Shows
The True CanadiansInto the Big LeaguesCelebrated Métis lawyer and author Jean Teillet never expected to be arguing a case about “a moose in Sault Ste. Marie” in the highest court in the land. But when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Powley Case that the Métis had a right to hunt, Teillet realized it was an enormous victory. The case, which put the Métis into what Teillet described as the legal “big leagues,” became renowned for recognizing the rights enshrined in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Charged with illegal hunting in 1993, the case of Steve Powley and his son Roddy laid...
2025-08-2658 min
The True CanadiansThe Poetry of Métis IdentityPreeminent Métis poet Marilyn Dumont has spent a lifetime unlearning the racist discourses that permeated her formal education. She grew up in a colonial schooling system more interested in erasing her identity – what Dumont calls a legacy of gaslighting – than providing students with an accurate portrayal of Canadian history. Even though she began writing at a very young age, Dumont tells host David Wylynko that for a while she gave up writing all together, before finding her interest rekindled during her university years. Since then, Dumont has been writing to correct our interpretations of Canadian history and ho...
2025-08-1253 min
The True CanadiansHarrison Ford Need Not ApplyPopular culture often equates archeology with the trials and tribulations of Hollywood blockbusters like Indiana Jones. But when it comes researching Métis history, the film’s star Harrison Ford need not apply. Instead, the Métis look to researchers like Kisha Supernant, who uses digital spatial data instead of whips to find such archival treasures as beadwork instead of gold chests. Like Indiana Jones, Supernant takes her research to the field, not for adventure and mayhem but, sadly, to use ground-penetrating radar to discover unmarked graves at former residential schools.Of Métis descent, Supernant is the D...
2025-07-091h 02
Ancestral ScienceRe-Release: Decolonizing Mother Earth, One Native Plant at a TimeWithin this "active" Spring season of re-birth and re-growth, the Ancestral Science Podcast is taking a brief break to refresh and heal ourselves...so in deciding what episode to re-launch we were guided by the recent first thunder (amidst a thunderSNOW storm) that prompted the pop of the cottonwood buds, emerging crocus, and increased desires to reconnect with Native plants and our gardens, we thought...let's promote a previous guest Latifa of ALCLA Native Plants.The episode was recorded in Fall 2023, on the Lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy, Tsuut’ina Nation, Îethka Nakoda First Nation, and mor...
2025-04-141h 28
Face To FaceMétis must maintain national perspective says MNC presidentVictoria Pruden has only been in the role of president of the Métis National Council for a few months but she knows the 40 year-old organization is in an unprecedented time. The last three and a half years have been filled with division and turmoil as that the Manitoba Métis Federation, Métis Nation-Saskatchewan and Métis Nation British Columbia have all withdrawn from the organization, leaving just the Métis Nation of Ontario and the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, formerly known as the Métis Nation of Alberta. Pruden says MNC has never faced a...
2025-04-0926 min
The True CanadiansHonouring Métis Youth and WomenYouth have a long a history of making significant contributions to Métis culture, politics, and arts. Louis Riel himself was under 30 years of age during the 1869 Red River Resistance. Bailey Oster is proudly carrying on this tradition, having started her involvement in Métis government leadership at just 15 years of age, and having been elected the Vice-President of the Métis women’s organization, New Dawn, when she was only 19. In a short span, Bailey rose to the position of Director of Youth Programs and Services for the Métis Nation of Alberta (now the Otipemisiwak Métis Governm...
2025-02-2644 min
The True CanadiansA treasured Métis traditionHarvesting is a proud and age-old Métis tradition extending back to the fur trade. It contributes greatly to Métis recognition, as perhaps best illustrated in the Powley legal case that argued Métis hunting rights were enshrined in section 35 of the Constitution Act. In a huge victory, the Supreme Court ruled the Powleys were exercising lawful Métis hunting rights.
Though he has little interest in politics, Craig Letendre is a prime authority on harvesting, and responsible for overseeing the portfolio for the Otipemisiwak Métis Government. In this episode, Craig traces his interest in harves...
