Native Circles

In this powerful conversation, Dr. Christine Ami shares her journey of navigating the cultural arts program and collaborating on the T'áá wołí bee exhibit at Diné College during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the lens of Wołí Bee, a Diné concept of perseverance, she discusses how Indigenous cultural arts undergirds resilience, community connection, and healing. Christine explores the challenges of maintaining educational programs, supporting students, and preserving cultural practices while facing personal grief and professional transitions during an unprecedented global crisis.Dr. Christine Ami is a Diné scholar, weaver, and educator at Diné College, specializing in cultural arts and Indigenous studies. With expertise in grant management, curriculum development, and Indigenous animal studies, she has dedicated her career to preserving and promoting Indigenous cultural practices. Christine is an NEH award recipient and continues to research and teach about the intersections of Indigenous culture, education, and community resilience.Christine expresses appreciation for the many artists, partners, and supporters who made the T'áá wołí bee (“Permanent”) Exhibit possible.Resources:Christine Marie Ami, "Wołí bee: Diné Cultural Arts Amid Pandemics," in COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, eds. Farina King and Wade Davies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).Christine M. Ami websiteChristine M. Ami, "Meet Our Faculty," School of Business and Social Science, Diné College websiteChristine Ami, "Between the Loom and the Laptop: A Diné Sabbatical," Tribal College Journal (Summer 2025), tribalcollegejournal.org/between-the-loom-and-the-laptop-a-tribal-college-faculty-sabbatical/.Christine Ami, "'When Waters Rise and Rocks Speak': An Analysis of Indigenous Research Credential Theft by an Ally,” Wicazo Sa Review. 34, 2 (2022), muse.jhu.edu/issue/48824.Christine Ami, "Politics of Distrust: The Navajo Nation's use of propaganda devices to recruit participants for COVID-19 trial vaccine," Indian Country Today (2020), https://ictnews.org/opinion/politics-of-distrust-the-navajo-nations-use-of-propaganda-devices-to-recruit-participants-for-covid-19-trial-vaccine/.Christine Ami, "Review Essay: The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature (Esther G. Belin, Jeff Berglund, Connie A. Jacobs, Anthony Webster, and Sherwin Bitsui, eds.)," Transmotion 8, 1 (2022): 209-217, https://doi.org/10.22024/UniKent/03/tm.1064.Christine Ami, "Playing Indian: Internal Colonization Seated at the Navajo Loom," Navajo Cultural Arts Program Blog (2020), https://lib.dinecollege.edu/NCAP_Blog/02-2020.“T'áá awołí bee: Best of Show Panel,” T'áá awołí bee: Navajo Contemporary Arts Conversation Series, Navajo Cultural Arts Program, YouTube video (posted 2021)

In this episode, Dr. Farina King is joined by Dr. Gavin A. Healey, a contributing author of COVID-19 in Indian Country and Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Applied Indigenous Studies at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Gavin highlights how Indigenous graffiti and muralism emerged as vital tools of community care and resistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from his chapter, “Native American Graffiti and Aerosol Muralism of the Pandemic,” Gavin addresses works by artists such as Ivan Lee (Diné), whose mural of a masked Diné woman sends a COVID-19 warning, and Jemez Pueblo artist Jaque Fragua, whose pieces amplify Indigenous sovereignty and survival. Photographer Kayla Jackson's documentation of pandemic murals adds another dimension to the discussion. Gavin reflects on how these public art forms became acts of visual sovereignty, cultural expression, and collective healing in Indian Country, "demistifying" aerosol muralism.Gavin A. Healey holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona with an emphasis in Native Art and public art. His expertise in community-based participatory research and mixed method design aspires to provide agency to individual and community voices with a focus on Native graffiti muralism. This work with collaborators focuses on Native art and Native public art as dialectics of place-making and Native sovereignty. Coupled with his universities' duties, Gavin has spent his career working with Native artists and communities, urban and reservation, as an artist assistant on public murals, curator of museum and gallery exhibitions, and a conscientious ally in community wellbeing. His doctoral research produced the first empirical data collected on Native public art through public surveying. He is working on a forthcoming edited volume with Indigenous artists.Resources:Gavin A. Healey, “Native American Graffiti and Aerosol Muralism of the Pandemic: Alternative Messaging of Community Well-Being,” in COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, eds. Farina King and Wade Davies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).Gavin Alexander Healey, NAU Directory WebpageMural by Navajo graffiti artist, Ivan Lee in COVID-19 archive.Jaque Fragua (Jemez Pueblo) featured on SODO Track ArtistsKayla Jackson photography, "Creative Cowboy."NAU Applied Indigenous StudiesHoka Skenandore (Oneida, Oglala Lakota, and Luiseno) artist website 

In this episode of Native Circles, Dr. Farina King, co-editor of COVID-19 in Indian Country, talks with co-authors Dr. Amoneeta Beckstein and Dr. Tapati Dutta about their chapter, exploring the lived experiences of eight Native American college students during the pandemic. Drawing from semi-structured interviews, the chapter centers the students' voices as they navigate the challenges of COVID-19—illuminating themes of historical trauma, mental health struggles, and educational disruptions rooted in colonial legacies. Yet, amid these hardships, stories of resilience or "reziliency," cultural strength, and community support arise. In this conversation, the authors reflect on their perspectives as researchers and underscore the students' expressions of survivance, collectivistic coping, and cultural healing.Dr. Beckstein is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Fort Lewis College whose work focuses on multicultural counseling, mindfulness, and decolonizing psychology to promote healing for BIPOC and Indigenous communities. He previously directed the Counseling Center at Webster University Thailand and brings a creative approach to mental health, including poetry and advocacy. Dr. Dutta is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Fort Lewis College with over 25 years of experience in global health, focusing on health disparities and community-based interventions for marginalized populations. She is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist and a TEDx speaker recognized for her work in HIV prevention and compassionate public health education.Resources:Amoneeta Beckstein and Tapati Dutta, "Lived Experiences of Native American College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic," in COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, eds. Farina King and Wade Davies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), 121-143.Amoneeta Beckstein professional profile website; and Amoneeta's ResearchgateTEDx Talk "Life Lessons via Cannibals, Sex Workers & Marginalized People," TEDx Indianapolis Women.Undergraduate Research Talk "The Radical Potential of Community Research by Tapati Dutta." "Translation and assessment of encultured meaning of the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support in Diné bizaad (Navajo) using community-based participatory action research methods.""Students' COVID-19 vaccine behaviors, intentions, and beliefs at a US Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution (NASNTI).""College leadership decisions and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: an elite interview study."Spotlight on COVID-19: An Interview with Dr. Tapati Dutta, MCHES®, by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing Evolution of storytelling pedagogy in global health course at a U.S. Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution from Fall 2019 to Spring 2023 Fort Lewis College's Virtual International Internships

