In this episode, Myrna sits down with Angela Sterritt, award-winning journalist and author of the bestselling memoir Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls. Angela shares her powerful personal story of hope, survival, her path into journalism, and the responsibility she carries when amplifying stories from Indigenous communities. Together, they explore the intersections of trauma, colonialism, and healing, as well as the role storytelling plays in truth, accountability, and justice. This conversation is both deeply personal and broadly relevant—it shines a light on systemic issues while also honouring the strength of Indigenous women and girls who continue to rise above violence. attempted erasure and unrelenting racism. You can buy Unbroken here: https://greystonebooks.com/products/unbroken?srsltid=AfmBOoqhuCNYtQusjdLaUrhMK40ubfBurFr4fRpCXe7mfEIpHuc6w42K and to learn more about Angela Sterritt, please visit her website at: https://angelasterritt.com/ To watch the panel with Angela from the 2025 Justice as Trauma Conference, please visit Myrna's video library: https://www.myrnamccallum.co/video-library
Angela Sterritt is an award-winning Gitxsan woman and former journalist who has been recognized for her groundbreaking reporting on Indigenous issues. Her memoir Unbroken has been hailed as both heartbreaking and inspiring, weaving her own story of survival with broader systemic patterns of violence against Indigenous women and girls. In this episode, Angela and Myrna talk about:
The power of naming and telling our stories.
What it means to carry responsibility as a storyteller.
Finding strength in truth and justice.
The responsibility settlers have to confront colonialism - and heal their traumas.
Hope, healing and dreaming.
Lessons from Unbroken.
You can buy Unbroken here: https://greystonebooks.com/products/unbroken?srsltid=AfmBOoqhuCNYtQusjdLaUrhMK40ubfBurFr4fRpCXe7mfEIpHuc6w42K and to learn more about Angela Sterritt, please visit her website at: https://angelasterritt.com/
To watch the panel with Angela from the 2025 Justice as Trauma Conference, please visit Myrna's video library: https://www.myrnamccallum.co/video-library
To get pre-sale tickets to the next Justice as Trauma Conference in Vancouver from April 7-9 (where Angela will be speaking) please visit: https://www.myrnamccallum.co/jat2026
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>> Myrna McCallum: Myrna McCallum Metis, Cree lawyer and passionate promoter of Trauma Informed Lawyering. Welcome back to the Trauma Informed Lawyer podcast, folks. Season two. I believe that law schools and bar courses are missing a critical competency requirement in their curriculum. Trauma Informed Lawyering behavior. Becoming a Trauma Informed Lawyer will, among other things, challenge you to critically reflect on your personal behaviors, beliefs and biases call on you to positively transform the way you approach advocacy, guide your practice to avoid doing further harm to others and ask that you commit to remaining open to learn new and old knowledge you didn't know you needed before beginning your career. Your education starts right here, right now. This podcast comes to you from the traditional unceded territories of the Squamish, Sleil-Waututh and Musqueam People.
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>> Myrna McCallum: Hi folks. It's been a while, I know. And I've been so inconsistent with dropping episodes on this podcast. I really appreciate you sticking with me through all the inconsistency, through all the absences and you know, all the, all the things. I promise I am going to commit myself to reviving this podcast. Cuz I do love it so much. It was just, you know, life and well, you know how it is when life happens. but I love this podcast and I know you do too, which is why you continue to subscribe and wait for me to drop episodes. so I just want to say thank you for sticking with me. if you haven't given me a rating or, or a review yet, I would invite you to please do so on Apple Podcasts. You can also so on Spotify. They, mean a lot and they attract some attention to this podcast and positive attention and of course it needs it. So if you would do that, that would be fantastic.
>> Myrna McCallum: We all need it sometimes. And I just want to let you know that I'm going to be in White horse from M. September 11 to the 13th. I'm going to be in Gitxaala Nation September 17th to the 19th. I'm going to be at the Lawyers Against Transphobia conference doing like a half day session with them on September 27th. Then I'll be in Banff, Alberta from October 7th to 9th. Edmonton, October 23rd to the 25th. Saskatoon, October 29th to November 1st, Ottawa. I'm running Love Back. That one is going to be focused on Indigenous Women It's going to be more of a healing style. Retreat If you're interested, please get in touch with me myrnamccallum.co Then November 19th to 20th, I'm going to be up in Dawson Creek. So so far that's what I have booked for the fall. If you have wanted to ever bring me in for a training, a keynote, a consult, and if I'm already in your community, it will just work really well if I, you know, call me, let me know if you want to see me. also the Justice as Trauma conference, I've committed to bringing it back. It's coming back to Vancouver at this time at the Weston Bay shore. It's happening April 7th to the 9th. And right now, pre sale tickets are available until September 30th. And if you want that, you could go to Myrna McCollum Co Jat2026. So I really hope to see you at Justice as Trauma. The theme is Radical Hope and I really feel like it's going to be the best event yet. And yeah, I can't wait, I can't wait to gather you all again.
Okay, so without further ado, today's conversation is a bit of a longer conversation maybe than what you're used to, but it was just such a pleasure to be in conversation with Angela Sterritt She is so many things, so many wonderful things. I think she's best known for being an award winning journalist, an author, a storyteller, an advocate. she wrote the book Unbroken My Fight for Survival, Hope and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls. It was such fantastic read. She's such an incredible writer. She's working on another book right now. We're going to talk about that and we talked about so many things. I feel like this is just kind of part one and we're going to have her back for part two. I know that you're going to love listening to this conversation as much as I loved having this conversation. So let's just get into it.
>> Myrna McCallum: Welcome Angela Sterrett to the, to the Trauma Informed Lawyer podcast. I almost forgot the name of my own podcast. Welcome, welcome.
>> Angela Sterritt: Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to talk to you today.
>> Myrna McCallum: Oh my gosh, I am like so excited because I, as I said to you a moment ago, off, of the recording, like, I'm so inspired by you for so many reasons and I mean that with all my heart and soul and I just know like this conversation is going to like ripple out the inspiration I'm feeling. I think for listeners this is going to be a, fill your cup kind of conversation. Is a good day.
>> Angela Sterritt: Well, I hope I Can meet your standards. No pressure. but yeah, as I was saying earlier, your conference was, I attend conferences all over North America because that's what I do now. When I quit my media job, I became kind of a full time keynote speaker. So I attend conferences all over North America. And honestly, your conference was Justice. Well, this time it's justice is Hope. Right? Our hope is justice.
>> Myrna McCallum: No, it's just, it's still Justice as Trauma. But we, we gave it kind of a subtitle, like the theme being Radical Hope for the Next One.
>> Angela Sterritt: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, it was the best conference I attended all last year. It was so well put together, like incredible speakers. Such a safe space to share where I felt I could just be my authentic self. I could speak truth to power. and people were feeling it. You know, that's. Sometimes you go to a conference and not really sure where everybody sits. And there were so many different types of people, like high profile people, community people, grassroots. But everybody kind of was there for the same purpose and it was supportive. Like I felt held and I felt like what I was saying was resonating. It's not always the case, but everything that you did, like, like on a. Ideological, psychological, kind of creating a safe space. But also the food, the venue, the people, the attendance, the speakers, like, it was just so well put together and it's, it's not an easy task and not everyone knows how to do it. So. I'm in awe of you for like the 500th reason.
>> Myrna McCallum: I really appreciate that.
