Tchadas Leo has been in broadcasting since he was 12. It all got started with his experience on Shaw TV in Campbell River where he grew up.
Leo is from the Homalco First Nation near Bute Inlet. He also has heritage from the Stillaguamish tribe in Washington. On his mother’s side, Leo is Peruvian and Argentinian. Leo now lives in Ladysmith.
On his new podcast, Our Native Land, Leo shares stories from his life, interviews guests, and shares weekly Indigenous news stories.
“It’s what I’m most comfortable with,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I had a guest on every episode, and that I’m sharing stories, information, ideas, and professions from all walks of life.”
Leo’s return to broadcast has been both fun and fulfilling for him so far.
“I find it very satisfying that I’m able to dig into my culture and my heritage, and at the same time use my broadcasting skills from the past. It makes me passionate about the whole project,” he said.
The show started local, but Leo says the goal is to grow the show to an international level and focus on anything Indigenous around the world.
Leo co-created the show with Rob Germain, and the show is produced by Kyle Lancaster.
COVID-19 has posed a bit of a challenge because it has prevented Leo from conducting in person interviews.
“We’re doing as many as we can through Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime. Between that and phone calls is how we’ve been interviewing right now,” he said.
“Once COVID has passed I’ll have guests. We have it set up for guests, so we’ll be able to interact and really get to know each other.”
So far, the response to Our Native Land has been ‘overwhelming’. Leo said that people have come forward offering to contribute segments to the show. He’s also received a deluge of emails suggesting guests for future episodes.
“The response has been quite amazing,” Leo said.
New episodes of Our Native Land come out every Monday. The show is available online wherever you get your podcasts.