In this episode, co-editor Dr. Farina King of COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic speaks with contributing author Dr. Shaina A. Nez about her chapter, “COVID-19 Memory Dreamscapes.” A Diné writer from Lukachukai, Arizona, Shaina reflects on the meanings of her dreams and memories during the pandemic while navigating the hardships of single motherhood and a child custody battle. Drawing from her deep connection to land and family, she explores how her dreamscapes became a source of guidance and resilience. Shaina, who holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts and a doctorate in Justice Studies from Arizona State University, shares how writing helped her reclaim her voice during a time of uncertainty and upheaval. This episode features a powerful conversation on memory, survival, and Indigenous storytelling. According to Diné clans, Shaina is ‘Áshįįhi born for Táchii'nii, with Ta'neeszahnii as her maternal grandfather's clan and Kin łichii'nii as her paternal grandfather's clan. She is the author of various publications, and her research also focuses on the experiences of emerging BIWOC authors in MFA creative nonfiction programs. She formerly taught creative writing at Diné College and continues to explore themes of memory, identity, and Indigenous storytelling in her work. Her writing often delves into personal and collective narratives, highlighting the resilience of Native communities.Resources:Special edition of Diné Poetics available on the Poetry Magazine websitePre-order Beyond the Glittering World: An Anthology of Indigenous Feminisms and Futurisms (forthcoming November 2025 to be published by Torrey House Press), eds. Kinsale Drake, Stacie Shannon Denetsosie, Darcie Little Badger, et. al.Shaina A. Nez, "This Land, Our Love," Green Linden Press (2022)"10 Questions for Shaina A. Nez," The Massachusetts Review, March 5, 2021Order COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) edited by Farina King and Wade Davies that includes Shaina A. Nez's chapter "COVID-19 Memory Dreamscapes" 

In this episode of Native Circles, Eva Bighorse and Dr. Farina King talk with Dr. Yvette Brown-Shirley, a Diné neurologist specializing in sports neurology and brain injury medicine at Barrow Neurological Institute. Dr. Brown-Shirley shares her experiences of becoming a neurologist and how her identity as a Diné woman healer informs her approach to medicine. She discusses the urgent need to address health inequities affecting Native communities, such as the lack of access to neurological care for Native American student-athletes facing risks of brain injuries. With a deep commitment to community engagement, she offers insights on fostering well-being and advocating for better recognition of brain health disparities.Additional Resources:Yvette Brown-Shirley, MD, Barrow Neurological Institute"Here Before, Hear Now Podcast: Dr. Yvette Brown-Shirley," Arizona's Family (3TV/CBS 5), March 18, 2024Boderra Joe, "Elevating neurological care: Diné female sports neurologist bringing light to brain health," Navajo Times, January 25, 2024.

Christine Armer is a Cherokee elder and language instructor of nearly 20 years at the University of Oklahoma who grew up in a Cherokee community where she wasn't introduced to the English language until she attended grade school. This is the first of a new Native Circles podcast series featuring Native Language Protectors and Carriers, including Mrs. Armer. Listen to her story of teaching Cherokee language and why learning Native American languages at all levels of education is crucial. Dr. Farina King narrates this episode highlighting her distinguished colleague.Learn more about the efforts to protect and support the study of Native American languages (and all languages) at the University of Oklahoma through the following petitions:Oppose the Removal of Foreign Language Gen Ed requirements at the University of OklahomaKeep Indigenous Languages Alive at OUFor more information about the Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair, see the hyperlink.Learn more about Native American Languages at the University of Oklahoma.See Christine Armer cited in "Native American, other languages in jeopardy at OU," The Norman Transcript, November 21, 2024.

In this Native Circles episode, Eva Bighorse and Dr. Farina King sit down with Violet Duncan, an award-winning author, dancer, and storyteller from the Plains Cree of the Kehewin Cree Nation and of Taino descent. Together, they trace Violet's path as a creative force, diving into the themes of her National Book Award-nominated youth novel, Buffalo Dreamer (published by Nancy Paulsen Books in 2024), and her upcoming children's book, "Life is a Dance." The conversation touches on the impacts of the Indian residential school system, the power of storytelling in mental health and community healing, and the joys and challenges of family life. Violet's reflections on promoting Indigenous storytelling and arts through her work with Young Warriors, dedicated to cultivating spaces for Indigenous performance and practices, offer a powerful reminder of the resilience and vibrancy of Indigenous peoples.Recommended Resources:Violet Duncan, official websiteViolent Duncan, About the Author webpage on Penguin Random HouseBuffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan webpage on Penguin Random House"Buffalo Dreamer: An Interview with Author Violet Duncan [S7 Ep. 228]," Brave New Teaching podcast, October 10, 2024I Am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer Reviewed by Debbie Reese, Social Justice Books"Violet Duncan- I Am Native," interview on KidLit in Color"Guest Post: Recognizing Our Past, Awakening Our Future by Violet Duncan (Buffalo Dreamer)," School Library Journal, September 4, 2024Violet Duncan on Instagram @violetduncan

In this episode, Dr. Davina Two Bears and Dr. Farina King are joined by Dr. Kaitlin Reed (Yurok/Hupa/Oneida) to discuss her groundbreaking first book, Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California, published in 2023 by the University of Washington Press.Dr. Reed is an Associate Professor of Native American Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, where she serves as the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Faculty Fellow and Co-Director of the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab & Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute. They talk with Dr. Reed about the histories of resource extraction and settler colonialism in California and examine the far-reaching impacts of the cannabis industry on Native Nations in northern California.In addition to unpacking the themes of Settler Cannabis, this episode offers an introduction to Dr. Reed's academic journey and her work in advancing food sovereignty and Indigenous ecological knowledge. This discussion features the intersections of environmental justice, sovereignty, and colonial legacies.Recommended Resources:Dr. Kaitlin Reed, Native American Studies, Cal Poly Humboldt webpageOrder Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California (University of Washington Press, 2023)Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute websiteDr. Kaitlin Reed presents on "From Gold Rush to Green Rush: Settler Colonialism & Natural Resources in Northern California" video recording (posted November 2023)"Cal Poly Humboldt faculty member Kaitlin Reed wins 2024 award," the Labriola Center American Indian National Book Award

This episode features Dr. Kelly Berry, an enrolled citizen of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Plains Apache) with affiliations to the Kiowa and Choctaw Nations. Dr. Berry is a Mellon Impact Post-Doctoral Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. His groundbreaking research explores the intersections of eSports, Native American education, and technology, focusing on infusing Indigenous knowledge into classrooms and reimagining the possibilities of gaming through an Indigenous lens.In this episode, Dr. Farina King and Dr. Davina Two Bears discuss Dr. Berry's work with him regarding Indigenizing eSports and game technologies. Dr. Berry shares his vision for education in Indigenous communities, considering how culture, technology, and education come together in innovative ways.Dr. Berry earned a Master's of Public Health from the University of Oklahoma and then a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership from Kansas State University. Before his current position, Dr. Berry contributed as an Indigenous Initiatives Research Associate and curriculum advisor for Kansas State University's Indigenous Education Leadership Certificate Graduate Program. His extensive teaching experience includes faculty appointments at Upper Iowa University, Bacone College, Cameron University, and Comanche Nation College, and he is a certified 5-12 social studies teacher in Oklahoma and Kansas. A past fellow of Harvard University's Management Development Program, he is also a current fellow in the University of Arizona's Native Nations Institute Tribal Professional Governance Program and Arizona State University's Indigenous Peoples Leadership Academy. Dr. Berry serves on the American Educational Research Association Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Special Interest Committee and is a University Council for Educational Administration Barbara L. Jackson Scholar.Resources:Dr. Kelly Berry, bio webpage for Esports and Co-Curriculuar Innovation at the University of OklahomaBerry, Kelly. "eSports in Indian Education: A Case Study." PhD diss., Kansas State University, 2024.Berry, Kelly. "Using that Good Medicine: An Indigenous Autoethnographic Recount of Teaching and Learning with Elders during COVID." In F. King and W. Davies (Eds.) COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic (forthcoming).NAS Mellon Impact Fellowship at University of Oklahoma website

