Red Man Laughing - The Wab Kinew Interview
Ryan McMahon

In this episode of the Red Man Laughing Podcast we welcome Wab Kinew back to the show. Wab is fresh off of a 2 month tour in support of his best selling memoir, The Reason You Walk, and in this chat we talk reconciliation, the difficult pathway forward in Canada, Indigenous Nationhood & its collision with the Canadian state.
(episode begins at 7:00)
SHOW NOTES
“Wab Kinew is an aboriginal leader seeking to engage with Canadians at large”
Wab Kinew Bio
Wab Kinew (pron: WOB ka-NOO) is a one-of-a-kind talent, named by Postmedia News as one of “9 Aboriginal movers and shakers you should know”. He is the Associate Vice-President for Indigenous Relations at The University of Winnipeg and a correspondent with Aljazeera America. In 2014, Wab successfully defended Joseph Boyden’s “The Orenda” on CBC’s Canada Reads literary competition. In 2012, he hosted the acclaimed documentary series “8th Fire”. His hip-hop music and journalism projects have won numerous awards. He has a BA in Economics, is completing a Masters degree in Indigenous Governance and is a member of the Midewin. Wab is also an Honourary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
ORDER "THE REASON YOU WALK" ONLINE
LISTEN TO SEASON 5
In this episode of Red Man Laughing, Ryan turns the microphone on himself to share three stories that might shine a lit & provide perspective on why he believes land needs to be central to every conversation about reconciliation happening today.
In this episode of Red Man Laughing, Ryan turns the microphone on himself to reflect on the importance of self care inside the reconciliation movement. Ryan gets a nice reminder and teaching about kindness after recording an interview on "The Candy Palmater Show" for CBC Radio 1. In this personal reflection, Ryan reflects on the importance of self care, kindness & embodying teachings we so often speak of but rarely live through.
In this episode of Red Man Laughing we head to Fanshawe College in London, ON for a student roundtable on education & reconciliation. We hand the mics over to the students and we hear about the challenges & pressures of being an Indigenous student in 2016, we talk about reconcliation and how they are (or are not) experiencing it inside of their school and finally we talk about how education offers a better way forward.
In this episode of Red Man Laughing we take a look at the collision between the Indian Act & reconciliation and we investigate the question whether reconciliation is possible with the Indian Act in place in Canada. We look at the history, intention & fallout of the Indian Act & we ask the essential question - how in the hell do we get rid of the Indian Act?
In this episode of Red Man Laughing we look at reconciliation in a completely different way than we have in other episodes this season. In this episode we ask how Indigenous Peoples can make a return back to our original instructions, our original ways of being, through the "treaties" and "agreements" we made with the world around us, that sustained us for thousands of years.
In this episode of Red Man Laughing we take you to Fort William First Nation to visit a group of incredible Anishinaabeg that are dedicating their time, love & energy to a special stand of Maple trees on the side of Mount McKay. This act of Anishinaabe resurgence is rebuilding family, community & Nationhood and it is happening without funding, government support and 100% independently.
In this episode of Red Man Laughing we introduce a NEW, bite sized, special mini-series supplement to Season 5 of the podcast called, "Reflections on Reconciliation." In this first episode of the mini-series, we hear from Michif Artist, Christi Belcourt on her thoughts about art, land & reconciliation.
In this episode of Red Man Laughing we take you to the "Notions of Nationhood - Tea & Bannock Dialogues" that took place on February 10, 2016 at the Aboriginal Centre of Winnipeg, for a keynote presentation by Anishinaabe Elder, Dave Courchene (Nii Gaani Aki Inini - Leading Earth Man).
In this riveting call to action, Elder Courchene implores us to consider our original instructions as Indigenous Peoples, our obligations to each other and to the land and to focus on "us" and not "them" when it comes to Nationhood and rebuilding our communities.
In this episode of Red Man Laughing we have the honour to take you to Nipissing First Nation to look their community building efforts using storytelling, land based community knowledge and some old fashioned face to face chit chat.
tags wab kinew, Reconciliation, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the reason you walk
In this episode, the Season 5 finale of Red Man Laughing, Ryan asks the question, "Is reconciliation possible in Indigenous communities with the church present."