Unreserved

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an opportunity for Canadians to listen to the wisdom coming from Indigenous communities: to learn and unlearn our shared story. Music is a powerful way to share it.

Music That Carries Truth was recorded live at CBC Manitoba Studio 11 and features music and conversation with Nadia and Jason Burnstick (Burnstick) and Sebastian Gaskin.

It’s folk music that brims with the kind of chemistry that could only come from a husband and wife. Nadia, a Francophone-Métis singer-songwriter, and Jason, a Plains-Cree guitarist, are award-winning duo: Burnstick. Two performers whose voices and musicality blend together with ease. They share songs from their album KÎYÂNAW, Cree for Us and the inspiration behind their music. Plus, they debut a new single: Made of Sin is a powerful response to the 215 graves of children found at Kamloops Indian Residential School at Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc in BC.

Sebastian Gaskin is a multi-instrumentalist R&B Singer-Songwriter from Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake). Sebastian writes and self produces music that is anything but formulaic, thanks to eclectic musical tastes in R&B, Hip Hop, Metal,and Punk. Their first EP - Contradictions was released in 2019 and they were recently signed to Indigenous owned record label Ishkōdé Records. The last generation to attend Residential school in their family, Sebastian shares songs and tells us how music saved their life.

It's Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

September 30th is a day to talk about the effects of Residential Schools; about the trauma that continues to ripple across Turtle Island. It’s a day that honors the experiences of Indigenous survivors, celebrates our resilience and affirms a now familiar phrase: every child matters.

It started with an orange shirt. Taken from a little girl in residential school.

Every year on September 30 that little girl tells her story. Phyllis Webstad was 6 years old when she was forced to leave her Secwpemc community - Canoe Creek Indian Band - and attend St. Joseph's Mission, near Williams Lake, BC. For the occasion, her grandmother bought her a new orange shirt. But it was taken away from her when she arrived at the school. Phyllis has been sharing the story of her orange shirt for ten years now. She’s written several books about it, including her latest called, Every Child Matters.

St. Joseph's Mission operated for nearly a hundred years. It closed in 1981 but many children never returned home. Since St. Joseph’s closed there have been two separate investigations using ground-penetrating radar. One-hundred-fifty-nine potential burial sites were detected on the school grounds. On September 5th of this year, Williams Lake First Nation purchased the site. Chief Willie Sellars of Williams Lake First Nations says they want to ensure the integrity of investigations into children who disappeared while attending the school.

This week, we learn how history, culture and science can all play a role in bringing people home. For decades, policies like the Sixties Scoop saw thousands of children fostered or adopted out to non-Indigenous families. Now, thanks to DNA detectives, resilience research and mapping projects Indigenous adoptees are finding their way home.

You might remember Dean Lerat from last season. He’s an RCMP officer by day and DNA Detective by night. Dean helps people in his community find the families they were separated from by using their DNA. We catch up with Dean at Cowessess First Nation pow wow where he is still busy reuniting families.

That's where Rachael Lerat comes in. No relation to Dean but thanks to his detective work she has found her way here. Rachael came to Cowessess First Nation to reconnect with her mom’s side of the family, but also to seek out new connections to her biological father. That journey brought her somewhere completely unexpected! Listen to find out why.

Colleen Hele-Cardinal hopes to lead Sixties Scoop adoptees back to their families, communities and themselves by literally drawing a map. As the co-founder of the Sixties Scoop Network, she created an online interactive map so adoptees can upload and share their stories. And she has her own story to tell: Colleen and her two sisters were taken 2000 kilometers away from Edmonton, Alberta to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario as part of the Sixties Scoop. Since reconnecting with her biological family, she now knows she is from Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta.

Amy Bombay researches the impacts of residential school and how trauma gets passed down from generation to generation. She was a guest on Unreserved eight years ago. She’s back to tell us what her research reveals about something else passed from generation to generation: resilience.

Cafè Daughter is a movie inspired by the life of a little girl with a secret that would drive her passion for science, advocacy, and ultimately lead her back home.

At 78 years old the Honourable Dr. Lillian Eva Dyck is a former Canadian Senator, a highly respected neuroscientist, and a champion of Indigenous rights. Born in 1945 to a Chinese father and a Cree mother, Lillian grew up in small-town Saskatchewan working at her family's cafè. As a residential school survivor, her mother Eva was taught to be ashamed of her Cree identity and encouraged her children to keep that part of who they were hidden. Lillian’s life inspired first a play, and in October, a feature film called Cafè Daughter.