In this episode, Dr. Blaire Morseau joins Dr. Davina Two Bears and Dr. Farina King to discuss her work with Neshnabé (Potawatomi) knowledge systems, focusing on birch bark, language, and archives. Dr. Morseau highlights the significance of Simon Pokagon's nineteenth-century birch bark books, featured in her edited volume As Sacred to Us: Simon Pokagon's Birch Bark Stories in their Contexts. The conversation explores how traditional cultural knowledge and ecological wisdom are preserved and revitalized through these archival works.Dr. Blaire Morseau, a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. Her research spans Indigenous science fiction, traditional ecological knowledge, digital heritage, and Native counter-mapping. Her forthcoming book, Mapping Neshnabé Futurity (May 2025), explores how Native environmental activism and traditional knowledge intersect with Indigenous speculative fiction to reclaim Indigenous spaces in the Great Lakes region.Additional Resources:Blaire Morseau (Topash-Caldwell) websiteBlaire Morseau, Michigan State University directory webpageBlaire Morseau, ed. As Sacred to Us: Simon Pokagon's Birch Bark Stories in Their Contexts (Michigan State University Press, 2023)Blaire Morseau, Mapping Neshnabé Futurity: Celestial Currents of Sovereignty in Potawatomi Skies, Lands, and Waters (University of Arizona Press, 2025)

Ah-in-nist, also known as Clifford, Sipes is Cheyenne with family ties in both Oklahoma and Montana. His father was the last authorized historian of the Cheyenne People, and a respected Chief and Pipe Carrier. His Mother is a citizen of the Caddo Nation. Ah-in-nist currently resides and works in Oklahoma. He writes and speaks publicly, working most recently on the "Calling Back the Spirits" initiative to "preserve by art and the written word what was previously learned only through the oral recounting of the story of Fort Marion by the descendants" of the warriors and Indigenous people imprisoned there. Ah-in-nist is one of the descendants who supports this work with his relatives. Dr. Farina King and Dr. Davina Two Bears talk with him, in this episode, about the path that led him to this "calling back home."Learn more with these resources:"Calling Back the Spirits," Cassville Democrat article written by Sheila Harris (December 28, 2023)"A look at local sculptor Lew Aytes and the  Calling Back the Spirits Project," written by Adriana Keeton (November 29, 2023)"The Native American warriors whose 'faces' are in museum storage: Robbed of their freedom on the Great Plains, imprisoned and used as models for plaster 'life masks' that forced them to breathe through tiny straws in their NOSTRILS," article written by Sheila Flynn (February 12, 2018)

Co-founders of the Native Circles podcast Sarah Newcomb and Farina King co-host this session introducing Dr. Melanie ("Mel") Fillmore (they/them/she/her) who is urban mixed Hunkpapa, Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota. Mel is an assistant professor of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Their work is an iterative approach to understand the political engagement of Indigenous communities in policy and data. They envision a future of collaborative governance led by Indigenous ancestral wisdom and lived experiences. Melanie was the lead researcher on the 2020 HCR33 Report on Idaho's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP). Their 2024 dissertation, “Redefining Missing in the Third Space of Sovereignty,” considers how US federalism is fundamentally changed in collaborative structures and are created between tribes, states, and the federal institutions, particularly when tribes are leading collaborations on agreements or policy initiatives.  Prior to joining OU, Mel has taught University Foundations and Anthropology courses at Boise State University on social change, political violence, Native American and Indigenous studies, and Indigenous Methodologies. They have worked as a data analyst for the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence to understand the impacts of domestic violence on Indigenous families across Idaho. In this episode, Mel emphasizes the importance of knowing and being "with her ancestors."Resources:Mel Fillmore professional OU webpageHCR33 Report on Idaho's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP)Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence 

Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Ellis talks with co-hosts Davina Two Bears and Farina King about her journey, which led her to writing her first book The Great Power of Small Nations: Indigenous Diplomacy in the Gulf South. She highlights aspects of the book and her research that trace the formation of Native Nations in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Liz is Peewaalia and is an enrolled citizen of the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. She is an associate professor of history at Princeton University, who specializes in early American and Native American history. While her research focuses on the seventeenth and eighteenth-century south, Liz also writes about contemporary Indigenous issues and political movements. She is committed to organizing and fighting for Indigenous self-determination. Resources:Book webpage for The Great Power of Small Nations: Indigenous Diplomacy in the Gulf South (2022)Elizabeth (Liz) Ellis official faculty webpage for the Department of History at Princeton"Sitting down with Elizabeth Ellis, Native American History scholar" (October 9, 2022)"Behind The Research: Elizabeth Ellis Illuminates Native American Histories," Princeton Alumni WeeklyDr. Liz Ellis also collaborates on the Reclaiming Stories Project, the “Unsettled Refuge” working group on Indigenous histories of North American Sanctuary, and the “Indigenous Borderlands of North America” research project.*Please note the following correction from Dr. Liz Ellis: At 7:35 of the episode, Dr. Ellis misspoke when she said that “so half of our nation is Miami, so we're Peoria, Miami, Kaskaskia, and Wea.” She meant to rather say “Peoria, PIANKESHAW, Kaskaskia, and Wea.” Both the Wea and Piankeshaw are historically Miami, but she did not mean to use Miami when she said that.

Dr. Joshua Nelson, a Cherokee Nation citizen scholar, talks with Dr. Farina King about his experiences in Italy and work on a documentary tentatively titled, "Trail of the Thunderbirds." His documentary film project features two Native American Medal of Honor awardees, Ernest Childers and Jack Montgomery of the 45th Infantry Division, known as the "Thunderbirds," during World War II. President's Associates Presidential Professor Dr. Nelson is an associate professor of English and affiliated faculty with Film & Media Studies, Native American Studies, and Women's & Gender Studies at the University of Oklahoma, focusing on American Indian literature and film. He is the author of Progressive Traditions: Identity in Cherokee Literature and Culture, and a co-producer of the PBS documentary Searching for Sequoyah (directed by James Fortier and produced by LeAnne Howe). He is also one of the leading organizers of the Native Crossroads Film Festival and Symposium at OU. He and his wife divide their time between Norman and Park Hill, Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma.Resources:Dr. Joshua Nelson's OU webpageSearching for Sequoyah website- https://searchingforsequoyah.comNative Crossroads Film Festival- http://www.nativecrossroads.orgDemichelis's Iperstoria Interview with Dr. NelsonOklahoma National Guard Museum website- https://www.okngmuseum.comOU in Arezzo

Dr. Kevin Maillard (who has a PhD and JD) shares key insights about his award-winning children's book Fry Bread with co-hosts Dr. Farina King and Dr. Davina Two Bears. Dr. Maillard is Professor of Law at Syracuse University, a contributor to the New York Times and an author of children's literature. He has written for The Atlantic and has provided on-air commentary to ABC News and MSNBC. He is the debut author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, a picture book illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, which won the Sibert Medal and the American Indian Youth Literature Honor. An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, he is based in Manhattan, New York. Additional Resources:Kevin Maillard's websiteDr. Maillard's university webpageFry Bread book websiteAmerican Indians in Children's Literature by Dr. Debbie Reese

