We Need to Talk About Bryce Podcast

Bobby Henry

Education Collaborator and Podcast Host

Stanley (Bobby) Henry, OCT, is of the Ball Deer Clan. He is a member of the Cayuga Nation, a nation of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. He is a community member of Six Nations of the River Territory and has spent 15+ years of his life in K-12 Cayuga language immersion education. He is a Ph.D. student in Trent University’s Ph.D. program in Indigenous Studies and holds a Master of Education degree in Indigenous Education from Lakehead University. Bobby is an Assistant Professor in Brock University’s Faculty of Education. His research interests are issues in Indigenous education, Indigenous language pedagogies and regeneration, and decolonizing and Indigenizing PK-12 education.

Dr. Cindy Blackstock

Podcast Guest

A member of the Gitxsan First Nation, Cindy is honoured to serve as the Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and a professor at McGill University’s School of Social Work. She has over 30 years of experience working in child welfare and Indigenous children’s rights and has published on topics relating to reconciliation, Indigenous theory, First Nations child welfare and human rights. A recipient of the SSHRC Gold Medal, Cindy was honoured to work with First Nations colleagues on a successful human rights challenge to Canada’s inequitable provision of child and family services and failure to implement Jordan’s Principle. This hard-fought litigation has resulted in hundreds of thousands of services being provided to First Nations children, youth, and families.

Cindy is frequently sighted in the company of the Caring Society’s reconciliation Ambearrister, Spirit Bear, engaging children in meaningful actions to implement the TRC Calls to Action.

Don Couchie

Podcast Guest

Don Couchie is a member of Nipissing First Nation.  He has been an Anishinaabemowin language teacher for the last twenty years and continues to teach for the York Region District School Board.  He has been active in the art, music and language communities for most of his life.  He continues to be active in Anishinaabemowin art, literature and music projects with friends, family and community.

Elder Randy Fred

Project Collaborator

Elder Randy Fred, or Uncle Randy, hails from the Tseshaht First Nation, in Port Alberni BC. After living in paradise in Barclay Sound he attended the Alberni Indian Residential School for 9 years. He was a plaintiff in the precedent-setting case, Blackwater, where the United Church of Canada and the Government of Canada were sued for sexual abuse. This case led to the Alternative Dispute Resolution and the formation of Reconciliation Canada. He began his working career in accounting. After a lifetime of working in multimedia he is now an Elder-in-Residence at Vancouver Island University.

Kaila Johnston

Contributing Writer

As the Supervisor of Education, Outreach, and Public Programming at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Kaila oversees matters related to the support of educators, development of resources, establishment of outreach initiatives, as well as public engagement on residential schools and their legacy. Prior to joining the NCTR, Kaila worked with the TRC as a statement gatherer and coordinator to support statement gathering activities. She holds a BA (Hons.) in Criminal Justice from the University of Winnipeg and a MSc in International Crimes and Criminology from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Kaila is Cree and was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Dr. Gail Lafleur

Education Collaborator

Dr. Gail Lafleur, Gitigaaningkwe-Garden Woman, is a member of Nipissing First Nation, Mink Clan.  Her understanding of the importance of sharing our gifts comes from our original teacher and elder-Shkagamik-kwe (Mother Earth).  She would like to honor her traditional teachings from the elders through sharing this gift of hope to future generations. 

Amanda Merpaw

Education Manager

Amanda Merpaw (she/elle) is a Franco-Ontarian writer, editor, and educator. She is originally from Ottawa and is currently based in Toronto, Treaty 13, Dish With One Spoon Territory. Amanda has taught history, geography, and English in Ontario classrooms for nearly a decade, and has worked as an educational coach in justice-based practices and pedagogies. She is also an artist-educator and producer creating and supporting a range of performance projects and installations, including documentary theatre.

Miles Morrisseau

Contributing Writer

Miles Morrisseau is a Métis writer, journalist and multimedia producer from the Métis Homeland in Manitoba. He began his career as a writer/broadcaster for CBC Radio in Winnipeg. He produced documentaries on Sunday Morning, CBC radio’s flagship documentary program. As a national native affairs broadcaster, he covered the Mohawk Gambling War in Akwesasne, the Death of the Meech Lake Accord and was one of only mainstream journalists who had access behind the barricades during the Oka Crisis, entering on one of a handful of boats that smuggled in food and medicine. He was Editor-in-Chief of Nativebeat, the Beat of a Different Drum, which was chosen best Native American Monthly by the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA). He was Editor-in-Chief of Aboriginal Voices Magazine and Indian Country Today. He produced Buffalo Tracks with Evan Adams for APTN. As program manager for NCI-FM, Manitoba’s Indigenous Radio Network, he helped launch Streetz FM the first radio station by and for Indigenous youth in Winnipeg, MB. He has six children and seven grandchildren and has been with his partner Shelly Bressette for over 35 years. He lives in Grand Rapids, Manitoba on one of the last pieces of Métis land still in the hands of Métis people.

Dr. Amy Shawanda

Contributing Researcher and Podcast Host

Amy Shawanda, PhD is a proud Odawa Kwe from Manitoulin Island’s Wikwemikong Unceded Territory. She is an educator, storyteller, visionary, and berry picker. She is an assistant professor and researcher in Indigenous health at McGill University’s Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Currently, she is the Theme Lead for the project entitled “Towards Sleep Equity: Understanding and Addressing Intersectional Risk and Resilience Factors in the Promotion of Healthy Sleep.” Amy’s primary research interest is on sleep, nutrition, physical exercise, mental health, and the Indigenous Commercial Determinants of Health. She is community driven, generationally inspired, and social justice oriented. Dr. Shawanda has a focus on strengthening Indigenous ways being, doing, knowing, and healing.