Matriarch Movement

Matriarch Movement Podcast — Season 6: Indigenous Voices of This Generation

This episode, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild, sits down with Daniela Riojas — a medicine keeper, educator, musician, and artist whose roots stretch from the Coahuiltecan lands on the Texas-Mexico border to the Peruvian Amazon, where she trained under Shipibo and Ashaninka lineage holders and was initiated into ceremonial plant medicine work. Daniela is the founder of Indígena Medicina, creating sacred containers for healing rooted in Indigenous knowledge, plant medicine, and ceremony.

Daniela and Shayla trace her path from growing up "siphoned" between two identities on the border, to activism in San Antonio, to the grief and long search that led her to her teachers in Peru. She opens up about her mother's passing and the ancestral womb work that initiated her deeper into her medicine path, what a dieta actually involves, and how Icaros - the songs of the plants - become a living technology for healing in ceremony. The conversation also turns practical: how to responsibly vet a ceremony facilitator amid the current plant-medicine boom, how she stays grounded through physical discipline and nutrition, and her advice for anyone trying to reconnect with lineage, land, or spirit when the elders and acces s aren't there.

They close on matriarchy -Daniela's mother, her sisters, and the mentors who shaped how she leads with what she calls "heart-led advocacy."

01:11 — Guest introduction: Daniela Riojas, medicine keeper and founder of Indígena Medicina
02:31 — Daniela's roots: born in Eagle Pass, Texas, connected to the Coahuiltecan people
04:08 — Growing up "siphoned" between two identities on the Texas-Mexico border
05:31 — Activism in San Antonio and fighting for Indigenous voices in the story of the Alamo
07:00 — Shayla on fragmentation, residential schools, and reclaiming pride as a younger generation
08:00 — Daniela's advice for reconnecting to elders and spirit without direct access
12:39 — What a curandera is and how the term is used in her Peruvian lineage
15:21 — What a dieta actually involves — from 8 days to years-long processes
20:40 — Why she began dieting: her mother's passing and the womb work that followed
24:22 — Receiving the Icaros — the "songs of the plants" — as a form of coding technology
28:06 — How she holds the responsibility of space-holding without burning out
30:34 — Physical discipline and nutrition as grounding practices for ceremony work
34:19 — Navigating cultural appropriation and how to vet a ceremony facilitator
37:22 — Lateral violence and protocols for creating safety within community containers
41:47 — Daniela's mentorship for stepping into confidence, power, and self-expression
44:09 — Defining matriarchy: her mother, her sisters, and mentor Miriam Hosny
50:08 — Where to find Daniela: her website, Instagram, and upcoming European tour

Follow Daniela Riojas at Intikhana for details on her mentorship, retreats, and upcoming tours.

@danielariojas

https://www.intikhana.com/

https://linktr.ee/danielariojas

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Matriarch Movement Podcast — Season 6: Indigenous Voices of This Generation

Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter Aysanabee joins Shayla Oulette Stonechild on the Matriarch Movement podcast for a conversation that moves from a trailer with no electricity in rural Ontario to the Juno Awards stage.

Aysanabee opens up about growing up between Sandy Lake First Nation and a series of small northern communities, teaching himself guitar in the forest as a kid, and working in remote mining camps from age 12 - including two near-death experiences with a bear, a wolf pack, and falling through frozen ice, a moment that pushed him to finally commit to music.

He shares the story behind his Polaris-shortlisted, Juno Award–winning debut album - a project born from daily pandemic phone calls with his grandfather, a residential school survivor, that turned into recorded interviews and ultimately an album that helped his grandfather find peace before he passed. Aysanabee also talks about the $40 application fee that led to a record deal over a socially-distanced "Zoom dinner," playing 184 shows in a single year, the emotional weight of representing a national reckoning around residential schools, and his recent trip to Taiwan, where he discovered strikingly similar songs, dances, and reclamation journeys among Indigenous communities on the other side of the world.

The conversation closes with his hopes for the future of Indigenous music including his dream of seeing a global Indigenous pop star and a preview of what's next as he heads into the mountains to write his follow-up to his latest release, Edge of the Earth.

@_aysanabee_

https://www.aysanabee.com

https://www.tiktok.com/@aysanabee
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Season 6: Indigenous Voices of This Generation

In this episode of the Matriarch Movement Podcast's Indigenous Voices of This Generation season, host Shayla sits down with the daughter and successor of Talaysay Tours' founder, — an Indigenous entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and keynote speaker whose work bridges culture, sustainability, tourism, and economic reconciliation.

Raised on the Sunshine Coast and rooted in both the Squamish and Shíshálh Nations, she shares how a family teaching - "we are the land, and the land is us" - shaped her path from a barefoot kid at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park to running walking tours across Vancouver, Squamish, and Whistler.

