In Remembrance - 2020 interview with the Rt Hon. Brian Mulroney
This conversation with the late Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney, Canada's 18th Prime Minister, was originally posted in August 2020."Some people said, 'well there is racism in Canada but there is no systemic racism.' And to those people I said, 'You've clearly never read the Indian Act, because it reeks of systemic racism.'"The Right Honorable Brian Mulroney, Canada's 18th Prime Minister, is National Chief Perry Bellegarde's guest on this latest episode of the Akhameyimok Podcast. They discuss climate change, overcoming systemic racism against First Nations people, the sweeping recommendations for change in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, and the leadership lessons he learned in leading the international fight against the white minority Apartheid regime in South Africa and for the freedom of Nelson Mandela.Brian Mulroney was Canada’s Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. In that time he oversaw the negotiation and implementation of the US-Canada Free Trade agreement, and then NAFTA. He initiated important environmental reforms, including the Acid Rain treaty with the United States. He was also at the forefront of attempts to make the Canadian constitution more inclusive, trying to bring Quebec into the fold with the Meech Lake accord and then the Charlottetown Accord. He was Prime Minister during the Oka Crisis, thirty years ago this summer, which led his government to establish the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People. It made sweeping recommendations on how to restructure the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.A special thanks goes out to the Red Dog Singers of Treaty 4 territory in Saskatchewan for providing the theme music for this podcast.The Ahkameyimok Podcast is produced in Ottawa by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
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Episode 62: Bryan Trottier - All Roads Home: A Life On and Off the Ice
Bryan Trottier needs little introduction. The Hockey Hall of Fame player was a key member and leading scorer for the New York Islanders Stanley Cup dynasty of the 1980's, and then with Pittsburgh Penguins of the early 90's. He is also incredibly proud of his Cree-Metis-Chippewa heritage, and his hometown of Val Marie in southern Saskatchewan. In this fun and fascinating conversation, he talks with Perry Bellegarde about learning to play hockey on the beaver pond on his family ranch, playing bass in his father's country band, his parents advice on overcoming racism as a young hockey player, how the infamous Dave "Tiger" Williams saved his hockey career as a junior player at Swift Current, and of course, his key role in the NY Islanders Cup wins from 1980 to 1983. This is an interview to savour.Bryan's new best selling memoir is called "All Roads Home: A Life On and Off the Ice."The Ahkameyimok Podcast is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions in Ottawa.Our theme music is performed by the Red Dog Singers of Treaty Four Territory in Saskatchewan.
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Episode 61: Kuper Island with Duncan McCue
The host of the popular CBC Kuper Island Podcast on the challenges and revelations from reporting about one of Canada's most notorious Residential Schools.
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Episode 60: The Valley of the Birdtail with Douglas Sanderson and Andrew Stobo Sniderman
Chief Perry is thrilled to be joined Douglas Sanderson and Andrew Stobo Sniderman for a fascinating and thoughtful conversation about their new book, "The Valley of the Birdtail."It is a heart-rending, true story about racism and reconciliation.Divided by a beautiful valley and 150 years of racism, the town of Rossburn and the Waywayseecappo Indian reserve have been neighbours nearly as long as Canada has been a country. Their story reflects much of what has gone wrong in relations between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians. It also offers, in the end, an uncommon measure of hope.DOUGLAS SANDERSON (AMO BINASHII) is the Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and has served as a senior policy advisor to Ontario’s attorney general and minister of Indigenous affairs. He is Swampy Cree, Beaver clan, of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation.ANDREW STOBO SNIDERMAN is a writer, lawyer, and Rhodes Scholar from Montreal. He has written for the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, and Maclean’s. He has also argued before the Supreme Court of Canada, served as the human rights policy advisor to the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, and worked for a judge of South Africa’s Constitutional Court. And thanks to the Red Dog Singers for our theme song, Interbal.
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Episode 59: Akhameyimok Returns - Kimberly Murray: Speaking Out for the Residential School Children in Unmarked Graves
"The survivors felt if this had been white children, the community wouldn't be the ones having to investigate their own genocide." - Kimberly MurrayThe Ahkameyimok Podcast is back!And for this return episode Chief Perry Bellegarde is thrilled to have Kimberly Murray as his guest. She is the new Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools. That appointment by the federal department of Justice came about after the heartbreaking discoveries of hundreds of unmarked children's graves in former Residential Schools at Kamloops, BC and at the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, and the hunt is on for more at dozens of former Residential School sites across the country.In her discussion with Perry, Kimberly Murray talks about the technical challenges of searching for graves, overcoming hurdles put up by all levels of government and the police, what her role involves and enables her to do, and what justice looks like for the thousands of children who died from abuse, disease and neglect in Canada's Residential School system.Kimberly Murray is a proud member of the Kanesatake Mohawk Nation. Before taking on her current role as Special Interlocutor, she was the Executive Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee from 2010 to 2015. And she was the Ontario’s first ever Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Aboriginal Justice. After that she led the search for unmarked graves at the Six Nations of the Grand River, working to recover the missing children and unmarked burial sites at the Mohawk Institute, which was Canada’s longest running residential school.Ahkameyimok will continue to put out a new interview every couple of weeks, be sure to subscribe where you listen so you don't miss future episodes.And be sure to follow on social media. Just search for @perrybellegarde
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