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CFUV-FM: Dene Talk: Resistance - Cassidy Villebrun-Buracas

Dene means people, and Dene Talk is just that; it’s a podcast talking to Indigenous people and listening to their stories. On this podcast you’ll hear from writers, burlesque dancers, psychologists, artists, land defenders, full spectrum birth workers, and storytellers, and we delve into contemporary issues facing Indigenous peoples. Dene Talk doesn’t shy away from the nitty gritty of the violence and dispossession Indigenous peoples face from coast to coast to coast, but the podcast seeks to showcase stories of Indigenous rejuvenation, hope, and brilliance. The clip submitted is from Episode 2: Resistance, and features Pihesiw’s telling us about their personal experience enduring medical racism while seeking treatment for a pulmonary embolism. Pihesiw’s story is one of many such stories from coast to coast to coast. Medical racism isn’t novel, but it has reached national attention with the death of Joyce Echequan. Medical racism is just one of the many forms that colonial violence impacts Indigenous People in Canada, and in the episode we learn the history of how Colonial violence has and continues to be used by the federal government to disenfranchise Indingeous Peoples from their land, their identities, and their lives. Cassidy Villebrun-Buracas is a Dehcho Dene member of K’atlo’deeche First Nation with Metis and Baltic heritage. He is a producer and uninvited guest of the beautiful, traditional, and unceded territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən + W̱SÁNEĆ territory. Cassidy is keenly interested in podcasting and audio production as a modern way to continue the traditions of oral storytelling and is deeply interested in Indigenous Futurisms.