Middle North: Strange Things Done

Max Hamon
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The Middle North podcast examines the history and culture of the geographical region between the 49th parallel and the far north. Through interviews with scholars and cultural creators it examines the constructed and imagined ideas of wilderness and order. It presents stories and histories about life and community, and the inherently human aspects of living and studying the middle north. It extends the first series, "Policing and the Border" (2021). That series explored the history of policing in the United States and Canada. For that series see below.

  1. 2025-10-03

    Sawmills and Small Communities in the Upper Fraser Valley: Interview with Dr. Greg Halseth

    The sawmill communities of the Upper Fraser Valley provide a perspectives that may help our reflection on social, economic and environmental processes that shaped the Middle North. Dr. Greg Halseth introduces some of this history and an Oral History Project that work that he and a team of researchers conducted twenty years ago. These oral histories are now available at the Archive of the University of Northern British Columbia and shed light on the particular lived experience of the Upper Fraser Valley after the arrival of the railroad.

    45 min

  2. 2025-07-28

    Episode Five - The Bennet Dam and Flooding the Tse'kene Heartland

    Dr. Daniel Sims speaks about his research into the disruption caused by the creation of the Bennett Dam and the Williston Reservoir. It was built to provide electrical power mainly for southern communities. As shown by this research, the impact of the Dam surprised many of the experts and the tragic legacy continues to impact the First Nations communities of Tsay Keh Dene, Kwadacha, MacLeod Lake and Takla.

    46 min

  3. 2025-07-10

    Episode Four - Filming by Haida for Haida: Edge of the Knife

    The Edge of the Knife is a Haida language film that is an act of language revitalization. The film tells the story of the Gagiit, or the wildman, the interview discusses the creation of the film and the involvement of community in the process. Producers and script-writer Gwaai Edenshaw tells us about filming this unique story in this unique place.

    43 min

  4. 2025-07-02

    Episode Three - Community Archeology through the Field School in the Middle North

    In an interview with Dr. Farid Rahemtulla of UNBC we discuss some of the opportunities for new approaches to the field of Anthropology through community based archeology field schools. As discussed here, by tackling the colonial and western ideas of knowledge, new understandings of deeptime reveal sophistication and complexity that would not be otherwise visible.

    36 min

  5. 2025-06-23

    Episode Two: Notorious Georges and the Making of Crime in Northern BC

    The Georges, historically, like Prince George today were often reported to be notorious. In an interview with Dr. Jonathan Swainger, professor emeritus at the university of Northern British Columbia we talk about his new book, and the "making of crime" in Northern BC.

    37 min

  6. 2025-05-26

    Episode One - Introducing the Middle North

    The Middle North is a region that is often associated with the frontier. It is imagined as a place on the edge of "civilization." This episode introduces some of the key ideas and theme for this new series.

    16 min
  7. Benjamin Hoy - Drawing a Border Across Indigenous Lands

    2021-06-02

    Benjamin Hoy - Drawing a Border Across Indigenous Lands

    According to historian Benjamin Hoy, the US-Canadian border was a line  of Blood and Dirt. This is the title of his recent book, the subtitle is  Creating the Canada-United States Border Across Indigenous Lands  published by Oxford University Press in 2021. The book foregrounds what  he refers to as the lived experience of the border, and provides us with  access to the perspectives that many Indigenous people have left for  us. This book shows this was a complex history. Yes, both countries used  violence, hunger and coercion to displace Indigenous communities and  their ideas of territory and belonging. At the sametime it foregrounds  their own efforts to come to terms with, and even build the border. We  learn how federal governments, with this customs officers, border  agents, police patrols, and surveyors encountered and interacted with  Indigenous peoples and negotiated a border.

    43 min
  8. Blacks and the Border Interview with Dr. Amani Whitfield

    2021-05-11

    Blacks and the Border Interview with Dr. Amani Whitfield

    An important part of the history of the Canadian US border is the history of slavery. Many Canadians believe that antipathy for slavery, following from what we might call the moral capital of Abolitionism, put their nation on the right side of history. In fact, frequently refugees were not welcomed, and their migration into Canada was often subjected to legal and social regulation and rejection. Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield is the leading authority on slavery in the Maritime provinces, and together we discussed his books Blacks on the Border: the Black Refugees in British North America, 1815-1860 and North to Bondage: Loyalist Slavery in the Maritimes. In this episode we speak about what the border meant to Blacks, both refugees and slaves, and white British colonists in the Maritimes.

    43 min
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About

The Middle North podcast examines the history and culture of the geographical region between the 49th parallel and the far north. Through interviews with scholars and cultural creators it examines the constructed and imagined ideas of wilderness and order. It presents stories and histories about life and community, and the inherently human aspects of living and studying the middle north. It extends the first series, "Policing and the Border" (2021). That series explored the history of policing in the United States and Canada. For that series see below.

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