisdiction-over-child-services-in-canada/
• Sinclair, N. J. & Dainard, S. (2024). Sixties Scoop. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sixties-scoop
• Southern Chiefs’ Organization. (2024). SCO’s work to support Sixties Scoop Survivors. https://scoinc.mb.ca/sixties-scoop-survivors/
• University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Sixties Scoop. Indigenous Foundations. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/sixties_scoop/
• University of Toronto Scarborough. (2022). UTSC study helping Sixties Scoop survivors reconnect to stolen Indigenous culture. https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/healthsociety/utsc-study-helping-sixties-scoop-survivors-reconnect-stolen-indigenous-culture

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• Bradburn, J. (2021). ‘A turning point in our history’: Remembering Canada’s first major gay-rights protest. TVO Today. https://www.tvo.org/article/a-turning-point-in-our-history-remembering-canadas-first-major-gay-rights-protest
• Benchetrit, J. (2023). How the parental rights movement resurged in response to trans inclusivity in classrooms. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/parental-rights-movement-us-canada-1.6796070
• Bronskill, J. (2023). A new study lays out the 'horrendous' treatment of Canadian queer WWI soldiers. The Canadian Press. https://globalnews.ca/news/9578536/first-world-war-soldiers-lgbtq-study/
• Bronskill, J. (2019). 718 victims of Canadian government’s gay purge compensated in settlement. The Canadian Press. https://globalnews.ca/news/5491739/gay-purge-victims-canada/
• Canadian Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity. (2019). Our History: Study Guide. https://www.cbu.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CCGSD_OurHistoryStudyGuide_April2019.pdf
• King’s Printer for Ontario. (2024). Discussion paper: Toward a commission policy on gender identity. Ontario Human Rights Commission. https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/discussion-paper-toward-commission-policy-gender-identity/background
• Pinsonnault, A. (2023). Canada and LGBT purge of the Cold War. Je me souviens. https://jemesouviens.org/en/lgbt-purge/
• Stratchan, T. (2022). Under the Rainbow: Canada’s History of LGBTQ Discrimination and Older Adults. Simon Fraser University. https://www.sfu.ca/airp/news-events/blog/under-the-rainbow--canada-s-history-of-lgbtq-discrimination-and-.html
• The Canadian Encyclopedia. Timeline: 2SLGBTQ+ History. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/timeline/lgbtq2
• Wells, V.S. (2024). Transgender. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/transgender

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CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth.

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Benjamin Kucher about unmarked burials, residential school denialism, balancing academic and community responsibilities, and the future of reconciliation.

• Benjamin Kucher is a Métis archaeologist, writer, and activist from the Métis Nation of Alberta and a descendant of the Michel First Nation. He is the former Chair of the National Indigenous Advocacy Committee and currently a researcher at the University of Alberta where his research focuses on Métis identity, material culture, and the role of trade beads in shaping cultural practices. Beyond his academic work, Benjamin has been deeply involved in national conversations about truth and memory. He has attended all seven National Gatherings on Unmarked Burials organized by the Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor, where he served as Chair of the Youth Advisory Committee, helping to facilitate dialogue, hold space for Survivors and families, and ensure that youth perspectives are carried into national reports and recommendations. Benjamin is also the Chair of the Canadian Archaeological Association’s Indigenous Issues Committee, where he works alongside the CAA’s Working Group on Unmarked Graves to advance Indigenous leadership, data sovereignty, and the protection of traditional knowledge within the discipline. His writing and advocacy often center on confronting residential school denialism, pushing institutions to move beyond silence, and protecting truth against erasure and distortion. He is the author of We Were Never Theirs, a powerful work that blends scholarship and testimony to confront colonial silencing and to reclaim Indigenous memory. His voice has been featured in outlets such as CBC Indigenous and Windspeaker News, and he has presented his work at national and international conferences. At the heart of his work is a commitment to community, truth, and accountability. Benjamin brings to his research and advocacy not only academic training, but also the lived experience of carrying Indigenous identity into spaces that have long resisted it. His work is as much about healing and protection as it is about history.
• Read Benjamin's most recent work with Sean Carleton in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/confronting-residential-schools-denialism-is-an-ethical-and-shared-canadian-responsibility-265127

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CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth.

If you need support, please contact the National Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 or dial 988 if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

• Baskatawang, L. (2023). A Brief History of Reconciliation in Canada. Peace Review, 35(1), pp. 109-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2022.2164183
• Blackstock, C. (2007). Residential Schools: Did They Really Close or Just Morph Into Child Welfare? Indigenous Law Journal, 6(1), pp. 71-78. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ilj/article/view/27665/20396
• Kestler-D’Amours, J. (2025). Denying our truth: The fight against residential school denialism in Canada. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/2/7/denying-our-truth-fighting-residential-school-denialism-in-canada
• Sterritt, A. (2023). Reconciliation in Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/reconciliation-in-canada

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CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth.

