• Food Sovereignty, Smoke Science, & tending the flame of Cultural Resilience
    Oct 27 2025

    This episode was recorded in fall 2024 at Star 6 Ranch at the Food Sovereignty camp hosted by HOWL (they do amazing land-based camps across Canada with youth). At this camp, the Ancestral Science Podcast was invited to learn from DARYL KOOTENAY about the science of smoke, the patience and resilience needed to live on the land, Indian popcorn, science of tending to the flame, moose noses and Elk brains, the need for multiple freezers, how smoke is the traditional Gore-Tex, and how food sovereignty can bring people together and is a massive step towards reconciliACTION.

    This episode was created with the support of TELUS Storyhive.


    Remember, you can support the pod and rock some unique Indigenous Science merch at www.relationalsciencecircle.com/shop, all proceeds go towards Knowledge Keeper honoraria, following protocols, and keeping the pod going.

    Please like, share, follow, and rate the pod, it goes a long way to share this knowledge.

    Thanks to Emil Starlight (@emilstarlight) of Limelight Multimedia for editing, videography, and editing as well as support from Bespoke Productions Hub.

    Intro composed and performed by Walter White Bear, Sharon Ann Foster, and Emil Starlight.

    Questions for the Pod? Email us at relational.science@gmail.com

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

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    39 mins
  • Smoketalk about "Decolonizing Blood & Birth"
    Oct 20 2025

    Welcome to Smoketalk!

    If you haven't listened to the previous episode "Decolonizing Blood & Birth" with Alycia Two Bears, I recommend going there first then coming back to smoketalk to listen to the Pod Team's takes and expanded conversation about the previous episode.


    Check out Alycia's book "The Feast"

    If you are curious or an educator, here are some shownotes for additional content and links.


    Ancestral Science Podcast Website

    Ancestral Science Podcast Merch

    Follow us on IG and FB


    Please like, share, follow, all the things...helps us to get these important conversations out there.

    "Knowledge that isn't shared isn't knowledge" (Casey Eagle Speaker, Kainai)

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

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    45 mins
  • Decolonizing Blood & Birth
    Oct 14 2025

    The Pod was grateful to learn from THE Alycia Two Bears, a Two-Spirit mixed Cree educator and author from Misatawasis Nêhiyawak First Nation, about her journey to become a midwife, what is a land-birth, how to decolonize and de-stigmatize blood, reconnecting ceremony and community with birthing, reproductive justice and birth sovereignty, caregiving roles of men and partners within pregnancy, birth, and caregiving, and of course...moss bag science, adult moss bags, and one comfy swaddled podcast host!

    Grab a tea with honey, snuggle a small human or fluffy pet, and join us in this incredibly important conversation for EVERYONE (not just women) with ALYCIA TWO BEARS.


    Remember to check out Alycia's new poetry book "The Feast” about love, loss, sex, and ceremony through an Indigenous feminist lens.


    Curious for more resources or are you an educator? Check out the shownotes: here.


    You can support the pod and rock some unique Indigenous Science merch at www.relationalsciencecircle.com/shop, all proceeds go towards Knowledge Keeper honoraria, following protocols, and keeping the pod going.

    Please like, share, follow, and rate the pod, it goes a long way to share this knowledge.



    Thanks to Emil Starlight (@emilstarlight) of Limelight Multimedia for editing, videography, and editing. Alex for marketing and being a superstar oskâpêwis, as well as support from Bespoke Productions Hub.

    Intro composed and performed by Walter White Bear, Sharon Ann Foster, and Emil Starlight.

    Questions for the Pod? Email us at relational.science@gmail.com

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

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Smoketalk- "Indigenous Science Fiction"
    Oct 6 2025

    Join the Ancestral Science Pod Team as we chat about the previous episode. We had some technical difficulties this week, so we decided to re-release a previous episode about a similar topic connected to Drew Hayden Taylor. But, "Smoketalk" going to be even cooler after the next episode drop on October 13 with Alycia Two Bears, sorry, THE Alycia Two Bears!


    Check out our webpage, which is being updated (again, stick with is!) https://www.relationalsciencecircle.com

    -lots of resources for educators and all you curious humans

    -and NEW MERCH!


    Thanks Emil Starlight for editing, audio, and video talent, Alex for marketing and being a superstar oskâpêwis, and Bespoke Productions Hub.


    The Ancestral Science pod crew, Emil Starlight, Alex Flett, and Kori Chewbacca (haha), chatted about INDIGENOUS SCIENCE FICTION while recording LIVE on location, beyond Earth...I mean... at the Calgary Comic Convention about how Science Fiction has been inspired by Indigenous Teachings, was Barf from Space Balls inspired by a rez dog? Thinking about how animals, trees, and the wind are Ancestors and therefore use language that goes beyond human-to-human, The Force, glitches in the Matrix or teachings from our Ancestors? Reconnecting with ancestral technology and DNA, our deepest fears and reoccurring dreams, and the future of Indigenous Science Fiction...