And I want to say about that, conference, like, so we're doing a third, Justice Trauma conference. It's happening this time at the, Westin Bay Shore in Vancouver. So it's in Coal Harbor. It's the, like a stone's throw from the vcc, the Vancouver Convention center, where I've had it in the last two previous years. it's happening April 7th to the 9th and our pre sale tickets are actually going on sale this week. Like today. You and I are having a conversation on August 7th. So like it's gonna be, I think by Friday, pre sale tickets are going to be available.
>> Angela Sterritt: Awesome, I'm happy to hear that.
>> Myrna McCallum: Okay, so let's talk a little bit about who you are. Like, what do you want to share about who you are for the listeners, have, listeners across the globe for people who are not familiar with you or your work. Angela, how would you introduce yourself?
>> Angela Sterritt: Yeah, so as, as you know, introducing ourselves as Indigenous people takes a minute. So, I'll just open by saying, my, my Gitxsan name is Luaugia Tsumk Beast. So that was given to me in a feast hall in Gitxsan territory by my grandfather's house group. So my grandfather Walter Sterritt was groomed as a very young boy to be the hereditary chief of Wii K’aax That's our Wilp or a house group. in a modern day context or even in a historical traditional context, being the head of your house, it's a huge responsibility to take care of the land, to protect the people, to ensure our abundance. Something that we did well for tens of thousands of years before colonial disruption. So he actually said no to that role, in order to focus on his family and himself and his brother. My uncle Neil Sterritt took over that role and was Wii K’aax until he passed on a couple of years ago at the Young Age of 107 I think it was. Yeah. And so on my on my father's side I'm Gitxsan from the Wolf Clan, Lackey Boo, from the House of Wii K’aax or the Wilps Wii K’aax And from the community I'm registered with Gitanmaax And on my mother's side, I always tell white people that it's really important for you to build a connection with your land, with your ancestry, with who you are, where you came from, how your people arrived on these lands where it was okay to tacitly consent to colonial violence or to build it up. Right. And so that's been a journey that I've been on. You know, we think about Indigenous people had our cultures disrupted, you know, 150 to 500 years ago. Well, white people who are here, we've, on my side, on my white side, we've had thousands of years of disruption. So that's a difficult journey to go back and to try to understand who we are and what was happening to us that, that we, we came here and did what we did. so on my mother's side, my, my, my mother and my father both passed away. Grandparents are as well. So my late mother, Delphine, she was born and raised on a tiny island called Bell island in Newfoundland. And where she's from she, I grew up with her telling me that they, the colonials killed off the, the Beothuk People by a government policy, in the 50s. So not very long ago. I'm not sure if that's like exactly true to historical record, but that's what I grew up knowing. Her people came Ireland and from a place called the Isles of Jersey. And I, I should be more invested in learning about this. But it's because it's easy, right? For settlers, there's. They kept very good records. They weren't burned, they weren't thrown over at sea. so there's been a lot of. But I have a lot of family members that are not alive anymore. So, but I am talking to, to people to, to find out more about that side. But I think that's really important, you know, and people, white people ask like, what can we do? It's like, like heal. Heal from your intergenerational trauma and intergenerational racism and colonialism in order so you can have compassion to see what you're, what you've done and what you're doing. I am hesitant to call myself a journalist because I left cbc, over two years ago now. had a, interesting experience there. But I'm an author. I'm writing my second book. My first book was Unbroken, about Missing and murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and my own experience of surviving violence. And my second book, Breakable, coming out next year, is about men healing from the effects of patriarchy and colonialism and capitalism and, and how they've been impacted by that as well. Deeply. And so that's kind of been what I've been. That's, that's what I've been doing for the last two years is hyper focused on healing. Not like, like I'm here to tell men how to heal, but listening to them, how they're healing, how Indigenous men are healing themselves. Yeah. So that's sort of. And I'm a mom and I don't have my ring on right now, which is rare, but I just got engaged, so I'm a fiance, which is very new.
>> Myrna McCallum: Yes. I saw the videos on Instagram, I saw the proposal on the airplane and some of the celebration. I think you were in New Zealand.
>> Angela Sterritt: Yeah.
>> Myrna McCallum: Yeah. Beautiful. For Unbroken That's how I came to know you was like, you and I met in Ottawa and I was interviewing you for at a, at an educational institution. We're talking about the book, but like there's so much more to you before the book and how much would you want to say about your path to becoming an author? Was it something you knew was kind of an inevitable, like part of your destiny? Like you were going to do this? Did you think you were always going to be a journal?
>> Angela Sterritt: My identity, I mean, it's been attached to journalism since I was, since I, before I Graduated high School I was in radio. and I loved it. I loved everything about it. I used to, Because I was kind of like, you know, I was in Native Youth Movement and hanging out with Native Youth and East Van on Commercial Drive. And I. I thought it was so cool. Like, it wouldn't. Don't. Doesn't everyone want to do this? So I'd have my microphone. I'd take my friends out with me and be like. Like, come and join me while I stick microphones in people's faces. And they were like, this is so uncomfortable. I hate this. And I was like, really? This is, like, the funnest thing I've ever done. I loved it. and I think that stemmed from panhandling. Like, I grew up on the street, and so I panhandled. That was my source of income for many years. And so it was kind of a natural. I was just so used to, like, rejection and, like, go get a job and f. Off. And when you stick a microphone in someone's face, you kind of get the same reaction. So you have to be, You have to be able to kind, like, let it roll off your back and. And keep going. Right. Having that tenacity. So when I left my job as a journalist, then I was in mainstream journalism. I started at CBC when I was in Prince George, so 2002. And then I was kind of on and off. I went to university for poli sci, and then I was full time in it from 2010 in television until 2023 or 20.
>> Myrna McCallum: Yeah.
>> Angela Sterritt: 2023 when my book came out. And so I kind of. It. I wanted to leave. I tried to quit many times, but my bosses wouldn't let me. And then it was just too. I think you refer to it as something like racial injury or something like that in the workplace.
>> Myrna McCallum: So moral injury.
