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Prominent music publicist and SiriusXM radio host Eric Alper explores the intersection of the music industry, systemic barriers for Indigenous artists and the way forward for truth and conciliation in Canada.

In this conversation with cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee, Alper reflects on his 30-year career, his lifelong passion for the magic of storytelling in music, and why he adopts the mindset of a "shameless idealist" when fighting to get musicians heard.

"I keep saying yes to doing things for no other reason that I just like and love music, and I like being around people that make magic happen, because I can't play a single note," Alper says. "I've never written a song before. You stick me in a recording studio, I've absolutely no idea, zero, what and how anything is done." 

But what he does know is that the entertainment industry has historically excluded and exploited Indigenous voices. At the same time, he notes that classifying Indigenous music as a distinct genre undervalues the breadth of musical styles within the scene today.

Among the Indigenous artists and acts Alper highlights are Francis Baptiste, Tom Wilson, Crystal Shawanda, Northern Cree, Susan Aglukark, Mattmac, Mike Bern, Duke Redbird and Donita Large.

Also getting a special shoutout is the non-Indigenous group Sultans of String and its cofounder Chris McKhool for their groundbreaking collaborations with Indigenous acts in Canada, resulting in the album Walking Through the Fire.

McKhool has "kind of been a beacon" for people trying to right the wrongs against Indigenous communities and individuals in Canada, Alper says.

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Have you ever stopped to think about what happens when you turn on the tap? University of Calgary researcher Kerry Black certainly has—and is keenly aware of how that access to clean, dependable water separates her from many First Nations families.

Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee sit down with the engineer and settler to discuss the great water divide and how it connects to persistent and destructive colonial constructs. 

"If I can turn on the tap, and I can leave right now, and I can keep it on for the next 48 or 72 hours, no one's going to come to the door and go, are you OK? By the way, you're seriously wasting some water," says Kerry.

"They're just going to send you a bill (and say), do you have a leak in your faucet? There's no urgency to that. And that, to me, is the definition of water privilege."

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Ian Smith, director of business development with the University of Alberta's Faculty of Engineering, talks about personal actions and impactful programs that tie into his own truth and conciliation journey.

Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee talk with Ian about

• moments of revelation
• effective approaches, big and small, to truth and conciliation
• learning to be a musician, responding to criticism and trying again (Ian has a master's degree in music performance from Arizona State University)
• the need for more genuine initiatives and less box ticking
• and much more.

If you're looking for a simple entry point to your own truth and conciliation journey, Ian has a recommendation: "Go get some books. Read Indigenous authors. Read their perspectives. And that helps you understand more truth."

Also, if you've got a spare zero dollars to spend, take the University of Alberta's online Indigenous Canada course, he says.

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John Desjarlais, a professional engineer who grew up in Cumberland House, Sask., explores the values-based teachings of Indigenous peoples and his own Métis upbringing for pathways into more representative codes of ethics for professional bodies.

A proponent of practical approaches to engraining truth and reconcilation (or conciliation or reciprocity) in the lives of all Canadians, Desjarlais speaks with hosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee about community wealth, role-modelling, the need for representation of Indigenous communities and peoples among decision-makers and policy-makers, and much more.

"When I looked at the Cree code of ethics, I was, like, wow. It's all virtues. It's values. It's ways of being," says Dejarlais, a past president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan. Non-Indigenous codes of ethics tend to focus on duty, he said — and would benefit from expanding into values that accent things like humility, respect and relationships.

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Nicole Weatherly's deep connection to the art and genius of her brother, his challenges and his unique essence underpin the space for change she's created under the banner Superstar X.

Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee talk with Nicole about what makes her and her website tick, on the eve of Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and the launch of Love 2024, a multiplatform, weeks-long extravaganza.

Subtitled An (un)Learning Summit for Truth & (re)Conciliation, Love 2024 kicks off on September 30, connecting Indigenous and non-Indigenous people through art shows, truth talks and Superstar X Magazine. The festival of ideas, words and imagery promotes healing and actionable steps to reciprocity across Turtle Island.

Jessica, George and Nicole discuss:

• Nicole's journey from the small town of Czar, Alberta, to the big-city lights of Toronto, Ontario
• the tricky distinctions and pratfalls of so-called allyship—along with the tricky distinctions and pratfalls of discovering and sharing your ancestral identity
• why and how Superstar X connects to her brother, Edward, and others who fall outside mainstream labels
• how art breaks down barriers to reach into our souls, revealing and personalizing universal truths
• personal motivations for social change
• the adoption and use of information technology as a force for good within and beyond Indigenous communities.
• and much more.

Superstar X Website
https://www.superstarx.xyz/

Love 2024 Registration
https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/love-2024-3583239

Kevin Peeace Art
https://www.kevinpeeace.com/

Ma-Nee Chacaby Art
https://www.superstarx.xyz/artists/ma-nee-chacaby

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Deborah Curran's passion for the environment flows through her psyche and the work she does as a lawyer, an academic and a consultant.

