New podcast series highlights Indigenous voices

Friday, June 19th, 2020 3:24pm

Image

Image Caption

Raven Richard

Summary

“We want to empower youth to be change makers and be role models for social inclusion.” — JoAnne Fishburn

The Indigenous150+ podcast and training program brings together youth from across the country to develop interview skills, learn protocols for working with Indigenous communities and to create a podcast series that celebrates Indigenous voices and addresses harmful stereotypes. 

And it begins to air on National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, on www.Indigenous150Plus.com/podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, with the first eight episodes out of 40. The remainder of the episodes will be rolled out over the summer.

“The goal of Indigenous150+ Youth Ambassador Training Program was to teach the youth skills necessary for success. One of the things we never took into account was the relationships that were formed. We started a community and raising that community is one of our greatest successes,” said Sean Vanderklis.

Vanderklis is one half of the One Dish, One Mic podcast and radio show that airs in Niagara, Ont. Along with his partner Karl Dockstader, they helped develop the curriculum and led the training program, with curriculum input from Nunavut Sivuniksavut.

“We want to empower youth to be change makers and be role models for social inclusion. Our goal is that this collection of stories will provide Canadians with a richer understanding of the diversity of cultures and First Peoples across the nation,” said JoAnne Fishburn of Good Influence Films, who spearheaded the initiative and provided training support.

Knowledge keepers, community leaders, artists and influencers share their stories.

“This training has been an exciting and valuable experience for me” said Raven Richard, who spoke with award-winning filmmaker Tasha Hubbard about her documentary nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up for the series.

“Everyone created such a respectful and creative space to learn and grow. I look forward to continuing to apply everything I’ve learned.” Richard said.                          

“This gave me more confidence than I could ever imagine,” said participant Julianna Peter-Paul.

“Everyone brought different things to the table, different perspectives, different opinions and I really respected everything that I learned. I’m really grateful that I got to experience this.”

Originally from Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation, Peter-Paul is currently studying communications and public policy at St. Thomas University in Fredericton.

The Inspirit Foundation and RBC Foundation in support of RBC Future Launch provided financial support to this program.