>> Angela Sterritt: Moral injury. Just. But. But a lot of racism. Like, just perpetual racism. Not even just against me, but against people in my stories. Like, brutal. and I got tired of the fighting and pushing back on that, and just existing, like, as an Indigenous person in that space was really difficult. So when I left, I had nothing. Like, I didn't leave for a job. I didn't have anything lined up. I just. I couldn't take it. It was. I was at the point where I would be in bed during a meeting because I refused to go into the office because I found it so harmful. So I'd be the only person on zoom, and I'd have the zoom on. On silent and came and I'd be In the bed, crying, curled up in a ball, hyperventilating, crying, because that's how harmful and racist it was. And then my friend, who was also leaving the same workplace, posted this thing about burnout. And it was the 12 signs of burnout. Like, I think stage one is like, I can't remember, but, like, stage three is like, pulling back from your friends. And then, the 12th one is like, you can't get out of bed. Like, you physically can't get out of bed. And I was like, I've been 12 for years. And. And then I, Kind of a funny story. I was waiting for foe. And I said, you know, creator, I pray a lot. I rely on my ancestors a lot. And I, said. I was just like, at that point of, like, what do I do? I have nothing. I'm gonna have no money. I'm gonna be broke. I'm a single mom. I said, creator, just give me any kind of sign. And boom, right then and there came blaring out of the radio, drake's God, God's plan. And I. And that's like, my big thing, right, is like, don't make plans or be careful with plans, because God, our ancestors, or creator, universe will always have a plan for you. And I was like, that's it. Right then and there, I sent my boss an email and said, I'm out. And I quit. I never went back. I don't even think I gave two weeks notice. And pretty much, like, the minute I quit, so many doors, windows, doorways, hallways, like, everything just opened. And I think it was because I'd suppressed myself for so long, made myself small for so long. I wasn't allowed to do anything. But this, like, reporter job didn't pay court. Like, I was so freaking broke, check to check. I was able to be, like, get, my head above the water. I was able to speak my mind. People liked me when I walked into a room, and it's just like, the world changed. And so now I'm getting a lot of, I'm like, okay, I've been out of it for two years. Should I go not. Not back to mainstream media, but should I start doing stories again? So I'm gonna. I get pitches, like, probably, you know, once to five to seven times a week. So I started going into that. Like, okay, I can. I can think about this. I am still a journalist. And I just. I was like, you know, these people had a lot of respect for me. And I was like, I'm so sorry, but my. My trauma cannot Handle this trauma. These are brutal stories that I did about foster care and deaths and hard, like, on racism. There was that, and I just, I decided to stand up for myself. And I was like, I just can't right now. Like, maybe I'll show up in journalism in a different way, but I can't do those types of stories anymore. But I don't really feel like, I think at first it affected my ego because that type of journalism gives you a lot of instant validation. Like, everyone's like, oh, my God, you're amazing. Your story, it's making changes, and it's very good for people who've lived with trauma and abandonment because it provides that instant dopamine. So I had to, like, kind of go through that for a few months. And, there was a lot of, like, quietness and getting used to that and being okay with that and just being. Leaning into whatever feelings arose and being okay and being like, it's okay to feel anxious, it's okay to feel lonely, it's okay to feel abandoned or whatever. but. But now it's sort of what's next, what's new? What's the unknown? What more, you know, now that I'm not just surviving and suffering, it's like my prayers are no longer about, like, keep me safe, keep me safe. It's like, you know what, what else is there to explore? And that's very new for me. Like, maybe I'm not awaiting unsafety or racism or just protecting myself, but, like, what else is there that I don't even know about? And that's. That's a little bit scary, but it's also like, wow, this is cool. Like, this is my life and I'm excited about it.
>> Myrna McCallum: That is so awesome to hear. I mean, I think a lot of our returns are going to, take away a lot from what you just said. And I also like how you went from that whole survival, self protection, self preservation to, like, what else is there?
>> Angela Sterritt: Also, like, looking at the signs. Like, sometimes things aren't working out because you're not supposed to be there. You know, sometimes everyone's not feeling cool to you or, I don't know, there's arguing or whatever, because you're supposed to be somewhere else, right? And. Yeah, but, yeah, it's hard. It's. I mean, some people don't have. I mean, I feel like I didn't have a luxury either. I was broke. Like, I couldn't afford money for a coffee. I was severely, broke. And this was like, I was a work like a. I don't want to say workaholic, but that, that was my life.
>> Myrna McCallum: You know, I would prefer, and I prefer to say high performer.
>> Angela Sterritt: High performer, yeah, high performer. I was a high performer. But, but like beyond that, it was, it was like. And I think this is the, the essence of journalism, like the 24 hour news cycle where you're expected to be on 24 hours a day and, and at all times of the day. So I could be going into a shift at 3:00am for a 5:00am, news show or I could be there, which was often the case when my son was younger until 11, 12pm at night and then I would go pick him up and then eat dinner while I was working. And yeah, it was brutal. Like, I don't think anything was not work I didn't have. And in journalism too you're kind of expected, especially me because I was under this group, under the microscope more as an Indigenous person, not really to have of friends in communities where there might be stories because then there could be some sort of perceived bias. So yeah, it was, it was hard, it was, it was hard to leave, but it was. Yeah, it was hard to know what the alternatives were for me at that point.
Once you leave the job, everything opens up, right
>> Myrna McCallum: Interesting. It sounds like it. And I wanted to say like, and I don't take the subject of poverty lightly as somebody who also like, has known abject poverty. M. Like not being able to afford a cup of coffee, like, like it's, it's horrible if the work you do doesn't even allow you to live like a reasonable, quality of life that can create its own traumatic impact on you. And you said once you made the decision to leave the job, everything like blew open the windows, the doors, all of the opportunities. And I think that that is so lovely because sometimes I find once we decide to get out of our own way, that's when like the way appears. Right? Like the new way.
>> Angela Sterritt: So true.
>> Myrna McCallum: Right.
So tell me, what was the catalyst for you to decide, A, you're going to write a book and B, it's going to be on the really tough subject of missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
>> Angela Sterritt: So it took me seven years to write Unbroken. I started at a time in journalism where it was very taboo to include yourself in the story. Right? You, you make the news. You, you not the news. And so including my own story to make it a memoir, that was a really challenging process. So it wasn't sort of like, I'm going to write a book and it's going to come out and then I'M going to leave. There was nothing like that. I always knew like everyone, I guess growing up on the street, a lot of my friends in East Van didn't have that experience. So I had these wild stories, right, great storytellers. But storytelling is also, it's, it's in my blood, it's in my DNA as a Gitzan woman. And so I always had these wild stories and people were always like, you have to write a book. And my mom before she passed away was writing a book as well, so. And my dad also was a writer. so it was kind of like, yeah, it's just in my bones. When I was writing Unbroken, I was very immersed in covering stories about missing and murdered Indigenous Women and girls. And there were a few stories that resonated just because of the connections and the, the kin that I have in among family members. And there was one, there was a couple of stories that I kind of want, really wanted to solve. So it was kind of an invest a longer form investigative project. It's very unusual for people to do like a memoir with investigative journalism. It's sort of genre bending. It's very unorthodox. There weren't many, many examples. But I, I wanted to include my own story. I wanted people to have compassion, right? We hear a lot from the public, from police that, you know, Indigenous Women and girls in particular, and our gender variant relatives, you know, that they don't deserve attention, they don't deserve care, they don't, their, their family members don't deserve proper investigations. And we hear that a lot like in older cases too, right? So like in cases from like the 80s and the 90s that, you know, these, these young people were just runaways and sort of blaming the parents a lot too. So I wanted people to, to give people an understanding of my life, what I went through and help people to build compassion and understanding for how colonialism operates. You know, it doesn't operate in these silos. It's an empire building project where lands dispossession, land theft, missing and murdered Indigenous Women and girls, the reserve system, Residential School that all are working together or they are all outcomes of one another. And so I wanted people to see that full colonial picture. And I think too I was spurred by Stephen Harper, I don't know if you remember his statement for when he was like, oh, that's not really on our radar, missing and murdered Indigenous Women and girls. And it's also not a systemic issue. This is an Indigenous problem. And then you Know the next government making up statistics to embellish those that state, you know, that assumed that the violence was coming from within our communities, which some of it does, of course, you know, like every community around the world, especially ones affected by colonial violence. But I wanted to do the investigation to show that for Indigenous people, for Native Americans as well, we are the only race, in North America where perpetrators are actually more likely 90% for Native Americans to be outside their communities. Right. And so why is that? Right? Because of racism. Right. Because of impunity. Because Indigenous Women and girls matter and non binary people matter less. There's statistics to prove that. So yeah, it was, was kind of like my m. This next book, you know, I just kind of want to cover everything and this next book is, even goes further into that. But this was about colonialism and, and things people don't even think about. Right. We're still talking about Residential School and people are still like, whoa, that was horrible. I can't believe that happened. But we haven't even started talking about segregation, the reserve system, apartheid in Canada. Like we're not even touching on the full scope of colonialism and how it is, is happening today to our people.
