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Celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day

June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day and a time to celebrate the unique heritage, and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples across Turtle Island. This also marks the longest day of the year, the summer solstice and a new season of life. Join us to celebrate this special day, with original documentaries, films, music, and games. 

Highlighting Indigenous joy, history, art, culture from across the country on June 21 and throughout the year

The words "Celebrate (in red text) National Indigenous History Peoples Day (in black text) in a white circle with a background of wavy lines from red, gold, yellow, white, black, light green, teal, blue and purple. There are stars in white agains the blue and purple sky and a white eagle soaring in the black wave.
June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day and a time to celebrate the unique heritage, and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples across Turtle Island. This also marks the longest day of the year, the summer solstice and a new season of life. Join us to celebrate this special day, with original documentaries, films, music, and games. 

CBC TV and CBC Gem

A collection of food including something in a fry pan, with bread, cheese, sausage, potatoes and gravy and two preserve jars. With a blue circle behind it and the text "Time to eat" in black with a yellow line under it.

TIME TO EAT - Wednesday, June 21, 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET on CBC News Explore and launching that day on CBC Gem.
A new half-hour documentary from CBC Indigenous.
What is the thing that connects us all, that gives us good feelings about family and can bring back memories with a simple scent? That bridges gaps, that brings us home, that ties us to our ancestors? It's food. Recipes handed down from generation to generation are unique to individual families, communities and people. But food can also provide a connection point to others — offering the excitement of learning something new, of being introduced to and experiencing a tradition for the first time, and the act of sharing and being given a gift. TIME TO EAT takes viewers to four different communities — each one with its own delicious tale to tell.
 

An person dressed in Indigenous outfit with feathered head-dress and flowing feathered cape, dancing on a sandy beach with two young boys. The word WILDHOOD is shown in black text over the photo.
WILDHOOD Stream free on CBC Gem 
An award-winning feature film directed by Bretten Hannam, WILDHOOD shares the story of a young man named Link who, upon discovering his Mi'kmaw mother could still be alive, embarks on a quest to find her with his younger half-brother Travis. On the road they meet Pasmay, a powwow dancer drawn to Link. As the boys journey across Mi'kma'ki, Link finds community, identity and love in the land where he belongs.

 
A  drawing of a man with black hair, wearing sunglasses a white shirt and jacket, playing a guitar against a blue background, as if a spotlight was shining on him. The words "RUMBLE - The Indians Who Rocked the World" is the text on the photo in white.

RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD - Wednesday, June 28 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC TV and  CBC Gem 
This documentary tells the story of a profound, essential, and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. Featuring music icons like Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Ed Davis, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Robbie Robertson, Randy Castillo, award-winning RUMBLE will show how these talented Indigenous musicians helped shape the soundtracks of our lives.

Celebrating Indigenous Excellence 

A scene of a mountainous land and trees in a foreground with a body of water in the middle all in various shades of green. ʔƏM̓I CE:P XʷIWƏL - Come Toward the Fire - is in white text over the photo

ʔƏM̓I CE:P XʷIWƏL COME TOWARD THE FIRE - Stream free on CBC Gem 
An Indigenous-led celebration of creativity, brilliance, culture and community that showcases the voices of artists, speakers and dance groups from Musqueam and Indigenous nations across Turtle Island, captured from the main stage of the Chan Centre ahead of last year's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

2023 INDSPIRE AWARDS Stream free on CBC Gem
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the 2023 INDSPIRE AWARDS is a nationally broadcast celebration of culture showcasing outstanding achievements from Indigenous peoples across the country. Twelve award recipients from a diverse list of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities will be honoured. 

EAGLE & HAWK TAKE THE STAGE Stream free on CBC Gem
This documentary explores the world through the eyes of one of Canada's longest-running Indigenous bands.

STILL STANDING "Rankin Inlet, NU" Stream free on CBC Gem
The economy of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut has seen its ups and downs but the struggles that come with living in this remote and unforgiving landscape remain constant.

CBC Radio and CBC Listen

UNRESERVED - Tuesday, June 20 at 1 p.m. (1:30 NT), on CBC Radio and CBC Listen
National Indigenous Peoples Day is a day of celebration. What exactly are we celebrating? Four friends of UNRESERVED will give some great examples of Indigenous brilliance in art, books, music and film/television. And what's the best celebration? The one where everyone is invited - which is why we're also featuring three artists that mash-up traditional Indigenous music or art with artforms that originate outside the Indigenous community.

National Indigenous Peoples Day

To celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day, CBC Music is presenting a full day of radio programming to highlight the work of Indigenous artists, songwriters and composers. At 4 p.m. local, CBC Music will be rebroadcasting RECLAIMED PRESENTS: ʔƏM̓I CE:P XʷIWƏL COME TOWARD THE FIRE, celebrating Indigenous talent, creativity and brilliance with live music performances taken from the main stage of the Chan Centre ahead of last year's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The CBC Kids morning lineup on CBC TV will offer special programming for National Indigenous Peoples Day, including episodes of MOLLY OF DENALI and shorts featuring Indigenous culture and heritage, including new episodes of Come Dance With Me, CBC Kids Book Clubs, and Today's Thing. Plus, CBC Kids unveils a new segment Campfire Stories which features special guests sharing cultural stories with the Studio K gang around a campfire.

