Unreservedwith Rosanna Deerchild

Cherie Dimaline’s latest book, Empire of Wild, landed at the top spot on Indigo’s Top 50 books of 2019.

Jeremy Dutcher is a classically trained operatic tenor, and member of the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick. He won the 2018 Polaris Prize for his album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, which combined his own compositions with archival recordings in his language, Wolastoqey. Today, we're listening to highlights of his recent concert at the Spirit Song Festival in St. John's, Newfoundland.

This past year was a big one for many Indigenous people across Turtle Island — from musicians and politicians, to writers and reality TV stars.

The hope for Heartdrum, is that publishing a wider range of books will expand expectations, and allow writers to express themselves outside of what publishers view as an Indigenous person's authenticity.

Author Richard Van Camp reads a lot — and it was tough for him to narrow his choices down to three — but here are a few of his favourites from the year.

The holiday season is here, and it's a great time to curl up with a book. With the year coming to an end, we are taking a look back at some of the best books of 2019 with author Richard Van Camp.

A woman adopted by a Vancouver family spent more than 30 years tracking down her birth parents. She overcame family resistance to finally uncover her connection to the west coast Penelakut Tribe.

A modern musical that sheds light on the painful experience of residential schools has broken new ground in Indigenous Canadian theatre. Children of God was eight years in the making, and is the passion piece of Oji-Cree playwright and composer Corey Payette.

On a special episode of Unreserved this week, we share three documentaries — three personal journeys about family, community and the desire for healing.

Eight years ago Tanya Talaga began investigating the unsolved deaths of seven First Nation students who were living in Thunder Bay to attend high school. The author sees positive change in the city, but the work is far from over.

Wake the Giant is a grassroots sticker campaign that flags safe spaces for Indigenous students in Thunder Bay.

Mike Kompon is the recreation and athletic director at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School. He is teaching a new hockey class and hopes the sport will help smooth the transition for First Nation students who move to Thunder Bay for school.

Matawa Learning Centre in Thunder Bay offers First Nations teens a holistic education. In addition to standard curriculum courses - like math and science - students also get to take classes where they learn about their culture. 

This week on Unreserved, how schools and grassroots initiatives are helping First Nations youth transition to life in the city.

The loss of Indigenous languages is widespread across Turtle Island — but in urban centres, learning and maintaining a language not native to that area is even more challenging.

This week we're looking at the work being done to reclaim Indigenous languages — and a few of the successes and challenges faced.

The article by Catherine Porter, Canada bureau chief for the New York Times, has drawn criticism from Inuit and the wider public for playing into stereotypes of Indigenous people.

Carmen Robertson is co-author of Seeing Red, a book that reveals how the press consistently use recurring stereotypes and misrepresent Indigenous people. The book was the first of its kind to be published, and is considered an important text in many universities.

Duncan McCue, host of Cross Country Checkup and a reporter at The National, has been working as a reporter for more than 20 years. In that time he's seen his fair share of stereotypes when it comes to Indigenous reporting. So he created a training program to teach other journalists how to get it right.

Stereotypes of Indigenous people have been around for a long time and are often reproduced by journalists. This week we're investigating the media to find out what's being done to challenge these stereotypes, and to hear from those pushing the industry to do better. 

With fewer than 30 speakers left, you might expect Martina Shovar to feel discouraged about the future of her Ktunaxa language. But she's hopeful.