In this episode co-hosted by Dr. Davina Two Bears, Eva Bighorse, and Dr. Farina King, Skylar ("Sky") Begay shares insights from his life and work with Conservation, Native representation in new spaces, the Great Bend of the Gila, Save History, Archaeology Southwest, LandBack, and the Conservation Corps (specifically ancestral lands conservation corps). Sky identifies as an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and is also Mandan and Hidatsa. He grew up in the Navajo Nation and in Flagstaff, Arizona. He currently resides in Tucson, Arizona where he works as the Director of Tribal Collaboration in Outreach in Advocacy for Archaeology Southwest. Additional Resources and Links:-Skylar Begay biography webpage on Archaeology Southwest: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/team/skylar-begay/ - Main Respect Great Bend website: https://www.respectgreatbend.org/ - The Respect Great Bend Story Map: https://story.respectgreatbend.org/ - Respect Great Bend linktree: https://linktr.ee/GreatBendOfTheGila - Main Save History Website: https://savehistory.org/ - cyberSW, online archaeological database: https://cybersw.org/ - Another podcast with more detail on the Great Bend of the Gila: https://bit.ly/GreatBendGilapodcast - A recent segment on Phoenix Channel 12 news about the effort of the Great Bend of the Gila: https://bit.ly/PhoenixChannel12GBG - Arizona Conservation Corps: https://azcorps.org/ - Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps: https://ancestrallands.org/

Dr. Davina Two Bears and Eva Bighorse talk with Dr. Farina King about her book, Diné dóó Gáamalii: Navajo Latter-day Experiences in the Twentieth Century that the University Press of Kansas published through the Lyda Conley Series on Trailblazing Indigenous Futures (2023). Diné dóó Gáamalii, which means “Navajo and Mormon” in Diné bizaad (the Navajo language), traces Diné Latter-day Saint experiences in the Southwest Indian Mission, congregations, and church educational programs such as the Indian Student Placement Program, seminaries, and Brigham Young University American Indian services and studies. King shares insights from oral histories and the voices of Diné Latter-day Saints, the development of their communities, and how their affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affected their Diné identity between the 1950s and early 2000s. King's book addresses how Diné Latter-day Saints like her father engaged with a community that faced a flux of challenges and contradictions in the late twentieth century. Diné dóó Gáamalii communities persisted through tense interactions of different Diné, Indigenous, and Mormon peoples.King is the Horizon Chair in Native American Ecology and Culture and Associate Professor of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma (OU), homelands of the Hasinais, or Caddo Nation, and Kirikirʔi:s, or Wichita & Affiliated Tribes. She currently serves as the Interim Department Chair of Native American Studies at OU. She is the author of various publications, including the books The Earth Memory Compass: Diné Landscapes and Education in the Twentieth Century and co-author of Returning Home: Diné Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School. Additional Resources and Links:Diné dóó Gáamalii (University Press of Kansas online book order)Farina King's professional website"Diné Latter-day Saints" blog piece, Times and Seasons"Who Are the Navajo Latter-day Saints?" From the DeskKing, “Diné dóó Gáamalii: Navajo Latter-day Saint Experiences in the Twentieth Century” (Reviewed by Greg Seppi), Dawning of a Brighter DayNative BYU websiteNative American Studies Department, University of Oklahoma

Oliviah Walker (she/her) highlights "healing-centered approaches" to public health based on her work with Indigenous communities in this conversation with co-hosts Eva Bighorse and Davina Two Bears. She also shares insights about impacts of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) on her and her family. Oliviah is a citizen of the Meskwaki Nation and a health and racial equity advocate. She most recently served as the Health Equity Officer for Iowa Health and Human Services and is starting a new role with the State of Minnesota. Oliviah's experience includes roles in tribal, local, and state government. Her interests span the intersections of youth work, institutional change management, policy and advocacy, and workforce development, with a dedicated interest in Indigenous governance and capacity building. She serves on various advisory boards and committees including Meskwaki Inc., University of Iowa's Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the State of Iowa's Justice Advisory Board. She likes to spend free time reading, baking, and foraging. Additional resources:Profile of Missing Person: Rita Janelle Papakee "Meskwaki citizen among Iowa's missing Indigenous women" (2022) RISE Resources Iowa Coalition Against Domestic ViolenceMurdered or Missing Indigenous Persons Office for Victims of Crime State Resources Four Directions Summer Research Program (FDSRP)Native Youth Workers Circle Facebook pageFundamental Requirements for Healthy Youth Development

In this episode, Farina King and Eva Bighorse co-host a conversation with Derek Taira who is an associate professor of history and educational policy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He earned his Ph.D. in history and educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Coming from a long line of public-school teachers, Derek teaches and writes about the histories and politics of education in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. as well as multicultural education. His first book is forthcoming (scheduled to be published by June 2024), which is titled “Forward without Fear: Native Hawaiians and American Education in Territorial Hawaiʻi, 1900-1941,” stemming from the Native Hawaiian phrase of "Imua, Me Ka Hopo Ole." We talk with Derek about the significance of his research, which traces the social and cultural experiences of Kānaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiians, in American schools during the first half of the twentieth century. Derek illuminates how historical awareness helps people to understand the complex ways schools have been both contested sites of conflict and spaces of opportunity for marginalized communities such as Kānaka Maoli. He also considers differences and similarities of diverse Indigenous educational experiences in U.S. schooling systems of settler colonialism.Some additional resources:Indigenous Education Speakers' Series: Derek Taira with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Educational Policy Studies, "Littoral Hawai'i- Situating the American West in Oceania through Hawai'i's History of Education," YouTube video posted November 2, 2022.Derek Taira, "Colonizing the Mind: Hawaiian History, Americanization, and Manual Training in Hawaiʻi's Public Schools, 1913–1940," Teachers College Record 123, issue 8 (2021): 59-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681211048625Derek Taira short biography and description of research in "2019 NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellows," National Academy of Education, https://naeducation.org/2019-naed-spencer-postdoctoral-fellows/."COE Faculty Member is Awarded $45K Grant by Spencer Foundation," April 13, 2018, https://coe.hawaii.edu/edef/news/coe-faculty-member-is-awarded-45k-grant-by-spencer-foundation/.Pre-order Derek Taira's book Forward without Fear: Native Hawaiians and American Education in Territorial Hawai'i, 1900-1941 from the Studies in Pacific Worlds Series of the University of Nebraska Press (June 2024).

