Best Native American Podcasts (2024)

1
Benjamin Bryce and David M. K. Sheinin, "Race and Transnationalism in the Americas" (U Pittsburgh Press, 2021) 39:15

14m ago39:15

39:15

Edited by Benjamin Bryce and David Sheinin, Race and Transnationalism in the Americas (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021), highlights the importance of transnational forces in shaping the concept of race and understanding of national belonging across the Americas, from the late nineteenth century to the present times. The book also examines how …

1
Adrienne Kinney (Cheyenne/Arapaho) Part 1

20h ago

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Adrienne recalls as a young girl how she was sick at school one day. As the teacher took her home, all she could think about was what they were going to find when they got there. She wanted to jump out of the car and run into the house so no one would see what she was afraid of.

1
The Genocide Of Palestine Is All To Familiar… 2:20:38

7h ago2:20:38

2:20:38

Ever since Hamas attacked Israel, United States Federal Government has sworn to Support Israel’s stance of “it’s right to defend itself by continuing to fund them. But the killing of over 20,000 Palestinians of all ages and genders makes us believe this is genocide. Indigenous people of Turtle Island know all too well what genocide is. We have been…

1
Vince Garcia (Navajo)

17m ago

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Vince was kicked out of his home at the age of 11 because he stood in the way of his father abusing his mother. He quickly learned how to live on the streets of Chicago. Trouble was something he was very familiar with. His life was careening out of control and he was headed for disaster when God came into his life and changed everything.…

1
Honouring our mothers and the generations of knowledge they carry 54:09

14h ago54:09

54:09

A moss bag is a traditional way of carrying our babies, sometimes called a baby’s second teacher. The first is their mom. Our women hold important knowledge and this week Rosanna speaks with three warriors who are reclaiming traditional parenting ways. From caring for mothers through trauma using tipi teachings to using story to inspire parents to …

1
Ryan O'Leary (Ojibwe)

16h ago

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Ryan grew up with sports, but he was especially good at hockey... so good in fact that he was eventually drafted by a professional hockey team. He wasn't content though - something was missing.

1
Decolonizing the classroom 49:55

3d ago49:55

49:55

No more pencils, no more books - we’re taking a break from the classroom to learn about the land, each other and our cultures. This week Rosanna speaks with Indigenous educators about decolonizing the classroom. From curriculum bundles that help Indigenous and non-Indigenous teachers incorporate traditional knowledge in their classrooms to communit…

1
Ray Sparklingeyes (Cree) Part 3

7d ago

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Ray shares how his grandfather told him stories that were handed down from his people... stories that were very scary and brought fear to him as a child. He shares one of these along with the impact that it had on him then, and the perspective that he has about it now.

1
John H. Cable, "Southern Enclosure: Settler Colonialism and the Postwar Transformation of Mississippi" (UP of Kansas, 2023) 1:07:31

14d ago1:07:31

1:07:31

Historians of the American South have come to consider the mechanization and consolidation of cotton farming—the “Southern enclosure movement”—to be a watershed event in the region’s history. In the decades after World War II, this transition pushed innumerable sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and smallholders off the land, redistributing territory a…

1
Hockey – as healing, history and hope 49:59

10d ago49:59

49:59

Canada’s beloved game has a well-known dark side: a racist, sexist, toxic culture. But Indigenous lovers of the game are using the power of hockey for positive change, making the ice a space for healing, inclusion, and a ton of fun. This episode shares their stories, from elite players to amateur hockey organizers to fans, and explores how and why …

1
Danielle Taschereau Mamers, "Settler Colonial Ways of Seeing: Documentation, Administration, and the Interventions of Indigenous Art" (Fordham UP, 2023) 48:29

13d ago48:29

48:29

How do bureaucratic documents create and reproduce a state’s capacity to see? What kinds of worlds do documents help create? Further, how might such documentary practices and settler colonial ways of seeing be refused? Settler Colonial Ways of Seeing: Documentation, Administration, and the Interventions of Indigenous Art (Fordham University Press, …

1
Ray Sparklingeyes (Cree) Part 2

14d ago

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Ray recalls a sobering moment: "When I woke up, I was sick. Not only from what I had drank that previous night, but the burden of sin was heavy upon me. And not only that but, I was so sick I knew if I died at that moment, I wasn't prepared to meet God."

