Matriarch Movement

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On Matriarch Movement, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild sets out to amplify Indigenous voices from Canada to Turtle Island and beyond. In her interviews, she highlights issues that Indigenous people face while challenging the mainstream narrative surrounding Indigenous identity. By showcasing Indigenous role models with a focus on our matriarchs and two spirit voices, language revitalization, sustainability, and reclamation, Shayla’s mission is to inspire the next seven generations.

  1. 3d ago

    Restoring Indigenous Legal Order with André Bear

    André Bear, B.Ed., J.D., is a Nêhîyaw advocate of Inherent and Treaty rights. He earned both his Juris Doctor and his Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan. At 21 years old, he was appointed as an advisor to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations for the implementation of TRC Call to Action 66. He is a former director of the Indigenous Bar Association and the Canadian Juries Commission. He was recently appointed to the board of the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society. In 2021, André founded Indigenous Nation Rebuilding, a consulting firm dedicated to revitalizing the practice of Indigenous law. In this episode, Shayla and André talk about: growing up in foster care, the spiritual awakening that changed his path at 15, how Sundance helped his mom get sober, facing racism and “pretendians” in law school, the spirit helper who carried him through his law exams prophetic dreams, why the Indian Act can never heal our families, his vision of a future where we no longer need a child welfare system. They close with a tender conversation about matriarchy, grief and the parents who walk with us. André explains why he carries Pokémon into government meetings, and Shayla shares a moving story about her late father. Season 6, Indigenous Voices of This Generation, is presented in partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office and YouTube Canada. Recorded on Treaty 13 territory in Tkaronto and produced by Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos. Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome & introducing André Bear 00:02:20 André introduces himself and his Spirit name 00:02:45 The Pikachu gift and why André carries Pokémon everywhere 00:04:20 Dr. Cindy Blackstock and the Spirit Bear 00:05:03 Turning pain into power: a spiritual awakening at 15 00:07:22 Homelessness, his mom’s sobriety and his first Sundance 00:08:54 Lessons from The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew 00:10:12 Honouring the sacredness of ceremony 00:11:51 Creator’s law vs. colonial law 00:14:26 Racism and “pretendians” in law school 00:17:09 The spirit helper who got him through law exams 00:19:40 Advice for youth disconnected from ceremony 00:22:12 Getting scolded by the aunties at Sundance 00:23:05 Gender roles in ceremony and a Two-Spirit perspective 00:24:13 Losing his adoptive father and being guided to a new teacher 00:25:02 Dreams and becoming a clear channel for spirit 00:26:09 Psychic dreams: snakes, spiders and warnings 00:28:50 The yellow snake spirit of Lake Ontario 00:31:21 Why André shares his dreams publicly 00:32:31 Fasting, moon dance, and Sundancing in Cree and Dakota lodges 00:34:52 Walking into colonial spaces unshakable 00:37:12 Spirituality for non-Indigenous people too 00:37:54 Lateral violence and why he deleted Facebook 00:39:59 Forgiveness and how fast prayer works 00:42:22 “Pray as if your life depends on it” 00:44:53 Smudging with students as a high school teacher 00:46:30 Founding Indigenous Nation Rebuilding 00:48:55 Why the Indian Act must be dismantled 00:50:28 Treaty vs. status, and being seen as human in Canadian law 00:52:35 Grief, forgiveness and healing at the roots 00:54:10 Indigenous futurism and the hand of Creator 00:57:38 What “matriarch” means to André 00:58:49 Shayla’s father’s story 01:04:00 André’s upcoming book and where to find him Follow André Find more of André’s advocacy below: Instagram: @abearlaw TikTok: @abearlaw For keynotes and consulting: https://www.ination.ca/public-speaking 📖 His book is coming soon. Stay tuned! #MatriarchMovement #IndigenousVoices #AndréBear #Nêhîyaw #TwoSpirit #IndigenousSovereignty #IndianAct #ChildWelfare #Sundance #IndigenousLaw #IndigenousFuturism #TurtleIsland #IndigenousPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Restoring Indigenous Legal Order with André Bear

