The (SLL) podcast officially launched in March 2025. Created by 91亚色 Research Chair in Indigenous art and curatorial practice, Associate Professor Lisa Myers and Tania Willard, a Secw茅pemc and settler artist/curator whose research intersects with land-based art practices, the podcast dives into how caring for Indigenous languages and environments is intertwined, and features conversations on cultural stewardship, land sovereignty, and contemporary Indigenous art. Here are summaries of the seven episodes created across Indigenous territories.
Episode 1 | Season 1
L煤lem tl鈥檃 sp茅n虛em虛ay虛 Ch茅sha7 tem铆x瘫w Si7la sp茅n虛em虛ayy虛
Episode 1 of Season 1 of the Sounds Like Land podcast, titled "L煤lem tl鈥檃 sp茅n虛em虛ay虛 Ch茅sha7 tem铆x瘫w Si7la sp茅n虛em虛ayy虛 Song of the garden, Mother Earth, Grandmother Garden," takes place in Harmony Garden, a community-centered food forest located in X瘫wemelch'stn on the Squamish Nation Capilano Reserve. Co-hosted by T鈥檜y鈥檛鈥檛anat Cease Wyss, an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and ethnobotanist, the episode begins in conversation with her daughter, Senaqwila Wyss, a warrior entrepreneur and Squamish language learner. The journey then moves to the x瘫aw虛s shew虛谩y虛/ New Growth Garden in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside, introducing interdisciplinary artists Jaz Whitford (Secwepmec) and Soloman Chiniquay (Nakoda). Together, they explore how cultivating the land, nurturing traditional plant knowledge, and reclaiming ancestral languages serve as powerful acts of cultural stewardship. The podcast is anchored in a deep priority of cultural respect, ensuring that every ecological project and spoken word honours ancestral protocol to authentically preserve Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh cultures.
Episode 2 | Season 1
Tmicw-kt
Episode 2 of Season 1, titled "Tmicw-kt Our Land Is My Language," is set within the Secwepemc and Syilx territories and hosted by Tania Willard. In this deeply reflective episode, Willard brings together Indigenous scholars and advocates Dr. Jeanette Armstrong, Dawn Morrison, and Dr. Janice Dick Billy to explore the profound, unbreakable connection between Indigenous language restoration and the revitalization of traditional land and food practices. Tania speaks with Dr. Jeanette Armstrong, a Syilx writer, teacher, fluent speaker, and Knowledge Holder. Together, they explore her work at the En'owkin Centre and UBC Okanagan, where she brings together creativity, language, and ecology. Near Neskonlith, Tania connects with Secw茅pemc scholar Dr. Janice Dick Billy to understand her leadership with the Chief Atahm School (or the Wumec r Cqweqweluten-kt Society), examining how elder mentorship, intergenerational knowledge, and language preservation serve as vital indicators of environmental and community health. Finally, Tania sits down with legendary Secw茅pemc activist Dawn Morrison to discuss her work restoring traditional food systems at Cwelcwelt-kuc Garden, ultimately expanding how we perceive cultivation to deeply honor our relational responsibilities to the land.
Episode 3 | Season 1
Episode 3 of Season 1, titled "The Rad Alberta Episode," co-hosted by Sahtu D茅l谋台n臋 First Nations artist and printmaker Laura Grier alongside co-producer, Dene activist, artist, and comedian Nigel Robinson, begins with a medicine swamp walk in Cold Lake First Nation. Along the trail, they connect with Auntie Tiffany Janvier, who shares her inspiring journey rooted in ceremony, family connections, and the active revitalization of the Dene language. The conversation then transitions to downtown amiskwac卯w芒skahikan (Edmonton) to feature insights from local artist Christina Battle and Cree/Irish/Scottish artist and curator Becca Taylor. Together, the collective discussion explores the transformative power of urban community gardens, highlighting how these green spaces foster cultural revitalization, community health, and enduring resilience.