1
Reclaiming Inuit Throat Singing 45:47

17d ago45:47

45:47

Join us in studio where Inuit throat singers share songs and the stories behind their rhythmic patterns and sounds. This week Rosanna speaks with four Inuit throat singers who are reclaiming this almost lost tradition. For nearly a century, Christian missionaries in the north banned the practice as part of government and church efforts to assimilat…

1
Rose Miron, "Indigenous Archival Activism: Mohican Interventions in Public History and Memory" (U Minnesota Press, 2024) 44:18

22d ago44:18

44:18

The past several decades have seen a massive shift in debates over who owns and has the right to tell Native American history and stories. For centuries, non-Native actors have collected, stolen, sequestered, and gained value from Native stories and documents, human remains, and sacred objects. However, thanks to the work of Native activists, Nativ…

1
Lorenza B. Fontana, "Recognition Politics: Indigenous Rights and Ethnic Conflict in the Andes" (Cambridge UP, 2022) 1:02:22

18d ago1:02:22

1:02:22

Recognition Politics: Indigenous Rights and Ethnic Conflict in the Andes (Cambridge University Press, 2023) by Dr. Lorenza B. Fontana is a pioneering work that explores a new wave of widely overlooked conflicts that have emerged across the Andean region, coinciding with the implementation of internationally acclaimed indigenous rights. Why are grou…

1
From perogies to pemmican: what can two men switched at birth tell us about Indigenous belonging? (ep 346) 30:51

30d ago30:51

30:51

In this back half of our longer-than-expected mini INDIGENA, host/producer Rick Harp picks up where he left off (drinking deeply of coffee, commodity fetishism and character actor Wallace Shawn) with Kim TallBear (University of Alberta professor in the Faculty of Native Studies and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience and Soci…

1
Annaliese Jacobs Claydon, "Arctic Circles and Imperial Knowledge: The Franklin Family, Indigenous Intermediaries, and the Politics of Truth" (Bloomsbury, 2024) 1:24:38

21d ago1:24:38

1:24:38

In 1845 an expedition led by Sir John Franklin vanished in the Canadian Arctic. The enduring obsession with the Franklin mystery, and in particular Inuit information about its fate, is partly due to the ways in which information was circulated in these imperial spaces. Arctic Circles and Imperial Knowledge: The Franklin Family, Indigenous Intermedi…

1
Ray Sparklingeyes (Cree) Part 1

21d ago

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Ray grew up in northern Alberta. He loved ball games, dances, and the pleasures of life in his youth. But he had no peace. One of his friends though seemed to have what he was looking for. Ray noticed and was curious. Inner peace can be allusive, and finding it can be a journey. This was the journey Ray found himself on.…

1
Unmapped: Niagara Falls 51:05

1M ago51:05

51:05

This week we’re taking you to Niagara Falls for the second installment of our occasional series Unmapped. Rosanna is unmapping Niagara Falls, aka Onguiaahra – from the Haudenosaunee contributions to the War of 1812 to the Tuscarora women keeping their culture and traditions alive through beading, there is much more to know beyond the iconic waterfa…

1
Brooke Larson, "The Lettered Indian: Race, Nation, and Indigenous Education in Twentieth-Century Bolivia" (Duke UP, 2023) 1:11:44

1M ago1:11:44

1:11:44

Bringing into dialogue the fields of social history, Andean ethnography, and postcolonial theory, The Lettered Indian: Race, Nation, and Indigenous Education in Twentieth-Century Bolivia (Duke University Press, 2024) by Dr. Brooke Larson maps the moral dilemmas and political stakes involved in the protracted struggle over Indian literacy and school…