>> Myrna McCallum: Totally. And I really love that perspective that you gave us in your book. because it really was an education. It wasn't just like the same old thing about framing Indigenous Women as victims, kind of victims of not so much colonialism but kind of victims of their own lives of their own making, which is bullshit. I love the way you, you held certain people accountable for their actions and systems, accountable for their. Like in your book you talked a little bit about also the role police officers played and a judge in Northern Bay State played in exacerbating this problem and dismissing this problem. And I think hear enough people even talking about that. I mean I'm part of the legal system and I don't hear any, any kind of commentary on how that will never happen again and what steps are being taken to ensure that never happens, happens again. Ah, I've never heard anyone say anything about that.
But can you talk a little bit about that judge and the role of the police and Prince, Prince George.
>> Angela Sterritt: The police one is a bit tricky because I think his name was Justin Harris, who I talk about in my book and got comment from him as well, which is interesting. You should read that in my book. His comments were very interesting. but he, I believe got off on a technicality for his, his abuse, his, his alleged abuse of young people. The judge, Judge Ramsey. It was actually going on when I lived there in Prince George in around 2002-2004. And so I at the time worked at a youth center and, through the friendship center. And tons of girls would come in and talk about the police, their mistreatment from police, judges, you know, corruption. And I think to a lot of the other youth workers, it sounded very conspiracy based. But I grew up on the street, right? So I was like, oh, yeah, this, this happens all the time, right? You're very easy to exploit when you're on the street, right? Kind of, you're very vulnerable. And so I'd been hearing about this judge for a long time, Judge Ramsey. I think he was charged in around 2003, but I might have my dates wrong. I think he went to jail right around the time when I was leaving Prince George. But he was, charged on, I think, seven counts of assault, M. from girls, as young as 12 years old that he picked up on the street and violently, sexually assaulted brutally. Like, we're not. Like, this is. I don't want to get into like all of it because it's traumatizing. But so what he would do is then he was a judge, so he was presiding over some of the older, older, I'm saying 14, 15, 16 girls cases in court and would tell them as he was abusing them, if you tell this to anybody, I will make sure the outcome is not in your favor. So one of the young girls, I think she was 16 or 17, had her kids taken away. So she was appearing in front of him to, in hopes of getting her kids back. So our child back. And so this had happened to her. So I guess what happened is she went in and was with a victim services worker or, or some sort of liaison or something. And she saw Judge Ramsey presiding over her case and just went hysterical. And I think she was one of the people, one of the young people. There's many, of course, because they're underage, who was unnamed, but she might have been named. I'll have to revisit that. But anyways, she. She was brave enough to come forward, forward and share, despite all his threats, that he had done this. And so they started investigating and he was, he went to jail and he died of cancer not long after. We didn't get to be accountable for his crimes. But there's a lot more to uncover there. And I've heard that there's other journalists who are working on the police side of things because there's really been no accountability there, despite, you know, Human Rights Watch reports about police violence, police. Police abuse and assault and all sorts of things alleged at this point against Indigenous girls and Women in particular. But, lots of very young girls who have come forward about these allegations. And you know, a judge was charged and went to jail, convicted. so. And yeah, I encourage people to read about the. The officers who I think are still like, kind of on desk duty at this point. But there was very, believable, allegations against a couple of them.
>> Myrna McCallum: In particular, I think the subject of like, police misconduct or like abuse of power in relation to Indigenous people, especially young Indigenous people, is, It's an old story, right? It goes way back, I would say, to Indian agents. And there's no shortage of reports. Like, you know, I come from Treaty 6 territory. I mean, 1M kind of infamous story, of course, is like the Starlight tours involving the Saskatoon Police Service that took, Indigenous men outside of town, like in the dead of winter, taking their shoes and then forcing them to walk back. And we know, like Neil Stiltschild, for example, there are named and unnamed individuals and there's also like, the exploitation of young Indigenous Women It's well documented and still I don't see enough accountability and measures taken to prevent this type of abuse of power from continuing. And in addition to that, like, I don't know, angel, like, have you seen anything about any statement, comment by the judiciary about like, what they are going to do or what they will do or what they will commit to. To ensure that, the actions of Judge Ramsey can never happen again? Because I haven't seen anything but like, I haven't scoured the Internet. I don't know.
>> Angela Sterritt: I mean, that does not ring a bell to me. I feel like there's so much fear of m. Litigation when it comes to these institutions being held accountable. You know, even like. I mean, this is kind of a different topic, but I read, or I was listening to a podcast that talked about the, the. The sacredness, I guess, or the sacred right of having an autopsy, for examp. For an example, for a family member to get closure about how their loved one died. And now there's this huge, level of pushback from hospitals to discourage autopsies, to skirt potential, you know, accusations of wrongdoing within the hospital. I think this might have been in, in the United States, but I believe that's similar to here as well and probably worse. I found a lot, interestingly enough, I don't know how it is now, but in the States, as A journalist, you could get information so much easier than in Canada. Like from. From the police, from the rcmp, from helicopter crashes there, from autopsies, from coroner's reports. There was just a lot more. It probably is a lot different now, but, Canada's very clamped down when it comes to transparency. And it's become worse, right? Like, Freedom of information requests used to be free. They, they used to give, like, redacted reports. I filed a report to find out how this Indigenous boy had committed suicide in his group home. And the government, they weren't even. I said, I don't need to know anybody's names. Not the group home, the staff, nothing. And they just said, we're not going to give you anything, not an ounce. So there's this real, feeling that I'm getting that people are doing more and more to protect themselves as institutions rather than hold themselves to account. And their accountability, I'm finding is, you know, an apology, a plaque. but. But for us, that accountability, it's. It's more than an apology. Like you said, it's a, A premise, an action, a. A hope at least some sort of plan to make sure that this never happens again. That I don't see that I see actually, actually getting worse and worse as institutions grow more and more fearful of litigation against them or being liable for deaths.
>> Myrna McCallum: I would think. You know, and there are judges who listen to this podcast, and hopefully there are chief judges who listen to this podcast and, ministers and deputy ministers. So, I would think that in this era of reconciliation that we're in and, in this time of also recognizing the calls for justice and the call to action and all of it, that there would be some. I would like to see that there would be some type of movement occurring not just in British Columbia, but like beyond BC as well, to acknowledge certain behaviors of certain judges and simply say, like any workplace would or any employer would, this is our employee. And here are the steps that we're taking to ensure that this will never happen again or to put in safeguards, because what I know as like a former prosecutor and a former defense lawyer who flew into communities to administer justice, and I use quotes, air quotes, when I say that, there is very little oversight. And we know that there are just judges who really do believe that they are the king of the castle and that nobody can hold them accountable or challenge, them when they conduct themselves in a certain kind of way. And so for folks who, for the judges. And like some will joke, other judges will joke about those judges calling that, like, saying that they have judge itis. Right? But like, as long as that kind of behavior is going unchecked, and it does because the threshold to complain to a judicial counsel about a judge's conduct is a little bit like, high. The bar is high.
There's going to be, you know, judges out there who are going to continue to think that they could treat certain vulnerable members of our population, namely Indigenous people, in a certain sort of way. and nobody's going to say anything to them or twice at them because of their power and their, the lack of, oversight that comes, when you are a sitting judge and juries too, right.
