In this episode, we’re digging into the stories we’ve been told about the about the history of the lands now known as Canada. We’re reflecting on the role education has played in disseminating colonial myths, and the hard work underway to get to the truth of our collective history.  
 
This time on Taapwaywin, Ry Moran talks to Pia Russell and Chaa’winisaks about how school textbooks were central in promoting and spreading colonial ideas, and with Paulette Steeves about her work reclaiming two hundred thousand years of Indigenous history.  
 
Paulette Steeves: https://paulettesteeves22.wixsite.com/drpaulettesteeves 
 
The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere book:  
https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496202178/ 
 
Learn more about the BC Historical Textbooks Project here: 
https://www.uvic.ca/library/research-teaching/collections/about/curriculum-textbooks.php 
 
UVic’s Indigenous Cultural Acumen Training: 
https://www.uvic.ca/services/indigenous/facultystaff/icat/index.php 
 
Information on the return of ȽEL¸TOS James Island: https://www.dgwlaw.ca/tsawout-first-nation-making-headlines-files-claim-for-return-of-james-island/ 

A fundamental gap remains between how many Canadians see this country and the realities of living under a colonial settler state. Public commitments made by our governments to truth and reconciliation often do not match their actions behind closed doors.

From courtrooms to truth commissions, this episode is about the ways the Canadian settler state continues to suppress the legal systems, governance structures, and lived experiences of Indigenous peoples - and the difficulties seeking justice and truth within colonial legal systems. But we’re also looking at the profoundly important work of those fighting to make the truths of Indigenous people known.

In this episode Ry Moran speaks with David Paterson about the barriers in getting truths recognized in the Canadian courts, and with Marion Buller about the difficult work of truth-telling in this country through the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry.

David Paterson: https://www.whiteravenlaw.ca/david-paterson

Marion Buller: https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/careers/departments/anthropology/profiles/buller-marion.php

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Reports: https://nctr.ca/records/reports/

National Inquiry for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Reports: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/

Delgamuukw Supreme Court Judgement: https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1569/index.do

Around the world, we are witnessing massive amounts of irreversible ecological destruction brought about by the intersecting impacts of colonization, capitalism, and human induced climate change.

From the recent loss of billions of sea stars to the way environmental destruction infringes on protected Indigenous rights, in this episode we’re looking at the immense damage that has been inflicted on culture, language, and the environment – and the work being done to find pathways forward.

Ry Moran speaks with Alyssa Gehman, Mavis Underwood, Sean Holman, and Carey Newman about way that the climate crisis challenges us to fulfill our responsibilities to establish and maintain mutually respectful relations with each other, the land, and all living things.

Alyssa Gehman: https://gehmana.weebly.com/

Mavis Underwood: https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/anthropology/people/graduate-students/profiles/underwoodmavis.php

Sean Holman: https://www.uvic.ca/finearts/writing/people/faculty/profiles/holman-sean.php

Carey Newman: https://twitter.com/blueravenart

Sean Holman’s Climate Disaster Project: https://climatedisasterproject.com/

Sunflower Sea Star’s IUCN Red List Assement: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/178290276/197818455

You can report sightings of sunflower sea stars to https://www.inaturalist.org/ or https://marine.ucsc.edu/data-products/sea-star-wasting/index.html

What’s the name of the city, or town, or country that you’re in right now? Do you know where that name comes from? Do you know how long it’s been known by that name, or if it’s had any other names?

Today we’re looking at names across this country – the names of places, people, and individuals – and what truths about our history they reveal or obscure.

This episode Ry Moran talks with Daryl Kootenay, Heather Igloliorte, Lawrence Hill, and Robina Thomas about the deep connections between history, land, and identity.

Visit www.taapwaywin.ca for transcripts and more information.

Daryl Kootenay: https://www.banffcanmorecf.org/moving-mountains-co-lead-daryl-kootenay/

Heather Igloliorte: https://www.heatherigloliorte.ca/

Lawrence Hill: https://www.lawrencehill.com/

Robina Thomas: https://www.uvic.ca/hsd/socialwork/faculty/home/faculty/Members/thomas-robina.php

Barry Pottle’s Awareness Series (E-tag photographs): https://barrypottle.com/portfolio/awareness-series/

Lawrence’s Beatrice and Croc Harry: https://www.lawrencehill.com/beatrice-and-croc-harry

Around the world, communities are grappling with the traces of systemic violence and human rights violations that exist in the landscape around us.

How do we remember injustices when the physical signs of that history are no longer visible? What do we do with the buildings and structures that still stand? And how are the memories embedded within these sites both painful scars and opportunities for healing?

In this episode Ry Moran talks with Carey Newman, Oliver Schmidtke, and Tavia Panton about sites with difficult histories in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom and what to do with them.

Visit www.taapwaywin.ca for transcripts and more information.

Carey Newman: @blueravenart
https://www.uvic.ca/finearts/ahvs/people/faculty/profiles/cnewman.php

Oliver Schmidtke: https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/politicalscience/people/directory/schmidtkeoliver.php

Tavia Panton’s current project with Museums of Liverpool: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/waterfront-transformation-project

The Witness Blanket: https://witnessblanket.ca/

Bluecoat’s Colonial Legacies Project: https://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/coloniallegacies

[This episode contains discussions of Canada’s Residential School system, please take care. Resources for support are available on our website, should you need them.]

In 2015 carvers Gwaai and Jaalen Edenshaw travelled all the way to Oxford to carve a replica of a masterpiece of Haida art: a remarkable bentwood box that had been held in the Pitt Rivers Museum collection for over 130 years.

But why were Jaalen and Gwaai recreating the box in the first place? Why was having the original bentwood box return to Haida Gwaii not an option? And how did the box end up all the way in England?

In this episode, Ry Moran talks with Gwaai and Jaalen Edenshaw, Marenka Thompson-Odlum, Heather Igloliorte, and Nika Collison about the way museums can at once obscure history or be powerful sites of truth-telling.

Visit www.taapwaywin.ca for transcripts and more information.

Gwaai Edenshaw: http://www.gwaai.com/

Jaalen Edenshaw: http://jaalen.net/

Haida Gwaai Museum SAAHLINDA NAAY: https://haidagwaiimuseum.ca/

More information Marenka Thompson-Odlum’s Labelling Matters Project: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/labelling-matters

Heather Igloliorte: https://www.concordia.ca/finearts/art-history/faculty.html?fpid=heather-igloliorte

More information and Links:

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action on Museums and Archives:

TRC Calls to Action: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf

UNDRIP: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf

The Principles of Reconciliation: https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/trc/IR4-6-2015-eng.pdf

United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals

Why is it so hard for the truths of Indigenous peoples to be heard? What are the roadblocks to truth-telling in Canada? And what can we do about them?

In the inaugural episode of Taapwaywin, host Ry Moran explores the responsibilities that come with exploring truth through conversations with Survivors, Knowledge Keepers, and Elders. Guests Barney Williams, Paulette Steeves, Robina Thomas, and Norman Fleury share knowledge, wisdom and personal reflections on the important work of truth-telling.

Visit www.taapwaywin.ca for a transcript of the episode and more information.

In this eight episode series, host Ry Moran goes in depth on why we need truth before reconciliation.

Over the course of this season, we will visit with Survivors, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, academics, artists, and activists, exploring the opportunities and barriers for truth-telling.

Visit www.taapwaywin.ca for transcripts, shownotes, and more information.