07-07-2021
Episode 57: What Brings You Hope?
As National Chief, Perry Bellegarde has always focused on the importance hope: "Always leave more hope in a room than was there when you arrived."Over the 57 episodes of the Ahkameyimok Podcast, no matter how difficult the conversation or the issue, he always ends by asking his guests this question:What brings you hope?As his time as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations comes to an end, after choosing not to seek re-election, we are looking back at some of his favorite answers to that question about hope.They are inspiring, thought provoking and speak to a better future for First Nations.01: 18 -- Chief Willie Littlechild - former TRC Commissioner, Member of Parliament, lawyer, social activist and author of the first draft of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.02:24 Dr Lorna Williams - Canada's leading expert on the promotion and revival of Indigenous languages.4:14 William Prince - Award winning and chart topping country music star6:30 Rt Hon Brian Mulroney - Canada's 18th Prime Minister7:40 Dr Dan Longboat - Founding Director of Trent University's Indigenous Environmental Science Program10:42 Marion Crowe - CEO of the First Nations Health Managers Association11:41 Wade Davis, best-selling author, film-maker, explorer, UBC Anthropology Professor12:32 Mary Ellen Turpel Lafond - fmr judge, law professor, children's advocate14:27 Jagmeet Singh - Leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada15:13 Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan - Grand Chief of the Gwich'in Tribal Council17:40 Kevin Loring - Artistic Director of the Indigenous Theatre, National Arts Centre, Ottawa19:40 Elder Wilfred Buck - leading First Nations astronomy and star lore expert21:52 Senator Kim Pate - international expert in legal and prison reform24:01 Brigadier-General Joe Paul, the highest ranking First Nations officer in the Canadian Armed Forces25:12 Brad Regehr - The first First Nations President of the Canadian Bar Association26:21 Louise Bernice Halfe - Canada's first Indigenous Parliamentary Poet Laureate28:05 Dr Alika Lafontaine - the first Indigenous person elected as the President of the Canadian Medical Association30:03 Romeo Saganash, former Member of Parliament, and leading advocate for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.31:41 Conner Roulette, First Nations gold medal winning junior hockey star33:09 Chief Cadmus Delorme, Cowessess First Nation, home to 751 unmarked graves found at the Marieval Residential School34:30 Tom Jackson, actor, musician, social activist36:36 Marie Wilson, former Commissioner, Truth and Reconciliation CommissionThe Akhameyimok Podcast is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast ProductionsTheme music is by the Red Dog Singers, Treaty 4 territory, SaskatchewanFor more on the work of the Assembly of First Nations, visit AFN.ca