Muddied Water

Louis Riel used his poetry to sort through his thoughts. It’s one of the ways we begin to understand the complexity of the man -- one who has been called a variety of names including: rebel, hero, traitor and lunatic. He is also called the Founder of Manitoba. In this episode host Stephanie Cram explores the legacy of Louis Riel, 150 years after he ushered Manitoba into confederation. As we explore his story, we uncover a complicated history, one that has an impact on Métis identity today. CREDITS: Stephanie Cram, Kim Kaschor, Samuel Rancourt, Janice Moeller, Bertram Schneider

First Nations people living in and around the Red River Settlement had a name for Métis people. Translated from Saulteaux, it is “the people that own themselves.” Métis people maintained much of their independence in the settlement because of their ability to organize and govern themselves. From the carts that made the journey possible to the hunt which provided sustenance to the community, this episode breaks down the organizational complexity of the buffalo hunt and explains how it remains a model for governance today. CREDITS: Stephanie Cram. Kim Kaschor. Janice Moeller. Bertram Schneider.

Where are you from? The answer to that is an important part of understanding the identity of Métis people. Having a strip of land to call home is not just an issue of Indigenous rights but an important factor in one’s connection to community and culture. Frank Sais is from Rooster Town, a Métis community that once stood in what is now the southwest portion of Winnipeg...but was dissolved by the city in the 1960s. The story of Rooster Town is a window into how Métis people built community in Manitoba and how Canada’s broken promises continue to impact them today. CREDITS: Stephanie Cram. Kim Kaschor. Janice Moeller. Bertram Schneider.

Métis people have a complicated relationship with the Church. For some, Catholicism is an important part of their identity; for others it is a reminder of the harm done by colonization, particularly when it comes to the role Christian churches played in residential schools and a state-sponsored attempt to assimilate Indigenous people. As we look at Canada’s attempts to control Manitoba after 1870, we see some of the ways Catholics -- French Canadian Catholics in particular -- worked alongside the Métis to assert their rights. We also see what makes the two groups different, and why many Métis people today are leaving behind their Catholic roots and seeking ceremony and the traditions held by First Nations elders.

Throughout history, Métis people have protected the land with their bodies and sometimes their lives, which is a source of inspiration for Jenna Vandal whose own family stories of resistance motivated her to block developers from taking over a stretch of traditional Métis land. The act of resistance is an important part of reclaiming and reviving the history and culture of Métis people, but it’s not always about might. In this episode we also explore the act of resistance through art. CREDITS: Stephanie Cram. Kim Kaschor. Brooke Schreiber. Manitoba Museum archives. Justin Deeley. Gemma Peralta. Samuel Rancourt. Bryan Harder. Chris McPherson. Janice Moeller. Bertram Schneider.

Who are the Métis? It’s complicated. This podcast explores the history of Métis people in Manitoba, beginning with Louis Riel who was hero to some and traitor to others. Host Stephanie Cram unravels the intricate history of the Métis...and follows the thread from resistance to renaissance.

Muddied Water: 1919 explored a city divided by the conditions that led to the Winnipeg General Strike. The flu pandemic that hit the city one year before served to emphasize many of the inequities in our society at that time, and now, 100 years later, the COVID-19 pandemic is doing the same. In this bonus episode of Muddied Water: 1919 we consider the parallels of a city struck by pandemics, 100 years apart. We see how the crises can serve to divide us, and also give rise to social unrest.

On June 21st, the government sent in the militia. One man is shot dead, dozens are wounded, and thousands are sent running for their lives. Hear from eyewitnesses to the event known as Bloody Saturday, the day that broke the back of the strike. Produced by Kim Kaschor and Marcy Makusa. With files from Margaux Watt.

May 30th, 1919, Winnipeg police officers were asked to sign a document. In it they pledge allegiance to the Police Commissioners and promise not to join 30,000 other workers in a city-wide strike. It was called "the slave pact" by many of the 252 members who refused to sign it, and it led to them being replaced by a group of citizen constables called the "Specials." Some remember them as a formidable force, others, a band of fools. Either way you look at it, it's law and disorder in Winnipeg as we head toward the end of the strike. Produced by Kim Kaschor and Marcy Makusa.

On the other side of 30,000 striking workers one man's name stands alone: A.J. Andrews. He and his Citizens Committee of 1,000 are credited with breaking the back of the strike in 1919. But how did they do it? Meet the man at the head of the business elite and hear what some of his descendants think of his actions today. It's time to visit the south side of the tracks. Produced by Kim Kaschor and Marcy Makusa. With files from Margaux Watt and Darren Bernhardt. Voice work by Darren Bernhardt.

She shouted from pulpits, raised her fists on the picket line and sang songs of freedom outside of prison walls the night the strike leaders were arrested. Oh ya, and she also ran the Labour Cafe, feeding thousands of striking women, in her spare time. Meet Helen Armstrong, a constant organizer who, by most accounts, was a strike leader, but underestimated by authorities because she was a woman. Produced by Kim Kaschor and Marcy Makusa. With files from Margaux Watt and Darren Bernhardt.

Bill Pritchard was one of the brains behind the strike. He was in Winnipeg just six days but would end up imprisoned for a year because of his "involvement" in the strike. In this episode we focus on the media and the messages of the day, from the One Big Union to the one big communist uprising feared by the governing elite. On June 10, 1919, the two sides would collide in what some history books call a "riot" and foreshadow the height of the violence to come. Produced by Kim Kaschor and Marcy Makusa. With files from Margaux Watt.

When the city stopped the first day of the strike, milk was not delivered to the Children's Hospital. This is how we come to know Ethel Johns, the superintendent of the Children's Hospital at the time. Her need for milk for the sick children contributed to the Strike Committee's creation of placards, which authorized certain services in the city. They read: "Permitted By Authority of Strike Committee". Ethel considered herself part of the middle class but, having come from modest roots, sympathized with strikers. Her character is tested on the night of a big storm when the Children's Hospital caught fire, and its roof was ripped off. Produced by Kim Kaschor and Marcy Makusa. Voice work by Nadia Kidwai.

Muddied Water is a podcast about the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike that explores our desire to find heroes in an often unclear past. In a "fight for fair" that brought strikers out in the thousands, you'll meet characters like Helen Armstrong and AJ Andrews, but if you think you know on which side of history they fall, think again. Winnipeg in 1919 is a city divided but when the two sides collide it's difficult to know who's right and who's wrong, and if faced with similar conditions if we'd make the same choices today.