Relentless Indigenous Woman Podcast

• Ep. 33: Indigenous Futurity and the Language of Art with Christi Belcourt

  Dr. Candace Linklater sits down with renowned Métis artist Christi Belcourt, whose work bridges ancestral knowledge, land-based resistance, and decolonial imagination. Candace introduces Christi as one of the most iconic Indigenous artists of our time, celebrated worldwide for paintings that echo traditional beadwork and speak to Indigenous sovereignty, environmental justice, and cultural survival. They discuss how Christi’s art serves as both a love letter to Indigenous futurity and a bold challenge to colonial violence, extending her voice in solidarity with global struggles, including Palestine, while grounding her practice in community, language revitalization, and the wisdom of the natural world.The conversation moves beyond Christi’s public legacy to reveal her personal vulnerability. She opens up about her introversion and the anxieties that come with public speaking, recounting a profound moment at the Matriarch Summit where an unexpected encounter with an Indigenous woman affirmed her calling: “You have a gift. People listen, so don’t be scared to say whatever it is you have to say.” This chance meeting reminded her of the spiritual guidance that emerges in ordinary moments and the medicine that comes from community. Listeners are invited to see art as a creative expression, and a living act of resistance, courage, and relational healing. It can be a space where even shyness and uncertainty can transform into powerful truth-telling.BioChristi Belcourt is one of the most iconic Indigenous artists of our generation. A proud Métis woman, she brings land, memory, and resistance to life through her breathtaking paintings that echo the beadwork of her ancestors and the wisdom of the natural world.Her art lives in major collections around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, and even Parliament Hill. She’s collaborated with and designed the Pan Am Games medals, and her work have travelled from New York to Milan to Indigenous communities where she shares her gifts through grassroots teachings.Christi carries deep commitments to Indigenous sovereignty, language revitalization, and environmental justice. Through the Onaman Collective and Nimkii Aazhibikong, she creates spaces where Indigenous youth connect to language, land, and art. Her voice extends globally as she speaks unapologetically in solidarity with Palestine, drawing powerful connections between Indigenous struggles worldwide.Recently received an Honorary Doctorate from Ontario College of Art & Design University, and offered a powerful speech for the graduates this week. Every piece Christi creates feels like a love letter to Indigenous futurity, a bold, visual act of decolonial power and beauty that keeps ancestral knowledge alive while fiercely challenging colonial violence.IG: @christi_belcourthttp://christibelcourt.com/ Send Us a Text with Your Thoughts or Questions!RIW Website RIW Podcast Resources Sponsor the RIW Pod via Patreon - Music Produced by Award Winning Anishnaabe DJ Boogey the Beat

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• Ep. 32: Sacred Limits: On Loss, Legacy, and Living Offline with Vanessa Brousseau

  Dr. Candace Linklater speaks with Vanessa Brousseau, also known as Resilient Inuk, an Inuk multidisciplinary artist and advocate whose art and activism are deeply rooted in personal and intergenerational loss. Vanessa shares the painful yet powerful story of her grandfather’s forced displacement and medical experimentation by the Canadian government, her sister’s disappearance in 2003, and her mother’s death due to medical racism. These experiences fuel her advocacy for MMIWG2S+ and her passion for creating art that serves as both a form of healing and a means of resistance. Throughout the conversation, she reflects on her phases of growth—from personal grief to community empowerment—and how TikTok became a surprising vehicle for her voice during the pandemic.Vanessa and Dr. Candace explore what it means to be vulnerable online while protecting one’s sacredness, especially as Indigenous women navigating both the beauty and brutality of digital spaces. They speak candidly about burnout, boundaries, social media limits, lateral violence within Indigenous communities, and the importance of staying grounded in purpose. The conversation is rich with laughter, shared grief, spiritual flow (often sparked in the shower or at the gym), and mutual encouragement to keep showing up authentically, even if imperfectly. It ends with a powerful message for settlers: understand how intergenerational trauma lives on in Indigenous families today, and be brave enough to interrupt colonization where you are.BioVanessa Brousseau is a multidisciplinary Inuk artist and powerful MMIWG2S advocate originally from Sanikiluaq, NU, now based in Ontario. She began creating art during the pandemic, inspired by her late mother’s beadwork and her own desire to share her sister Pamela’s story, who went missing in 2003. Vanessa’s work—ranging from seal skin jewellery and drum cases to bold video storytelling on TikTok (@resilientinuk)—honours stolen sisters through powerful symbolism, such as the red dress. Her advocacy is deeply personal and unwavering, rooted in both grief and resistance. She’s known for blending traditional materials with modern platforms to educate and spark change. A graduate of the NSI Accelerator for Indigenous Creators, she launched her first exhibit in 2022 and is now expanding into apparel and merchandise. Vanessa’s art is a blend of medicine, movement, and memory.IG & TikTok: @resilientinukSend Us a Text with Your Thoughts or Questions!RIW Website RIW Podcast Resources Sponsor the RIW Pod via Patreon - Music Produced by Award Winning Anishnaabe DJ Boogey the Beat