2025-02-0444 min
A Cultural History of CanadaThe Sixties Scoop & Its Afterlives: Talking to Andrea Currie about 'Finding Otipemisiwak'In which Patrick talks to Andrea Currie (Métis) about her new book Finding Otipemisiwak: The People Who Own Themselves, a narrative that extends from Andrea's experience of being a Sixties Scoop survivor. Find the book here or at your local bookstore! --- Support: Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana); Paypal (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana); recommended reading (https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/)
2025-01-2057 min
The True CanadiansTaking Métis Heritage to the WorldIt isn’t every day your image graces a billboard in New York City’s Times Square, one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world. But for proud Métis citizen Lorelei Higgins Parker, it’s one honour among many. A veteran of pageantry, Lorelei just won the title of Mrs. Unity World Elite while at the world competition in New Delhi, India. When she found the symbols of her Métis heritage lacking on the international pageant stage — the sash, the language, the unique dance — she set out to bring her culture to the world, with astounding su...
2024-12-1242 min
The True CanadiansThree Degrees and Four Realms of Promoting Métis HeritageIf Métis Crossing is the hub of Métis tourism in Alberta, Lt(N) Keith Diakiw’s Talking Rock Tours is a shining example of the many Indigenous attraction spokes that are now connecting the province’s landscape in a meaningful way. Talking Rock provides educational tours of the geological wonders of Alberta, and Keith adds a wealth of natural and cultural storytelling that enhances his one-of-a-kind experience. Keith is well positioned for his GEO (Geo Experience Officer) and Indigenous Guide roles, having been university educated in physical geography, anthropology/archaeology, and even geology.
As he explain...
2024-11-2649 min
The True CanadiansA Journey to ForgivenessShe was a young child when she was taken from her home in the Northwest Territories and placed in a boarding school run by an order of Catholic nuns. Even at such a young age, Angie Crerar knew that what was happening to her and others was wrong. Her story is one of many that recount the horrid legacy of Residential schools, and which collectively stain the history of Canada.
In the latest episode of The True Canadians podcast, Angie shares with host David Wylynko what it means to be taken from a loving family and denied...
2024-11-1240 min
The True CanadiansThe Strength of Métis WomenThe Strength of Métis Women
Each year, during Métis Week in November, the Delia Gray Gala honours a remarkable figure among Métis women in Alberta. Delia Gray was the first Provincial Elder of the Métis Nation of Alberta, now known as the Otipemisiwak Métis Government. This annual event features a dinner, live music, and other forms of entertainment. Additionally, it awards post-secondary scholarships in memory and honour of esteemed Alberta Métis citizens Cecil Bellrose, Marlene Lanz, and Bruce Gladue. In this episode, host David Wylynko explores Delia’s legacy and the achievem...
2024-11-0645 min
Give Amplify ConnectNavigating Family Violence with Shelter Movers CalgaryElsa Perry introduces us to Shelter Movers, a national organization providing free moving and storage services to people escaping domestic violence. Throughout the episode Elsa shares her own unique path from archaeology to activism and highlights the critical role of collaboration with businesses and community agencies, demonstrating how these partnerships pave the way for safer, brighter futures.Explore the vital work being done at Shelter Movers Calgary that also touches lives in nearby towns . We explore the significance of November as Family Violence Awareness Month, underscoring the pressing need for education and community participation in tackling family...
2024-11-0521 min
The True CanadiansImproving Métis health trendsThe Métis do not experience poorer health than non-Indigenous communities because of their cultural practices or ethnicity. On the contrary, the Métis emerged from a vibrant, active history seeded in the fur trade and buffalo hunt. Rather, the trend toward a higher prevalence of illnesses among Métis is rooted in the intergenerational trauma that has resulted from systemic racism, oppressive and exclusionary colonial policies, and horrific assimilation. In 2013, a first-of-its-kind report noted that diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, respiratory disease, and stroke are especially common among Métis.
As she explains to host David Wylynko in t...