The film is an adaptation of a play of the same name, by Cree playwright Kenneth T. WIlliams. Both Lillian and Kenneth are members of George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan and Kenneth says it was a fateful encounter with the former senator that sparked his creative flame.

Mohawk filmmaker and director Shelley Niro was immediately drawn to the story because it reflected much of her own experiences.

The same thing happened to Keith Lock, one of the first Chinese-Canadian filmmakers in Canada. He has been involved with Cafè Daughter since its early development as a play.

This week, a powerful season opener featuring a daughter leading a resistance with a call to Search The Landfill.

Cambria Harris is the daughter of Morgan Harris, one of four Indigenous women who Winnipeg police say was murdered by the same man. Morgan is believed to be buried in the Prairie Green Landfill, along with a second woman Marcedes Myron.

Police were led to a serial killer after the remains of Rebecca Contois were discovered in a city garbage bin and at the Brady Landfill. The remains of a fourth woman - named by the community as Buffalo Woman - is still unknown.

Listen, as Cambria invites us into her home. She shares personal memories of her mother who “always made time for us,” despite a system that kept them apart and why, at only 22 she is leading the call to bring all of these women home.

Come gather around the sacred fire burning at Camp Marcedes in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Hear why demonstrators from across Turtle Island are organizing now around the issue of MMIWG2S+ and calling on authorities to search a Winnipeg landfill.

Firekeeper, Goldstar, welcomes us to the sacred fire at Camp Marcedes and explains why he keeps the flame burning.

Jorden Myran says she is at the camp for her sister, Marcedes Myran, whose “bright smile could light up a room.”

And Helper, Danielle Pelletier who lost a cousin to violence, supports, educates and comforts those who come to fire.

Please take care while listening to this episode.

Nicole Mann and NASA made history this past October when Mann became the first Indigenous woman in space. A member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Nicole rocketed into orbit 20 years after Chickasaw astronaut John Herrington became the first Indigenous person in space. She spent 157 days on the International Space Station as the mission commander and conducted research and experiments to prepare for explorations to the moon and Mars.

Wilfred Buck is a star Knowledge Keeper from Opaskwayak Cree Nation and he’s on a mission to restore Indigenous knowledge of the universe. This Canada Day, the author of Tipiskawi Kisik: Night Sky Star stories, shares the Cree knowledge of Keewatin over the Winnipeg skyline. But if you think fireworks are the main event? Think again. Wilfred is using new tech to tell ancient stories - drones.

Jennifer Howse is an Education Specialist at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory at the

University of Calgary, nestled in the Foothills of the Rockies. Jennifer, who is Métis from Alberta, reveals the night skies to young people - as a way to reveal their connection to the stars. Using a giant telescope, she shows them bright stars and distant planets that some have never seen before. Connecting youth to the constellations helps her teach them about the impacts of light pollution.

This week, we speak with two Indigenous artists who mash-up traditional with contemporary as a way to carry on culture

Joshua De Perry, a member of Long Lake 58 First Nation, is a fancy dancer who you might see strutting his traditional style at a pow wow. But he’s just as comfortable on a dance floor break-dancing to the beat of his own music. Also known as Classic Roots, the music producer and DJ blends pow wow and electronic music to create pow wow techno. And that’s not his only mash-up. During his DJ sets - Joshua also wears his colourful regalia - his feather bustle bouncing to the heavy hitting beats.

Carrie Okemaw, from Manto Sipi Cree Nation and Berens River First Nation, has been beading and sewing powwow regalia for over 20 years. She learned the art of beadwork from her grandmother and aunties. Inspired by the bright floral patterns the Cree designer created her own fabric line with a contemporary twist. Now her designs show up in many other creations – from jewelry to ribbon skirts. The possibilities for her bright flower designs are limitless.

Plus three friends of Unreserved drop by to share their suggestions of what music to listen to, TV shows to watch and what books to read this summer!

Our favourite Indigi-Nerd, writer and filmmaker Sonya Ballentyne tunes us into what to watch on the big and small screen.

Some great Indigenous music picks from the producer of the Indigenous Music Countdown, Dave McLeod.

