In the heart of the Red River Settlement, a vibrant Métis community forged a distinct identity shaped by kinship, trade, and resistance. The latter half of the 19th century was a time of profound upheaval, when the Red River Resistance challenged Canadian expansion into the region. Yet history is not always what it seems. Alongside real leaders and lived struggles, one figure—long woven into the story—was never real at all. How did a ghost of the past become accepted as truth? And what does that reveal about the way history is remembered, recorded, and retold? In this episode we separate myth from memory on the Red River.

Derrick M. Nault is an assistant professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Winnipeg and a citizen of the Red River Métis Nation. His research examines Métis history, with particular attention to how kinship networks, political resistance, and collective memory have shaped Métis identity over time. This focus is grounded in his family’s long-standing involvement in Métis political and cultural life. His direct ancestors include André Nault, Louis Riel’s cousin and a captain during the Red River Resistance; Jean-Baptiste Parenteau and Damase Carrière, councillors in Riel’s 1885 provisional government; Marie Pélagie (Dumont) Parenteau, sister of Gabriel Dumont; and Antoine Vermette, a noted Métis buffalo hunter and founding member of l’Union Nationale Métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba.

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Born free in a slaveholding nation and unafraid to confront it, Mary Ann Shadd Cary carved out a life defined by intellect, defiance, and relentless public action. A teacher, lawyer, and the first Black woman in North America to publish a newspaper, she challenged both American slavery and Canadian complacency. Through the pages of The Provincial Freeman, she argued for self-reliance, integration, and equal rights at a time when such demands invited hostility. Her story moves across borders—from the United States to Canada and back again—tracing a 19th-century struggle for freedom that still echoes today.

Dr. Nneka D. Dennie is a Black feminist scholar with specializations in nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American history. Her research examines Black intellectual thought with an emphasis on nineteenth-century African American history. Dr. Dennie is an Assistant Professor of History, core faculty in the Africana Studies Program, and affiliate faculty in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Washington and Lee University.

Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here!

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

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Indigo

Dundurn

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In the 17th century, across an ocean and a continent, the will of Louis XIV stretched deep into New France. This episode examines how an absolutist monarchy governed a fragile colonial frontier. How did royal officials impose order on distant settlements along the St. Lawrence? What roles did intendants, governors, and bishops play in enforcing law, regulating trade, and structuring society? From seigneurial land grants to military defense and missionary ambition, we explore the administrative machinery that bound colony to crown—and the tensions that emerged when metropolitan authority met colonial reality in a vast, unforgiving world.

Colin Coates is professor of Canadian Studies and chair of the Department of Global and Social Studies at Glendon College, York University. He is currently president of the Canadian Historical Association. His book, Political Culture in Louis XIV’s Canada: Majesty, Ritual, and Rhetoric was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2024. It won the Prix de l’Assemblée nationale for the best political history book from the Institut d’histoire de l’Amérique française.

Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here!

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

Amazon

Indigo

Dundurn

Goodreads

Indiebookstores.ca

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.