2024-10-0255 min
The True CanadiansA Place to Call HomeThe high cost of housing is a challenge for most Canadians. But it can be particularly difficult for the Métis, many of whom can’t draw on the support that a long family history of home ownership can provide. Others grew up without the benefit of access to quality housing whatsoever. It’s a problem that extends back to the “road allowance” days, when Métis were forced off their land and forced to live in areas set aside for future road construction. Building a sense of community can only do so much if you don’t have a comfortabl...
2024-09-0648 min
The True CanadiansReturn of the WildNorth America’s bison, once numbering in the millions, were facing extinction due to European colonialism, commercial hunting, government policy, and industrialization. At their lowest point, only a few hundred remained. We may never see the enormous herds that blackened the Prairies again, but there is one place where you can witness these majestic animals up close, amidst efforts to restore their populations and celebrate their historical significance: the “Visions, Hopes, and Dreams at Métis Crossing Wildlife Park.” Sitting on the northern shore of the North Saskatchewan River about a one-hour drive northeast of Edmonton, Métis Crossing has beco...
2024-08-2738 min
The True CanadiansGift from the SunCivilization is going to need to burn fossil fuels for a little while longer. The only real questions are how much longer — and how to make the transition to renewable power. Overseeing the contribution that the Métis Nation of Alberta will make to that transition is Andres Filella. Born and raised in Ecuador, Filella moved to Edmonton for a degree in chemical engineering and then worked on greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas sector before switching to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, where he now leads a 20-member Environment and Climate Team. Their biggest project so far is...
2024-07-0254 min
The True CanadiansBand of Métis Brothers“If somebody that’s been trained four times how to use an AK-47 is a couple of hundred yards from you, and they are trying to shoot you, you get shot.” Not exactly what a young NATO peacekeeper wants to hear. But like countless Métis who have found themselves in the middle of wars over the centuries, retired Sgt. Chuck Isaacs has learned a few things as a member of the Canadian Forces.
Métis fought in the American Revolutionary War and the US Civil War. They did their duty in the Balkans and Afghanistan, and in every ma...
2024-06-0558 min
The True CanadiansHeartbeat of the MétisRarely does a Métis gathering occur that doesn’t involve fiddle music. From kitchen parties to large community gatherings to huge events like Métis Fest in Alberta or Back to Batoche Days in Saskatchewan, fiddling is never far from the festivities. Many fiddlers learn at a very young age, like the students at Prince Charles School in Edmonton, who are featured in the book The True Canadians.
In this episode, host David Wylynko talks with two highly sought-after Métis fiddlers in Alberta. Alex Kusturok not only plays regularly at venues throughout Alberta and elsewhere but h...
2024-05-2956 min
The True CanadiansThe Project of All ProjectsLong before “economic development” became a popular catchphrase, the Métis had mastered the entrepreneurial spirit. Hundreds of years ago, the Métis were instrumental in establishing the fur trade and opening up vital transportation corridors across North America’s lands and waters. They nurtured what later became known the world over as Canada’s vibrant natural resource economy.
In this episode, host David Wylynko talks with Métis elder Paul Bercier about the connection between the Métis’ approach to prosperity and their strong belief in an inherent right to self-determination, self-government, and independence. Today, that resolve is driv...
2024-05-2141 min
The True CanadiansForging Regenerative TourismCanada prides itself on its tourism destinations. We’re known the world over for such landmarks as the CN Tower, Green Gables Heritage Place, and Whistler, BC. But one of the country’s most prized tourism destination may now be Métis Crossing, located on the shores of the North Saskatchewan River a short drive northeast of Edmonton, Alberta within the historic Victoria Settlement. Condé Nast Traveler magazine named this unique cultural site one of the top 22 tourist attractions in the world.
In a 2021 article, the magazine heralded the location’s 40-room guest lodge, Indigenous-led stargazing program, and cros...