1
Spilling the beans on Indigenous involvement in the coffee trade (ep 345) 30:38

27d ago30:38

30:38

For our latest mini INDIGENA (the sweet + sour version of MEDIA INDIGENA), we yank on the global supply chain linking locals in Campbell River, B.C. to the opening of what’s only the second “Indigenous-operated, licensed Starbucks store” in Canada. And just like last time—when our MINI went long on what we meant to be just our opening topic—our con…

1
Venus Cote (Saulteaux) Part 3

28d ago

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God tells us in His Word that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. That's exactly what happened to Venus. When she put her trust in Jesus God took her broken life and changed it. He made something beautiful out of the ashes of deep pain and grief. Life was still hard, but things were different now. God gave her purpose, hope, and a very br…

1
Stefan Aune, "Indian Wars Everywhere: Colonial Violence and the Shadow Doctrines of Empire" (U California Press, 2023) 29:50

1M ago29:50

29:50

From Black Hawk helicopters to the exclamation "Geronimo" used by paratroopers jumping from airplanes, words and images referring to Indians have been indelibly linked with US warfare. In Indian Wars Everywhere: Colonial Violence and the Shadow Doctrines of Empire (U California Press, 2023), Stefan Aune shows how these and other recurrent reference…

1
A Plethora of Pretendianism: Pt 2 (ep 344) 43:10

1M ago43:10

43:10

This week: building upon last episode's commanding talk by MI's own Kim TallBear, in which she highlighted the insatiable settler drive to consume all things Indigenous—including so-called ‘identity’ claims staked by individuals—host/producer Rick Harp discusses her insights with fellow roundtable regulars Ken Williams (associate professor with the…

1
Venus Cote (Saulteaux) Part 2

1M ago

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In deep distress Venus cried, "I can't do this anymore. I can not do this anymore." Her heart was so broken that she didn't believe it could be repaired. What would cause Venus to feel this way? And is there anything that could fix it? Join us for part 2 of Venus Cote's amazing story. And make sure that you don't miss part three... because the best…

1
Indigenous Data Sovereignty 54:09

2M ago54:09

54:09

Data tells a story, and that’s why survivors of the notorious Mohawk Institute – Canada’s longest running residential school – are reclaiming data and sharing their truths. This week Rosanna speaks with Indigenous people who are reclaiming data to better understand the past and build towards the future. From traditional knowledge passed down throug…

1
Venus Cote (Saulteaux) Part 1

2M ago

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Venus' life got off to a tragic start. As a little girl she saw her dad kill her mom. And this was only the beginning our her heartache and pain. Listen as she opens her heart and shares about the early years of her life in part one of her remarkable journey.

1
A Plethora of Pretendianism: Pt. 1 (ep 343) 56:04

2M ago56:04

56:04

On this week’s program: a plethora of pretendianism! So much, in fact, it’s going to take two whole episodes to fit it all in. And here in part one, we take our deepest dive yet into the ultimate underpinnings of pretendianism—the political imperatives of whiteness. Driving the insatiable settler urge to possess every last thing, fueling the desire…

1
John William Nelson, "Muddy Ground: Native Peoples, Chicago's Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent" (UNC Press, 2023) 1:22:56

2M ago1:22:56

1:22:56

The birchbark canoe is among the most remarkable Indigenous technologies in North America, facilitating mobility throughout the watery world of the Great Lakes region and its borderlands. In Muddy Ground: Native Peoples, Chicago's Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent (UNC Press, 2023), Texas Tech University historian John William Nelson a…

1
Dancing to our own beat 49:06

2M ago49:06

49:06

What can, or should, we do with pieces of the past, such as audio recordings of our ancestors? They can inspire art and action but there are also protocols around how these things are shared. This week Rosanna talks with artists who are combining lessons of the past with their own artistic flare and passing it on to the next generation.…

