Chad Valdez (Diné) is a writer currently residing in Denver, CO, and working as a bookseller. He holds a Master's degree in Fine Arts in Fiction with a minor in Native American studies from New Mexico State University where he was the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. He has taught undergraduate courses in English and Creative Writing where he was able to share his love of Indigenous storytelling and understanding of epistemology. His writing has appeared in Windward Review, CBR.com among other outlets. This is Chads audio story called 'Split Decision'.
Press freedom is of major concern to Indigenous journalists. They are seeking this freedom so that they can report freely in their communities and their local and national governments. When Indigenous Peoples are facing injustices, it is Indigenous media and journalists who are at the frontlines to tell their stories, but many Indigenous journalists are facing obstacles with regard to free press in their communities. On this World Press Freedom Day, Francine Compton, Associate Director of the Native American Journalists Association speaks to Cultural Survival.
Demetrius Johnson (Diné) is a #LandBack Organizer at Rapid City, South Dakota-based nonprofit NDN Collective. Originally from Tółaní, Ganado, Arizona, Johnson began community organizing shortly after being elected President of Kiva Club around the disastrous Gold King Mine spill that affected his people in 2015. He is also a long-standing lead organizer for The Red Nation, a coalition of Native and non-Native activists, educators, students, and community organizers based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, advocating Native liberation.
In this podcast, we speak to Craige Beckett from Indigenous Youth Xchange who tells us about a new project that aims to teach the youth alternative skills to grow their own food.
Produced by Shaldon Ferris (Khoisan)
Voices: Craige Beckett (San)
Music: "LIBRES Y VIVAS" by MARE ADVETENCIA, used with permission.
"Burn your village to the ground", by The Halluci Nation, used with permission.
In South Africa today, many Indigenous peoples are looking for alternatives to medicine prescribed by a doctor.
In this interview by Valley FM, community radio in Worcester in The Western Cape – Catherine Wiese speaks to Indigenous Knowledge Holders John Roelfse and Ivander Staedler, on the use of herbs vs modern medicine.
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.
Daunnette Moniz-Reyome, a proud member of the UmoⁿhoⁿTribe in Nebraska, is turning 19 this year. She began modeling at age 13, appearing in multiple spreads and videos by Teen Vogue, which opened up the world of media attention to her. Despite her passion for the modeling and entertainment industries, Moniz-Reyome struggled to find Native American models to look up to. So, she decided to become that model for other Native American youth.
Produced by Shaldon Ferris (Khoisan)
Interviewee: Daunnette Moniz-Reyome (Umoⁿhoⁿ)
Image: Daunnette on set
Tanka bars are probably the most recognizable Native American food products in the U.S.. In this radio program, Dawn Sherman, CEO of Native American Natural Foods, takes us through the Tanka's history, past challenges, as well as present day aspirations.
Producer: Shaldon Ferris (Khoisan)
Interviewee: Dawn Sherman (Lakota, Shawnee, Delaware)
Music : "Saami Drum" by Tyler, used with permission
"Burn your village to the ground" by A Tribe called Red, used with permission.
The Wampanoag Peoples have lived in the region of what is now southeastern Massachusetts for more than 12,000 years. The year 2020 represents 400 years since colonizers voyaged on the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony as settlers on Native land. This anniversary is a time of reckoning with that history of violence, dispossession, removal. The story of Plymouth Colony cannot be told without the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples who were here as that ship arrived and who still remain.
As the son of Pat Vegas - legendary founder of Native American, Billboard Top 100-charting band REDBONE - music has always been at the forefront of PJ’s life. PJ is proud to be one of the first Native American RnB singers to be recognized in the industry by MTV, having won the Video Music Award for “Best Video With a Message” in 2017, and since then, he has continued to make waves as an indigenous artist.
Clayton Shirt is a counsellor and Traditional native healer at University of Toronto, Canada. He is a pipe carrier, sweat lodge keeper and is a traditional healer since a young age. Cultural Survivals Avex Cojti sat down to interview Mr. Clayton shirt in Canada earlier in 2020, he tells us about his journey.
Music
"Burn Your Village to the Ground" by A Tribe Called Red. Used with permission.
"Lights in the forest", by Ziibiwan. Used with permission.
Ezekiel Tye Freeman is the executive director of Green-PRO, which helps Liberian communities develop sustainable livelihoods for self-reliance. Beekeeping training programs, for example, offer a lucrative and environmentally friendly economic alternative to mining or slash-and-burn farming for individuals. Freeman points to high levels of unemployment among Liberia's Indigenous population as a major problem that his organization wants to attempt to alleviate.
We're here in New York City at the People's Climate March, marching alongside Indigenous communities from all over the world who have joined together to demand action towards solutions for climate change. Here are some words from Winona LaDuke, a long time leader of the Native environmental movement in the United States.
The Slow Food movement was founded in Italy in 1986 to promote an alternative to fast food.
Analee Johnson, Sami, of Sweden, says that the Slow Food movement believes that the food we produce should be good, clean, and fair. She gives an example of marketing Sami traditional food of Reindeer meat.
Bibhudutta Sahu, of the North East Slow Food & Agrobiodiversity Society explains that local food is always the best, because mother nature has been kind enough to provide us what we need.
Participants discuss what food sovereignty means for Indigenous Peoples. Speakers include Native American activist, and author Dr. Winona Laduke, and Dr. Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Global Coordinator of the ICCA Consortium, and David Strelneck, Senior Advisor at Ashoka Foundation.
Produced by Dev Kumar Sunuwar and Jagat Dong from Nepal, for Cultural Survival after attending the Indigenous Terra Madre conference held in November, 2015 in Meghalaya, North East India.
Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn speaks about deep sea bed mining and its impacts on the environment, especially in Oceania and Indigenous communities, including her native New Zealand.
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.
Antonio Gonzales, director of the American Indian Movement AIM West, explains why the use of Indigneous Peoples as mascots is culturally offensive and can no longer be tolerated in the 21st century. We caught up with Antonio Gonzales at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples Issues, New York.
Native Seneca woman Agnes Williams notices the consequences of climate change and contamination in her community. Changes in temperature have caused the plant-growing season to be shorter, and a nuclear waste plant has leaked into creeks near her reservation. Seneca people and indigenous communities near Williams have been protesting and working to clean up the area.