The NWT Recreation and Parks Association (NWTRPA) has launched a new podcast that covers a rarely discussed element of life in residential and day schools in the North: recreation.
The podcast is called 'How I Survived,' and was produced in partnership with the University of Alberta. The first season will feature seven episodes. The first three have already been released on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
"I would really encourage people to listen to the whole season if they're able to because it's quite easy to listen to one episode and make assumptions," said Crystal Gail Fraser, who serves as co-lead on the project with her longtime friend and collaborator Jess Dunkin. "The season as a whole really complements every interview, and I say that because there is not just one experience of residential school. You will get to hear about the diversity. You'll get to hear about the ups and downs of how Indigenous folks experienced these years of their childhood."
Fraser, a Gwichya GwichSA国际影视传媒檌n historian whose PhD research focused on student experiences at residential schools in the Inuvik region between 1959 and 1996, has known her fellow historian Dunkin since they were masters students. Their new podcast started as a research project with the same name. The purpose of the project was to share recreation-related stories of residential and day school survivors, and the podcast is carrying on that tradition in audio form.
"We had actually brainstormed a little museum about the history of sports and recreation at residential schools," said Fraser, who also hosts several episodes of the first season. "That didn't really pan out like we had maybe hoped."
The hope was that the podcast would allow "the stories of survivors to be shared as they told them," she added.
"Sometimes when the content is in other formats, you are just taking quotes from the interviews. We thought [the podcast] would be a great way to keep the integrity of the interviews, and reach a lot of people and educate Canadians and help them learn more about residential schooling in the North because that is still a very understudied area."
In the interviews Fraser and Dunkin have conducted so far, survivors have discussed many kinds of recreation, including music, sewing, painting and sports such as volleyball, hockey and skiing.
The typically European-Canadian activities they engaged in were intended to assimilate, but it sometimes had the opposite effect, according to Dunkin, who doubles as a producer for the show.
"In some cases, children understood these activities differently than staff, [for example] skiing was a way to connect to the land," she said. "Also, during recess or free time, children engaged in activities that were familiar from home, like sledding or moose-skin ball."
With just three of seven episodes available so far, the new podcast is still in its "early days," according to Dunkin.
However, she is pleased with the traction it's been getting so far.
"I've been surprised how many downloads we've had so far," she said. "The Northwest Territories is a small place, but we just surpassed the 200 download mark overnight [on Nov. 14]," she said. "That tells me there is at least a topical resonance, that people are interested in the podcast and are listening to it. We're also seeing those numbers climb kind of progressively when we add another episode. That means people are listening to subsequent episodes. It's not like they just did the intro one then they're done."
Dunkin said she's received positive feedback about the podcast, both in-person and online.
"I have conversations, bumping into people on the street [in Yellowknife] and they're like, 'Wow, I've listened to it and it's really powerful.'" she said. "They have talked about how it's vital, how it's critical.
"The other thing I've heard from people SA国际影视传媒� mostly through social media SA国际影视传媒� is just how nice it is to hear from people that they know, but that they didn't necessarily know their story. Again, that's being from a small place SA国际影视传媒� we're kind of connected. Listeners are meeting people they already know, but in a different way.
"So far, it's been positive what we've heard from listeners."
The first season of How I Survived is still far from over, so it's difficult for Fraser or Dunkin to say for sure if there will be a second season. However, it sounds like it's possible.
"We have already had a couple of people reach out to talk about interviews for a possible season two," said Fraser. "It has been good. The NWTRPA has been extremely supportive, and the University of Alberta has as well."
