For over two centuries, the Métis have fought for recognition as an Indigenous people and as a Nation. It’s a story worth telling, but until recently, it hasn’t been heard enough.

The True Canadians podcast is based the book of the same name, and refers to the fact that the Métis truly are people born of this land — well before Canada became a country of its own.

Host David Wylynko is a media consultant, writer, and former journalist. He grew up in the Winnipeg suburb of Fort Garry, not far from the actual Fort Garry, where the Métis first set up a provisional government in 1869, and he’s had a lifelong fascination with the Métis. 

While he and his co-author, Patricia Russell, a Métis writer and former CBC journalist, were touring the country to promote the book, they discovered that readers wanted to know more about the people, places, events, and milestones featured in the pages of The True Canadians. A podcast seemed to be the best way to share what they learned. So they invited some of the personalities they wrote about, and some new voices, to tell more of their stories.

Each episode digs deeper into the important roles the Métis have played — and are continuing to play — in the evolution of Canada. Listeners will get to know the leaders, the artists, and the executives who are defining what it means to be Métis in the twenty-first century, and hear about the ongoing campaigns to win recognition, forge a stronger sense of community, and advance genuine reconciliation with other Canadians.

Original music for the podcast was composed and performed by Metis fiddler Alex Kusturok. Each episode begins with the words of the late Métis leader Jim Sinclair, delivered at the closing of the 1987 Meech Lake negotiations in Ottawa.

The podcast is available on most podcasting platforms, including:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Amazon

Latest episode

Harrison Ford Need Not Apply

Popular culture often equates archeology with the trials and tribulations of Hollywood blockbusters like Indiana Jones. But when it comes researching Métis history, the film’s star Harrison Ford need not apply. Instead, the Métis look to researchers like Kisha Supernant, who uses digital spatial data instead of whips to find such archival treasures as beadwork instead of gold chests. Like Indiana Jones, Supernant takes her research to the field, not for adventure and mayhem but, sadly, to use ground-penetrating radar to discover unmarked graves at former residential schools.

Of Métis descent, Supernant is the Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archeology and Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. In her discussion with host David Wylynko, Supernant explains the difference between archeology and anthropology, uses beadwork and other artifacts to trace Métis lineage back to the fur trade across Canada, and delves into the need to upend a history of non-Indigenous academics dominating the tale of Indigenous history. Supernant describes the importance of Exploring Métis Identity Through Archaeology (EMITA), a collaborative research project that takes a relational approach to exploring the material past of Métis communities.

Resources

• Kisha Supernant website
• Exploring Métis Identity Through Archaeology project
• College of News Scholars, Artists, and Scientists
• The True Canadians book
• Intro and outro music by Métis musician Alex Kusturok
• Opening quote from an address by Métis leader Jim Sinclair during the 1987 Canadian constitutional talks

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