Unreserved

It was 60 seconds that changed Sacheen Littlefeather’s life. On March 27, 1973, the 26-year-old Apache/Yaqui woman walked onto a stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and into the international spotlight.

The young woman dressed in a Northern buckskin dress rejected the Academy Award to Marlon Brando for The Godfather. The actress and activist calmly explained to 85 million people that it was due to "the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry."

Fifty years later and the Academy has apologized.

In this exclusive conversation with Unreserved host Rosanna Deerchild, Littlefeather recalls that famous moment, what led up to it, the fallout and what it all meant for the American Indian Movement and Indigenous people across Turtle Island in the five decades since.

Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of the past century. For 60 years her music has quietly reverberated throughout pop culture, and provided a touchstone for Indigenous resistance. In this five-part series, Mohawk and Tuscarora writer Falen Johnson explores how Buffy’s life and legacy is essential to understanding Indigenous resilience. More episodes are available at hyperurl.co/buffy

This week we learn from Indigenous people in the tech industry who are using their powers to protect, project and pass on culture for future generations.

Tamara Goddard and David Fierro founded 400 Drums, an Indigenous NFT project that raises money for programming and initiatives for Indigenous people across the country. Amira Carrier is a student at Emily Carr University and a member of the 400 Drums team. Elder Gibby Jacob, a hereditary chief of Squamish First Nation, is also working with 400 Drums.

Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Haudenosaunee Iroquois of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma, is an associate professor of Artificial Intelligence and Arts at the University of Florida. Her work, based in Indigenous ethics, is focused on sharing knowledge for seven generations into the future through virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

Meagan Byrne is a Métis video game designer and the co-founder of Achimostawinan Games. Her latest video game project is an example of how Indigenous designers are changing the way we look at the future.

There's something about gathering with your community that just hits different! This week on Radio Indigenous we're hitting the pow wow trail to ask our favourite aunties, uncles, cousins and friends how they're marking National Indigenous Peoples Day.

We'll hear from Inuk songstress Susan Aglukark, Trickster novelist Eden Robinson, Tik Tok Auntie Sherry McKay, Anishinabek Nation Chief Water Commissioner Autumn Peltier, singer-songwriter Sara Kae, Mi'kmaq language enthusiasts Tom & Carol Anne Johnson, Cultural Guardian for the Innu Nation Jodie Ashini and National Inuit Youth Council president Brian Pottle about why all Canadians are invited to learn and unlearn about Indigenous peoples. Hop on the party bus with your favourite cousin Rosanna Deerchild.

It's food that nourishes our bodies and minds. This week we head from a collective to the kitchen to the classroom to hear how Indigenous foods are a gateway to sharing culture, history and even politics. On the show -- award-winning, internationally recognized chef and educator, David Wolfman, I-Collective members Chef Quentin Glabus and Karlos Baca who tell us all about a 100 per cent Indigenous digital cookbook called The Gathering Basket, and Glenna Henderson who takes us into the classroom where reconciliation is on the menu.

We meet two Indigenous artists bringing the legacy of tragedy and the gift of comedy to the stage.

The Quebec Bridge Disaster is a well-known example of how not to build a bridge. On August 29, 1907 - 33 Mohawk steelworkers died when the structure collapsed. But what’s lesser known is the impact it had on the Mohawk community of Kahnawake. Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo says everyone was touched by “The Disaster.” They either lost a cousin, a son, a father, or a grandfather. Tragedy rippled further when the children of the steelworkers were then taken away to Industrial School. The Mohawk dancer and choreographer, shares this piece of Kahnawake history through dance, in SkyDancers.

When comedian Janelle Niles felt like the only Indigenous comic on the stage, she made her own stage and Got Land! was born. Janelle is a Black, Mi’kmaq comedian and creator of the stand-up comedy variety show featuring First Nation, Inuit and Metis entertainers.

