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Storykeepers Podcast

Storykeepers Podcast

Waubgeshig Rice and Jennifer David

Storykeepers: Let's Talk Indigenous Books is a monthly podcast hosted by Jennifer David and Waubgeshig Rice. Each episode, they're joined by a guest host to discuss books by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit authors.
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Top 10 Storykeepers Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Storykeepers Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Storykeepers Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Storykeepers Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Storykeepers Podcast - The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp
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11/04/21 • 37 min

This month singer/songwriter Leela Gilda joins Jennifer and Waubgeshig to talk about The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp. Originally published in 1996, the coming-of-age story set in the north became a bestseller and garnered international acclaim. It has since been adapted to a film (released in 2012) and long-listed for Canada Reads. Van Camp has published more than two dozen books since.
More on The Lesser Blessed:
https://douglas-mcintyre.com/collections/bestsellers/products/9781771621137
More on Leela Gilday:
If you’re from the North, Leela Gilday’s music is home. If you’ve never been, it will take you there. Born and raised in the Northwest Territories, she writes about the people and the land that created her. The power in her voice conveys the depth of her feelings of love and life in a rugged environment and vibrant culture, as if it comes straight from that earth. Leela’s family is from Délįne on the shore of Great Bear Lake and her rich vocals dance across the rhythmic beats of traditional Dene drumming as smoothly as a bass line onstage the largest venues in the country. And she has played them all.

Leela has toured festivals and concert halls with her four-piece band through every province and territory in Canada. She has played in the United States, Greenland, Australia, New Zealand and several countries in Europe. Her live shows are where she connects with fans who have followed her on a 20-year career and where new fans are born. She reaches into their hearts and feels the energy of every person in front of her as she guides them on a journey through song and experience. She believes music has an inexplicable effect on people. It is a place where she can share light and dark and the most vulnerable moments, with a clarity and genuine purpose that reassures her listeners through every word. She is a storyteller, and through this, reflects the world onto itself.

Five years after her last album was released—five years of growth, healing and head-down work—Leela’s fifth album “North Star Calling” was released in late 2019 and has since won a 2021 Juno for Indigenous Artist/Group of the Year, a Canadian Folk Music Award for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year, and Roots Album of the Year at the Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards. It is more raw, more intimate and more Leela than anything you’ve heard from her before.

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Storykeepers Podcast - Burning in this Midnight Dream by Louise Bernice Halfe
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08/04/21 • 39 min

This month renowned Mohawk/Tuscarora poet and artist Janet Rogers joins Jennifer and Waubgeshig to dive into Louise Bernice Halfe's award-winning poetry collection Burning in this Midnight Dream. Throughout the book, Halfe profoundly recounts her life before, during, and after residential school, and many of the poems were written in response to the Truth and Reconciliation process. The collection received numerous accolades, including the Saskatchewan Arts Board Poetry Award and the League of Canadian Poets’ Raymond Souster Award.
More on Burning in this Midnight Dream:
https://www.brickbooks.ca/books/burning-in-this-midnight-dream/
More on Janet Rogers:
Janet Rogers is a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer from Six Nations of the Grand River. She was born in Vancouver British Columbia in 1963 and raised in southern Ontario. Janet traveled throughout 2017-2019 working within numerous residencies in Vancouver BC, Santa Fe NM and Edmonton AB. Janet is based on the Six Nations territory of the Grand River where she operates the Ojistoh Publishing label. Janet works in page poetry, spoken word performance poetry, video poetry and recorded poetry with music. She is a radio broadcaster, documentary producer and media and sound artist.

Her literary titles include; Splitting the Heart, Ekstasis Editions 2007, Red Erotic, Ojistah Publishing 2010, Unearthed, Leaf Press 2011 “Peace in Duress” Talonbooks 2014 and Totem Poles and Railroads ARP Books 2016, “As Long As the Sun Shines” (English edition), Bookland Press 2018 with a Mohawk language edition released in 2019. “Ego of a Nation” is Janet’s 7th poetry title which she independently produced on the Ojistoh Publishing label 2020.

Jackson Twobears and Janet collaborate as 2Ro Media. They combined their individual talents and skills along with National Screen Institute training to produce two short documentaries; NDNs on the Airwaves about Six Nations radio (APTN 2016), Moving Voice, a Telus STORYHIVE sponsored digital broadcast 2019 featuring the travels of literary trailblazer and Mohawk poetess E. Pauline Johnson, and The Spirit of Rage a short experimental video poem about anti-racism. Janet won the 45th Annual American Indian Film Festival 2020, BEST MUSIC VIDEO award for her video Ego of a Nation produced with Wes Day of Fresh Shift Productions.

