Taapwaywin: Talking about what we know and what we believe CFUV // Libraries and Archives of University of Victoria

A fundamental gap remains between how many Canadians see this country and the realities of living under a colonial settler state. Public commitments made by our governments to truth and reconciliation often do not match their actions behind closed doors.
From courtrooms to truth commissions, this episode is about the ways the Canadian settler state continues to suppress the legal systems, governance structures, and lived experiences of Indigenous peoples - and the difficulties seeking justice and truth within colonial legal systems. But we’re also looking at the profoundly important work of those fighting to make the truths of Indigenous people known.
In this episode Ry Moran speaks with David Paterson about the barriers in getting truths recognized in the Canadian courts, and with Marion Buller about the difficult work of truth-telling in this country through the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry.
David Paterson: https://www.whiteravenlaw.ca/david-paterson
Marion Buller: https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/careers/departments/anthropology/profiles/buller-marion.php
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Reports: https://nctr.ca/records/reports/
National Inquiry for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Reports: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/
Delgamuukw Supreme Court Judgement: https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1569/index.do

Around the world, we are witnessing massive amounts of irreversible ecological destruction brought about by the intersecting impacts of colonization, capitalism, and human induced climate change.  From the recent loss of billions of sea stars to the way environmental destruction infringes on protected Indigenous rights, in this episode we’re looking at the immense damage that has been inflicted on culture, language, and the environment – and the work being done to find pathways forward.  Ry Moran speaks with Alyssa Gehman, Mavis Underwood, Sean Holman, and Carey Newman about way that the climate crisis challenges us to fulfill our responsibilities to establish and maintain mutually respectful relations with each other, the land, and all living things.  Alyssa Gehman: https://gehmana.weebly.com/ Mavis Underwood: https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/anthropology/people/graduate-students/profiles/underwoodmavis.php Sean Holman: https://www.uvic.ca/finearts/writing/people/faculty/profiles/holman-sean.php Carey Newman: https://twitter.com/blueravenart Sean Holman’s Climate Disaster Project: https://climatedisasterproject.com/ Sunflower Sea Star’s IUCN Red List Assement: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/178290276/197818455 You can report sightings of sunflower sea stars to https://www.inaturalist.org/ or https://marine.ucsc.edu/data-products/sea-star-wasting/index.html 

What’s the name of the city, or town, or country that you’re in right now? Do you know where that name comes from? Do you know how long it’s been known by that name, or if it’s had any other names?

Today we’re looking at names across this country – the names of places, people, and individuals – and what truths about our history they reveal or obscure.

This episode Ry Moran talks with Daryl Kootenay, Heather Igloliorte, Lawrence Hill, and Robina Thomas about the deep connections between history, land, and identity.

Around the world, communities are grappling with the traces of systemic violence and human rights violations that exist in the landscape around us.

How do we remember injustices when the physical signs of that history are no longer visible? What do we do with the buildings and structures that still stand? And how are the memories embedded within these sites both painful scars and opportunities for healing?

In this episode Ry Moran talks with Carey Newman, Oliver Schmidtke, and Tavia Panton about sites with difficult histories in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom and what to do with them.

Visit www.taapwaywin.ca for transcripts and more information.

[This episode contains discussions of Canada’s Residential School system, please take care. Resources for support are available on our website, should you need them.]

In 2015 carvers Gwaai and Jaalen Edenshaw travelled all the way to Oxford to carve a replica of a masterpiece of Haida art: a remarkable bentwood box that had been held in the Pitt Rivers Museum collection for over 130 years.

But why were Jaalen and Gwaai recreating the box in the first place? Why was having the original bentwood box return to Haida Gwaii not an option?  And how did the box end up all the way in England?

In this episode, Ry Moran talks with Gwaai and Jaalen Edenshaw, Marenka Thompson-Odlum, Heather Igloliorte, and Nika Collison about the way museums can at once obscure history or be powerful sites of truth-telling.

Why is it so hard for the truths of Indigenous peoples to be heard? What are the roadblocks to truth-telling in Canada? And what can we do about them?

In the inaugural episode of Taapwaywin, host Ry Moran explores the responsibilities that come with exploring truth through conversations with Survivors, Knowledge Keepers, and Elders. Guests Barney Williams, Paulette Steeves, Robina Thomas, and Norman Fleury share knowledge, wisdom and personal reflections on the important work of truth-telling.

Visit www.taapwaywin.ca for a transcript of the episode and more information.