Stories
We Need to Talk about Bryce Podcast
Each episode of We Need to Talk about Bryce is led by Bobby Henry, a member of the Cayuga Nation, from Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Bobby is an Assistant Professor in Brock University’s Faculty of Education and a PhD candidate at Trent University in Indigenous Studies. This podcast features leading Indigenous educators, public health experts, and knowledge keepers. These conversations stem from excerpts from Dr. Peter Bryce’s 1922 pamphlet, The Story of a National Crime, and they draw connections across historical and contemporary standpoints. Each episode is also accompanied by a learning guide to bring these conversations into the classroom.
About Bobby Henry
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.
All Guests
Kaila Johnston
Podcast Guest and 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 and Bryce@100 Project Coordinator
Amanda Merpaw (she/elle) is a Franco-Ontarian writer, editor, researcher, and educator. She is originally from Ottawa and is currently based in Toronto, Dish With One Spoon Territory. Amanda has taught history 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 in documentary theatre. She is currently a doctoral student at the University of Toronto, where she explores the intersections of queerness, disability, writing, community, and the body.
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
Podcast Guest and Contributing Researcher
Dr. Amy Shawanda is an Odawa Kwe and an Indigenous health researcher and a Provost Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She was born and raised in Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island. Amy has been immersed in Indigenous education formally since day care to secondary then repositioned her strengths in Indigenous Knowledges in undergraduate and graduate school. Dr. Shawanda has a focus on strengthening Indigenous ways being, doing, knowing, and reclaiming.
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.
In episode 1, we will be hearing the opening minutes from the first two pages of Bryce’s 1922 The Story of a National Crime pamphlet and will be discussing its ongoing relevance, its commemoration, and living history.
Stories
Special Episode: Full Recording of “The Story of a National Crime”
In this special episode of We Need To Talk About Bryce: Courageous Conversations with Bobby Henry and Guests, we have made available a full audio recording of the 1922 pamphlet “The Story of a National Crime”
Stories
Episode 2 with Kaila Johnston and Dr. Amy Shawanda
In this second episode on Indigenous Health and Indigenous wellness, we will be hearing multiple excerpts throughout Bryce’s 1922 The Story of a National Crime pamphlet.
Stories
Episode 3 with Dr. Gail Lafleur and Don Couchie
In this third episode, Bobby and his guests unpacked the history of Indigenous education found in Dr. Peter H. Bryce’s research on children in Indian Residential Schools, and its relevance in contemporary contexts.
Stories
Special Episode: Interview with Elder Randy Fred
This special episode of We Need to Talk About Bryce does not follow our usual format of hearing and reacting to excerpts of The Story of a National Crime. Instead, it is a one on one interview between our host, Bobby Henry, and Elder Randy Fred
Stories
Episode 4 with Dr. Cindy Blackstock and Elder Randy Fred
In our fourth episode, Bobby and his guests will be discussing Dr. Peter H. Bryce’s health research with an emphasis on the value of Indigenous children
