Indigenous-themed podcasts offer richness, diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures

June is National Indigenous History Month and a time for learning about, appreciating and acknowledging the contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

CBC offers you a wide variety of Indigenous-themed podcasts, including this newest eight-part series, Kuper Island, hosted by Duncan McCue.

New episodes for some of the podcasts will be added in the coming weeks.

You can hear them on the CBC Listen website and app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here is a list that is sure to enlighten you. Titles are linked to podcast. Start listening.

KUPER ISLAND - Listen here

Long after the Kuper Island Residential School was torn down, the survivors remain haunted by what happened there. In this eight-part series, investigative journalist Duncan McCue exposes undisclosed police investigations, confronts perpetrators of abuse, and witnesses a community trying to rebuild on top of the old school's ruins and the unmarked graves of Indigenous children. New episodes are released on Tuesdays.

"When the former chief of Penelakut first told me how her community has grappled with the restless spirits of children ever since the Kuper Island Residential School closed, I knew it was a story more people needed to hear," said McCue. "I wanted to go beyond the cold, hard numbers of unmarked graves, to help people understand the deaths of children at a residential school aren't a thing of the past. These tragic deaths travel like ripples over water, touching generations. These were children who were loved and had dreams – and their loss still impacts Indigenous lives today."

BUFFY - Launching Tuesday, June 21

Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of the past century and her music has quietly reverberated throughout pop culture and provided a soundtrack for Indigenous resistance for the last 60 years. In this five-part series, Mohawk and Tuscarora writer Falen Johnson (co-host of Secret Life of Canada) explores how Buffy's life and legacy is essential to understanding Indigenous resilience.

THIS PLACE  

This Place, the bestselling graphic novel anthology that tells 150 years of Canadian history through Indigenous stories, is available as a podcast by CBC Books. The 10-episode series is hosted by Rosanna Deerchild. This Place features Indigenous creators — including David. A Robertson, Richard Van Camp, Katherena Vermette and Brandon Mitchell — and incorporates elements of fantasy and magical realism to examine the 150-plus years of Canadian history since Confederation from an Indigenous perspective.

TELLING OUR TWISTED HISTORIES

Savage. Reserve. Indian Time. Words connect us, but have the power to hurt us deeply.

Telling our Twisted Histories is an 11-episode award-winning podcast series that reclaims Indigenous history by exploring 11 words whose meanings have been twisted by centuries of colonization. 

Host Kaniehtiio Horn guides us through conversations with over 70 Indigenous people from 11 communities whose lands now make up Quebec, New Brunswick and Labrador, as they share their words, humour and truths about concepts that impact us to this day.

Telling our Twisted Histories has won several awards including, most recently, a silver Digital Publishing Award in the Best Podcast for Arts, Culture & Society category on May 31 and Best Podcast at the national RTDNA Canada awards on June 11.

THE SECRET LIFE OF CANADA

The Secret Life of Canada is a podcast about the untold and undertold history of Canada. This spirited and sometimes irreverent show highlights the people, places and stories that probably didn't make it into your high school textbook. 

Join hosts Leah-Simon Bowen and Falen Johnson as they explore the unauthorized history of a complicated country. 

Episodes include a reframing of the "Oka Crisis" from a Mohawk perspective and a journey back in time to visit Expo 67's "Indians of Canada" pavilion, which called out Canada while the world was watching.

MUDDIED WATER: 1870 HOMELAND OF THE METIS?

Who are the Métis? It's complicated. This podcast explores the history of Métis people in Manitoba, beginning with Louis Riel who was hero to some and traitor to others. Host Stephanie Cram unravels the intricate history of the Métis ... and follows the thread from resistance to renaissance.

KIWEW

An intriguing five-part podcast in which Governor General award-winning author David A. Robertson dives into his family's history and mysteries as he discovers and connects with his Cree identity.

PIECES

A podcast about a young man's journey to understand his Indigenous identity. Since the day he was old enough, Jeremy knew he was different. A mix of Woodland Cree and white European heritage, he has experienced life through both vantage points – as well as the stereotypes. Join 19-year-old Jeremy Ratt on a journey of self discovery as he seeks to understand his roots and all of the distinct "pieces" that form who he is today.

INUIT UNIKKAANGIT

Host and Archivist Mary Powder reunites Inuit with stories from CBC North's vast Inuktitut language archives by replaying them for the descendants of the original storytellers, some of whom are hearing them for the very first time.

From CBC Radio and On Demand

UNRESERVED (CBC Radio - on demand)

Unreserved is the radio space for Indigenous voices – our cousins, our aunties, our elders, our heroes. Rosanna Deerchild guides us on the path to better understand our shared story. Together, we learn and unlearn, laugh and become gentler in all our relations.

Unreserved airs on CBC Radio One on Saturdays at 4.p.m. (4:30 NT) and Tuesdays at 1 p.m. (1:30 NT).

RECLAIMED (CBC Radio - on demand)

Reclaimed with Jarrett Martineau is a weekly series on CBC Radio that explores the many worlds of contemporary Indigenous music from traditional songs and acoustic sounds to Native hip-hop, R&B, and the dancefloor-filling beats of electric powwow.

If you would like to tune in on radio, Reclaimed airs on Wednesdays 6 p.m. (6:30 NT) and Saturdays 5 p.m. (5:30 NT) on CBC Music, Mondays 3 p.m. (3:30 NT) on CBC Radio One.

CANADA READS 2022

Listen to the five episodes of the CBC's great Canadian book debate. Five prominent Canadians each selected the one book that they believe all of Canada should read. After each day's debate, they will vote to eliminate one book, until only the winner remains.

Two books with Indigenous authors were part of Canada Reads 2022 - Five Little Indians by Michelle Good (the winner) and Life In the City of Dirty Water: A Memoir of Healing by Clayton Thomas-Muller.

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