2024-05-1441 min
The True CanadiansIn Pursuit of ExcellenceA generation ago, the typical Métis citizen who wanted to pursue higher learning or attend college or university had almost nowhere to turn for financial support, even though Métis leaders since Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont have embraced the power of education to lift their people. Even those who managed to graduate from high school often went no further because the cost of higher education was a barrier to the Métis people. Things have a come long way since then, thanks in no small part to the Rupertsland Institute Métis Centre of Excellence. To learn more a...
2024-04-1739 min
The True CanadiansThe New Métis NationCassidy Caron, President of the Métis National Council, grew up with a passion for Métis culture, history, and politics in equal measures. Raised in an area of British Columbia with limited exposure to Métis communities, but with a deep family heritage in Batoche, Saskatchewan — famous for the Métis resistance led by Louis Riel in 1885 — Caron entered the political realm at a very early age. By the time she was 24, Caron was serving as the Minister of Youth for the Métis Nation of British Columbia. In 2021, when she was just 29, Caron took the huge step of running...
2024-04-1050 min
The True CanadiansBringing the fight to OttawaHaving devoted a lifetime to Métis rights and activism, elder Tony Belcourt has seen it all. Raised in the historic Métis community at Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, Belcourt quickly learned what Louis Riel realized 100 years earlier, that progress in Métis recognition meant going to one place: Ottawa. As the founding president of the Native Council of Canada, Belcourt took centre stage when the Métis banded together with non-Status Indians to plot a pathway to constitutional recognition in the early 1970s. A decade later, he supported efforts in Ottawa’s “hallowed halls” to convince then–Prime Minister Pie...
2024-03-2042 min
The True Canadians“Why can’t you just remember?”The True Canadians, both the podcast and book, relies on Métis people to tell their own stories. But educating Canadians and advancing recognition and reconciliation won’t be complete until those stories are shared much more widely. Which is where Historica Canada can plays a big role. To find out how this national charitable organization, which uses rigorous research to explain “what it means to be Canadian,” approaches its responsibility to tell the story of the Métis, who better to ask than Anthony Wilson-Smith?
A former journalist whose column appeared for years in Maclean’s magazine, Wils...
2024-03-0543 min
Real Native Roots: Untold Stories PodcastHarvesting Wisdom from a Métis WomanReal Native Roots: Untold Stories presents Otakwan Acahkos Iskwiw (Evening Star Woman), a grounded, powerful, traditional Métisse from the Métis Nation (Otipemisiwak) of St. Louis, Saskatchewan. Otakwan's main family lines are Boucher, Bremner, L'Ésperence, Guernon, Taylor, Hogue, and Prince. Hear how she weaves in her lived experience and inner wisdom of being a cycle breaker, learning self-love, protecting sacred sites, telling our narratives, and so much more.
Before moving south of the medicine line, Otakwan focused her education and career with the Ministry of Environment, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, and IPAC Engineering Firm...
2024-02-271h 09
The True Canadians“A Way into Canada”In the fall of 2003, in what would become known as a “watershed” moment for the Métis, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that when Steve Powley and his son Roddy shot a bull moose 10 years earlier near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, they were exercising their Métis right to hunt, as protected by section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982.
In the fourth episode of The True Canadians, the Podcast, Métis lawyer Jason Madden characterizes the decision of the top court in the land as a “sea change” that would set the Métis on a journey to m...
2024-02-2740 min
The True CanadiansLucy and the Legal LacunaIn the third episode of The True Canadians, host David Wylynko talks with Métis lawyer Jason Madden, who practices Aboriginal law with a focus on Indigenous rights litigation and negotiations, including the negotiation and implementation of self-government agreements, modern day treaties, and reconciliation-based agreements.
A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and called to the bar in Ontario, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, Jason is a partner at the law firm Aird & Berlis LLP and Co-Leader of the firm’s Indigenous Practice Group.
Jason was born and raised in nort...
2024-02-2046 min
Fort McMurray Matters on play 103.7Andrea Sandmaier and Laila GoodridgeAndrea Sandmaier joins the show to discuss important issues impacting the Otipemisiwak Metis Government.
Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP Laila Goodridge also joins the show to discuss what she calls an "out-of-touch" policy change from the federal environment minister.