1
Christina Gish Hill et al., "National Parks, Native Sovereignty: Experiments in Collaboration" (U Oklahoma Press, 2024) 1:20:11

2M ago1:20:11

1:20:11

The history of Native people and the National Park Service in the United States is fraught. Dispossession, cultural insensitivity, and outright erasure characterize the long relationship that the NPS has with Indigenous groups. But change is possible, as Drs. Christina Hill, Matthew Hill, and Brooke Neely adeptly demonstrate in National Parks, Nati…

1
Larry Edd (Navajo) Part 2

2M ago

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When Larry's wife became a Christian he noticed a real change in her life. He saw how peaceful she was, even when they were encountering spiritual darkness. He wanted what she had. Larry speaks about the reality of death, the emptiness he saw in ritual, and the hope that he has found in Jesus Christ.…

1
Indigenous playwrights take centre stage 54:08

2M ago54:08

54:08

“Humour is the WD40 of healing.” Indigenous playwrights are telling stories their own way – and it includes a lot of laughter! This week Rosanna explores what’s behind a shift in the theatre world that has Indigenous playwrights showing works on about a dozen of the biggest stages in Canada. They’re moving away from the early years of tackling most…

1
Larry Edd (Navajo) Part 1

2M ago

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Larry shares about the reality of spiritual darkness, traditions, and his quest for truth. He wasn't satisfied with the answers he was getting. He was looking for something he could confidently believe in.

1
Close Encounters of the Colonial Kind: Pt. 1 (ep 342) 1:06:15

2M ago1:06:15

1:06:15

This week: 'Close Encounters of the Colonial Kind,' the title of a talk given by our very own Kim TallBear (University of Alberta professor of Native Studies) at “Of the Land and Water: Indigenous Sexualities, Genders and Ways of Being,” hosted earlier this year in Whitehorse, YK by the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning. Although rooted in …

1
Dance revolution 50:04

2M ago50:04

50:04

Resistance and rebellion run deep in the history of dance in Indigenous communities. Margaret Grenier’s Gitxsan grandmother hid family items in her walls to protect important dance traditions from destruction. This week Rosanna speaks with dancers and choreographers about how they are reviving, restoring and re-imagining the art of dance.…

1
Nida Nelson (Aleut) Part 3

2M ago

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Nida's sister rejected her because of Nida's choice to follow Jesus. But years later tragedy would bring the sisters back together - closer than they had ever been. Then again, tragedy struck. But this time it would result in death. Listen as Nida shares what happened and the confidence she has that she'll see her sister again.…

1
Is the Supreme Court ruling on Canada's Indigenous child welfare law a victory for the status quo? (ep 341) 50:54

3M ago50:54

50:54

On this week’s Indigenous round table: legal limbo? Did the Supreme Court's recent rejection of Quebec’s constitutional challenge to Bill C-92 really cement the self-determination of Indigenous peoples on child welfare? Or did it seal in the status quo, one where the feds still hold all the cards and all the funds? A ruling described as “very beaut…

1
Nida Nelson (Aleut) Part 2

2M ago

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Nida finally found what she'd been searching for. You can hear the joy in her voice as she recalls the moment that she did. She was at peace with God. But life was still filled with challenges. Find out what happens next as she comes home from church to a husband whose been drinking.