>> Angela Sterritt: Like, I'm thinking about Colten Colten Boushie I don't think there was an Indigenous person. So that's another failure of the justice.
>> Myrna McCallum: System itself that was so intentional, right. To ensure that there was no Indigenous person on the jury.
>> Angela Sterritt: I'm like, some of this stuff blows my mind. I'm like, how could, how can this happen in today? Like, who was fighting for this?
>> Myrna McCallum: You know, who allows this, this. Right. Like, I, I really think the courts allow it, the judiciary allows it, the legal system allows it, and the public.
>> Angela Sterritt: The deeply racist public for sure.
>> Myrna McCallum: And the public. And the question is, what is your responsibility to do no harm? M. What is your ethical duty as, somebody who is considered honorable and I use air quotes and like, representative of a system that has very little credibility for, Indigenous people, Survivors of sexual violence, Survivors of intimate partner violence, etc. Etc. And so it gets me worked up. It wakes me up.
>> Angela Sterritt: Yeah, well, it's just like, I mean, you just think about the Indigenous people that are dying in hospitals, right? And none of the people who killed them, who. You know, there was one boy who was strapped down to a bed and left to die. He, it was a curable thing. You know, he was, he had accidentally drinking, windshield wiper fluid. He was a non verbal neurodivergent boy and left on a table, I think for 30 hours. But no one was held accountable, no one was charged. And I kept asking about it, you know, so what happened to those people who let that happen? Oh, ah, it's complicated. is it, is it really complicated not to hold someone responsible for racism? You know, assuming someone's drunk and needs to sleep it off because they're Indigenous that's kind of the, the answer I always hear when it comes to holding people accountable. And you know, it goes back to our traditions as Indigenous people and how we practice just justice, how we practiced Accountability and it was very accountable based. We did have shaming feasts. You know, I know there's lots of complexity with how shame has been brought, about through Residential School and through christianity. But our people, and maybe the shame is the wrong word, but we, we had shaming feasts where if you disrespected someone at a feast, you would have to go door to door representing your clan and pay hey, you'd have to go door to door, get valuables and hand them over to the person you disrespected. So it was a collective thing, but you would be held responsible if you did something. These are small infractions too that we would do things like that for. Right. We had systems of accountability and justice that were very embedded into our culture and it was very transparent to see. Right. We'd speak about it out loud in feasts, these systems, there's just, how is it so complex? You know, it's just that part of it really gets me and, and then they always kind of lure me in. Well, we don't know about this. And I'm always just kind of left with. And good for you for continuing to ask the questions because I think people need to be asked like, what are you doing? You know, not, not what you can do for me, but what can you do for your own, you know, your own systems that you support, create, uphold. Uphold.
>> Myrna McCallum: Yeah, totally. And I mean, I think like questioning judges on that particular question is just like one, it's just scratching the surface. Like as I listen to you talk about the healthcare system and racism, I mean, where's the accountability for physicians and surgeons who did medical experimentation on Indigenous kids in Indian hospitals and in Residential schools? What about dentists? Like, where is that kind of exposure and conversation? Like we're, it hasn't, it's not really happening yet. And it needs to happen. But will it happen? I don't know because I think about like how long we've been talking about Residential schools, which isn't long enough, but it's still like more known than it's ever been. And still I don't see commentary from like nuns and, and priests and teachers and you know, the people who upheld those systems, participated in those systems and, and I'm not just talking about the people who actively perpetrated against children, participated in the abuse of children, but the ones who also look the other way. Right. Like there's a whole, I think, large group of bystanders who did nothing. Who did nothing. And what was your responsibility and where's your accountability? And I think we need to be having those conversations. And I hope, like, I live long enough to start to hear some of those conversations happening.
But, but I think your book in terms of like, couching it against this like, colonial backdrop is so incredibly educational. It's powerful, it's insightful, and it really challenges those who take that whole like, well, this is your problem. You created this, this is your community issue. And it totally turns that whole script on its head. And so I love that you wrote that book. And I am curious about when I read it. I was a little bit, reluctant to read it because, you know, I did. I, for a number of years I was an educator and I heard stories of Residential School Survivors I heard about, about so many rapes, like detail for detail of very small children that it really just broke me in some kind of irreparable way. And I wasn't sure that I could read about more trauma. And but the way you wrote the book wasn't, in my view, it wasn't part of that. Like there's people out there who really capitalize or exploit on their personal traumas and will go and do a deep dive into like the, the details. And it's really not ne. I call like a lot of people call it trauma porn. Right. And so, you didn't do that. And as you kind of like weaved your own story through the stories of these Women and their families, you also did not do that in a way to exploit your own history and exploit your own lived experience and go and, and graphically detail events of your life. Like, like you, you languaged it in such a way where the reader could fill in the gaps and go, okay, no, what probably happened here? so you give enough info without like ripping the wound right open for the readers, like for the reader's benefits. So I really loved that about the way you wrote and I appreciate it as somebody who kind of, I have a cap on how much exposure I, I, I have to like traumatic stories. So that was really brilliant. Was that intentional?
>> Angela Sterritt: Yes. So when I would interview people as a journalist, I would always tell them, I don't need you to give any gratuitous detail, any details because I have the parole documents and and, and that would be consent based as well. Do you want this horrific stuff? Because I don't think that the public like should have to, like, someone was murdered, that should be enough. Someone was exploited. That's enough. Like, why do we always need, you know, amplify And I think that comes from being Indigenous because we're never believed, you know, ever for anything. Whether. And maybe it's with being a woman or the stories I'm reading about men too. Their experience aren't believed at all. That's why they don't tell them. That's why we don't hear about. About them. So it's this like, human gaslighting or colonial gaslighting that we've become accustomed to. Right. Or, or, oh, you can handle it. And, and, and I hear. I heard that from somebody too. Oh, you know, Native people are actually physically tougher. And I'm like, are you kidding me? We're human beings. Like, that's, dehumanizing us, actually. So I don't think you need all these details or you need to embellish the numbers. Like, I don't think you need to say, oh, there could be 10,000 of like 4,000, frankly, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. When we're 4% of the population, that's enough. Like, people should be able to wake up. I don't think we need to keep on making things worse and worse. But I think, especially as Indigenous Women were not believed and we're not heard, and it's almost like we feel, or maybe the society pushes us to do this, to share, like, the utmost worst thing. But honestly, I don't think society. It changes their mind. They're like, cool, whatever. We've heard this before. Like, they're still going to dehumanize us. They're still going to not be compassionate. They're still going to have zero empathy. And, and that says a lot more about them than it does for us. Right? Is that they don't find value in being compassionate people. As a human being, I needed to be very careful about myself. I strongly believe, as someone who is a survivor, that, that I never. I was asked so many times as a street youth to come out and be like, oh, look, I'm a street youth and I'm on the street. And I was like, heck, no, I'm never doing that. Because once, that is, you know, once the toothpaste is out of the tube, you can't put it back in. Once the bell is rung, you can't unring it. It's out for everyone to see. And who knows what they will do with that information. So you have to be strong enough in your life to be able to, wrangle that narrative that people are making about you, which I did. There were so many Reporters from Maine mainstream media, like one outlet in particular, who they were like, tell me what it was like hitchhiking serious. What do you think it was like being 16 years old hitchhiking in a foreign country? But I. So I don't think that we should have to. I also wanted to protect the family members. I also wanted to be gentle. I also just want to be a lot more mindful. I feel like this is a new thing where people like, do you have capacity for this? But I've kind of always been like that. I've been. Been like, I need to take care of you. Like that's my job as a journalist is to care for you, not exploit you. And I'm. I just never liked people asking questions where I was just sorted to get the tears. I didn't want that. I want this to be strength based. You're a strong family member wanting to get justice. We don't need tears for compassion for you. So. And there were a lot of the strength in that regard with it being trauma informed. Was in great thanks to my editor who I would say, I'm taking this out. I don't want anyone to know about this. She was like, good, gone, no questions. And really believed in the spirit of the book that I want people to know about injustice. But we don't need this to be trauma porn. Like, I was very clear about that and she was all on board and just would like take it out or put it back in. Like some things I took out. I think there was one situation and I was like, okay, I think I can put that back in. And she'd be like, okay. And that's kind of unusual, to be honest. Like, people have their own agendas for books, but. And I've heard people say it's too hard for them to read. A couple people have told me that and I get it. It is a hard read. It is a hard topic. You have to be ready for that type of information.