Dr. Veronica E. Velarde Tiller shares insights from her extensive work and experience, in this episode with co-hosts Dr. Farina King and Eva Bighorse, recognizing ways that Native Nations thrive. Tiller is a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation. She earned a Ph.D. in American History with a focus on Native American history at the University of New Mexico. She retired after over 40 years as the CEO of Tiller Research, Inc. in Albuquerque. Her life's work in promoting Native American history from Native perspectives has reached a national and international audience through her teaching of Native histories in college, development of educational curriculum, publications, lectures (including at the United Nations), preservation of her Native language with the re-translation of the 1911 Jicarilla Apache Texts under a National Science Foundation grant, and consultation with private and governmental business sectors. She has consulted for films such as A Thousand Voices (2014) on Native Women in New Mexico. She is best known for The Jicarilla Apache Tribe: A History 1846-1970 (1983) and the award-winning Tiller's Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations (three editions), the authoritative reference guide to 567 modern-day Native Nations. In 2017, the City of Albuquerque honored Tiller on the Wall of Fame for Tiller's Guide. Harvard University's American Indian Economic Development Google MAP database uses the economic data that Tiller compiled.Additional resources:Veronica E. Tiller, “History, Indians, and Business: An Apache Story,” in "Career Paths," Perspectives on History 55, no. 6 (September, 2017): 47-48. Vigil, Eden, Asst. Editor, “Interview with Veronica E. Velarde Tiller," in Southwest Talks: in the New Mexico Historical Review Interview Series, NMHR 95, no. 1 (Winter 2020):  95-102.Special Edition of "Les Apaches. Geronimo le rebelle," Et apres, Veronica E. Tiller, “Moi Veronica E. Velarde Tiller, historienne apache” in Historia Grand Angle no. 65 (September-November 2022): 112-117 (magazine in Paris, France).Natalie Rogers, "Saving a language, preserving a culture: New translations of Jicarilla Apache texts," UNM Newsroom, November 30, 2020.Tiller's Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations, Third Edition, edited by Veronica E. Velarde Tiller with preface by LaDonna Harris.https://www.unmpress.com/author/veronica-e-velarde-tiller/

We talk with playwright and attorney, Mary Kathryn Nagle, about what led her to the New York premiere of her play, Manahatta, at the Public Theater, which starts showing on November 16, 2023. Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, shares insights from her work on the play beginning with her time in the Public Theater Emerging Writers Program in 2013. Nagle's play, Manahatta, follows the story of Jane Snake, a Lenape woman who reconnects with her ancestral homeland, Manahatta, after she comes to New York to pursue a career in finances at the brink of the Great Recession hitting in 2008. Nagle emphasizes the significance of understanding Jane's journey as well as those of the Delaware Nation and their ancestors who survived violence and expulsion, which Manahatta illuminates. As we learn about Manahatta, we come to better understand how and why recognizing Indigenous peoples and their connections to their homeland matter.Learn more about Mary Kathryn Nagle and Manahatta through these resources:Mary Kathryn Nagle BioMary Kathryn Nagle, National Indigenous Women's Resource CenterMary Kathryn Nagle, Humans and Nature Bio"Mary Kathryn Nagle changes the story in court and onstage," The New Yorker (April 2021) Manahatta Press ReleasesOrder tickets to Manahatta showings at the Public Theater, Anspacher Theater, November 16 - December 23, 2023

Listen to our conversation with author Lorinda Martinez, getting to know her and her new book Running with Changing Woman (2023) that she wrote especially for young adults. Lorinda works with youth as an educator, and Running with Changing Woman is her first novel that tells the coming-of-age story of a Diné young woman named Samantha who prepares for the Diné womanhood ceremony, Kinaaldá. We discuss the significance of Diné girls and women and Lorinda's contributions to Native American children and youth literature, which is a gift for all readers. Lorinda is Lók'aa' Dine'é (the Reed People Clan) born for Táchii'nii (Red Running into the Water Clan). The Tábąąhí (Water's Edge Clan) are her maternal grandfathers and the Tódích'íí'nii (Bitter Water Clan) are her paternal grandfathers. She lives in the four corners area with her husband, son, and dogs. She was raised in the Navajo Nation areas of Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico and Shonto, Arizona. She attended Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico where she earned her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Education. Learn more about Lorinda and her new book through the following links:Author Lorinda Martinez19 July 2023 Running with Changing Woman Reading (YouTube recording) with author Lorinda MartinezAlexandra Wittenberg, “'Running with Changing Woman' explores kinaaldá and the important role of young Navajo women," Navajo-Hopi Observer, October 3, 2023.You can order Running with Changing Woman through Salina Bookshelf, Inc.: https://salinabookshelf.com/product/runningwithchangingwomanhardcover/

In this episode, we welcome our new co-hosts Eva Bighorse and Dr. Davina Two Bears, who are joining Dr. Farina King. We feature Eva (she/her) who is a 2023 Equity Changemaker with the Center for Health Care Strategies, as she advocates for Native American rights and access to healthcare. Eva is an Indigenous human development advocate with expertise in tribal healthcare relations. She has experience in strategic collaboration; working in multidisciplinary teams specializing in health care delivery and multi-stakeholder engagement; and serving children, youth, and adults living with disabilities in urban and rural areas, both on and off tribal land. She is committed to justice and motivated to advance access to health care and traditional life ways for Indigenous people everywhere, helping members of society live healthier, longer lives. Eva is a citizen of the Cayuga Nation born for the Navajo Nation.Resources and references:Equity Changemakers InstituteAmerican Indian Disability SummitNative American Cancer PreventionArizona American Indian Integrated Care Forum"Native hoop dance coaches preserve history, tradition with new generation" by Lauren KobleyNational Indian Health Board's Help & Healing Podcast: https://www.nihb.org/tribalhealthreform/hope-healing-podcast/ Black Feathers Podcast Disability Conversations for All: https://kucdd.ku.edu/black-feathersState of AZ Division of Developmental Disabilities Eligibility Determination: https://des.az.gov/services/disabilities/developmental-disabilities/determine-eligibility Indian Health Services Basics for health service:  https://www.ihs.gov/newsroom/factsheets/basisforhealthservices/

Dr. Liza Black shares her insights about how depictions of Native Americans in media, such as film and television, affect Indigenous peoples and communities. She underscores the impacts of misrepresentations and lack of understanding Native Americans by drawing connections between her first book Picturing Indians: Native Americans in Film, 1941-1960 (2020) and her manuscript in-progress "How to Get Away with Murder," which is a transnational history of missing and murdered Indigenous women.Dr. Black is a citizen of Cherokee Nation and an Associate Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies and history at Indiana University. She examines the motivations of territory and the intersections of representation and violence. Dr. Black developed a lifelong interest in studying Native identity and struggle and in advocating for protecting Native people from violence and exploitation. In "Native TV in 2021: Putting the I in BIPOC," Dr. Black was featured in Perspectives on History discussing the recent surge of Native-centered television representation in Rutherford Falls and Reservation Dogs. Her work has appeared in more than 20 academic and non-academic outlets.Suggested References:Killers of the Flower Moonhttps://osagenews.org/review-killers-of-the-flower-moon-and-the-strength-of-indigenous-women/https://osagenews.org/martin-scorsese-i-take-this-film-as-an-offering-to-the-osage-people-and-from-our-hearts/Here is the "warrior cry" from William Billeau who is Osage at the Cannes Film Festival screening: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8d1kFBm/Dr. Liza Black's Author Site: https://blackli0.wixsite.com/picturingindians/past-media

This episode features a conversation between Dr. Farina King and Sarah Newcomb about their first two years with the Native Circles Podcast, coming changes, and looking towards the future. Learn more about the podcast at https://nativecirclespodcast.com/. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@nativecircles).

