orangeshirtday

Rooted in her own story of domestic abuse, Kristi Lane Sinclair's album Super Blood Wolf Moon oozes strength, perseverance, pain, and vulnerability. The award-winning Haida-Cree singer-songwriter has released a searing, deeply personal, and profound collection of songs, at once driving and anthemic, wispy and gentle, angsty and orchestral.

"I didn't want to write this," says Kristi. "It was the last thing I wanted to do at that point, to share my story. But just going through it, I had this knowledge. I'm part of this secret club now. . .I just thought I'd extend that. If you know you know. They'll get what I'm talking about, and I'll not really help but just hang out and make someone feel not quite so alone."

Cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee also talk with Kristi about:

• the healing power of creativity, women, community, family, ancestors, dogs (especially one named Murphy Brown) and nature
• the need for non-Indigenous Canadians to stand against racism and for justice, side-by-side with their Indigenous neighbours
• Kristi's film and TV work
• the making of a song that features the late Inuit singer Kelly Fraser and the supporting video that features Haida women and family in traditional and ancestral roles
• film-making and TV work
• and much, much more.

Under fair dealing provisions of Canada's Copyright Act, we used recordings of several songs from Super Blood Wolf Moon in the production of this episode. If you'd like hear more, download Kristi's music wherever you get your music. You can also find out more about her and her music on her website:
www.kristilanesinclair.ca.

To watch the official music video of Break, feat. Kelly Fraser, check out Kristi's YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/NkNN2o94O-s?si=nfqOOk-GTcEteTnn

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Interior Voices hosts Jade Chaboyer-Kondra, Jody Wagner, and Nicole Taylor-Sterritt recently sat down with Mary Jack, lead, strategy and accountability on the Aboriginal Partnerships team, to discuss National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. In a powerful and insightful discussion, they share how listeners can recognize the day, and learn the truth about impacts of colonization. 

This podcast includes themes related to residential school experiences. If you or someone you know requires immediate support or assistance, call a crisis line (available 24 hours, 7 days per week):

Indian Residential School Survivor Society Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
KUU-US (Indigenous) Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717
Métis Crisis Line: 1-833-638-4722
Interior Crisis Line Network: 1-888-353-2273

We encourage you to continue to learn, and unlearn, to move forward on the path of reconciliation.  Explore opportunities and resources to learn more:

Resources

• View the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPPA)
• Learn about the Sixties Scoop
• Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action
• Listen to Interior Voices, Season 4, Episode 7: Orange Shirt Day/ National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with guest Kukpi7 (Chief) Willie Sellars of Williams Lake First Nation
• Read the Moose Hide Campaign’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation guide

Our Host-Recommended Reading List:

• Glen Jack experienced the horror of Kamloops Residential Schools. He’s been trying to get people to listen for 50 years by Andrea Woo, Globe and Mail
• Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
• There, There by Tommy Orange
• Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
• 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph

Our Host-Recommended Watch List

• Webinars from the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health
• Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy, directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
• Survivors of the Red Brick School produced by Osoyoos Indian Band
• Little Bird

Interior Health InsideNet Resources

• Read the Indian Residential School Awareness Resource 
• View Interior Health’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day 2023 Toolkit for more information and resources
• Buy an orange shirt using the Aboriginal Vendors Guide
• Complete the Indigenous-Specific Antiracism Awareness (ISAE) series on iLearn
• View the Honoraria and Gifting Guide
• Read the Aboriginal Engagement FAQ for IH Staff
• Read the Interior Health Aboriginal Health and Wellness Strategy
• Get familiar with the Interior Health Safe Reporting Policy: it allows anyone to confidentially report anything they see as wrongdoing, including racism in the workplace.

Kukpi7 (Chief) Willie Sellars recently sat down with podcast hosts Tracy Mooney and Jade Chaboyer-Kondra to discuss Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Serving as Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN) Chief since 2018, Chief Sellars also sits on Interior Health's Board of Directors.

Learn more

• Chief Sellars biography
• Williams Lake First Nation
• St. Joseph’s Mission Investigation
• Orange Shirt Society
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

How will you commit to truth and reconciliation?

• Register for the free HRx Truth and Reconciliation Webinar Sept. 26 ‘Embracing Truth for Meaningful Reconciliation’
• Check out the Orange Shirt Day Toolkit on the InsideNet
• Familiarize yourself with the Residential School sites in the Interior Region
• Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)’s Calls to Action

Additional Orange Shirt Day resources and events

• Watch Phyllis Webstad - On Orange Shirt Day
• Register for the Yellowhead Institute's Calls to Action Accountability: A 2021 Status Update on Reconciliation, 10 a.m.-12:30 pm. (1-3:30 p.m. EDT), Sept. 29
• 9th Annual Orange Shirt Day, Williams Lake Stampede Grounds, 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• Walk for the Children in Penticton on September 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, hosted by Okanagan Nation Alliance
• Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society (442- Leon Avenue, Kelowna) is hosting two events:
  • National Day of Truth and Reconciliation Day - Thursday, Sept. 29, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. - E-mail KFS or call 250-300-3075 for information
  • Sisters in Spirit Vigil - Tuesday, Oct. 4 - 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. E-mail KFS or call 250-300-3075 for information

This week on the Interior Voices podcast, hosts Vanessa Mitchell and Tracy Mooney talk with Jody Wagner, Aboriginal Mental Wellness Practice Lead about Orange shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Learn more:

• Aboriginal Employee Wellness Resources (InsideNet)
• KUU-US Crisis Line Society – 24 hr Crisis Line: 1-800- KUU-US-17 (1-800-588-8717)
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action
• Orange Shirt Day / Nation Day for Truth and Reconciliation Tool Kit (InsideNet)
• Orange Shirt Day Society
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society
• IH residential school awareness resource (InsideNet)

Orange Shirt Day is a day to acknowledge the intergenerational trauma of residential schools, as well as taking steps toward healing and reconciliation. It symbolizes the story of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, whose brand-new orange shirt was taken from her on her first day at a residential school, when she was just six years old.  

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Yvonne Poitras Pratt, a Métis scholar who specializes in Indigenous education. Yvonne gives us some of the background on Orange Shirt Day and how this event can help spark broader conversations about Canada's history with Indigenous peoples and the brutal legacy of residential schools.  

Have an idea for a future episode? Email podcasts@ucalgary.ca.