>> Myrna McCallum: Totally. It is a hard topic. I think it's also a necessary read. How did you manage to like take care of yourself as you were doing that work and still bring yourself back to the keyboard day after day, day to. To do this thing, to put this, put these words and these stories to paper.
>> Angela Sterritt: It was, it was hard, I think at the. I think that's why it took so long because I'd need long breaks. I'm. I'm a very slow worker and in journalism, some people really didn't like that. But I like to take my time because I Like to take care of the story. I like to think about how this is going to come across. The responsibility I have as an Indigenous person person, how a trauma survivor might view this. I have to think about so many different things, right. But, but when I first started writing it in 2015, it was brutal. I was not well, I think My son was 4 and I was a single mom. It wasn't like I was co parenting, I was like full on single mom with no parents, no help, no aunties, nothing. Because I was all over. I was in Yellowknife, I was in Winnipeg, I was in Toronto know. So I was kind of all alone and I didn't really have a strong community. I didn't have a therapist. I thought I was good, I'm healed and, and through that process I was like crying a lot and breaking down and it was so traumatic and I was not well. I think something that taught me how unwell I was was some of the friends and relationships I was attracting that were like just completely betrayed me without question. And, and I think that was around 2002. I had a cup, I had a pretendian friend for one and another relationship and it forced me to say I am not well, I am, I've had a very hard life and I think that's another thing we do as Indigenous people and Women maybe in particular is we say, oh, I haven't had it that bad, right? Like I haven't been to, to Residential School I haven't, I haven't had a, B and C. But it's like I've had a brutal life and, and, but it was never as bad as like my sister, you know, so there was a lot of that. But not being able to sit with my own pain and say I've been through so much and I need help. And so, so that book was hard. I did, I kind of raw dogged it a bit. whereas this one, I was having trauma therapy twice a week and within a me, like I found a new therapist because I kind of outgrew my other one and she's just like mind blowing magic, like incredible therapist that I had to search. Like I was searching for a piece of furniture online, right. Like I had to really do the measurements and envision it and. But so now it's way different. and I think people will see that in the book. it's a lot more about joy and hard topics, very hard topics. Topics talking about men who abuse. I don't know, it's just, it's very different. It's. It's a lot lighter, but it's also a lot open. Like, I mean, a lot more free with what I share.
>> Myrna McCallum: I want to ask you about your. Your new book that's coming out. But before we do, I want to. I want to ask what has the response been to Unbroken? Like, not just from readers, but from, like, your community, from everywhere. What has the response been to that point? Book.
>> Angela Sterritt: Writing a book is interesting because it's the opposite of news, where you're getting that instant validation, like, you're amazing, you're brilliant, you're strong, you're justice, blah, blah, blah. You know, it's kind of like this slow thing that happens, and it's like, oh, right, the book is still out and people are still reading it. it's been very mixed. I get messages still, like, once to four times a week. I got a message from an Indigenous man, like, last week or a couple weeks ago, and he said, I just want to thank you. I saw my mom, who was an older Indigenous man, and he said, I saw my mom in you. And he said, she was just told she was crap all her life, but refused to back down. And he wrote. It was a long letter. And I get comments like that. Like, long, very heartfelt. A lot of, messages from settlers saying, I learned so much. Thank you. from Indigenous Women Some. My favorite reader of all, of course, is like, the teenage goth Indigenous girl who's like, I love your book. Can you sign it? And Eden Robinson took a picture of a. A young Indigenous girl who was holding my book. So it's very mixed. I don't know if I've received. There's some negative comments on Amazon about how it's written. I, like, shouldn't have done that. That. But of course I did. And, But it was more about, like, the editing style or the writing style.
>> Myrna McCallum: Your writing was brilliant. So those comments are bullshit
>> Angela Sterritt: Thank you. but, yeah, the comments are. Are usually very mixed. I think I had one person who I know well who was like, I can't read it. It's just too hard. My bestie wrote it or read it or listened to it and, like, loved it, loved it. So it's good. It's really good. Yeah.
>> Myrna McCallum: What comes from that experience? What is it doing for you in terms of this new kind of phase of your life?
>> Angela Sterritt: I can definitely just say whatever I want instead of being sort of censored and edited. I can, be, like, kind of revolutionary and cool. Like, as a journalist, you're Very uncool. You're, like, stodgy and boring and whatever. Well, I was. Was always yappy, mainly on Twitter. But, yeah, I. It's very different depending on where I go. If it's Indigenous people, it's going to be empowering and like, let's do this, let's go. Like, we got this. When it's settlers, it's like, more educational and they're. They're usually like, wow, I never thought about that. So I talk now a lot about how our cultures can inform justice. Right. Or can inform governance, leadership, protection, abundance, climate change, all of these things. You know, we weren't perfect, but there's one thing that is undeniable, is that we were stewards of the land and did a damn good job for 40,000 or so years before colonials came. Right. And there were. You know, people don't realize this, but, you know, in some communities, there were like hundreds of thousands of people before small pox. Right. It wasn't like we were just little pockets of people roaming the land. We built systems of governance. So that's one thing that I. That I lean into a lot and that people really resonate with. And telling my own story. Yeah. I'm trying to think of, the thing that I love. I love, like, I'm gonna speak to Global, I think, next week. And they're all black, Indigenous Probably not Indigenous because there's very few Indigenous people in media. No, I think they're all black and people of color. Maybe one Indigenous person, but that'll be just like. It'll be like, empowering vibes and we'll be talking. It'll be fun. There's corporations I speak to and tech bros. That's really hard because they're really coming to a place of zero. Like, it's not even kindergarten. It's just zero. And so that's. That's tough. It's like, oh, oh, you don't know about that. Oh, Or like, questions like, do you pay taxes? Or why do you get free stuff? Right. So I'm just like, okay, here we go.
So it's really mixed. But the biggest thing for me, to be honest, is just being able to not live in severe poverty anymore. Like, actually being like, I didn't even know what it meant to save money before, you know, And I'm like, this old. But being able to support my family, being able to dream, you know, we deserve that as Indigenous people. We deserve to live how we used to on waterfront property and have summer homes and winter homes and Fish and, you know, not just live in trauma and survival mode. Like, that's not how our people live. That's not how our ancestors want us to live. And that's. That's, you know, settlers need to move aside and pay us. But, yeah, so. And right now I'm kind of thinking about. I mean, I'm finishing. The edits for the book are in, so the book's coming out 2026 But now I'm kind of thinking, what else can I do on top of the keynotes? Maybe not to make money, but to, to get the message out more about liberation and all that stuff. Living not. Not just about fighting, but building up our people. Right. What does that look like? We're not just surviving or not just fighting or not just responding, but what does building look like? So I've had a little bit of time to be like, okay, I can go into dream space now or into rest space.