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• Ep. 31: Breaking Cycles, Building Legacies with Drezus

  This conversation with Drezus (Jeremiah Manitopyes) gets real. He takes us through his journey—from rising in the Indigenous hip hop scene to reclaiming his power through sobriety, fatherhood, and ceremony. Raised in the city but spiritually rooted in his culture, Drezus shares how reconnecting with the Land and working with youth has become his deepest source of inspiration. Whether he’s jumping into rivers with his kids or sitting by the fire in remote Cree communities, he paints a picture of healing that comes from stillness, presence, and remembering who you are. He reflects on how disconnection from Land contributed to depression, addiction, and anxiety—and how going back to the Land sparked a primal shift in him that influenced both his art and his parenting.But he doesn't stop at speaking on personal healing—he discusses accountability and dismantling toxic masculinity. Drezus unpacks how colonialism shaped distorted ideas of manhood, and how too many Native men are taught to extract instead of nurture. He owns his past, talks openly about the shame, the jail time, the addiction, and what it took to unlearn those harmful patterns. Through sweat lodges, community, and building emotional capacity, he’s redefining what it means to be a strong Indigenous man. He offers space for his brothers to do the same—by calling them in, not out. Drezus reminds us that healing is possible, masculinity can be redefined, and Land holds the key to both.BioDrezus is a force in Indigenous hip-hop. An Anishinaabe/Nehiyaw artist based in Mohkinstis, he blends raw lyricism with cultural resilience, crafting music that moves, empowers, and inspires. His journey started with Team Rezofficial, earning a JUNO nomination and multiple Indigenous music awards. As a solo artist, his 2013 album Redwinter became a rallying cry for the Idle No More movement, followed by Indian Summer, cementing his influence in the scene. Drezus has won major accolades, including the 2022 SOCAN Vince Fontaine Indigenous Song Award, a 2017 MTV VMA with Taboo (Black Eyed Peas), and four Indigenous Music Awards in 2015. He’s shared stages with hip-hop giants like Drake, 50 Cent, Mobb Deep, and The Black Eyed Peas, bridging Indigenous and mainstream music worlds. Beyond music, Drezus is making waves in film and TV, with appearances in Yellowstone and contributions to powerful soundtracks. His latest release, Ballad of Bobby Jones featuring Sebastian Gaskin, keeps his signature storytelling alive—unapologetic, thought-provoking, and deeply rooted in his culture. IG: @drezusWebsite: www.drezus.comSend Us a Text with Your Thoughts or Questions!RIW Website RIW Podcast Resources Sponsor the RIW Pod via Patreon - Music Produced by Award Winning Anishnaabe DJ Boogey the Beat

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• Ep. 30: The Cost of Telling the Truth: Grief, Love, and Online Violence with Nikki Apostolou

