E2: War Zone

When Canada’s Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says “it’s time to give land back”, what does he really mean? In this episode, Angela puts questions from Indigenous land defenders to the Minister and asks why governments talk about reconciliation but still fight First Nations in court.

In 1913, the Squamish village of Sen̓áḵw is burned and residents are barged away to make room for the developing city of Vancouver. Eventually, a slice of that land is reclaimed, and now, the Squamish Nation is developing a mega-project. Angela investigates what “land back” means in the heart of the city, and why it’s making some white people upset.

Near the ruins of a residential school, three Sto:lo nations reclaim 60 hectares of Crown land in the Fraser Valley. Angela walks with a survivor on the concrete slabs of the former institution, learns about taking this land back, and hears about the connection between residential schools and land theft.

Healing on the land is a dream for many Indigenous people, and it’s the goal of the Unist'ot'en resistance camp in Wet’suwet’en territory. Angela visits the camp and meets three generations of women committed to this vision. But she encounters troubling allegations, forcing her to confront the complexities of reclaiming land in the midst of colonization.

Sleydo’ faces down police raids on the frontlines of the conflict between the Coastal Gaslink pipeline and Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. But she’s also a mom hustling between birthday parties, building a life on the land, and reclaiming her cultural identity. Angela spends a day in her life and learns about the impact of Canadian law on it.

Is evicting settlers what we mean when Indigenous people say “land back”? In 1991, a Gitxsan clan serves eviction notice to a white couple building a house on their territory. They’ve become stuck in the middle of a monumental Aboriginal rights and title case. Gitxsan host Angela Sterritt meets the leaders who fought Canada in the historic Delgamuukw case, and learns why that battle continues today.

Gitxsan Host and investigative journalist Angela Sterritt takes listeners inside the blockades, court cases, and elder's kitchens in this six-part series, Land Back to hear what the political slogan actually means, launching November 15th.