"If you met me in my 15-year-old self and drew a line, it would be pretty straight to where I am today," says Curran, a professor with the Faculty of Law and the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria.

Jessica, George and Deborah discuss:

• the inherent limitations of colonial law in addressing Indigenous and environmental issues
• how some Indigenous communities are putting an outward-looking face on their internal legal orders
• the pressure, expectations and workloads placed on Indigenous leaders
• the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• the growing role of Indigenous awareness training in Canada's professions
• the work and purpose of UVic's Indigenous Law Research Unit and student-led Environmental Law Centre
• and much more.

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About 10 years ago, a stranger unwittingly revealed facts about Tom Wilson's adoption, pointing the singer and guitarist with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings towards life-changing truths about his identity.
His origins had been hidden from him for more than five decades, even though a sense of not belonging and a recurring dream had made him suspect things were not exactly as they appeared.
Growing up in Hamilton, he'd come to think of himself as "a big, puffy, sweaty Irish guy, when I'm actually a pretty big Mohawk guy," Wilson tells cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee.
 "Now I can continue in my life, knowing the blood that runs through me, and that only strengthens my intent creatively," says Wilson, a member of the Kahnawake Mohawk Nation in Quebec.  "My job now is to bring the Mohawk culture into the light, to battle whatever way I can, artistically or with my voice, or through  standing as a land defender, or through starting an Indigenous scholarship, which I did at McMaster—all those ways are fighting colonialism."
Find out more about Wilson, his thoughts on Canada, colonialism and identity, and his way of living a Mohawk life in this episode of Unsettled: Journeys in Truth & Conciliation.

The Tom Wilson Indigenous Bursary in Honour of Bunny Wilson
https://tomwilsononline.com/scholarship/
Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/531052/beautiful-scars-by-tom-wilson/9780385685672
Beautiful Scars TVO Documentary
https://www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/beautiful-scars
The Art of Tom Wilson
https://tomwilsononline.com/art/
Kahnawake Mohawk Nation
http://www.kahnawake.com/
Thunder Bay Podcast
https://www.canadaland.com/shows/thunder-bay/
Thunder Bay on Crave
https://www.crave.ca/en/tv-shows/thunder-bay

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When your ancestors speak to you, you should probably listen. And in Mike Bern's case, that means using his talent and voice to honour them, his culture, and the loved ones he's lost.

The folk rocker from Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick released the album Ancestors earlier this year, with the single no words for goodbye reaching number one on the Indigenous Music Countdown.

Cohosts Jessica and George talk to Mike about his current and past musical focus, his culture, the importance of incorporating his native language in his songs, and much more.

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Renowned Blackfoot educator Ramona Big Head talks about overdoses and other tragedies, the ripple effect of residential school abuses through generations and families, and hope.
Recent deaths in her community and family "knocked me off my feet," she tells cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee. "I think I'm still processing the magnitude of these losses. And it's still happening."
Among her tools for healing are prayer, ceremony, physical exercise, humour, empathy, and spending time with her grandchildren.
"I'm such an optimist," Ramona says. "I honestly believe that this generation of kids. . .they could be the first generation of our people that absolutely, 100 per cent stay away from drugs or alcohol. Why? Because they see immediately, you take that drug, you die."

Warning: suicide, sexual abuse, and substance abuse are discussed in this episode.

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Rooted in her own story of domestic abuse, Kristi Lane Sinclair's album Super Blood Wolf Moon oozes strength, perseverance, pain, and vulnerability. The award-winning Haida-Cree singer-songwriter has released a searing, deeply personal, and profound collection of songs, at once driving and anthemic, wispy and gentle, angsty and orchestral.

"I didn't want to write this," says Kristi. "It was the last thing I wanted to do at that point, to share my story. But just going through it, I had this knowledge. I'm part of this secret club now. . .I just thought I'd extend that. If you know you know. They'll get what I'm talking about, and I'll not really help but just hang out and make someone feel not quite so alone."

Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee also talk with Kristi about:

• the healing power of creativity, women, community, family, ancestors, dogs (especially one named Murphy Brown) and nature
• the need for non-Indigenous Canadians to stand against racism and for justice, side-by-side with their Indigenous neighbours
• Kristi's film and TV work
• the making of a song that features the late Inuit singer Kelly Fraser and the supporting video that features Haida women and family in traditional and ancestral roles
• film-making and TV work
• and much, much more.

Under fair dealing provisions of Canada's Copyright Act, we used recordings of several songs from Super Blood Wolf Moon in the production of this episode. If you'd like hear more, download Kristi's music wherever you get your music. You can also find out more about her and her music on her website:
www.kristilanesinclair.ca.

To watch the official music video of Break, feat. Kelly Fraser, check out Kristi's YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/NkNN2o94O-s?si=nfqOOk-GTcEteTnn

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