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

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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Hopping Dimensions through Humour & Metaphor
    Sep 22 2025

    We were grateful to speak with contemporary storyteller Drew Hayden Taylor, Ojibwe from Curve Lake First Nation about learning to write through osmosis, dimensional hopping & portaging, how Indigenous stories make great Science Fiction, 1492 and Alien contact, anthropomorphizing animals and plants through relationality, humour as WD40, and science fiction as a metaphor for many of life’s issues.

    Remember, you can support the pod and rock some unique Indigenous Science merch at www.relationalsciencecircle.com/shop, all proceeds go towards Knowledge Keeper honoraria, following protocols, and keeping the pod going.

    Please like, share, follow, and rate the pod, it goes a long way to share this knowledge.

    Thanks to Emil Starlight (@emilstarlight) of Limelight Multimedia for editing, videography, and editing as well as support from Bespoke Productions Hub.

    Intro music composed and performed by Walter White Bear, Sharon Ann Foster, and Emil Starlight.

    Questions for the Pod? Email us at relational.science@gmail.com

    See related episodes of ASP:

    -Season 2 Episode 23 “Indigenous Science Fiction”

    -Season 1 Episode 9 “Space Justice & Cosmic Relationality”


    Full Shownotes: here

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

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    48 mins
  • I don't know what you did last summer...
    Sep 8 2025

    The Pod Team decided to begin Season 3 by reconnecting over Smoketalk where we chat about what we have learned over the summer, our goals for season 3...from new segments to opening up more conversations with community and the pod listeners.

    Remember, you can support the pod and rock some unique Indigenous Science merch at www.relationalsciencecircle.com/shop, all proceeds go towards Knowledge Keeper honoraria, following protocols, and keeping the pod going.

    Please like, share, follow, and rate the pod, it goes a long way to share this knowledge.

    Thanks to Emil Starlight (@emilstarlight) of Limelight Multimedia for editing, videography, and editing as well as support from Bespoke Productions Hub.

    Intro music composed and performed by Walter White Bear, Sharon Ann Foster, and Emil Starlight.

    Questions for the Pod? Email us at relational.science@gmail.com

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

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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Indigenous Science Fiction
    May 19 2025

    The Ancestral Science pod crew, Emil Starlight, Alex Flett, and Kori Chewbacca (haha), chatted about INDIGENOUS SCIENCE FICTION while recording LIVE on location, beyond Earth...I mean... at the Calgary Comic Convention about how Science Fiction has been inspired by Indigenous Teachings, was Barf from Space Balls inspired by a rez dog? Thinking about how animals, trees, and the wind are Ancestors and therefore use language that goes beyond human-to-human, The Force, glitches in the Matrix or teachings from our Ancestors? Reconnecting with ancestral technology and DNA, our deepest fears and reoccurring dreams, and the future of Indigenous Science Fiction...


    This is the final episode of SEASON TWO!! Stay tuned for some exciting pod fun happening over the summer, from an “Indigenous Youth Podcast Take-over” to more videos... email us at relational.science@gmail.com for more information.


    For all the EDUCATORS, check out the shownotes for additional links, expanded learnings, and much more!


    Hand to heart to Emil Starlight for editing & audio amazingness, and Indigenous Screen Office and Bespoke Productions Hub for their support.


    Grab a glass of Bantha milk or some Rootleaf Stew, and open your mind and heart to the topic of Indigenous Science Fiction with the Ancestral Science Podcast team...

    **cue the Wookie Grunt**

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

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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Telling Indigenous Stories: from pre-colonization science to difficult truths
    Apr 28 2025

    The Ancestral Science Podcast was grateful to speak with TCHADAS LEO, from Xwemalhkwu and Stillaguamish Nations, a journalist and tv and podcast host (check out his pod "Our Native Land"). We chatted about his passion for being an Indigenous journalist and how he balances time constraints with protocols, his dream story to cover, the courage needed to "tell the truth," and artifact/ancestor rematriation. We heard more about his SOON TO BE LAUNCHED graphic novel named "Xwémalhkwu Hero Stories: A Graphic Novel

    ", that shares stories of his Ancestral lands before and after colonization. We dug into the science within these stories, from food preservation and sensory hunting to clam digging in relation to moon cycles and sand stories.

    For all you teachers and educators, we have extensive show notes and additional links available here.

    Hand to Heart to Indigenous Screen Office and Bespoke Productions Hub.

    Please like, share, follow, and rate the pod, it goes a long way to share this knowledge.

    Remember, you can support the pod and rock some unique Indigenous Science merch at www.relationalsciencecircle.com/shop, all proceeds go towards Knowledge Keeper honoraria, following protocols, and keeping the pod going.

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

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    1 hr and 6 mins