  2. Oct 12

    The Woman Who Started Red Dress Day: Jaime Black-Morsette

    On this episode of the Matriarch Movement Podcast, Shayla Stonechild sits down with Jaime Black-Morsette, the artist whose work gave this country Red Dress Day. Jaime is a Red River Métis multidisciplinary artist and activist of Anishinaabe and Finnish descent, with family scrip signed in the community of St. Andrews, Manitoba. She lives and works on her home territory near the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. In 2009 she founded the REDress Project, an installation of empty red dresses responding to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S+). It has travelled across Canada and internationally and inspired Red Dress Day, the national day of awareness held every May 5th. Her practice spans installation, photography, performance art and immersive film and video, and explores memory, identity, place and resistance. While working with and through trauma, Jaime’s art turned toward healing. Her work moved into the body and into the lands, waters and circles of women, through pieces like her 2017 photographic series Conversations with the Land. Her latest work centres water as a living entity that holds and nurtures all of life. In this conversation, Jaime shares the moment in Colombia that changed the course of her life, the vision that first showed her red dresses filling the country, and how a project about violence became a path back to women’s power and presence. We also talk about the land as co-creator, water as memory and rebirth, caring for yourself while carrying your community’s stories, lateral violence and discernment, and what’s next as the REDress Project grows into a non-profit. This season, Indigenous Voices of This Generation, is created in partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office and YouTube Canada. Recorded on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. ⏱ CHAPTERS  00:00 Welcome & introducing Jaime Black-Morsette  02:14 Jaime’s intro & the long line of matriarchs  03:04 Where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet  05:38 The land as co-creator: working with water & fire  06:46 Where her drive for advocacy began  07:59 The dream behind the Matriarch Movement  09:20 Where the REDress Project seed began  10:09 The Colombia performance that changed everything  12:21 What the red dress symbolizes  13:38 The Book of Jessica & the empty red dress  14:14 Watching the vision become Red Dress Day  15:26 How allies can support: the 231 Calls for Justice  17:47 Self-care while carrying community stories  19:45 Healing through art, writing, singing & lakes  21:30 Finding a voice she didn’t know was silenced  22:12 Growing up in a creative Métis family  23:33 How people have responded to the REDress Project  24:06 What “matriarch” means to Jaime & the Sky Woman story  26:05 What happens in the body when we heal on the land  27:35 Water as the womb: coming out new  28:17 Nibi: the teaching of women & water  30:16 What the water remembers  31:30 Advice for young Indigenous women & girls  33:11 Lateral violence & choosing distance  34:48 Discernment as a life’s work  35:39 What’s next: the REDress Project non-profit  36:08 Where to find & support Jaime  37:15 Closing 🔴 SUPPORT JAIME  REDress Project: redressproject.com  Artist website: jaimeblackartist.com  Book: REDress: Art, Action and the Power of Presence 📖 LEARN MORE  National Inquiry into MMIWG Final Report & the 231 Calls for Justice: mmiwg-ffada.ca If this conversation moved you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a comment telling us what the water has taught you. 💧 #RedDressDay #MMIWG #MMIWG2S #IndigenousWomen #MatriarchMovement #REDressProject #IndigenousArt #Métis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Woman Who Started Red Dress Day: Jaime Black-Morsette

  3. Sep 28

    North of North: Inside the Show, with Stacey Aglok MacDonald & Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

    This week, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild sits down in Treaty 13 territory in Tkaronto with the powerhouse duo behind North of North — Stacey Aglok MacDonald (writer/producer, Qanurli, co-founder of Red Marrow Media) and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (filmmaker behind Angry Inuk and Tunniit: Retracing the Lines). Together, the two Inuit creators built Red Marrow Media, produced The Grizzlies, and co-created North of North — the CBC, APTN, and Netflix comedy that broke into Netflix's global top 10 and is now filming its highly anticipated second season. Stacey and Alethea open up about growing up in Nunavut, the matriarchs who shaped them, and what "matriarchy" really means when leadership in Inuit communities has always been fluid and situational rather than a single figurehead. They trace their creative partnership back twenty years — including the story of how Stacey "found" Alethea on Google before they ever met — and get candid about the real emotional and logistical weight of following the heavy, important work of The Grizzlies with something joyful, funny, and unapologetically commercial. This conversation covers the wild specifics of building a global show from the Arctic: pitching networks who'd never seen anything like it, budgeting for real Inuit-designed high fashion (no knockoffs allowed), filming in -40°C, working with an intimacy coordinator on that Season one kiss, and watching their communities go from skeptical to fiercely proud. They also dig into resilience essentials — handling criticism, repairing conflict, and why "no regrets" collaborations are built on trust, not just talent. A rich, funny, moving conversation about matriarchal leadership, Indigenous storytelling, and building something the industry never expected. 00:00 Welcome and meet the guests 01:59 Growing up in Iqaluit 03:10 One word for Season 2: mastery 03:59 Stacey's roots and her badass mom 06:39 What matriarchy means to them 09:43 How they met 11:48 Where their love of storytelling began 15:49 Separate paths, sealskin shorts and building skills 19:55 Teaching themselves to produce 23:18 Making film in the North 25:20 The Grizzlies and deciding to co-produce 29:34 Where North of North began: choosing joy 33:29 Pitching a bold, contemporary Arctic show 37:48 That infamous kiss scene 40:05 What's coming in Season 2 43:39 Acting in -40° 44:50 How Nunavut responded to the show 49:34 Real Inuit fashion on screen 53:18 Advice for emerging filmmakers 56:47 The future of Inuit film 59:03 Being a power couple and taking criticism 01:03:10 Walking into the writing room, and where to watch 01:04:41 Follow the guests, and will there be Season 3? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    North of North: Inside the Show, with Stacey Aglok MacDonald & Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