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Storykeepers Podcast - Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
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07/07/22 • 48 min

This month Jennifer and Waubgeshig are joined by Ry Moran, the Associate University Librarian – Reconciliation at the University of Victoria to talk about Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. Published in 2020, the novel follows five residential school survivors from their detention in the institutions into their adulthood, as they embark to heal from the trauma of their experiences. The book has won several awards, including the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and CBC's Canada Reads.
National Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
More on Five Little Indians:
https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443459181/five-little-indians/
More on Ry Moran:
Ry Moran is Canada’s inaugural Associate University Librarian – Reconciliation at the University of Victoria. Ry’s role within UVic Libraries’ focuses on building and sustaining relationships to introduce Indigenous approaches and knowledge into the daily work of the Libraries and more broadly across the campus community. In so doing, Ry plays an active role in advancing UVic’s strategic goal of being a globally recognized leader in areas of reconciliation.
Ry came to this position from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) hosted by the University of Manitoba. As the founding director, Ry guided the creation of the NCTR from its inception. Along the way, Ry contributed to major national initiatives such as the creation of the National Student Memorial Register, designation of multiple residential schools as national historical sites, development and launch of the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada, and a major educational broadcast which reached over three million Canadians.
Prior to the NCTR, Ry served with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). On the TRC’s behalf, he facilitated the gathering of nearly 7,000 video/audio-recorded statements of former residential school students and millions of pages archival records.
Ry’s life-long passion for the arts and music continues to be an important part of his life as he continues to write and produce original music.
Ry is a distinguished alumni of the University of Victoria and was awarded a Meritorious Service Cross by the Governor General. Ry is a proud member of the Red River Métis.

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Storykeepers Podcast - Remembering Lee Maracle

Remembering Lee Maracle

Storykeepers Podcast

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12/10/21 • 43 min

This month we're taking a break from our usual book discussion to honour the life and legacy of the great Lee Maracle. The iconic Sto:lo writer and storyteller died in November at the age of 71. She leaves behind a revolutionary catalogue of published works, along with an abundance of tremendous stories and other artworks that have inspired and influenced generations of Indigenous storytellers. To honour Lee and her work, we invited writers Tanya Talaga and Armand Garnet Ruffo to join us to share their reflections of their time with her, and how she will continue to shape literature for generations to come.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-what-canada-lost-when-lee-maracle-passed-away/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lee-maracle-death-bc-indigenous-writer-poet-1.6245582
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/14/books/lee-maracle-dead.html

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Storykeepers Podcast - Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
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10/14/21 • 40 min

This month Thunder Bay-based journalist Willow Fiddler appears on Storykeepers to talk about Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga. The book is a thorough examination of the deaths of seven Indigenous youth in Thunder Bay over the span of eleven years, and the human rights violations of Indigenous peoples in Canada that can lead to tragic outcomes. It has won numerous prestigious awards, including the RBC Taylor Prize and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
More on Seven Fallen Feathers:
https://houseofanansi.com/products/seven-fallen-feathers
Willow Fiddler's bio:
Willow Fiddler is a national news reporter for The Globe and Mail, covering northern Ontario and Manitoba. Prior to joining The Globe, she was a video journalist for Aboriginal Peoples Television Network National News reporting in Thunder Bay. She is a three-time finalist for the Canadian Association of Journalists awards and the recipient of the 2017 Emerging Indigenous Journalist award. Ms. Fiddler is passionate about stories and issues that impact Indigenous people and communities, particularly in the North.

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Storykeepers Podcast - Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
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09/04/21 • 36 min

Cree poet and broadcaster Rosanna Deerchild joins Jennifer and Waubgeshig this month to talk about Jonny Appleseed, the award-winning novel by Joshua Whitehead. Originally published in 2018, it quickly garnered praise and was long listed for the Giller Prize. In 2021, it won CBC's Canada Reads competition.
More on Jonny Appleseed:
https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/J/Jonny-Appleseed
More on Rosanna Deerchild:
https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/bio/rosanna-deerchild

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Storykeepers Podcast - Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

Storykeepers Podcast

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07/08/21 • 40 min

Award-winning filmmaker Alethea Arnaquq-Baril joins Jennifer and Waubgeshig from her home in Iqaluit to talk about Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq. The debut novel by the renowned musician was published in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim, including being longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/534654/split-tooth-by-tanya-tagaq/9780143198055
More on Alethea Arnaquq-Baril:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alethea_Arnaquq-Baril

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Storykeepers Podcast - Halfbreed by Maria Campbell

