Leya Hale lives in St. Paul. She was born and raised in the Los Angeles area. She is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Navajo. She is a storyteller, a documentary filmmaker, and a producer with Twin Cities PBS (TPT), where she’s been working for the past eight years. Her film, "Bring Her Home," addresses the epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in the United States.
Indigenous women represent one of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations in the world. For centuries, Indigenous Women have been subjected to relentless discrimination and different types of violence based on gender, indigeneity, and class. They are deprived from even basic human rights such as access to health services, education and employment. This Indigenous Rights Radio program depicts Indigenous Women and access to quality health services.
Producer : Dev Kumar Sunuwar and Bia'ni Madsa' Juárez López
Peter Buffett is a Co-President of the NoVo Foundation, which works to foster a transformation from a world of domination and exploitation to one of collaboration and partnership. As part of this work, NoVo supports work in Indigenous communities across North America, including community-led programs that center Indigenous girls and women. Suzanne Benally (Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa) is a leader in U.S. Indigenous rights advocacy, and serves as the Executive Director of Cultural Survival.
Can traditional knowledge from Indigenous communities provide us with answers to fighting climate change? We speak with Andrea Carmen (Yaqui), Executive Director of International Indian Treaty Council. She speaks about how Indigenous women are very strong voices in the work for the protection of the environment, through their role as food producers, knowledge holders, and the first teachers of children.
What is the role of Indigenous Peoples in the current climate crisis? What responsibility do Indigenous Peoples feel towards Mother Earth today? Listen to three Indigenous women leaders give their perspectives on their feeling of the interconnection between all living things and our planet in the face of climate change, and what they feel should be done with that knowledge.
Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough (Innuit, Alaska, USA) discusses her early engagement in the politics of Indigenous Peoples land rights, and shares her insight into why the defense of land merits extra international legal attention. She urges leaders to have optimism, and take “the long view” approach to making progress in the protection of Indigenous rights.
Nancy Bordeaux (Sicangu Lakota) from South Dakota shares her work in domestic violence and sexual assault and gives advice on how to make a change. She speaks about historical trauma and its effects on Native American peoples today. Nancy works with women who are victims of domestic violence and human trafficking and hopes to lessen the economic and mental health disparities in Indigenous women. We caught up with Nancy at the UNPFII 2015.