Don’t forget a good book! Tli Cho Dene author and Pop-culture Uncle Richard Van Camp shares his top three books to read this summer.

We're celebrating four Indspire Award recipients who create, educate, and inspire

The Indspire Awards represent the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its own people. Every year, a dozen First Nation, Metis and Inuit people are chosen for their outstanding achievements across Turtle Island and beyond.

Nations Skate Youth is where Joe Buffalo and his team teach kids to skate, as a way to empower, inspire and instill pride. Joe is a legend in the skate community. Not just for his gravity defying feats on a board but also because of his incredible story of survival and resilience. He survived one of Canada’s last residential schools, confronted substance abuse in his life, and after picking up his first skateboard turned pro and became a legend. This year the Samson Cree man was recognized with a Sports Indspire Award.

One of this year’s Youth Recipients is Willow Allen. She is a fashion model, a cultural content creator with over a million followers and a soon to be social worker. After being discovered on Instagram, the Inuvialuit beauty has walked runways from Singapore to New York for big name brands like Clinique, Louboutin Beauty, and Canada Goose. But because home is where her heart is, Willow, who is from Inuvik, Northwest Territories also teaches people online about life in the north – just as her dad taught her on the land.

Building cabins with her grandfather inspired Reanna Merasty to build a career as an architect focused on holistic homes. Now, Reanna is an architectural intern. She also co-founded the Indigenous Design and Planning Students Association at the University of Manitoba. Reanna is a recipient of a Youth Indspire Award for her advocacy and dedication to changing the field of architecture.

Lori Campbell is a 60s Scoop adoptee: one of about 20-thousand Indigenous children who were removed by the government and adopted into mostly non-Indigenous families. She was lost - disconnected from her culture until she enrolled at the University of Regina. There she found a community of “aunties and uncles” that guided her on a journey of self-discovery. Now, as the Associate Vice President of Indigenous Engagement of the same university, she is on a mission to make universities a resource for other Indigenous people who want to find their way home.

Two Indigenous health care professionals; two leaders in their field. They talk about the challenges and the opportunities to fix a broken healthcare system that too often harms Indigenous people.

Dr. Alika Lafontaine says Indigenous people are starting to take their place in institutions like the medical field. He would know, he’s done it as the first Indigenous physician to head the Canadian Medical Association - the largest advocacy group for Canadian doctors. Dr. Lafontaine, who is Oji-Cree and Pacific Islander, is positioned to make change. Dr. Lafontaine tells us how he uses his position as a leader in his field to uplift others, just as he has been lifted up by others before him.

As one of only a few Indigenous pharmacists in Canada, Jaris Swidrovich knows about making space. When they started in the field, Indigenous pharmacists were few and far between. Longing for community, they founded the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada to support other Indigenous pharmacists and make room for Indigenous ways of teaching and healing. Jaris, who is Saulteaux and Ukrainian, is also an assistant professor in the University of Toronto’s faculty of pharmacy.

Archeology that reconnects the past, present and future of Indigenous history

Archaeology has always studied Indigenous history without us. It was something that was done to, instead of with Indigenous peoples. But a growing number of Indigenous archaeologists are pushing back against the colonial boundaries of the field.

Cree/Metis archeologist, Paulette Steeves makes the case that Indigenous peoples have lived on Turtle Island a lot longer than previously thought. The Canada Research Chair in Healing and Reconciliation says archaeology’s deeply held beliefs that we originated somewhere else are rooted in racism. The professor at Algoma University authored The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere in 2021. It is the first book written from an Indigenous perspective on the Paleolithic archaeology of the Americas.

Cree/Scottish Curator of Indigenous Collections and Repatriation at the Royal BC Museum, Kevin Brownlee believes archaeology is about more than digging up the past. It’s uncovering our histories to pass on to our children. As a 60s scoop adoptee, he had questions around where he came from. Archaeology helped bring him a deeper understanding of that history. Now, he wants other Indigenous youth to have access to that same knowledge.

A new generation of archaeologists are now recovering their past as a way to reclaim narrative.

Anishinabe Odjibikan is an archaeological field school in Ottawa. Anishinaabe Algonquin youth like Jennifer Tenasco, Breighton Baudoin and Kyle Sarazin help clean, sort and catalogue items left by their ancestors thousands of years ago because they believe Indigenous people should be telling their own histories.