The conversation traces the company's origin in 2001, growing up alongside her mother's entrepreneurial journey, the loss and revival of cultural knowledge after the Potlatch Ban and residential schools, and the little-known story of the Great Fire that shaped early Vancouver. She also opens up about building an Indigenous apparel line and skincare brand as extensions of cultural reclamation, what it means to mentor the next generation, and how she defines matriarchy in her own life and community.

A conversation about land stewardship, intergenerational knowledge, and building Indigenous-led businesses that reflect who Indigenous people truly are.

(00:00) Territorial acknowledgment and Season intro: Indigenous Voices of This Generation(01:06) Guest introduction with Talaysay Campo(02:12) Guest opens in language, shares ancestral village and territory(03:06) The guiding phrase: "We are the land, and the land is us"(05:04) How Talaysay Tours began in 2001 on the Sunshine Coast, growing up alongside the business(07:49) Childhood at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park; learning "sales" before she could spell(09:50) Going to business school at UBC, then joining the company full-time(12:35) The emotional and practical roots of starting a tour company as an Indigenous woman(14:03) Building community for cultural land ambassadors reconnecting with their nations (52+ guides hired since 2001)(17:30) On hierarchy vs. potlatch values in business partnerships(18:12) Company growth: from a family of 5 to 28 guides; new tour categories (Talking Trees, Spoken Treasures, Talking Totems, Salish Sea)(19:15) Healthcare-worker discounts and free tours as a form of reciprocity(21:01) What to expect on a Talking Trees tour; storytelling as the strongest teacher(24:42) The story of the Great Fire of Vancouver(31:15) The mission: helping guests feel grounded, redirected, and reconnected to the land(32:24) The bedtime story of Creator naming the trees — and why the Western Hemlock bows its head(34:29) Traditional medicinal uses of Western Hemlock and its role pre-contact(35:12) The Tem Cloud herring ceremony and its return after 120+ years(38:53) On Indigenous futurism: returning to original ways of caretaking and stewardship(41:08) Community touchpoints: Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, Squamish Nation Powwow, Bill Reid Gallery(42:15) Advice for Indigenous entrepreneurs: asking for community help, values as a compass(44:36) Lessons from touring in New Zealand and witnessing land-first tourism models(47:50) 2026 goals: healthcare industry partnerships, wellness and movement offerings, getting cultural teachings into school textbooks(54:54) Defining matriarchy: presence, truth-telling, and service to community(57:07) Closing thanks and where to find tours, skincare, and apparel

@talaysay_campo

@nenaglacial

https://www.talaysay.com/
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Season 6: Indigenous Voices of This Generation

In this powerful episode of the Matriarch Movement Podcast, host Shayla Oulette-Stonechild sits down with Rueben George — writer, activist, Sundance Chief, and grandson of the legendary Chief Dan George. A member of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, Rueben spent over a decade leading the fight against the Trans Mountain Pipeline on his nation’s unceded territory, a journey documented in his national bestseller It Stops Here: Standing Up for Our Lands, Our Waters, and Our People, co-written with Michael Simpson.

This conversation moves through Rueben’s family legacy and the intergenerational trauma of residential schools, his path to sobriety at 25 through ceremony, and the spiritual framework — enlightenment, reciprocity, and responsibility — that grounds his activism. He speaks candidly about building the Tsleil-Waututh Sacred Trust’s legal case against Kinder Morgan, his philosophy on economic sovereignty and choosing business partners, and his belief that colonization succeeds by disconnecting people from spirit.

The episode closes with a rare, honest conversation about his psychedelic healing work — including his collaboration with Dr. Gabor Maté — and how his team has guided hundreds of residential school survivors and community members through ceremonial healing, bringing ancient teachings and modern medicine together to address trauma “as it happens.”

A conversation about land defense, sobriety, lineage, and the spirit that connects them all.

Rueben's book: https://www.amazon.ca/Stops-Here-Standing-Waters-People/dp/0735242801

Medicine Movie: https://medicine.movie

@ruebengeorge4
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Hosted by Shayla Oulette Stonechild, founder of Matriarch Movement, this season celebrates the Indigenous leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, athletes, knowledge keepers, and healers who are transforming industries while remaining deeply rooted in culture, community, and ancestral teachings.

Across bi-weekly conversations filmed on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, as well as with guests from across Turtle Island, we'll explore what it means to lead with identity, creativity, wellness, and relational responsibility.

Rooted in the Cree teachings of wâhkôhtowin (kinship) and manâchitowin (mutual respect), Matriarch Movement, exists to amplify Indigenous voices and create spaces where healing, storytelling, and community come together. Each episode bridges generations, honours Indigenous knowledge systems, and reminds us that language, land, culture, and story are inseparable.

Whether you're Indigenous, reconnecting to your roots, or joining us as an ally, these conversations invite you to imagine a future grounded in Indigenous brilliance, joy, and collective healing.

Welcome to The Matriarch Movement. Let's begin.
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