>> Myrna McCallum: I love that. I really love that for you. Yes. Like, it's an interesting world when you are, like, being paid to speak to people, like, being a public speaker. And, yeah, like, I would say people wouldn't know it when they see me, talking on a stage, but I am actually, like, really shy, uncomfortable around people, really awkward. I've got no problem talking to hundreds of people. But, like, you put me down at a. At a table to sit with two or three people, and I just, like, want to leave.
>> Angela Sterritt: Introvert.
>> Myrna McCallum: And I'm so, like, oh, my God, I'm awkward. I'm weird. I don't know how to communicate. It's an interesting thing to do to. To, like, have that be part of, like, your career. But as somebody who came from, like, a journalism background where, like, you don't become the news, you're not the focus of the story. how has that been for you in terms of, like, starting to reveal more and more of who you are and where you come from, and what your perspective is on some of these really important topics? Has that been something like. Like, you're like, oh, my God, finally free, at last I get to speak my mind. Or is it still something that you approach with a little, like, trepidation?
>> Angela Sterritt: I think at first I was kind of, like, you know, like, kind of whispering things. there's just so many layers that I had to hide in. In journalism. I mean, I was very outspoken. Like, there was no secret, really, of how I felt about things that I wanted to amplify Indigenous voices, places that justice is a part of media, like investigative journalists. Any of them will tell you that they're also seeking justice. So I don't think there was any hidden aspect of that. But, yeah, like, even, like, doing this, right. I remember with a group of white journalists in Cuba, and they were like, like horrified that I did that. Right.
>> Myrna McCallum: That you put your. Your fist, like in a, in a power a power symbol.
>> Angela Sterritt: Yeah. In a power fist. Yeah. They were just like, mortified. No, it's very freeing. But it, but it was very like, ye. What should I. And even now, like, you know, I'm probably gonna do an article about Australia because that definitely needs to be exposed and it's more removed. It's. And it's, Yeah, some of the Canadian stories that were coming to me where it is, like, too close to home. But, yeah, I'm kind of like, should I maybe take this post down? But then I'm like, you know what? Then they'll know there's no secrets, right. Of what my point of view is. And. Yeah, so it's. It's been liberating. It's been. It's been good. Very good. Yeah.
>> Myrna McCallum: I love that. I love that. So tell me, what is this next book that we are all going to be seeing, on the shelves next year.
>> Angela Sterritt: So it's called Breakable. And it's not that I don't want to share about it because I want to not reveal it, but it's. Right now it's just an edit, like structural and edits with my editor. So in that process. So with my books, it goes through a structural edit, a deep edit with one editor. Then after that it goes through, like a proofreader and then a copy editor and then a lawyer and then a fact checker. So with my books, because they're very complex, it takes many, many layers of eyes on it. And so right now it's just in the first round of edits, structurally. So. So some things might be taken out, there might be a different direction. But it is about, I mean, I think originally I was like, it's healing from toxic patriarchy and colonialism. We don't need to call patriarchy toxic because it's toxic on its own, that'd be redundant. But patriarchy, colonialism and capitalism. And the capitalism aspect was something that I didn't really expect from the book with such a strong emphasis on that. But when we're talking about why men aren't in our communities, all men, right? Whether it's CEO, white CEOs or Indigenous men going off to work on pipelines or logging camps or. That's what my dad did. Looking at that, right? Because a big question that came up throughout my book is, where are the men? And I hear that from Women a lot. Where are the men? Where are they? Like in dating or in our communities or in parenting or family or whatever. Where are they? And that was a big part of, of my learning is, well, colonialism told them in order to have value, you need to be away from the family, getting money, getting that money. Money is attached to your value. So yeah, it's, it's about healing, but it's, it's it's not all like, woo Indigenous men healing. It's hard conversations, like all the ones that you'd probably expect. But this one feels a lot softer I think, because is reflecting where I'm at right now.
>> Myrna McCallum: Why was it important to you to write a book that focused on the experiences of Indigenous men?
>> Angela Sterritt: I don't even know where that came from. You know, I think like originally. Right, okay, I do know. So originally, originally, originally I was at the end of my time with cbc, sort of the last few stories that I did were focused on the toxic drug overdose crisis. Crisis. And I was astonished to know that across North America, across all races of men white, Indigenous 75 to 85% are men who die. And that's the same for statistics for suicide. It's the same for statistics of homicide. It's Yeah. So that alarmed me, especially with the overdose. And so I had asked a non Indigenous man about that. I said, why do you think it's all men? Like, I was just very confused and shocked. And he said, I think it's because as men were told not to express our feelings. And that took me, that shook me. And not that I didn't believe it, but I just couldn't believe it. And then I started to think about how I've been part of that, that. You know, I remember my friend was upset because this guy she was seeing had said, can you please ask me if I have capacity next time you download on me? And I was like, oh, it's a guy. Like he can handle it. It's a man. He doesn't have any trauma. Right. And. And then I started investigating the stats and it's like one in six boys is sexually abused as a child. And more men experience homicide. And a lot of it isn't just gang, isn't just random. A lot of it is in the, the home from other men though. Right. And I think that's why we often, don't have these conversations because 90% of the men are perpetrators. Right. Of all violence. So there. But it's not a zero sum game. Right? So, and then in the dating scene, I started noticing, like, where are the men? Like, all my girlfriends were either single or becoming lesbians. And, and I was just like, I'm going to be single for life.
>> Myrna McCallum: You know, I cannot be lesbians becoming lesbians. Or were they always. Or was it just okay?
>> Angela Sterritt: No, they were like, I'm. I mean, maybe they had some, some vibes before, but no, these were people who were like, I'm gonna be with a woman now. I mean, I think a lot of people. That's what I hear from, my queer friends is like, everybody's 98% bi. everyone's.
>> Myrna McCallum: We're all some degree of gay right?
>> Angela Sterritt: Yeah, we're all, we're all queer. We're all fluid in our own way. I mean, those who are authentic. But, anyways, yeah, so I was just like, where the heck are the men? But that the, the, the, the statistics around the overdoses, like, hit me and everywhere, like my community in Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh and East Vancouver, there are all these young boys, like 15 to 21. And my, one of my son's friends too, 14 years old. So it just became like, what is going on here? So that's a, that's a part of my book. Yeah. And that, that was sort of the impetus.
>> Myrna McCallum: Well, I'm really glad that you're writing about that. And I mean, I know it'll be again, it's going to be a close to home topic for me to read about because I know, you know, that I lost my brother last year to, fentanyl overdose. And he had lived as a homeless man on the downtown east side for many, many, many years. And that was really. That was the result of his Residential School experience. You know, it's like, we talk about survival and Survivors and, you know, I'm. I'm not sure that, that I would call that survival, like just simply breathing. I, don't know. That's necessarily. I call that survival because, like, his ability to love and be in relationships, was completely destroyed because of the abuse he endured at Residential Schools. he went to Lebret in St. Mike's in Saskatchewan. And, I was devastated to learn that he died in an sro, for a number of reasons. But, then it was like that the devastation was compounded by the fact that the VPD didn't, like, notify me that he died until, four months later and four and a half months later.