Episode 4 | Season 1
Episode 4 of Season 1, titled "Mashkihkiy," is co-hosted by Suzanne Morrissette, who returns to her hometown of Winnipeg to sit by the banks of the Red River with her daughter Aspen Mashkihkihy Atchakos, Connie West-Buck, Jaime Isaac, and Becky Cook. This deeply reflective episode centers on the foundational themes of responsible and reciprocal relationships, community care, and the transmission of ancestral knowledge. By grounding their conversation in the physical and spiritual presence of the river, the speakers explore how practices of healing and stewardship are inherently collective, illustrating that true environmental and cultural preservation relies on honouring our interconnected responsibilities and reciprocal relationships to both our human communities and our non-human kin.
Episode 5 | Season 1
Gikinoo'amaagoowin
Episode 5 of Season 1, titled 鈥淕ikinoo'amaagoowin Learning from the Land,鈥 co-hosted by Lisa Myers and Tania Willard鈥攖he conversation shifts to the waters and shores of the Great Lakes to explore how Indigenous languages are inseparable from the ecologies that shape them. Acting as the regional host, Lisa Myers guides us through a deeply reflective hour that bridges distinct geographical communities, emphasizing that traditional ecological knowledge is a living, ongoing practice rather than a historical artifact. In her home community of Beausoleil First Nation, Myers speaks with Anishinaabe Elder Jeff Monague to ground the conversation in ancestral wisdom. The journey then travels north to Thunder Bay, where artist Leanna Marshall speaks on the role of language, traditional medicine, and the generational continuity of sharing fish stories. Finally, the episode crosses the "medicine line" into Michigan to visit Renee 鈥淲assan鈥 Dillard of the Little Traverse Bay Band - Odawa, whose expertise in mat weaving and harvesting aquatic plants underscores the sacred relationship between material arts and environmental stewardship. The theme of the episode centers on the convergence of the tangible and intangible aspects of cultural preservation, showing how the reclamation of language and land-based practices acts as a powerful force of environmental responsibility and a resilient refusal of colonial erasure.
PART 1: Episode 6 | Season 1
Co-hosted by visual artist Skawennati alongside series co-host Lisa Myers and Tania Willard, Part 1 of the season finale, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a universe I鈥檝e been playing around with,鈥 takes a futuristic leap by shifting the podcast's focus from physical soil to digital realms to explore the intersection of Indigenous language revitalization and digital sovereignty. Bringing her unique perspective as an urban Kanien鈥檏eh谩:ka woman and cyberpunk avatar, Skawennati welcomes two prominent featured guests: Native Hawaiian artist Solomon Enos and digital media theorist, poet, and software designer Jason Lewis. Together, they dive into Indigenous futurism, examining how cyberspace, virtual reality, and software engineering can be reclaimed as tools for self-determination and utilized as sovereign spaces to preserve, adapt, and build traditional languages. By engaging with these digital creators, the episode converses about how ancestral knowledge and world-building are being actively encoded into the digital landscape, ultimately transforming new technologies into spaces of active resistance and imaginative sovereignty rather than tools of assimilation.
PART 2: Episode 6 | Season 1
Part 2 of "There鈥檚 a universe I鈥檝e been playing around with" concludes the chapter of the season finale, grounding the podcast鈥檚 core themes of Indigenous futurism, creative technology, and digital sovereignty. With an introduction by guest co-host Skawennati, the episode shifts to a deeply focused conversation between series host Lisa Myers and Anishinaabe artist Scott Benesiinaabandan. Its central themes on the complex intersections of virtual territory and ancestral identity explore how digital art and immersive realities can be mapped to preserve and translate Indigenous worldviews. By discussing Benesiinaabandan鈥檚 artistic practice, the episode features how virtual world-building is not merely a technical exercise but a profound way to archive traditional languages, honour non-human kin, and carve out sovereign, untamed digital territories where future generations can see themselves reflected.
The SSL crew are continuing their work to create Season 2 and are also offering an audio education for Indigenous community members to amplify and encourage their own podcast and audio projects. The audio education program is called RIFF: Recording Indigenous Frequencies and Futures. and the , the SLL Crew will connect with community members to ensure the RIFF has broad reach. This will create ripple effects by sharing knowledge and skills across communities and strengthening local capacity for collective action.
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The Sounds like Land is a podcast by , an interdisciplinary research initiative that bridges ecology, Indigenous art, and environmental pedagogy, inspired by pollinator and medicine gardens and language revitalization." Much of the texts above came from the Sounds Like Land website.