Recovery, Grief and More with Native Calgarian
Recovery, Grief and More with Native Calgarian

Voices In Recovery Podcast

A candid conversation between David Lewry and Michelle Robinson centres on grief, colonial harm, racism and the limits of traditional recovery spaces. They share personal experiences and community work that suggest different paths to healing, rooted in Indigenous practice, autonomy and honest emotion.

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1:30:05•13 Aug 2026

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Recovery, Grief and Colonial Reality with Native Calgarian

Episode Overview

Recovery is tied to addressing unresolved grief, especially grief rooted in colonial violence and spiritual harm.
Mainstream recovery spaces can reproduce racism, Christian colonialism and gaslighting, leaving Indigenous people feeling unsafe.
Tone policing shuts down meaningful dialogue; anger from marginalised people should be treated as valid information, not a problem to fix.
Internalised ableism and racism affect how people see their own pain and identities, and need active deconstruction as part of healing.
Alternative communities such as grief circles, book clubs and queer‑affirming spaces can offer safer, more honest support than traditional rooms.

“"You can't talk about unresolved grief if you can't talk about it at all."”

What drives someone to seek a life that heals both addiction and long‑buried pain? This episode of Voices In Recovery brings together host David Lewry and recurring guest Michelle Robinson of the Native Calgarian Podcast for a raw, wide‑ranging chat about recovery, grief and living under colonial systems.

You’ll hear them talk about the Indigenous‑led grief circles they co‑facilitate, created because, as Michelle puts it, "you can't talk about unresolved grief if you can't talk about it at all." These circles give Indigenous and non‑Indigenous people space to speak about colonial violence, spiritual harm from Christianity, and the way mainstream recovery rooms can replay residential school dynamics and gaslighting.

The conversation moves through anti‑racism, police brutality, and the everyday racism Michelle encounters when sharing videos of Indigenous people harmed by police, including the knee‑jerk reaction of "well, what did they do?" They link these attitudes to tone policing, where anger from marginalised people is dismissed instead of understood as a response to real harm. Recovery here isn’t just about abstaining from substances; it’s about unpacking ableism, internalised racism, spiritual trauma and the pressure to conform to colonial norms.

David reflects on his own journey out of church‑based shame and closeted queerness, offering a different kind of hope: "Anger is a gift" when it pushes you to question systems that made you sick. There’s humour threaded through the heaviness, from joking about "capitalist hellscapes" to laughing at right‑wing outrage over pop culture. They close by talking about joy, autonomy in parenting, and finding healthier communities through book clubs, queer‑affirming spaces and grief work.

If you’ve ever felt unsafe or silenced in traditional recovery settings, this conversation might nudge you to ask: what kind of community would actually help you heal?

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