Halfbreed by Maria Campbell

Storykeepers Podcast

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04/04/21 • 42 min

Poet and scholar Gregory Scofield joins Jennifer and Waubgeshig to talk about Halfbreed by Maria Campbell. Originally published in 1973 and widely considered a classic of Indigenous literature, Campbell's memoir about her life as a Métis woman in Canada was restored and re-released in 2019.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/610927/halfbreed-by-maria-campbell/9780771024092
More on Gregory:
Gregory Scofield is Michif of Cree, Scottish and European-Immigrant descent who’s ancestry can be traced to the Métis community of Kinosota, Manitoba. He has taught Creative Writing and First Nations and Métis Literature at Laurentian University, Brandon University, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and the Alberta University of the Arts. He currently holds the position of Associate professor in the Department of Writing at the University of Victoria. Scofield won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 1994 for his debut collection, The Gathering: Stones for the Medicine Wheel, and has since published seven further volumes of poetry including, Witness, I am. He has served as writer-in residence at the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg and Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), and most recently the Writers’ Trust of Canada Latner Poetry Prize (2016) that is awarded to a mid-career poet in recognition of a remarkable body of work. Further to writing and teaching, Scofield is also a skilled bead-worker, and he creates in the medium of traditional Métis arts. He continues to assemble a collection of mid to late 19th century Cree-Métis artifacts, which are used as learning and teaching pieces. Scofield’s first memoir Thunder Through My Veins (Doubleday Canada/Anchor Books) was re-published Fall 2019.

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Storykeepers Podcast - Why Indigenous Literatures Matter
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03/03/21 • 40 min

Welcome to Storykeepers: Let's Talk Indigenous Books! Hosts Jennifer David and Waubgeshig Rice are thrilled to welcome you to our monthly book club podcast. In our inaugural episode, we talk about what literature means to us, why we wanted to launch this podcast, and of course, why Indigenous literatures matter to everyone.
To kick off our podcast, we discuss Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice. Read more about this important book and order it here:
https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/W/Why-Indigenous-Literatures-Matter

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Storykeepers Podcast - Indigenous Kids' Books with David A. Robertson
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03/07/23 • 32 min

This month we're putting the spotlight on books for kids by Indigenous authors, so we invited award-winning author David A. Robertson to join us. He's received several accolades for his books for kids and young adults and his literacy advocacy, and was recently appointed Editorial Director at the Tundra Book Group. In this episode David shares his journey as a writer, his creative process, his thoughts on the growing list of kids' books by Indigenous authors, and why he wants to hear from more Indigenous storytellers.
Here's a link to the Indigenous picture book resource Waubgeshig references in the episode: https://www.ibby-canada.org/indigenous-picture-book-collection/
More on David A. Robertson:
David A. Robertson (he, him, his) was the 2021 recipient of the Writers’ Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award as well as the Globe and Mail Children's Storyteller of the Year. He is the author of numerous books for young readers including When We Were Alone, which won the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award and the McNally Robinson Best Book for Young People Award. The Barren Grounds, Book 1 of the middle-grade The Misewa Saga series, received a starred review from Kirkus, was a Kirkus and Quill & Quire best middle-grade book of 2020, was a USBBY and Texas Lone Star selection, was shortlisted for the Ontario Library Association’s Silver Birch Award, and was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General’s Literary Award. His memoir, Black Water: Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory, was a Globe and Mail and Quill & Quire book of the year in 2020, and won the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction as well as the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award at the 2020 Manitoba Book Awards. On The Trapline, illustrated by Julie Flett, won David's second Governor General's Literary Award, won the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, and was named one of the best picture books of 2021 by the CCBC, The Horn Book, New York Public Library, Quill & Quire, and American Indians in Children's Literature. Dave is the writer and host of the podcast Kíwew (Key-Way-Oh), winner of the 2021 RTDNA Praire Region Award for Best Podcast. His first adult fiction novel, The Theory of Crows, was published in 2022 and is a national bestseller. He is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and currently lives in Winnipeg.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Storykeepers Podcast have?

Storykeepers Podcast currently has 28 episodes available.

What topics does Storykeepers Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Poetry, Book Club, Literature, Fiction, Writers, Podcasts, Non-Fiction, Books, Indigenous, Arts and Authors.

What is the most popular episode on Storykeepers Podcast?

The episode title 'The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Storykeepers Podcast?

The average episode length on Storykeepers Podcast is 41 minutes.

How often are episodes of Storykeepers Podcast released?

Episodes of Storykeepers Podcast are typically released every 31 days.

When was the first episode of Storykeepers Podcast?

The first episode of Storykeepers Podcast was released on Mar 3, 2021.

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