Transcript: Aaron Pete
An interview with the Chawathil Chief and podcaster
In 2021, Canada was rocked by a discovery at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops: what appeared to be the remains of more than 200 Indigenous children. The story went viral globally and was reported by The New York Times and others as a mass grave. But to date, no remains have been exhumed. My guest on the program this week is a First Nation chief and a podcaster who has made a new, hour-long video breaking down the controversy. He says it’s time for the media to grapple with its reporting errors — and the fallout for the country.
Aaron Pete is Chief of the Chawathil First Nation, and host of the Nuanced podcast, formerly called Bigger Than Me. He’s also a guest host of this show.
TH: It's great to have you back on the show. For listeners, we have one guest host of this show — and that is you. You have guest hosted the show twice. You have also been a guest here yourself. So, it's wonderful to have you back. Since you were last on, you have become Chief of the Chawathil First Nation, so congratulations on that as well.
AP: Thank you. It was a huge privilege to be elected.
TH: It's a wonderful development. I wanted to have you on today to discuss a video that you made for your podcast, which has been rebranded “Nuanced,” and an accompanying essay that you wrote for The Hub, an outlet where, full disclosure, I have my other media criticism podcast. Your recent work is addressing the controversy over unmarked graves at residential schools. To start today, I want to talk about the reason that you've done this work. We'll get into the details of the controversy next. But just to start, what compelled you to address this issue?