Two Japanese professors, Dr. Kumiko Noguchi and Dr. Yuka Mizutani, share insights from their experiences and work with Native American and Indigenous communities, which underscore the significance of Native American Studies in Japan and throughout the world. Noguchi is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of International Studies at Meiji Gakuin University. She received her Ph.D. in Native American Studies from the University of California, Davis under the Fulbright Graduate Studies Scholarship Program. Her research interests include Native American Critical Theory, California Indian history, Tribal Sovereignty, Community Development, and Indigenous Movement.  Mizutani is a professor at the Center for Global Education and Discovery, and the Graduate Program of International Cooperation Studies, at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. She holds a Ph.D. in Area Studies from Sophia University. As a doctoral student with the JSPS fellowship, she worked on her research at the Department of Ethnic Studies of the University of California, Berkeley. Mizutani was also a Fulbright visiting scholar at the Department of American Studies of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her current research interests include Indigenous people's experiences at geographical margins of the U.S. territory, the representation of Indigenous perspectives in museums and public spaces, and the relationship between Indigenous peoples and research institutions.  Recommended Sources:Publications of Kumiko Noguchi, including Indian and Gaming: American Light and Shadow (Tokyo: Chikuma Publication, 2019); A California Indian History the 'Invisibles' to a Federally Recognized Tribes (Tokyo: Sairyusha Publication, 2015); and “Keeping the Indian Tribal Community Together: Nation Building and Cultural Sovereignty in the Indian Casino Era,” The Japanese Journal of American Studies, no. 31 (2020), 133-156. Esther Avila, "Researching the Tule River Tribe," The Porterville Recorder, November 10, 2011.Rick Elkins, "Tule Tribe history in Japanese," The Porterville Recorder, September 16, 2015.Yuka Mizutani's award-winning book (selected for the Award for Budding Scholar of the Japan Consortium for Area Studies), Integration of the Pascua Yaqui into the United States: Border Crossing and the Federal Recognition (Hokkaido University Press, 2012). Also see Mizutani, "Promotion of Gastronomic Traditions in the Sonoran Desert and Changes in the Representation of the US-Mexico Borderlands," The Japanese Journal of American Studies, no. 33 (2022). Mizutani's recent interviews in English for ʻŌlelo Community Media in Hawaiʻi: http://olelo.granicus.com/player/clip/85731https://olelo.granicus.com/player/clip/85723Shozo Ssaito (斎藤省三), アメリカ先住民 アリゾナ・フェニックス・インディアン学校 (世界人権問題叢書) | Jr.トレナート ロバート.A., Trennert,Robert A.,Jr., 省三, 斎藤 |本 | 通販 | Amazon 

This episode features Dr. Elizabeth Rule and her work with Indigenous DC and guides to Native Lands. She discusses the myth of invisibility surrounding Native American contributions to the history of Washington DC and how it can and should be addressed. Washington, DC, is Native land, but Indigenous peoples are often left out of the national narrative. To redress this myth of invisibility, Dr. Rule's book Indigenous DC highlights the Indigenous people and sites that have been important to the history of Washington, DC and the United States more broadly. Inspired by American University professor Elizabeth Rule's award-winning public history mobile app and decolonizing mapping project, Guide to Indigenous DC, her book is a valuable resource that traces the centrality of Native peoples to the history of the United States.For more information about Dr. Rule's work and the app, please see articles from the Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, and WAMU. Dr. Rule has been interviewed on Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien, Code Switch, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, and more. Details about her book, Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation's Capital (Georgetown University Press, 2023), can be found at https://press.georgetown.edu/Book/Indigenous-DC. Also, check out the Guide to Indigenous Lands: A Digital Mapping Project and Elizabeth Rule's website for more resources and information.

Sasha Maria Suarez shares her thoughts and research with us about expanding what Native activism looks like. Suarez is a direct descendant of the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe and is the second generation from her family to be born and raised as an urban Ojibwe in Minneapolis. She is an assistant professor of history and American Indian studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her work focuses on Ojibwe gender history, Indigenous social movements, and urban Indigenous history. She is currently at work on her first book, Making a Home in the City: White Earth Ojibwe Women and Community Organizing in Twentieth Century Minneapolis. 

Listen to a conversation with Meredith McCoy and Matthew Villeneuve about historical and current strategies that Indigenous people used to repurpose the educational systems for Indigenous well-being. In this episode, we are also joined by a student audience Q&A. Meredith McCoy is an Assistant Professor of American Studies and History at Carleton College. She is of Turtle Mountain Ojibwe descent, and her father, David McCoy, is an enrolled Turtle Mountain citizen. Meredith's research examines how Indigenous families, educators, and community leaders have long repurposed tools of settler colonial educational violence into tools for Indigenous life. Her first book, a history of Indigenous strategizing in federal education funding and policy, is currently under contract with the University of Nebraska Press. Matt Villeneuve (Turtle Mountain Chippewa descent) is Assistant Professor of U.S. History and American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he teaches courses in American Indian History, Native education, and environmental history. His research focuses on Native histories of education and schooling. His current book project, "Instrumental Indians: John Dewey and the Problem of the Frontier, 1884-1959," is an intellectual history of America's most prominent philosopher of education and democracy and his relationship to the anti-democratic nature of federal Indian schooling.Recommended Sources:Meredith L. McCoy and Matthew Villeneuve, "Reconceiving Schooling: Centering Indigenous Experimentation in Indian Education History," History of Education Quarterly 60, no. 4 (November 2020): 487-519."Publications and Digital Projects," Dr. Meredith McCoy website, https://meredithmccoy.com/publications/."Publications," Matt Villeneuve website, https://mattvilleneuvephd.com/publications/.Meredith McCoy's conversation with Roy Taylor on KFAI's IndigeneityRisingMcCoy's Op-Ed in The Hechinger Report

This episode features the series editors, Farina King, Kiara Vigil, and Tai Edwards, of a new university press series related to Native American Studies. The University Press of Kansas is launching The Lyda Conley Series on Trailblazing Indigenous Futures, which King, Vigil, and Edwards highlight. This is one of the first press series named after a Native American woman.Lyda Conley's life and experiences are inspirational as one of the first Native American women known to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which she did in defense of her Indigenous ancestors and people. Her case was also one of the first in which “a plaintiff argued that the burying grounds of Native Americans were entitled to federal protection.” One of Farina King's students, Sarah (Wood) Fite James, brought Lyda Conley to Farina's attention in her class research project, which the Museum of Native American History features on its website.Please contact UPK senior editor David Congdon if you have any questions about the series and want to submit a proposal: dcongdon@ku.edu.Links:Press release posted on October 6, 2022 A video presentation about Lyda Conley by Sarah (Wood) Fite JamesBio of Tai EdwardsKansas Studies Institute webpage: https://www.jccc.edu/about/leadership-governance/faculty/scholarly-research/kansas-studies-institute/UPK Lyda Conley Series on Trailblazing Indigenous Futures webpage: https://kansaspress.ku.edu/search-grid/?series=lyda-conley-series-on-trailblazing-indigenous-futuresVideo Recording of the 29 March 2022 conversation with Sarah Deer, Kiara Vigil, Farina King, and Tai Edwards about the Kansas Open Books with Open Access Publishing and the Future of Native and Indigenous Studies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6X5bgFqD9A4 April 2022 article of "The Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock Project Receives Mellon Monuments Grant": https://www.robinsonpark1929.com/

Ryan Lee highlights his current work with the American Indian Programs and Services (AIPS) and the American Indian Student Association (AISA) at the University of Oklahoma (OU) as well as his excitement for contributing to the available events and his hopes for future growth. Ryan also shares his early journey of growing up both in and beyond the Navajo Nation, including his experiences at Diné College and what led him to the path he is on. Ryan serves as the Coordinator for AIPS at OU. In this role, he serves as the primary advisor for AISA. Ryan is a citizen of the Navajo Nation. He is a graduate of Diné College, the first tribally controlled and accredited collegiate institution in the United States, where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration.Resources:American Indian Student Association at the University of Oklahoma OU American Indian Programs and Services 

