One Nation, Many Stories - A Métis National Council Podcast

In this episode Matt Lemay is thrilled to welcome podcasting storyteller Jason McKay, the Wandering Metis, along with storytelling Metis fiddlers JJ Lavalee and Jordan Daniels.And we’re thrilled to be coming to you again from the Tragically Hip's Bathouse studios.It’s a beautiful 200 hundred year old stone inn along the shores of lake Ontario, near Kingston.There Matt and his team have been working on a documentary and album with some of the best Metis musicians around. For more on that, definitely check out our previous episode, One Nation, Many Fiddlers.On the week of this interview, I was joined at Bathouse by Jason MacKay, whose podcast for the Metis Nation Saskatchewan is called “The Wandering Metis.”It is all about gathering the best Metis stories from his home province.Storytelling, along with fiddles, is a cornerstone of Metis culture, and with the Wandering Metis in the house the stories just flowed, which is why we had to get Jason, Jordan and JJ around a table, on mics, talking and fiddling.We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we had recording it.For more on the work of the MNC, visit metisnation.ca

“Just before we got on the landing craft our officer said, ‘I want to tell you boys you’re all good. You know your job. Get out there and get them. But one thing I want to tell you, most of you guys won’t be coming back.’ So you know what that meant.I said, ‘Sir, I’m coming home. I'm going to go do my job.’ ‘That’s what I like to hear,’ he said.When we hit the beach, the water was red.Don’t let anyone ever tell you they weren’t scared. You were scared the whole time and you’re on the beach and your buddy is yelling at you to help but you can’t stop.One thing you have to do when you make it on the beach, you’ve got to go for yourself, which is hard to do, to get those pillboxes, cement that thick, three machine guns in there. In B Company, there were only 27 of us left out of the whole company (of 125). So that was hard.” - Métis Veteran Francis Godon (1924–2019) remembering his role as a corporal in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles during the D-Day landing at Juno Beach, Normandy on June 6, 1944. Interview by the Veteran Voices of Canada. Welcome to our special Remembrance Day episode, One Nation, Many Veterans, as we honour the tens of thousands of Métis men and women who have served in Canada’s military, world wars, conflicts, peacekeeping and humanitarian missions, going all the way back to 1884-5 and Canada’s first ever involvement in a foreign conflict. In this episode, host Matt LeMay digs into the proud history of Métis military service with two distinguished Métis veterans: Brian Black served in the Canadian navy including during the first Gulf War. He is a past President of the Métis Nation of Ontario Veterans Council and the current Director of Self-Government for the MNO. His Métis ties are in the Treaty 3 Rainy River-Rainy Lake Area. Brian Prairie is a veteran of the Lake Superior Regiment and the current President of MNO Veterans Council. A resident of Thunder Bay, his Métis ancestry goes back to the Red River. In this episode we also hear from Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron on efforts by the MNC to get Métis veterans of World War 2, Korea and beyond the recognition and compensation from the Canadian government that they deserve.Host Matt LeMay is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, with roots in the Red River, Drummond Island and Penetanguishene. He is a documentary film-maker and co-founder of Indigenous Geographic. Our theme music is "Harry Daniels" by Métis fiddler John Arcand. "One Nation, Many Stories" is produced by the Métis National Council and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions. For more on the work of the Métis National Council, visit metisnation.ca

Trigger Warning: This episode is about the abuses that occurred in residential schools. It may not be suitable for all listeners. If you need emotional support, there is a 24-hour Residential School Crisis line which you can reach at 1-866-925-4419."We lost our names. We were never called by name. We had numbers. My number was 44." - Robert Merasty, Île-à-la-Crosse Residential School Survivor.Tansi and welcome to this first episode of One Nation, Many Stories, the podcast brought to you by the Metis National Council. Every three weeks, we'll be bringing you new episodes including stories and interviews with the amazing people who make up our proud Nation.We begin this series in the northern Saskatchewan historic Métis community of Île-à-la-Crosse. The town and its Métis roots go back hundreds of years, so it seems a good place to begin. Sadly, as we mark Truth and Reconciliation Day, Île-à-la-Crosse is also home to an ongoing injustice; the failure of governments to recognize and compensate the Survivors of the church-run residential school that operated there for generations. The children there experienced systemic mental, physical and sexual abuse, but that history is being ignored by both the federal and Saskatchewan governments as they argue of jurisdictional responsibility. As Métis National Council President, Cassidy Caron, says in the introduction to this episode, "It is imperative that both the federal government and the provincial government of Saskatchewan, alongside the church, come together to finally recognize these Survivors and ensure they can continue their healing paths.""One Nation, Many Stories" host Matt LeMay, welcomes two Île-à-la-Crosse residents, Robert Merasty and Jordyn Burnouf, to discuss the history of the town, the residential school, and the ongoing impact of abuse, and neglect by governments and the church.Robert Merasty is an Île-à-la-Crosse Residential School survivor. He is also a fixture in his community as an announcer of CILX Radio, where he can be heard each weekday, bringing news and interviews in English, Cree and Michif to his listeners in northern Saskatchewan. During his long career, he was also a broadcaster with CBC and APTN.Jordyn Burnouf is proudly Cree and Metis from Île-à-la-Crosse. She serves as a senior advisor to the vice-president and justice minister of the Metis Nation Saskatchewan, taking a special interest in the case of the survivors of the Île-à-la-Crosse Residential School.Host Matt LeMay is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, with roots in the Red River, Drummond Island and Penetanguishene. He is a documentary film-maker and co-founder of Indigenous Geographic. The voices at the start of this episode are from the following Île-à-la-Crosse Métis Residential School survivors:Lawrence Morin, Pat Desjarlais, Dorothy Dubrule, Antoinette Lafleur, Louis Gardiner, Emile Janvier.Their stories can be found in the "Île-à-la-Crosse Métis Residential School Documentary" produced by Matt Lemay and Crystal Martin-Lapenskie of Indigenous Geographic.Our theme music is "Harry Daniels" by Métis fiddler John Arcand."One Nation, Many Stories" is produced by the Métis National Council, and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.