On August 7 the regular hosts of CTV’s The Social gave up their chairs for Indigenous women to amplify conversations that matter to them.

Melanie Nepinak Hadley hosted one of the panels and Adeline Bird produced the show. Both women are graduates of CBC New Indigenous Voices, presented by the National Screen Institute, and Melanie is a current board member.

Topics included toxic masculinity within Indigenous communities, the role of podcasts and social media in keeping Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit investigations alive, maintaining Indigenous identity in white spaces, Indigenous people supporting each other, when you’re the only Indigenous person in a white dominated space, and the importance of representation and identity.

Panel one was hosted by Candy Palmater (The Candy Show) with guests Nahanni Fontaine (NDP MLA – St. John’s), Shanese Steele (writer and activist) and Shayla Stonechild (TV host, activist). Panel two was hosted by Melanie (broadcast executive) with guests Anna Lambe (student, actress, advocate), Arielle Twist (author, educator, student) and Danielle Morrison (lawyer).

Watch the show.

The Social airs weekdays on CTV, co-hosted by Melissa Grelo, Cynthia Loyst, Lainey Lui and Marci Ien.