Crystal Lepscier talks about how the history of education and racism tied to historically government sanctioned assimilation and similar genocidal practices ties into our traumas and experiences within the institution that is 'school.' This is profound when we think about Racial Battle Fatigue. This term explains the physiological and psychological harm that is a result of long term microaggressions, racism, and intergenerational trauma. This term carries a weight that, when confronted, has the potential to also help us open the doors to understanding and healing, which sets us on a better path to our human selves. Lepscier is an enrolled citizen of the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe and a first line descendant of Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee communities. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA) from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She currently works at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay (UWGB) as the First Nations Student Success Coordinator, supporting all Indigenous students at the institution. Lepscier recently completed her Ed.D. in the First Nations Education Doctorate (FNED) program at UWGB, where she focused her dissertation work on combating Racial Battle Fatigue in the Indigenous student population in higher education.

Ernestine Berry shares parts of her journey seeking the history of her people, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees, and on becoming the founding Director of the UKB John Hair Cultural Center and Museum (JHCCM). Ernestine was pivotal in the establishment of the JHCCM in 2011, which is dedicated to sharing Keetoowah culture and history with the Keetoowah community and the public. She earned a master's degree in education administration from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and a master's degree in museum studies from the University of Oklahoma. Berry focuses on researching and sharing tribal history and culture, growing the tribal archives, and helping revitalize the Keetoowah language. On this episode we are also joined by guest co-host, Evelyn Castro Cox. Evelyn is CHamoru (also known as Chamorro), born on the beautiful island of Guåhan (Guam – island territory of the United States) and now lives in Oklahoma.  You can learn more about her at NativeCirclesPodcast.com. Additional ResourcesJohn Hair Cultural Center and Museum - https://www.ukb-nsn.gov/john-hair-cultural-center-museumNative Nations Center at University of Oklahoma - https://www.ou.edu/nativenationscenterTHPO with Sheila Bird (Podcast) - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1922460

Teagan Dreyer shares with us her personal experiences and research of Native identity and self-determination within reclaimed boarding schools. Teagan is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in her second year of the History PhD program at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She studies the experiences of Native American students in federal and tribally-run boarding schools post-World War II. In her research Teagan has focused on the experiences of students in Oklahoma but is also concerned with schools around the country. This research has led Teagan to study the implications of changing federal policies on boarding schools and tribal self-determination through education. Additional Resources:Chilocco Indian School History Project through Oklahoma State University - https://chilocco.library.okstate.edu/historyGraphic novel on Chilocco Indian School - https://chilocco.library.okstate.edu/graphic-novelChilocco Indian School Documentary - https://chilocco.library.okstate.edu/documentaryNational Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition - https://boardingschoolhealing.org/Carlisle Indian School Project - https://carlisleindianschoolproject.com/Returning Home: Diné Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School co-authored by Farina King, Michael P. Taylor, and James R. Swensen - https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/returning-home

Dr. Michael Kaulana Ing shares with us Hawaiian philosophy as well as what it means to be Kanaka/Hawaiian living away from Hawai'i. He also shares his experiences and knowledge with Philosophy and Religious studies and the need for Indigenous thinking in Philosophy Departments.Michael Kaulana Ing was raised by the ʻāina (land) of Mānoa on the island of Oʻahu. He currently resides on the land of the Miami, Delaware, Potawatomi, and Shawnee where he is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University. He completed his PhD in 2011 at Harvard University, where he studied Chinese thought. More recently, he has been working on ʻike Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian thought) and bringing it into conversation with other philosophical traditions.Resources:Information about Dr. Michael Ing and his publications can be found on his faculty page at Indiana University here:  https://religiousstudies.indiana.edu/about/faculty/ing-michael.html.Dr. Michael Ing's article titled: Ka Hulikanaka a me Ka Hoʻokūʻonoʻono: Davida Malo and Richard Armstrong on Being Human and Living Well can be found in the Journal of World Philosophies here: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp/article/view/5473.To learn more about Hawaiian culture, language and stories please visit https://ulukau.org/.

Jennifer Frazee shares her experiences with teaching history and living history, as well as why it is important to continue for future generations. Jennifer pursued a degree in history to be able to care for the histories of her families, and then she found a calling to preserve the histories of others as well. She graduated with a Masters in American Studies at Northeastern State University and worked on the educational and living history programming at Hunter's Home in Park Hill before taking the position of director at the Fort Gibson Oklahoma Historic Site in 2021.We are also joined by a guest co-host, Rachael Cassidy. Rachael is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at the University of New Mexico. Her public history background includes developing original educational programming in consultation with Indigenous community members for the the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C., and for the American Indian Area at the Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site in Colorado Springs, CO. Her dissertation researches the social history of Native residents of Washington, D.C., tracing Indigenous  Washingtonians from the 1830s through the 1960s and celebrating their diverse stories and contributions. Her work demonstrates that Native people have had a consistent presence in the U.S. capital city based on kinship networks and community service. Additionally, Rachael is also involved in oral history, educational film production, publishing and editorial work.ResourcesAASLH - https://aaslh.org/Fort Gibson Historic Site - https://www.okhistory.org/sites/fortgibsonHunter's Home - https://www.okhistory.org/sites/huntershomeBook titled: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the UNITED STATES by Roxanne Dunbar-OrtizLink: Click HereBook titled: Silencing the Past by Michel-Rolph TrouillotLink: Click Here

Join us as we speak with Dr. John Little, a Standing Rock Dakota, about his research, work, and various projects which support Native Americans. Dr. John Little is currently the Director of Native Recruitment and Alumni Engagement at the University of South Dakota. He earned his Ph.D. in History at the University of Minnesota. His dissertation is titled, "Vietnam Akíčita: Lakota And Dakota Military Tradition In The Twentieth Century," which examines Native American Vietnam War veteran and military experiences. He has taught in Native American Studies, Leadership and Sustainability, and History. He has also developed a variety of student success and retention programs and developed national and statewide recruitment networks for students. He was a past director of the Indian University of North America, a Native American college readiness program for high school graduates at the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. His interests are broad but include history, Native student success and retention, leadership, education, Native Studies, Lakota and Dakota language, and film. He has co-directed a feature length award winning film, titled More Than A Word, and several other short pieces. His film work has supported the movement to change the name of the Washington national football team mascot, emphasizing issues about Native American-themed mascots and cultural appropriation.

A conversation about San Carlos Apache history with Marcus Macktima, a San Carlos Apache and Scholar. He received a BA in History with a minor in Native American Studies in 2015; and his MA in Native American Studies in 2018 at the University of Oklahoma. Marcus is a doctoral candidate in the Oklahoma University History Department. His dissertation is tentatively titled “Issues of Forced Political Identities: The San Carlos Apache Peoples.”