  4. Sep 22

    Anna Lambe on Reclaiming Inuit Storytelling

    This week on Matriarch Movement, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild sits down with Anna Lambe — an Inuk actress, host, and emerging filmmaker from Iqaluit, Nunavut, and one of the most compelling Indigenous voices in film and television today. Anna first broke onto the international stage with The Grizzlies, earning a Canadian Screen Award nomination, and followed it with a second nomination for her role as Sarah in Trickster. She now leads the APTN, CBC, and Netflix co-production North of North, which earned her nominations for a Gotham Award and an Independent Spirit Award and won her Best Lead Performer in a Comedy Series at the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards. In this conversation, Anna opens up about her rapid rise in the industry, the pressure of being seen as a spokesperson for her entire community, and what she's learned about herself through playing Siaja. She shares what it was really like filming Season 2 on Arctic sea ice in temperatures below -50°C, why she believes Indigenous stories deserve to center joy instead of trauma, and what matriarchy means to her as an Inuk woman. She closes with powerful advice for the next generation of young Inuk women dreaming of a life in film. Follow Anna Lambe: Instagram @anna.r.b.lambe Watch North of North Season 2: streaming on CBC, APTN, and Netflix This episode is part of Season 6 of Matriarch Movement, Indigenous Voices of This Generation, proudly sponsored by Indigenous Screen Office and YouTube Canada. Thank you to both organizations for supporting this season and helping amplify Indigenous storytellers across Turtle Island. 00:14 – Introduction to Anna Lambe and the episode 01:33 – Anna introduces herself 02:26 – From Trickster and The Grizzlies to leading North of North 03:52 – Following intuition instead of a traditional acting path06:19 – The pressure of representing an entire community 10:51 – Who is Siaja, and how she differs from Anna 13:23 – Filming Season 2 in -50°C on Arctic sea ice 15:54 – Community reception: from embarrassment to being seen as Siaja 18:31 – The future of Indigenous storytelling: centering joy over trauma 22:24 – What matriarchy means to Anna 23:52 – Advice to young Inuk women pursuing film and TV 26:16 – Where to follow Anna + where to watch Season 2 26:31 – Thank you to Indigenous Screen Office and YouTube Canada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Anna Lambe on Reclaiming Inuit Storytelling

