Rez Radio taking on heavy topics with positive energy
The newest slice of Peach City Radio is giving audiences a taste of Indigenous topics.
Rez Radio on CFUZ 92.9 FM out of Penticton has been introduced into the Local Matters rotation. Co-hosts Gerry Gabriel and Sarah Huyton banter over politics, reflect on their history, and admire First Nations artists over the course of each hourlong program. Plus a few songs too.
The show came to be thanks to Gabriel’s dance moves, as strange as that may seem. Anybody who has seen him at a concert knows he likes to groove out. Fellow concert-goer Paul Crawford -- another voice that can be heard on Local Matters -noticed him on the dance floor and was impressed by his swagger.
So Crawford invited Gabriel to be a guest on his program.
“Then I was asked if I wanted to do my own show and I thought, ‘You know what I think I will,’” Gabriel said. “Then I asked my friend Sarah to be my cohost.”
“And I was like, ‘Heck yeah,’” Huyton said. “It’s a great opportunity to get your voice out there, and help our friends and family get their voices heard. Voices that got stifled somewhere along the way.”
While they’re both from Aboriginal backgrounds, Gabriel is a member of the Penticton Indian Band while Huyton is Chilcotin, although she grew up in Oliver.
Their show will focus on First Nations news and issues from the local level to internationally, and they want to appeal to listeners of all backgrounds.
For Huyton, who’s about to become a grandmother, protecting the natural world is especially important to her right now.
“It makes me even more concerned about how our environment is going to be for our children,” she said.
So for the first episode of Rez Radio, which was broadcast on Feb. 24, Gabriel and Huyton sat down with land defenders Sabrina Dennis and April Thomas to talk about protecting the environment.
Beyond the climate’s bleak forecast, they’ll also be taking on heavy topics like residential schools and the gravesites, severe addiction, and the impacts of the Indian Act. Yet they find a way to have those conversations with a optimistic tone.
“We want to share the positive energy we have,” Huyton said. “We can’t wait to invite a lot of people we love and admire as guests onto our show.”
In the beginning, Gabriel and Huyton will be doing one Rez Radio show each month, but they plan on increasing the frequency as they get dialed in.
Local Matters airs at 9 a.m. on Saturdays. To hear past episodes, check out the “Local Matters” page at cfuz.ca.