Chief Aaron Pete: The Truth About Reconciliation, Residential Schools & Unmarked Graves

Jonathan Kay sat down with Aaron Pete, Chief of the Chawathil First Nation and host of the Nuanced podcast, to talk reserve governance, residential schools, the unmarked graves controversy, and the Wet'suwet'en pipeline fight. 00:00 Intro, Meet Chief Aaron Pete 02:25 Interview begins 04:13 Stó:lō culture and traditional life 06:27 Tourism, housing, and reserve bureaucracy 13:14 Leadership, identity, and running the reserve like a job 19:31 Banishment, family politics, and accountability 21:36 Winning on ideas, not bloodline 25:06 Funding, favouritism, and "famine mentality" 27:01 The Nisga'a agreement and unresolved treaty rights 30:42 Residential schools and family trauma 34:40 Unmarked graves, denialism, and the collapse of nuance 36:19 Wet'suwet'en: pipelines, hereditary chiefs, and rail blockades 45:16 Media, the Assembly of First Nations, and being ignored by CBC GUEST LINKS Aaron Pete / Nuanced: https://aaronpete.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NuancedwithAaronPete X: https://x.com/aaronpete_ Chawathil First Nation: https://chawathil.org FURTHER READING Nations of Canada series: https://quillette.com/tag/nations-of-canada/ Frances Widdowson on Unmarked Graves: https://quillette.com/2022/04/13/frances-widdowson-on-the-questions-canadians-arent-supposed-to-ask-about-unmarked-graves/ Subscribe to Quillette: https://quillette.com --- Quillette is an Australian-based online magazine that focuses on long-form analysis and cultural commentary. It is politically non-partisan, but relies on reason, science, and humanism as its guiding values. Quillette was founded in 2015 by Australian writer Claire Lehmann. It is a platform for free thought and a space for open discussion and debate on a wide range of topics, including politics, culture, science, and technology. Quillette has gained attention for publishing articles and essays that challenge modern orthodoxy on a variety of topics, including gender and sexuality, race and identity politics, and free speech and censorship. --- Quillette's revenue comes from our readers. We are a grassroots organisation that relies on voluntary subscriptions and community membership as our primary revenue stream. Support Quillette by becoming a subscriber: https://quillette.com/#/portal/signup Or donate send us a one-off tip: https://quillette.com/#/portal/support We made our website using Ghost, a powerful app for new-media creators to publish, share, and grow a business around their content. It comes with modern tools to build a website, publish content, send newsletters & offer paid subscriptions to members. Try it here: https://ghost.org/?via=claire91