1
Sarah Keyes, "American Burial Ground: A New History of the Overland Trail" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) 1:10:20

2M ago1:10:20

1:10:20

The Overland Trail into the American West is one of the most culturally recognizable symbols of the American past: white covered wagons traversing the plains, filled with heroic pioneers embodying the nation's manifest destiny. In American Burial Ground: A New History of the Overland Trail (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023), University of Nev…

1
Gregory D. Smithers, "Native Southerners: Indigenous History from Origins to Removal" (U Oklahoma Press, 2019) 1:07:28

2M ago1:07:28

1:07:28

In his book, Native Southerners: Indigenous History from Origins to Removal(University of Oklahoma Press, 2019), Dr. Gregory D. Smithers effectively articulates the complex history of Native Southerners. Smithers conveys the history of Native Southerners through numerous historical eras while properly reinterpreting popular misconceptions about the…

1
Food and memory 47:08

3M ago47:08

47:08

For many Indigenous people, food memories are intricately tied to family, community and culture. Meet three Indigenous chefs who are using their food knowledge to transport people to the past and inspire Indigenous menus of the future.

1
Emily Legg, "Stories of Our Living Ephemera: Storytelling Methodologies in the Archives of the Cherokee National Seminaries, 1846-1907" (Utah State UP, 2023) 1:03:08

3M ago1:03:08

1:03:08

Stories of Our Living Ephemera: Storytelling Methodologies in the Archives of the Cherokee National Seminaries, 1846-1907 (Utah State University Press, 2023) recovers the history of the Cherokee National Seminaries from scattered archives and colonized research practices by critically weaving together pedagogy and archival artifacts with Cherokee t…

1
Nida Nelson (Aleut) Part 1

3M ago

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Nida said, "There were things I was doing that I didn't want to do. I was hurting my family. I wanted change in my life and I couldn't do it." That's not an uncommon place to be. But she didn't stay there.

1
Matthew C. Ward, "Making the Frontier Man: Violence, White Manhood, and Authority in the Early Western Backcountry" (U Pittsburgh Press, 2023) 1:18:23

3M ago1:18:23

1:18:23

For western colonists in the early American backcountry, disputes often ended in bloodshed and death. Making the Frontier Man: Violence, White Manhood, and Authority in the Early Western Backcountry (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023) by Dr. Matthew C. Ward examines early life and the origins of lawless behaviour in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentu…

1
Ian Saxine, "Properties of Empire: Indians, Colonists, and Land Speculators on the New England Frontier" (NYU Press, 2019) 1:26:44

3M ago1:26:44

1:26:44

In Properties of Empire: Indians, Colonists, and Land Speculators on the New England Frontier (NYU Press, 2019), Ian Saxine, Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Bridgewater State University, shows the dynamic relationship between Native and English systems of property on the turbulent edge of Britain’s empire, and how so many colonists came …

1
Claiming space in the Great Outdoors 51:20

3M ago51:20

51:20

Join us as we check out some birds, hit the halfpipe and prepare for the sugar bush. You'll hear how Indigenous nature enthusiasts are empowering others to get outside and claim space in the Great Outdoors.

1
Deborah Taffa, "Whiskey Tender: A Memoir" (Harper, 2024) 1:03:16

3M ago1:03:16

1:03:16

Today’s book is: Whiskey Tender: A Memoir (Harper, 2024), by Deborah Jackson Taffa, who was raised to believe that some sacrifices were necessary to achieve a better life. Her grandparents—citizens of the Quechan (Yuma) Nation and Laguna Pueblo tribe—were sent to Indian boarding schools run by white missionaries, while her parents were encouraged t…

1
Unflagging settler colonialism in Minnesota / Mni Sóta Makoce (ep 340) 54:17

3M ago54:17

54:17

This episode, another ‘mini’ INDIGENA (the easy-peasy version of MEDIA INDIGENA)—one where the first item went way longer than anyone expected! Joining host/producer Rick Harp on Tuesday, February 6th were Kim TallBear (University of Alberta professor in the Faculty of Native Studies) and Candis Callison (UBC Associate Professor in the Institute fo…

1
Sam Otter (Cherokee)

3M ago

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Alcohol had Sam. But Sam had friends who really cared for him. In fact, they cared enough not to be silent. He didn't like it when he saw Arthur coming because he knew what he was going to hear. Then his old drinking buddy started showing up - Buck was different now - in a good way, and he wanted that for Sam.…

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