June is a special month as it’s a time in which we celebrate National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day.

It’s also a time in which we share stories, teachings and traditions, and take action toward Truth and Reconciliation. With this in mind, we are excited to have guest host Doris Peltier take us through this month’s episode as she and two special guests, Elder Albert McLeod and Dr. Randy Jackson with the Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research, explore key inflection points of the Indigenous HIV movement in Canada. 

The historical narrative of the Indigenous HIV movement in Canada has not been told in a true historical sense with Indigenous peoples as the narrators of their own HIV history. The story of disease and the pathologizing of Indigenous peoples predate HIV and this pathogenic narrative is what mainstream Canada has gotten used to hearing and reading about when it comes to Indigenous people. 

Since the first reported HIV/AIDS case in North America 40 years ago, there continue to be many people who carry the historical narrative of the Indigenous HIV movement in Canada. Two of these people are Albert McLeod and Randy Jackson, and listeners are in for a real treat as the two discuss what took place in Indigenous communities and how particular leaders helped shape the response to HIV/AIDS.

The episode will also feature art, the music of Burnt Project1 and David Boulanger, and personal narratives that will take us further in our exploration of the perspectives and experiences shared by Indigenous people as we honour the collective legacies of peoples and communities who are living with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS in Canada. This is one timely and important episode that you won’t want to miss!

For full episode details and more about our pozcast host and guests, visit the episode page on The Positive Effect website. Subscribe to pozcast on your favourite podcast streaming service to ensure you’re notified when new episodes are released each month.

Click here for the full transcript.