Relentless Indigenous Woman Podcast

• Ep. 36: The Power of Performance: Dr. Zoey Roy on Art as Education

  Dr. Candace Linklater welcomes Dr. Zoey Roy, a celebrated spoken word poet, creative producer, and arts-based educator from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and a proud member of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. With a career spanning international stages—including performances with the National Youth Orchestra of Dr. Canada and at the World Expo in Dubai—Dr. Zoey has trailblazed the blending of hip-hop and orchestral music, creating globally touring shows like "Enough" and "Ever Beautiful." Holding a PhD in Education, Dr. Zoey has received numerous awards, including the Queen Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Indspire Award, and Ontario’s Arts Educator of the Year, solidifying her reputation as both an artist and a leader in education.Dr. Candace and Dr. Zoey’s conversation goes beyond her incredible accolades, focusing on the spirit and intention behind Dr. Zoey’s artistry. Dr. Candace reflects on witnessing her perform live, describing it as spirit-led and electrifying, while Dr. Zoey shares how fashion, stage presence, and reciprocity with the audience are all part of her craft. They discuss the inspirations fueling her work today—especially the grounding influence of motherhood—and how creativity, identity, and relationality shape her performances. This dialogue reveals Dr. Zoey’s brilliance as a poet and performer, along with her dedication to carrying culture, story, and truth forward through every medium she touches.Bio: Dr. Zoey Roy (Nihithaw-Denesuline Halfbreed-Métis) is a celebrated spoken word poet, creative producer and arts-based educator from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She is a proud member of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, a signatory of Treaty Six. In 2017, she toured Canada with the National Youth Orchestra, a 104-piece ensemble, while performing spoken word. In 2021, she showcased her talent at the World Expo held in Dubai. Discovering a passion for blending hip hop with orchestral music, she collaborated with her partner, Omar Ballantyne, to create two orchestral spoken word shows: "Enough is Enough" with Juliet Palmer and "Ever, Beautiful" with Cris Derksen, both of which she plans on touring globally.Dr. Zoey holds a Bachelor of Education from SUNTEP at the University of Saskatchewan, a Master's in Public Policy from the Johnston Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, and a PhD in Education from York University. Dr. Zoey received the Queen Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), the Women of Distinction Award (2013), the Indspire Award (2015), the Saskatchewan Arts Board Award for Education (2022); the University of Saskatchewan's One to Watch (2023); and Ontario's Arts Educator of the Year (2024)[email protected] https://zoeyroy.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

  --------  

  45:10

  --------

  45:10
• Ep. 35: Crafting Space for Indigenous, Queer, and Trans Futures with Siibii

  Siibii —a queer, trans, non-binary Cree artist–joins Dr. Candace Linklater in this episode where shit gets real. Known for their breakout single YOY, which has surpassed three million streams and earned a SOCAN Young Canadian Songwriter Award, Siibii blends atmospheric pop with lyrical honesty rooted in family, land, and spirit. Signed to Ishkode Records, their music—including their latest single User—confronts contradictions, self-doubt, and longing, while simultaneously creating space for Indigenous, queer, and trans artists to be celebrated.​The conversation goes into Siibii’s inspirations, from family and community to the grounding power of being back home on the land. They reflect on the push and pull of urban Indigenous life, the disconnection it can create, and the healing that comes with returning to one’s roots. Dr. Candace and Siibii explore themes of queerness and feeling like an outsider–showing how music expresses personal truth and carries ancestral memory forward. This episode offers listeners the raw honesty of Siibii’s journey and invites them to see music as a force for reclamation and healing.Bio: Siibii is a queer, trans, non-binary Cree artist originally from Mistissini, Quebec, now based in as Montreal. Their name—meaning “river” in Cree—is a current that runs through everything they create: ever-moving, cleansing, and alive with intention.A self-taught singer-songwriter with roots steeped in family, memory, and land, Siibii blends atmospheric pop with emotional depth, crafting songs that speak directly to the spirit. Their breakout single “YOY” struck a deep chord with listeners, racking up over three million streams and earning them a SOCAN Young Canadian Songwriter Award. Their music has taken them to major stages like Festival d’été and TD Arena in Ottawa, and most recently, they opened for the iconic Elisapie.Now signed to Ishkōdé Records, Siibii’s newest single, “User,” is another bold chapter in their story—one that calls out contradiction, self-doubt, and the ache of needing to be seen. Through every lyric and note, Siibii raises representation and opens doors for future generations of Indigenous, queer, and trans artists to walk through.They are making music and making space. And today, they’re here with us to talk about identity, artistry, land, and the rivers that continue to carry them forward.IG: @siibiimusic  https://ishkoderecords.com/siibii/ 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

  --------  

  59:19

  --------

  59:19
• Ep. 34: You Are the Medicine: A Conversation with Asha Frost

  In this episode of the RIW Podcast, Dr. Candace Linklater welcomes Asha Frost, bestselling author of You Are the Medicine, healer, oracle deck creator, mentor, and mother. Asha shares her deep roots as an Anishinaabe woman from Cape Croker First Nation, belonging to the Crane Clan, and describes how her life’s work is devoted to guiding people back to the medicine that has always lived within them. The conversation explores how her oracle deck, teachings, and mentorship open pathways for people to reconnect with spirit, ancestry, and land. Candace reflects on her own transformative experience with Asha’s oracle deck, describing how a Wolf card meditation unexpectedly connected with her dog, affirming the living spirit within the cards.Moving beyond tools and titles, Asha and Candace dive into the heart of medicine work—the shadows, spirals, and challenges that come alongside healing. Asha emphasizes that authentic medicine work is not about bypassing pain with “light and love,” but about meeting the depths of struggle and transformation with honesty and courage. They remind listeners that healing is relational, embodied, and alive: it speaks to human beings, animals, the Land, and the unseen forces around us. This conversation is an invitation to trust the spirit within and honour the medicine that moves through all of creation.BioAsha Frost is the best-selling author of You Are the Medicine, an Indigenous healer, oracle deck creator, mentor, and mother. Her life’s work is dedicated to helping others connect with the medicine that has always been within them—the spark, the illumination, and the power—waiting to be seen, felt, and claimed.She grew up on and currently resides on Anishinaabe, Huron-Wendat, and Haudenosaunee land. Her maternal and paternal lineage and relatives originate from many First Nations across Ontario, Canada (Turtle Island). Asha is from the Crane Clan (Aji-jaak Dodem) and is a member of Neyaashiinigmiing (Cape Croker) First Nation.IG: @asha.frost https://ashafrost.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

  --------  

  45:33

  --------

  45:33
• 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

  --------  

  54:50

  --------

  54:50
• 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

  --------  

  39:31

  --------

  39:31

More Education podcasts

Trending Education podcasts

About Relentless Indigenous Woman Podcast