  5. Sep 7

    Songs of the Plants: Daniela Riojas on Medicine, Lineage & Reclaiming Confidence

    Matriarch Movement Podcast — Season 6: Indigenous Voices of This Generation This episode, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild, sits down with Daniela Riojas — a medicine keeper, educator, musician, and artist whose roots stretch from the Coahuiltecan lands on the Texas-Mexico border to the Peruvian Amazon, where she trained under Shipibo and Ashaninka lineage holders and was initiated into ceremonial plant medicine work. Daniela is the founder of Indígena Medicina, creating sacred containers for healing rooted in Indigenous knowledge, plant medicine, and ceremony. Daniela and Shayla trace her path from growing up "siphoned" between two identities on the border, to activism in San Antonio, to the grief and long search that led her to her teachers in Peru. She opens up about her mother's passing and the ancestral womb work that initiated her deeper into her medicine path, what a dieta actually involves, and how Icaros - the songs of the plants - become a living technology for healing in ceremony. The conversation also turns practical: how to responsibly vet a ceremony facilitator amid the current plant-medicine boom, how she stays grounded through physical discipline and nutrition, and her advice for anyone trying to reconnect with lineage, land, or spirit when the elders and acces s aren't there. They close on matriarchy -Daniela's mother, her sisters, and the mentors who shaped how she leads with what she calls "heart-led advocacy." 01:11 — Guest introduction: Daniela Riojas, medicine keeper and founder of Indígena Medicina 02:31 — Daniela's roots: born in Eagle Pass, Texas, connected to the Coahuiltecan people 04:08 — Growing up "siphoned" between two identities on the Texas-Mexico border 05:31 — Activism in San Antonio and fighting for Indigenous voices in the story of the Alamo 07:00 — Shayla on fragmentation, residential schools, and reclaiming pride as a younger generation 08:00 — Daniela's advice for reconnecting to elders and spirit without direct access 12:39 — What a curandera is and how the term is used in her Peruvian lineage 15:21 — What a dieta actually involves — from 8 days to years-long processes 20:40 — Why she began dieting: her mother's passing and the womb work that followed 24:22 — Receiving the Icaros — the "songs of the plants" — as a form of coding technology 28:06 — How she holds the responsibility of space-holding without burning out 30:34 — Physical discipline and nutrition as grounding practices for ceremony work 34:19 — Navigating cultural appropriation and how to vet a ceremony facilitator 37:22 — Lateral violence and protocols for creating safety within community containers 41:47 — Daniela's mentorship for stepping into confidence, power, and self-expression 44:09 — Defining matriarchy: her mother, her sisters, and mentor Miriam Hosny 50:08 — Where to find Daniela: her website, Instagram, and upcoming European tour Follow Daniela Riojas at Intikhana for details on her mentorship, retreats, and upcoming tours. @danielariojas https://www.intikhana.com/ https://linktr.ee/danielariojas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Songs of the Plants: Daniela Riojas on Medicine, Lineage & Reclaiming Confidence

  6. Aug 24

    Aysanabee on Sandy Lake, Residential School Healing & Becoming Indigenous Music's Next Global Voice

    Matriarch Movement Podcast — Season 6: Indigenous Voices of This Generation Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter Aysanabee joins Shayla Oulette Stonechild on the Matriarch Movement podcast for a conversation that moves from a trailer with no electricity in rural Ontario to the Juno Awards stage. Aysanabee opens up about growing up between Sandy Lake First Nation and a series of small northern communities, teaching himself guitar in the forest as a kid, and working in remote mining camps from age 12 - including two near-death experiences with a bear, a wolf pack, and falling through frozen ice, a moment that pushed him to finally commit to music. He shares the story behind his Polaris-shortlisted, Juno Award–winning debut album - a project born from daily pandemic phone calls with his grandfather, a residential school survivor, that turned into recorded interviews and ultimately an album that helped his grandfather find peace before he passed. Aysanabee also talks about the $40 application fee that led to a record deal over a socially-distanced "Zoom dinner," playing 184 shows in a single year, the emotional weight of representing a national reckoning around residential schools, and his recent trip to Taiwan, where he discovered strikingly similar songs, dances, and reclamation journeys among Indigenous communities on the other side of the world. The conversation closes with his hopes for the future of Indigenous music including his dream of seeing a global Indigenous pop star and a preview of what's next as he heads into the mountains to write his follow-up to his latest release, Edge of the Earth. @_aysanabee_ https://www.aysanabee.com https://www.tiktok.com/@aysanabee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Aysanabee on Sandy Lake, Residential School Healing & Becoming Indigenous Music's Next Global Voice

  7. Aug 10

    We Are the Land, the Land Is Us: Carrying Forward Talaysay Tours with Talaysay Campo