2024-02-1522 min
The True CanadiansSetting up youth for successFrom her small home community of Lac La Biche, Alberta, to the academic halls of the University of Calgary, to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Rebecca Lavallee has taken huge leaps forward in a very short timespan. In the second episode of The True Canadians, host David Wylynko talks with Rebecca about the importance of family and community in fostering Métis youth with confidence and pride. These attributes help cure young people of the crippling effects of “imposter syndrome,” and can steer them away from the negative impacts of burying one’s heritage.
This support helped Rebecca make th...
2024-02-1338 min
The True Canadians“Some day is now”In the first episode of The True Canadians, host David Wylynko talks with Andrea Sandmaier, President of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government of the Métis Nation within Alberta, and Audrey Poitras, who recently retired as president. Sandmaier and Poitras share their views on the historic Métis journey toward legal recognition of their right to self-government, including the landmark legislation now before Parliament, Bill C-53. Sandmaier explains how important the legislation is to the Métis who have waited lifetimes for this right to be enshrined in law.
Among the stories the two Métis leaders share...
2024-02-0642 min
The True CanadiansIntroducing The True CanadiansFor over two centuries, the Métis have fought for recognition as an Indigenous people and as a Nation. It’s a story worth telling, but until recently, it hasn’t been heard enough.
The title of this podcast and the book refers to the fact that the Métis truly are people born of this land — well before Canada became a country of its own.
Your host is David Wylynko, a media consultant, writer, former journalist, and co-author of The True Canadians. His co-author, Patricia Russell, is a Métis writer and a former CBC journalis...
2024-01-1503 min
Between 2 SpiritsThe Spirits Behind the BeadsSend us a textIn this podcast, Otepimisiwak / Metis beadwork artists and friends, Lydia Toorenburgh (they/them) and Lynette La Fontaine (they/them) visit and talk about their Two-Spirit identities, Otepimisiwak language and culture, and art practices. Lynette is an incredible artist working under the name Otepimisiwak Artist(@otipemisiwak_artist). They use fish scales, beads, tufting, paint, quills, and hide among other materials and techniques. Together, these relatives share a warm and vulnerable visit as they share about their journeys coming in to their gender identity and how they celebrate their Two-Spirit teachings, culture, and art.
2023-01-0350 min
AambeAmbe: Refusing PatriarchyRefusing Patriarchy. The theme for this month went through several iterations, originally I was thinking about Mother’s Day and the various ways that we mother that go far beyond a binary that is so comforting to some and so alienating for others. Then I thought about the way that norms become so pervasive that we become defined by them, on one side are men and on the other women, 2SLGBTQIAA, and non binary people. So I thought about Navigating Patriarchy. But no, that wasn’t right. I landed on Resisting Patriarchy, because that’s closer to what we do, we push...
2021-10-261h 34
The Radical Sex WitchesOtipemisiwak Artist - An Interview with Lynette LafontaineIn this episode of the RSW Podcast, Carla and Little Leah have the pleasure of interviewing otipemisiwak (Métis) Artist, Lynette La Fontaine. Lynette, who's spirit name is muskwa mostos kesigok iskew, roughly translated as bear buffalo northern lights woman, is an otipemisiwak mixed media visual artist with roots in northern Saskatchewan, as well as the historic Métis communities of the Red River settlement and Norway House.Trained as a Registered Nurse, Lynette began beading in 2007 while volunteering with Métis Elders. They describe their work as being inspired by the connections between the land, heart, spir...
2021-07-1027 min
The Health Design PodcastDenise McCuaig, patient advocateDenise McCuaig is a Métis elder residing in British Columbia, Canada. She is the past Director, Aboriginal Health for the Interior Health Authority. Over the past two years she has been supporting the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement as an Indigenous Coach and Mentor. Denise is a board member of the Mood Disorder Society of Canada, First People’s Wellness Circle and Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Child and Family Services Society. She has four adult children and seven grandchildren; her personal motivation for advocating for health system change.
2020-11-2325 min