  Dr. Candace Linklater and guest Nikki Apostolou (aka Recycled Stardust) delve into the meaning of living with integrity, community engagement, and staying rooted in love amidst heartbreak, colonization, and online violence. Nikki opens up about how painful it’s been to have her character misrepresented, especially in online spaces where false narratives spread quickly and people rush to judgment. She shares the grief of being pushed into silence to protect others, the toll of being dehumanized, and the internal struggle of trying to keep her heart soft when it would be easier to turn cold.The two women unpack the complex dynamics of lateral violence in Indigenous communities and how colonization has trained people to harm one another, even when they’re fighting for the same liberation. They talk about the weaponization of vulnerability, especially online, and the difference between true accountability and performative call-outs. Nikki reflects on how she’s had to grieve not only what was lost in a relationship but also the loss of trust in a community she once felt safe in. Candace names the bravery in choosing to love anyway, to keep speaking truth even when it costs something, and to reclaim joy as a radical act of resistance.BioNikki Apostolou (aka Recycled Stardust) is a proud Mohawk content creator and plus-size model, widely known for her viral presence in beauty, fashion, and New York City lifestyle storytelling. With over a decade of experience sharing her passion for makeup, style, and city life, she’s built a loyal following of over 400,000 across Instagram and TikTok. Nikki’s content is a celebration of body positivity, Indigenous pride, and unapologetic self-expression.She has walked the runways of New York Fashion Week, representing Indigenous designers and bringing Native excellence to high fashion. Her bold storytelling and signature confidence have earned her features in major media outlets, including CNN, PopSugar, Insider, and Yahoo. Whether she’s breaking beauty standards or elevating Indigenous visibility, Nikki continues to inspire and influence with authenticity and heart.IG and TikTok: @recycledstardustSend Us a Text with Your Thoughts or Questions!RIW Website RIW Podcast Resources Sponsor the RIW Pod via Patreon - Music Produced by Award Winning Anishnaabe DJ Boogey the Beat

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• Ep. 29: Matriarch Mode: Love, Loss, and Indigenous Mothering with Dr. Tasha Spillett

  In this warm, wise, and wildly relatable episode, Dr. Candace Linklater and Dr. Tasha Spillett dive deep into what it means to mother, mourn, and move through the world as Indigenous women. It’s part heart talk, part medicine, as they unpack everything from generational grief to gentle parenting, from cultural reconnection to the quiet rebellions of everyday love. Dr. Tasha opens up about how motherhood pulled her closer to her Cree roots, while Dr. Candace reflects on queer Indigenous identity, loss, and the pressure to hold it all together. The conversation flows like ceremony—full of laughter, raw truth, and ancestral wisdom. This one’s for the aunties, the cycle breakers, the soft landings, and the fierce protectors. It’s a reminder that showing up with love—even when it’s messy—is one of the most radical things we can do.Throughout their conversation, Dr. Candace and Dr. Tasha speak to the power of presence—how simply showing up with integrity, softness, and cultural grounding can be an act of defiance in a world that asks Indigenous women to be everything and nothing at once. They reflect on the legacy of residential schools, the slow reclamation of language and ceremony, and the ways motherhood can become both a return and a reimagining. Whether discussing the exhaustion of advocacy or the joy found in small, sacred moments, their dialogue is a call to honour the full range of Indigenous womanhood—grief and grace, rage and rest, all held in one breath.BioDr. Tasha Spillett is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, and scholar of Cree and Trinidadian descent. Her work lives at the intersection of education, storytelling, and community healing. Through her teaching and public speaking, she uplifts Indigenous students and students of color by creating culturally responsive spaces grounded in relationality, equity, and joy. Tasha brings her deep cultural knowledge into every classroom and conversation, honoring her responsibility as an Afro-Indigenous woman to foster belonging and liberation.Tasha is the author of the multi-award-winning graphic novel series Surviving the City and the bestselling picture books I Sang You Down from the Stars and Beautiful You, Beautiful Me. Her work reflects a lifelong commitment to Indigenous resistance, the well-being of children, and justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people. Whether on the page or in community, she moves with love, purpose, and a vision for a world that’s truly worthy of our children.IG: @tasha.spillettWebsite: tashaspillett.comSend Us a Text with Your Thoughts or Questions!RIW Website RIW Podcast Resources Sponsor the RIW Pod via Patreon - Music Produced by Award Winning Anishnaabe DJ Boogey the Beat

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