    Season 6: Indigenous Voices of This Generation In this episode of the Matriarch Movement Podcast's Indigenous Voices of This Generation season, host Shayla sits down with the daughter and successor of Talaysay Tours' founder, — an Indigenous entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and keynote speaker whose work bridges culture, sustainability, tourism, and economic reconciliation. Raised on the Sunshine Coast and rooted in both the Squamish and Shíshálh Nations, she shares how a family teaching - "we are the land, and the land is us" - shaped her path from a barefoot kid at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park to running walking tours across Vancouver, Squamish, and Whistler. The conversation traces the company's origin in 2001, growing up alongside her mother's entrepreneurial journey, the loss and revival of cultural knowledge after the Potlatch Ban and residential schools, and the little-known story of the Great Fire that shaped early Vancouver. She also opens up about building an Indigenous apparel line and skincare brand as extensions of cultural reclamation, what it means to mentor the next generation, and how she defines matriarchy in her own life and community. A conversation about land stewardship, intergenerational knowledge, and building Indigenous-led businesses that reflect who Indigenous people truly are. (00:00) Territorial acknowledgment and Season intro: Indigenous Voices of This Generation(01:06) Guest introduction with Talaysay Campo(02:12) Guest opens in language, shares ancestral village and territory(03:06) The guiding phrase: "We are the land, and the land is us"(05:04) How Talaysay Tours began in 2001 on the Sunshine Coast, growing up alongside the business(07:49) Childhood at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park; learning "sales" before she could spell(09:50) Going to business school at UBC, then joining the company full-time(12:35) The emotional and practical roots of starting a tour company as an Indigenous woman(14:03) Building community for cultural land ambassadors reconnecting with their nations (52+ guides hired since 2001)(17:30) On hierarchy vs. potlatch values in business partnerships(18:12) Company growth: from a family of 5 to 28 guides; new tour categories (Talking Trees, Spoken Treasures, Talking Totems, Salish Sea)(19:15) Healthcare-worker discounts and free tours as a form of reciprocity(21:01) What to expect on a Talking Trees tour; storytelling as the strongest teacher(24:42) The story of the Great Fire of Vancouver(31:15) The mission: helping guests feel grounded, redirected, and reconnected to the land(32:24) The bedtime story of Creator naming the trees — and why the Western Hemlock bows its head(34:29) Traditional medicinal uses of Western Hemlock and its role pre-contact(35:12) The Tem Cloud herring ceremony and its return after 120+ years(38:53) On Indigenous futurism: returning to original ways of caretaking and stewardship(41:08) Community touchpoints: Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, Squamish Nation Powwow, Bill Reid Gallery(42:15) Advice for Indigenous entrepreneurs: asking for community help, values as a compass(44:36) Lessons from touring in New Zealand and witnessing land-first tourism models(47:50) 2026 goals: healthcare industry partnerships, wellness and movement offerings, getting cultural teachings into school textbooks(54:54) Defining matriarchy: presence, truth-telling, and service to community(57:07) Closing thanks and where to find tours, skincare, and apparel @talaysay_campo @nenaglacial https://www.talaysay.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    We Are the Land, the Land Is Us: Carrying Forward Talaysay Tours with Talaysay Campo

  8. Jul 27

    Rueben George — Healing the Land, Healing the Self

    Season 6: Indigenous Voices of This Generation In this powerful episode of the Matriarch Movement Podcast, host Shayla Oulette-Stonechild sits down with Rueben George — writer, activist, Sundance Chief, and grandson of the legendary Chief Dan George. A member of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, Rueben spent over a decade leading the fight against the Trans Mountain Pipeline on his nation’s unceded territory, a journey documented in his national bestseller It Stops Here: Standing Up for Our Lands, Our Waters, and Our People, co-written with Michael Simpson. This conversation moves through Rueben’s family legacy and the intergenerational trauma of residential schools, his path to sobriety at 25 through ceremony, and the spiritual framework — enlightenment, reciprocity, and responsibility — that grounds his activism. He speaks candidly about building the Tsleil-Waututh Sacred Trust’s legal case against Kinder Morgan, his philosophy on economic sovereignty and choosing business partners, and his belief that colonization succeeds by disconnecting people from spirit. The episode closes with a rare, honest conversation about his psychedelic healing work — including his collaboration with Dr. Gabor Maté — and how his team has guided hundreds of residential school survivors and community members through ceremonial healing, bringing ancient teachings and modern medicine together to address trauma “as it happens.” A conversation about land defense, sobriety, lineage, and the spirit that connects them all. Rueben's book: https://www.amazon.ca/Stops-Here-Standing-Waters-People/dp/0735242801 Medicine Movie: https://medicine.movie @ruebengeorge4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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On Matriarch Movement, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild sets out to amplify Indigenous voices from Canada to Turtle Island and beyond. In her interviews, she highlights issues that Indigenous people face while challenging the mainstream narrative surrounding Indigenous identity. By showcasing Indigenous role models with a focus on our matriarchs and two spirit voices, language revitalization, sustainability, and reclamation, Shayla’s mission is to inspire the next seven generations.

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