This week on Unreserved, an encore presentation featuring three documentaries about family, community, and healing. Sally Hart's desire to find her birth family weighed heavily on her for years. The search brought her from Vancouver to the Penelakut Nation — Jean Paetkau brings us her story in her documentary "Searching For Home." In what seems like a bit of a walking contradiction, we meet Leo Friday who – at the time of this documentary – was both the chief of Kashechewan First Nation in Ontario and a priest for the Anglican church. He's the leader of his First Nation, but also a leader for a colonial institution that has brought a lot of pain to his people. Erik White helps tell his story. Children of God is a musical that explores the legacy of residential schools through a fictitious story of one Oji-Cree family. It was written by Corey Payette, who spent hundreds of hours interviewing dozens of residential school survivors to ensure he did the story justice. Jennifer Chrumka shares Payette's story.

Canada recognizes the best in music with the annual Juno Awards and this year Indigenous musicians have twice the reason to celebrate. There are now two Indigenous music awards: one for contemporary music and one for traditional music.

Our Indigi-musicologists Jarett Martineau, Jade Harper and Alan Greyeyes weigh in on the celebration and contention.

She is one of Turtle Island's most recognized and beloved voices. Susan Aglukark has had an incredible music career spanning over 30 years, earning herself three Juno awards and 11 nominations. This year, she’s been honoured with the Humanitarian Award for her long-standing commitment to improving the lives of Indigenous youth in the North. In a feature interview with Rosanna Deerchild, Aglukark shares why that work is so important to her and how music has been healing in her own life.

Jayli Wolf and Shawnee Kish are both first-time nominees for Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year. Both artists share personal stories through their music.

Jayli didn’t know she was Indigenous growing up, but she has since embraced her identity and that shines through in her music. Her nominated album, Wild Whisper blends traditional Indigenous sounds with an electronic-R&B-style.

Shawnee Kish is a proud two-spirit Mohawk artist who has been compared to Amy Winehouse and Etta James. In her Juno-nominated self-titled debut EP, she uses her music to talk about everything from love and romance, to misogyny in the music industry.

Nimkii Osawamick makes music as an act of decolonization. His band Nimkii and the Ninniis is nominated for Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year. Their EP Nang Giizhigoong means "star realm" in Anishinaabemowin and is a collection of heart thumping drums and choral singing.

This episode of Unreserved is all about aunties — why we love them and all the ways they lift up our communities.

Join us in the Auntie Circle at Katita Cafe in the Winnipeg Art Gallery to get the Auntie 101. Sonya Ballantyne, Heather Bjorklund and Joanne MacDonald give us the tea on what an auntie is in Indigenous family and community, and share some sweet and funny auntie stories.

Toronto’s Call Auntie Clinic started out as an impromptu healthcare hotline at the start of the pandemic, but it has since grown into a cozy space to come and visit. The clinic is staffed by Indigenous doctors, midwives and birth workers like Niiohontéhsha A’nó:wara, Krysta Williams, Ryan Giroux and Cheryllee Bourgeois who provide reproductive and sexual health services, using a kinship model.

Tenille Campbell is a poet, photographer and auntie. She says not all aunties are sweet, gentle and kind. So she wrote the poem “We aren’t all nice aunties” and invited many self-identified aunties in her life to record videos of themselves reading the poem. She shares her big auntie energy!

The podcast, Auntie Up! features Indigenous women talking about the important stuff like missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women and the effects of lateral violence in our community. But they also talk about boujee bannock and the politics of bead work. Journalist, author and storyteller Tanya Talaga says she created the podcast to give space to the Aunties in our communities and help share their important voices with the world.

From Muppets to movies to musicals, meet Indigenous people who are braiding together mainstream and Indigenous stories

DerRic Starlight always loved the Muppets, so much so that he learned all the voices – and then some. Today, the comedian and puppeteer performs over 500 voices, including those of the Nuppets, an Indigenous cast of characters based on people from the Tsuut’tina First Nation reserve.

Carol Anne and Tom Johnson first made headlines when their Mi'kmaq overdubbing of the Dreamworks film, Chicken Run, took off. Fast forward to today and the couple cannot keep up with the demand for translation and overdubbing services. That’s why they’re creating a studio in Eskasoni, Nova Scotia to encourage others in their community to get involved with this unique form of language revitalization.

Think poodle skirts but also ribbon skirts. Think doo-wop but also hip-hop. A Cree couple in Edmonton, Alberta is giving Grease the Musical an Indigenous Treaty Six twist with the creation of Bear Grease The Musical. Co-creator, Crystle Lightning, reminds us of the importance of Indigenous storytelling that focuses on humour and having fun.