Treaty 2 Territory – As everyone is practicing social isolation and distancing, we’re all seeking ways to safely interact with one another and continue to learn at home, or on the land. We see many First Nations across Treaty 2 territory and beyond posting themselves making traditional medicines, jingle-dress dancing, and interacting with their families. Social media can be a useful tool for staying in touch and sharing ideas among First Nations peoples.
If you’re looking for more ways to stay in touch and learn. There are quite a few online podcasts that you can tune into. CBC’s Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild recently recorded a podcast titled “Connecting in Isolation: Indigenous people create, find and share community online” as we all work to flatten the curve of COVID-19. Rick Harp’s podcast, Media Indigena, posted their recent discussion “An Indigenous Historian’s Take on COVID-19.” And of course, there’s Anishinaabe comedian, Ryan McMahon’s Red Man Laughing. McMahon has multiple past podcasts available for listening (and a laugh), just as most other Indigenous podcasters do.
McMahon has another podcast titled, Think Indigenous, and while it looks like the last “pod” was 2018, there a multitude of recordings available including those discussing land-based knowledge, education treaty rights, language revitalization, Indigenous music, and much more!
LLL has also noticed some well-known artists posting some amazing artwork during this time. Christi Belcourt posted a new painting on her social media account titled, Freedom Under the Stars. She shares that when this is all over that “even the mosquitoes will be welcome friends” (Source: Christi Belcourt, Instagram). This is certainly a time to bring gifts forward, to nurture them. It’s a time to dust off the paints, pencil, paper, drum, guitar, moccasins, beads or whatever gift that one has been putting on hold.
*Just note that some parents, grandparents, caregivers may want to “pre-listen” to podcast recordings for discussion content and younger audiences.