Culture is Healing

In this episode of Culture Is Healing, George sits down with Kaya Hansen to explore the challenges facing substance use and recovery systems, where overworked staff and fragmented services often make healing harder to access. Together, they discuss Indigenous approaches to care, the importance of reducing administrative burdens, and how the Pathways to Healing tool is helping communities create more connected, human-centered support systems. Start your free trial of Pathways to Healing: https://go.checkingin.co/pth-free-trial/

In this episode of Culture Is Healing, George Harris Jr. speaks with Musqueam weaver Aleen Sparrow about how culture can be lived as a daily practice of healing, connection, and identity. Aleen reflects on learning to weave at the kitchen table with her mother and aunties, and how those moments shaped her understanding of weaving as both art and relationship. Together, they explore how practices like weaving and canoe pulling build resilience, community, and intention in everyday life, alongside Aleen’s experience walking in Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week as a powerful expression of identity and cultural pride. This conversation offers a grounded reminder that healing can start with small, meaningful actions—how you show up, who you gather with, and the energy you bring into what you create.

We’re back for a new season of Culture is Healing—and we’re starting it off with a powerful conversation with Malina Dawn.In this episode, George and Malina explore what it looks like to live your healing, not just talk about it. Drawing on teachings from the Medicine Wheel and Malina’s relationship to yoga and movement, they reflect on how culture can guide us through different seasons of life—and how practices like ceremony, breath, and connection to land can support emotional balance in a real, everyday way.This conversation is a reminder that healing isn’t something separate from our lives—it’s something we return to, again and again, through the ways we choose to move, connect, and show up.

George sits down with Mateo Kostering — proud member of the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw Nation and the ’Namgis Nation — founder of the Indigenous Athletics Academy, and lifelong athlete whose journey from community tournaments to semi-pro coaching has been guided by discipline, culture, and service. Mateo shares why resilience must be practiced daily, why winning isn’t the only measure of success, and how sport can reconnect young people to identity, belonging, and purpose. This conversation is a grounded reminder that when you show up as yourself, remain consistent and build strong communities around youth, you’re not just developing athletes — you’re shaping confident leaders for the next generation.

What helps a young person believe in their future? Sometimes it starts with a coach, a ceremony, or one trusted relationship. In this episode, Deana Gill shares how sport, culture, and mentorship are creating real change for Indigenous youth and communities. From her early days in child protection to leading Hope and Health, she reflects on what she’s learned about showing up with humility, building trust, and creating spaces where young people feel they belong. This conversation moves beyond big ideas about reconciliation and into what it looks like in action — relationships, cultural safety, and giving youth the support to dream bigger for themselves. A listen for anyone who cares about youth, community, and the kind of allyship that is built over time.

George sits down with his mentor and educator William Taylor!Drawing on teachings from elders, storytelling, and decades of experience in education, William shares the most meaningful teachings he’s received.George and William touch on how cultural ceremonies and mentorship are grounded in love and support. This conversation encourages you to reflect on your own gifts and how they can strengthen both learning and community.

George Harris Jr. talks with Leah George-Wilson, four-term Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, about how ceremonies, elders, and ancestral connections guide personal and community well-being. They explore the responsibility we all share to learn Indigenous histories, the power of cultural practices to heal from trauma, and why including Indigenous voices in decision-making matters now more than ever.

Season 3 of Culture is Healing is closing out with this powerful finale! George Harris Jr. sits down with Katie Marren—a Cree-Métis, English, and Irish educator, mother, and District Principal of Indigenous Education—to explore how culture and education can create healing for Indigenous young ones and communities as a whole. Katie opens up about her personal story and shares how important Indigenous voices, language revitalization, and cultural ceremonies are in creating trust and reconciliation. We are taking a break for the holidays and will be back with more conversations and teachings on January 6th, 2026.

George Harris Jr. and Nola Jeffrey reflect on the healing ceremonies, cleansing practices, and community teachings that have supported their experiences with trauma. They emphasize the importance of daily self-care—especially for those in helping roles—and offer simple cultural practices anyone can use to release the heaviness felt inside and find grounding. This conversation also shares the work happening at Tsow-Tun Le Lum, where cultural teachings and community support people through recovery in meaningful, accessible ways.

In this episode of Culture Is Healing, Rachael Hunt and George Harris Jr. talk about what it means to return home — to culture, ceremony, and community. Rachael shares ancestral wisdom and teachings from the Eighth Fire. The conversation is a call to remember that culture isn’t something we practice once in a while — it’s something we live. Whether through prayer, gratitude, or presence, every moment can become ceremony.

Education can be a place of deep healing when guided by culture, story, and community. George and his friend Colleen Mullin share a conversation about bringing Indigenous language, teachings, and community connection into education in meaningful ways. George reflects on moments of racism and insensitivity he faced as a student, and how those experiences shaped his commitment to creating safer, more understanding learning spaces. They speak on the progress that has been made, the care it takes to do this work well, and how storytelling continues to open doors for healing and understanding.

“Art and music helped me survive.” This week, George shares a raw conversation with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw’s Benjamin Lewis. Ben opens up about his recovery from addiction, sharing the story that led him to hosting his own 12-step meetings. He also talks about how turning back to culture and creativity became his way through. For Ben, art and music aren’t just passions — they’re lifelines. In this episode, he shares some of his songs — honest, heavy pieces that speak to the realities of residential schools, abuse, and what it means to live through it.