Dr. Bridget Groat is currently an assistant professor in the Native American and Indigenous Studies and history departments at Fort Lewis College. She is originally from Naknek, Alaska, which is a village located in the Bristol Bay region. She is Inupiaq, Alutiiq, Yup'ik, and Dena'ina. Her research focuses on salmon, Alaska Natives, food sovereignty, land and water, environmental history, Indigenous women, and Indigenous people. Resources and ways to support:United Tribes of Bristol Bay - www.utbb.comPatagonia - www.patagonia.comTrout Unlimited - www.tu.org

Dr. Candessa Tehee is a Cherokee Nation citizen who earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma. She is also an accomplished artist who was recognized as a Cherokee National Treasure for fingerweaving in 2019. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Cherokee Heritage Center, as the Manager of the Cherokee Language Program, and worked in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction at the Cherokee Nation Immersion Charter School. She joined the faculty of Northeastern State University in Fall 2016 as a professor in the Department of Cherokee and Indigenous Studies. She currently serves as the Coordinator for the Cherokee Cultural Studies and Cherokee Education degree programs. She is the District 2 Tribal Councilor of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council.See Candessa Tehee, "ᎪᎩ ᎤᏗᏞᎩ ᏗᏛᎪᏗ ᎾᏂᏪᏍᎬ ᎶᎶ: You can hear locusts in the heat of the summer," in Allotment Stories: Indigenous Land Relations under Settler Siege (2021) edited by Daniel Heath Justice and Jean M. O'Brien. Find the book at the following link: https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/allotment-stories

Samuel Villarreal Catanach is from and grew up in P'osuwaegeh Owingeh (the Pueblo of Pojoaque). He serves as the director of the Pueblo's Tewa Language Department. Samuel's goal is to give back to his community while continually defining and strengthening his identity and role as a Pueblo person. In this episode he shares his passion and personal experiences with language revitalization within the process of decolonization, why it matters for all Indigenous peoples to learn and use our languages and histories, the challenges within the field of language revitalization, and some uplifting observations that he has had during his time in this line of work.Resources: First Peoples' Cultural Council – fpcc.ca  Where Are Your Keys – whereareyourkeys.orgThe Language Warrior's Manifesto: How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds by Anton TreuerHow to Keep Your Language Alive: A Commonsense Approach to One-on-One Language Learning by Leanne HintonThe Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization by Leanne Hinton (Editor), Leena Huss (Editor), and Gerald Roche (Editor).Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a Foreign Language by Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Davina Two Bears, a  Diné (Navajo) scholar from Diné Bikéyah (Navajo land) of Northern Arizona. Two Bears is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Postdoctoral Fellow at Swarthmore College. She shares with us her knowledge and research of the Old Leupp Boarding school, a federal American Indian boarding school on the Navajo reservation. She emphasizes the survivance and resistance of Diné youth and people.Dr. Two Bears has volunteered as a DJ playing Native American traditional and contemporary music, which you can learn more about at https://www.dublab.com/djs/davina-two-bears.You can watch some of Dr. Two Bears's presentations via the following links:"Shimásání Dóó Shicheii Bi'ólta' - My Grandmother's and Grandfather's School," Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, posted September 3, 2020."Researching My Heritage Diné Navajo Survivance / The Old Leupp Boarding School with Davina Two Bears," School for Advanced Research, November 6, 2019.

In this episode, we feature the book Returning Home: Diné Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School.  We speak with the authors Dr. Farina King, Dr. Michael P. Taylor, and Dr. James Swensen, who share their thoughts and experiences from working on the book and with the Diné (Navajo) people. Returning Home works to recover the lived experiences of Native American boarding school students through creative works, student oral histories, and scholarly collaboration. The book reveals a longing for cultural connection and demonstrates cultural resilience. Despite the initial Intermountain Indian School agenda to send Diné students away and permanently relocate them elsewhere, Diné student artists and writers returned home through their creative works by evoking senses of Diné Bikéyah (Navajo land) and the kinship that defined home for them.You can order the book through the University of Arizona Press at https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/returning-home. Here are some recent related stories:Jon Reed's article, "Native activists hope for probe of Utah boarding school," AP, August 14, 2021."‘Some Lost Their Lives, Some Found Their Lives': Remembering The Intermountain Indian School," KUER 90.1, August 6, 2021.

Historian Midge Dellinger is a Muscogee citizen and oral historian for the Muscogee Nation. At the core of her work as an Indigenous historian, Midge advocates for an authentic remembrance of Indigenous ancestors.  Her work focuses on the need for a revised and expanded rendering of America's long-standing hegemonic narrative concerning Indigenous and U.S. histories. Midge is currently engaged in projects that shed light on the disconnects between Indigenous histories/peoples and public memory.Reference links include: "Names to faces: Uncovering The University of Tulsa's Indigenous history" (April 2021), https://artsandsciences.utulsa.edu/turc-stevens-presbyterian-school-indians/"Muscogee (Creek) Nation National Library and Archives receives grant" (January 2021)

Alaina E. Roberts discusses the intersection of Black and Native American life from the Civil War to the modern day. She talks about her personal family history, Black and Native history in the West, slavery in the Five Tribes (the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole Nations), and her book - I've Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land. Alaina E. Roberts is an award-winning historian currently working as Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Roberts holds a Doctorate in History from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Arts in History, with honors, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.Linkshttps://alainaeroberts.com/https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/09/us/tulsa-massacre-native-history-alaina-roberts/index.htmlhttps://time.com/5954759/slavery-in-indian-territory/ https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephvlee/seminole-oklahoma-black-freedmen-vaccines

Samantha Benn-Duke, PhD, has been a public educator for more than 30 years, serving 17 of those years in public classrooms and 7 years as an administrator. She was named the 2017 Oklahoma Indian Educator of the Year by the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education. She also served as the president of the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education and was the first Gaylord-McCasland Teacher Fellow for the Oklahoma Hall of Fame Museum. Samantha's research and passion include advocating for Native American and other minority children and more effectively meeting their learning needs. 

Join us for our conversation with oral historian and ethnographer Ryan Morini as we discuss the importance of oral history and what drew him to it. Morini received his BA and MA in Comparative Literature from Penn State University, and his PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Florida. His main research focus is on heritage politics and social memory among Newene (Western Shoshones) of central and eastern Nevada. Links related to episode: ·  Noowuh Knowledge Center - a Newe-run cultural center based out of Elko that is doing great work and that people should support. (https://www.noowuhkc.org/)·  Great Basin Indian Archives was assembled by Newe oral historian Norm Cavanaugh, and it includes scans of archival documents as well as a fairly extensive collection of oral histories with Western Shoshone, Goshute, and Paiute elders. (https://www.gbcnv.edu/gbia/)·  Brief YouTube previews of Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain (https://youtu.be/jiDxPSg4KZs) ·  To Protect Mother Earth (https://youtu.be/_hzbFGISYVQ). ·  Was She Murdered?: "Jailed Girl Driver, 13 Hangs Self" by Marion Miles (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095KYLFJC/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1). 

Join us for our conversation with guest Marsha Small, who is Tsististas (Northern Cheyenne), as she speaks to us about the unmarked graves of children at boarding schools across the nation. She discusses her work in identifying the graves with ground-penetrating radar, current projects, and answers questions about how to help Indigenous communities heal.  Links mentioned in this episode:https://boardingschoolhealing.org/http://www.montana.edu/lettersandscience/news/18658/

Dr. Farina King (Diné) and Sarah Newcomb (Tsimshian) introduce their new podcast Native Circles and discuss Indigenous perspectives and experiences of boarding schools from Native Americans and First Nations' communities.