Northern Ontario's UP NORTH WITH JONATHAN PINTO has a full afternoon of special programming surrounding the theme of NIPD 2023: Celebrating Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Being and Doing. The show will be live from the Fort William First Nation Pow Wow on Anemki Wajiw (Mount McKay) in Thunder Bay between 4-6 p.m ET on June 21. Special on-air guests include Michele Solomon, chief, Fort William First Nation, and Sheila De Corte, spiritual advisor and elder. Available on 88.3 FM in Thunder Bay or 99.9 FM in Sudbury, or via CBC Listen

CBC TV and CBC Gem will be broadcasting and streaming a selection of Indigenous-led documentaries, films and series throughout the day and late night on June 21, including the following titles:  CBC News Network will have coverage of events across the country throughout the day. 

MASHKAWI-MANIDOO BIMAADIZIWIN SPIRIT TO SOAR - 7 p.m. (7:30 NT) 
In the wake of an inquest into the mysterious deaths of seven First Nations high school students in Thunder Bay, Ont., Anishinaabe journalist Tanya Talaga examines what - if anything - has changed since they died.

OUR PEOPLE WILL BE HEALED - 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) 
Alanis Obomsawin's 50th film reveals how a Cree community in Manitoba has been enriched through the power of education. 

CBC Listen, CBC Gem and CBC.ca

Five peoples' faces in circles against a backdrop of waves of colour from the top, purple, blue, teal, light green, black, gold, white and red. There are five faces - four of women and one of a man.

@CBC SOCIAL
In addition to supporting CBC Indigenous content throughout the month, the @CBC Instagram and TikTok accounts are sharing original commissioned videos from five Indigenous creators about what brings them joy, and how they express it. 


In the new CBC British Columbia six-part podcast THE URBARIGINAL, Tsimshian author and entertainer Rudy Kelly delves into his father's legacy and finds himself on a journey of self-discovery. Kelly's father desired a different life for his youngest son: success in the white world. Torn between two worlds and turned away from his community and culture, Rudy embarks a journey to uncover who his father really was and, along the way, discover more about himself — The Urbariginal.

Three women with their backs to us, silhouetted against a pink, grey and blue clouded sky with a silhouetted tree next to them. The words "Mother. Sister. Daughter. An MMIWG project and cbc.ca/mmiwg" in white text on the right side.
Produced by CBC Manitoba, MOTHER. SISTER. DAUGHTER. explores the present-day issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. To mark the four-year anniversary of the 2019 MMIWG National Inquiry, this multi-platform project tracks progress on the 231 Calls for Justice outlined in the inquiry's final report. Visitors to the site are able to see what has been done for each call and hear from MMIWG family members about their own personal experience seeking justice for their loved ones. Visit cbc.ca/mmiwg

CBC Kids

The collection CBC KIDS CELEBRATES CANADA'S INDIGENOUS HERITAGE showcases award-winning programs on CBC Gem, such as ANAANA'S TENT in both English and Inuktitut, TEEPEE TIME in English and Mi'kmaq, and MOLLY OF DENALI, as well as STUDIO K's celebration of Indigenous people and culture across Canada.

A large stylized turtle made to look like an island in reds, pink and orange and a person on a skateboard in yellow looks to be in midair. The words: Turtle Island (in yellow) Skate Jam (in light blue) outlined in dark blue.

CBC Kids has launched two new Indigenous video games on cbckids.ca featuring concept art and character design by Brent Beauchamp (Haudenosaunee - Six Nations) and original music by Cree hip-hop producer, Rex Smallboy: Turtle Island Skate Jam is an exciting skateboarding game, developed in collaboration with Nations Skate Youth, that takes place in a world filled with Indigenous imagery and features all-Indigenous characters, and Four Directions is an infectiously fun dance-based game featuring Indigenous design and original score.

Four young Indigenous youth, three girls and one boy, standing in a row and all smiling. first girl in white t-shirt, with long brown hair and beaded earrings; second girl with short brown hair, glasses and where a rust coloured t-shirt; third girl with long black hair and wearing glasses, with a jean jacket on and a white shirt underneath with a colourful drawing; fourth - the boy in orange ball cap and orange t-shirt with his hands together in front of him.
Meet Indigenous youth smashing stereotypes and building a joyful future. From left, CBC Kids News contributor Sophia Smoke and panellists Kahnay Johnson, Sarah Fontaine-Sinclair and Dale Turcotte. (Philip Street/CBC)

CBC Kids News has produced a new video for tweens, Smashing Stereotypes: What these Indigenous kids want you to know, hosted by CBC Kids News contributor Sophia Smoke. Shot on location at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, three Indigenous youth explore current stereotypes and feeling underestimated in Canada, all while sharing their joys, hopes and dreams for the future.  

North American Indigenous Games

A blue circle with the words "#NAIG2023 Volunteer Spotlight Series" white text in the centre of a series of Indigenous-styled petroglyphs in red, grey, yellow and blue.
(Aaron Googoo / Googoo Design)

Throughout National Indigenous History Month, CBC Atlantic is shining the spotlight on some of the incredible people – Indigenous and non-Indigenous –  who are volunteering their time and talents to help North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) welcome more than 5,000 athletes from across Turtle Island to Mi'kma'ki, Nova Scotia, from July 15-23. Through their acts of kindness, the series will help inspire others to see themselves as part of the Games and to share cultural learnings. Read more here.

Looking for more great entertainment? Stream thousands of titles for free on CBC Gem and CBC Listen.

Programming images courtesy CBC.