If you need support, please contact the National Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 or dial 988 if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

• CBC News. (2016). A history of residential schools in Canada. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-history-of-residential-schools-in-canada-1.702280
• Hill, R. (2021). Survivor. Toronto Life. https://torontolife.com/life/how-i-survived-canadas-residential-school-system/
• Homeless Hub. (2025). Indigenous Peoples. https://homelesshub.ca/collection/population-groups/indigenous-peoples/
• Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. (n.d.). History of Residential Schools. https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/history-of-residential-schools/ 
• Kumar, M. B. & Tjepkema, M. (2019). Suicide among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit (2011-2016): Findings from the 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC). Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/99-011-x/99-011-x2019001-eng.htm
• Ling, J. (2021). ‘He was just a child’: dead of Indigenous residential schools haunt Canada. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/05/canada-indigenous-residential-schools-first-nations-children
• Morin, B. (2024). ‘Nobody hugged me.’ Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/11/3/how-one-survivor-of-canadas-residential-schools-reclaimed-her-identity
• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (2025). Residential School History. https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/
• The Canadian Press. (2025). Forty-one more graves found by penetrating radar at B.C. residential school site, First Nation says. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-forty-one-more-graves-found-by-penetrating-radar-at-bc-residential/
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf

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• Anderson, A. (2023). Prison Abolition is Needed Now. Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/mcrp-journal/blog/prison-abolition-is-needed-now-prisons-and-jails-do-not-keep-anyone-safe/
• Bauer, S. (2018). The True History of America’s Private Prison Industry. Time. https://time.com/5405158/the-true-history-of-americas-private-prison-industry/
• BBC. (n.d.). Crime and punishment in 18th- and 19th-century Britain. Bitesize. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zn9sn9q/revision/7
• Correctional Service Canada. (2025). Pre-1920: From punishment to penance. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/correctional-service/corporate/history-csc/timeline/pre-1920.html
• Department of Justice Canada. (2023). Overrepresentation of Indigenous People in the Canadian Criminal Justice System. Government of Canada. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/oip-cjs/p3.html
• Law, V. (2022). Rethinking Incarceration. Harvard Radcliffe Institute. https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/news-and-ideas/rethinking-incarceration
• Moore, J. M. (n.d.). Penal Reform: A History of Failure. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/publications/cjm/article/penal-reform-history-failure
• Potier, B. (2003). Abolish prisons, says Angela Davis. The Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2003/03/abolish-prisons-says-angela-davis/
• Reid, J. N. (2023). The idea that imprisonment ‘corrects’ prisoners stretches back to some of the earliest texts in history. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-idea-that-imprisonment-corrects-prisoners-stretches-back-to-some-of-the-earliest-texts-in-history-210361
• Stevenson, B. (2019). Slavery gave America a fear of black people and a taste for violent punishment. Both still define our criminal-justice system. The New York Times Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/prison-industrial-complex-slavery-racism.html
• Wills, M. (2020). How Mass Incarceration Has Shaped History. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/how-mass-incarceration-has-shaped-history/

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• Chmielewski, K. (2025). The First Atomic Bombs Tested and Used During World War II. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/story/discover-more-about-the-first-atomic-bombs-tested-and-used-during-world-war-ii
• Harry S. Truman Library. (n.d.). Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/decision-drop-atomic-bomb
• International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (n.d.). Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. https://www.icanw.org/hiroshima_and_nagasaki_bombings
• Kaneko, Y. (2025). Saplings from tree exposed to atomic bombing planted at U.N. headquarters to mark 80 years since Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings. Asia News Network. https://asianews.network/saplings-from-tree-exposed-to-atomic-bombing-planted-at-u-n-headquarters-to-mark-80-years-since-hiroshima-nagasaki-bombings/
• Rose, M. (2013). The Girl Who Transformed the Paper Crane Into the Symbol for Peace and Hope. Huffpost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-girl-who-transformed-the-paper-crane_b_3787670
• Sagan, S. D., & Sinclair, G. (2024). What do Americans really think about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. https://thebulletin.org/2024/08/what-do-americans-really-think-about-the-bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/ 
• Sakaguchi, H. & Rothman, L. (n.d.). Survivors of the Atomic Blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Share Their Stories. Time. https://time.com/after-the-bomb/
• Teekah, E. (n.d.). Nihon Hidankyo. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nihon-Hidankyo 
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica. (2025). Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/atomic-bombings-of-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki
• Walker, S. (2025). ‘You don’t brag about wiping out 60‑70,000 people’: the men who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/22/atomic-bomb-hiroshima-nagasaki-author-stephen-walker
• Wellerstein, A. (2020). Counting the dead at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. https://thebulletin.org/2020/08/counting-the-dead-at-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/

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Disclaimer: I experienced some minor tech issues with my microphone while recording this episode. I apologize for any impact on the sound quality and appreciate your patience — everything will be back to normal next episode!

• Butts, E. (2018). Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka Case. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-bernardo-and-karla-homolka-case
• Eate, P. (2007). From Complicity to Coercion: The Representation of the Female Sexual Serial Murderer in the Case of Karla Homolka. Outskirts: feminisms along the edge (16), pp. 3. 
• Gatehouse, J. (2016). Why Karla Homolka’s children will pay for her crimes. MacLean’s. https://macleans.ca/culture/books/karla-homolkas-children-will-pay-for-her-crimes/ 
• Jenish, D. (2014). Homolka’s Testimony. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/homolkas-testimony 
• Kilty, J., & Frigon, S. (2006). Karla Homolka--from a woman {in danger} to a {dangerous} woman: chronicling the shifts. Women & Criminal Justice, 17(4), pp. 37–61.
• Laframboise, K., & Dalton, M. (2016). Quebec school board reassures parents after reports of Karla Homolka living among them. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/karla-homolka-quebec-chateauguay-school-1.3544558 
• Lambie, C. (2025). What to know about serial killer Paul Bernardo as his name comes up in federal election. National Post. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/what-to-know-about-serial-killer-paul-bernardo 
• Patriquin, M. (2016). Karla Homolka’s French Connection. MacLean’s. https://macleans.ca/news/canada/karla-homolkas-french-connection/
• Warmington, J. (2013). Paul Bernardo dad says Karla Homolka ‘got away with it.’ Toronto Sun. https://torontosun.com/2013/09/26/paul-bernardo-dad-says-karla-homolka-got-away-with-it

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