>> Angela Sterritt: Oh, yeah.
>> Myrna McCallum: It's horrific.
>> Angela Sterritt: I'm so sorry you went through that. That's brutal. Brutal. So glad that you're doing this conference about hope, because this is. We can't lose hope, and we can't become jaded. That's my thing.
>> Myrna McCallum: We cannot. Right. Like. Yes. Okay. So being Indigenous being Indigenous Women talking about these really difficult things, having these difficult, challenging, brutal lived experiences. Yes. And done, like, that's not the end of the story.
And you, like, talked a little bit about that. You gave me, like, a few little seeds I want to follow up on. And I'm just gonna pitch you a few things. You tell me what you want to talk about. But one is healthy love. Right. You're engaged to be married to this beautiful guy who I had the pleasure of meeting when you were speaking. Ah, yes, I met him. so healthy. Loved one. But also, like, Indigenous Women are so much more than what healthy happens to us in our bodies. We, are also, like, thrivers, and we get to have multiple homes, and we get to be successful by, like, the colonizer standard. We get to. We get to be that, too. We get to have security, we get to have safety, we get to have pleasure. We get to have freedom. What does that look like? And then, the other piece about, like, dreaming. It's like, dream time. Get to dream. And that, for me, Ang, is so profound because I've been places and spaces in my own childhood, in my own youth, but also as a lawyer, where I could see I was in environments where there were no dreams. And so that is a powerful one.
When you say we get to train so of, any of those, like, few topics that I just, like, touched.
>> Angela Sterritt: On when I went to New Zealand, and actually, our Maori friends were just here a couple days ago, and they're just so cool. Like, they. They've created this. It's hard to explain in, like, English or any terms because it's so. It's like a dream world, right? So they have, like. They have, like, a tech thing where it won't do anything unless you speak Maori to it. And they have, like, a garden thing. And it's just this incredible space of dreaming where we can just whatever. Like, young people can do their tech stuff, but also incorporate it with language stuff else. Elders can be there. People who want to grow food can be there.
But one of the things that really resonated with me, and this is something That I think about a lot in my other book is this concept of white supremacy. Time, right. So, and really violent like deadlines and time sensitive and just everything is so violent when it comes to time. And, and he, the way that him and Cain and Ranai operate is And people don't like it. They get uncomfortable with it because it's so ingrained in us. But thinking about. And this isn't, this is Indigenous this isn't woo woo. This is a new age. This is Indigenous For him, it's Maori and we did this as Gitxsan people and I'm sure Cree people as well, but living our lives in accordance to the moon cycles. So for Maori people they're very immersed in the the constellations and the cosmos because they're navigators, right? They're starving, are navigators. They're all Waka people, canoe people. my people are river people. So less so. But out here on the west coast, I've been just really thinking about that and really leaning into how come I'm not productive right now. Like I, I need to be. Do I need to be on my computer? Like my partner's, like I need to go and do computer work and, and we do need to do that. But, but just. And then Smokey Sumac, a man I talked to last week talked about, you know, you're being in service to humanity. Doesn't always need to be, you know, for me it'd be like doing a social media post or marching or popping off on somebody or speaking out. He said sometimes it could be reading, learning for three months. Like we're here on this earth for the love we leave behind and the lessons that we learn and that we can take to add to the knowledge of humanity. Humanity, right. And so just leaning into thinking about, which is very uncomfortable for me because it doesn't make sense because I don't live really off the land. But sometimes I'm really anxious and then I look and I'm like, oh, it's like a quarter moon. So this would be when the tide would be out and people would maybe be like gathering clams and have all that energy to do that. Right. So maybe that's a time when I need to be writing that grant or doing other colonial things. But sometimes maybe it's okay to, to, to read and to rest and to dream and to envision and to write that list and be very specific. I always tell people like write the list or think the list or whatever you do because the universe isn't going to respond to, to vagueness. Right. It's going to respond to extremely specific things. But you need to be able to dream to do that, to know what do I want. So that's kind of what I've been doing the last few days. Okay, what do I actually want to do right now? Like I, I have options. Not living. I'm m. I feel very grateful. Not everybody has that. Like so many people are living in the survival mode and there's pressures around that. But just thinking about what do I, what do I, where do I want to be? Even just right now, like maybe never mind five years. But where do I want to be right now? What do I want to do, what do I want to lean into? And having that space and knowing it's okay to not. Like I'm just, I can just chill and like read right now. And reading is like a huge thing for me. It's very spiritual. I feel often with Indigenous writers in particular, they're like communicating with me almost when I'm reading their book. Or maybe they're still alive and we're having a conversation. They're like allies. They're like my helpers to help me get to the next level. And so I read about 50 books in the last like few months. Kind of hardcore like the opposite of resting and dreaming. I'm like, like what does this say? What does this say? How does this. I think that's why I'm like, I really need to rest and dream right now. But, but if we can think about even that and knowing this is not. Woo woo. This is not new age. This is Indigenous living off the land. And the, the land keeps its own time through seasons. And, and we might mix it up like right now might have been a, ah, busy harvest time for my people. But right now I need to just chill a little bit. Yeah, I love them.
>> Myrna McCallum: I love that there's a time to produce and a time to just lay down.
>> Angela Sterritt: Totally. And that's productive as well if we want to think about it in those terms.
>> Myrna McCallum: Yeah, I love that, I love that.
So many awesome takeaways. So do you have like a title in mind for this next release for people who are going to be looking for it?
>> Angela Sterritt: It's called Breakable. So it's about breaking cycles, cycles, colonial cycles. Breaking colonial cycles, breaking chains, breaking harmful behaviors. and, and breakable. Like we're all breakable. We're not superhuman, we're not stoic, we're not emotionless. We all have feelings. We all can Break.
>> Myrna McCallum: Angela Sterrett, thank you for being on my podcast. I love this conversation.
>> Angela Sterritt: Me too. Thank you for having me. And I can't wait for your conference. Everyone needs to get in on this.
>> Myrna McCallum: Yes. April 7th, 8th and 9th at the Westinn Bay Shore here in Vancouver. Be there. Go to myrnamccallum.co for updates for pre sale tickets for all the stuff.
>> Angela Sterritt: Don't have fomo.
>> Myrna McCallum: no fomo. Thank you, Angela.
>> Angela Sterritt: Okay. Sending you lots of love.
>> Myrna McCallum: All right, that was my episode with Angela Sterritt for more on Angela you could go to her website, angelasterritt.com you can also get in touch with her at angela.sterritt@gmail.com of course, she's on LinkedIn X all the things. you can also find her and follow her on Instagram.
>> Myrna McCallum: Yes.
>> Myrna McCallum: And you should expect to hear from her again on this podcast. So just a reminder folks, if you're interested in attending the Justice as Trauma Conference, which you should, because you will see Angela there, there, go to myrnamccallum.co and click on the link Justice as Trauma 2026 for updates. we should have a lineup published, in the next couple of months, but tickets are on sale now. Also, Angela was part of a panel that we did for, Justice as Trauma 2025 and that video is available on my website. If you go to the video library, there's a number of videos there of keynotes and panels. They're available, for download. So go and check it out. But, in the meantime and in between time, please share this episode with your friends and your colleague. Give me a rating, on Apple podcasts as well as Spotify. And until next time, take care everyone.
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