From as far back as we can remember, Native Americans have always been scientists and inventors. In many ways they have always been innovators and entrepreneurs, too. So, why not encourage young Native Americans to take this back by reclaiming their heritage within the ranks of tech business start-up culture?

Boozhoo (hello)! Danielle Boyer is an Indigenous (Anishinaabe – Enrolled Sault Tribe) youth robotics inventor and advocate exploring how emerging technologies can be ethically used to safeguard Indigenous cultures and languages. The Anishinaabeg are one of the largest Indigenous people groups in North America, residing across the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, where their language, Anishinaabemowin, is endangered. In 2019, Danielle founded The STEAM Connection, a youth-led nonprofit that has provided over one million young people worldwide with free, culturally grounded technical education through robotics.

She is best known for designing the SkoBots, wearable AI-powered personal robots that teach Anishinaabemowin using community-authored data, locally run systems, and frameworks rooted in Indigenous data sovereignty. Her work addresses global challenges of ethical AI, language extinction, and equitable access to emerging technologies. Danielle has spoken at the White House, UNESCO Headquarters, and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Recognized as a National Geographic Young Explorer, Echoing Green Fellow, and two-time MIT Solve Fellow, her life and work were featured in an MIT Solve documentary that won a Webby Award, Sundance Brand Storytelling Award, Tribeca X Award, and a SXSW feature.

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Walpole Island is between Detroit, MI and London, ON in Lake St. Claire and home to one of the most effective indigenous language immersion experiences in the world. Monty McGahey II attended this highly esteemed program, Maatookiidaa Anishinaabewin Adult Immersion of Bkejwanong, in 2015 and has continued to immerse himself and recover one of his First Nations languages by growing in fluency one day at a time. 

If you want to know how to recover after decolonization, listen to this story of each one, teach one from a pedagogy that is both slow in pace to support deliberate and sustainable growth of tribal sovereignty.

Ozaawaa Giizhgo Ginew (Monty McGahey II) is from Deshkan Ziibiing (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation) located in southwestern, Ontario and is of Anishinaabe and Oneida descent. He is married with two children. He is currently the Anishinaabemowin instructor for the Paswe’aatigook Anishinaabemowin Immersion Diploma Program through Fanshawe College (London, ON) and Language specialist for Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. A second-language learner of Anishinaabemowin, Monty has been teaching Anishinaabemowin classes since 2008. He holds a B.A. in First Nations Studies (’07); a Master of Professional Education – Leadership in Indigenous Education (’19), from Western University in London, Ontario; and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, (’15).

He has over ten years of learning and teaching Anishinaabemowin experience at the elementary and postsecondary level. Monty completed the Anishinaabemowin Immersion Program at Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 2008, the Maatookiidaa Anishinaabewin Adult Immersion program in Bkejwanong (Walpole Island, Ontario) in 2015, and attended three summers of adult immersion in the Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang Ojibwe Language Academy in Cloquet, Minnesota from 2015-2018. Monty has also taught in the Anishinaabemowin Programmer Program at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario in 2015-16. Monty is a co-founder of Eshki-nishnaabemjig, a two-week adult immersion program that has been held in Central Ontario every July from 2016-2019 and 2022-2024.

Walpole Island is between Detroit, MI and London, ON in Lake St. Claire and home to one of the most effective indigenous  language immersion experiences in the world. Monty McGahey II attended this highly esteemed program, Maatookiidaa Anishinaabewin Adult Immersion of Bkejwanong, in 2015 and has continued to immerse himself and recover one of his First Nations languages by growing in fluency one day at a time. 

If you want to know how to recover after decolonization, listen to this story of each one, teach one from a pedagogy that is both slow in pace to support deliberate and sustainable  growth of tribal sovereignty.

Ozaawaa Giizhgo Ginew (Monty McGahey II) is from Deshkan Ziibiing (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation) located in southwestern, Ontario and is of Anishinaabe and Oneida descent. He is married with two children. He is currently the Anishinaabemowin instructor for the Paswe’aatigook Anishinaabemowin Immersion Diploma Program through Fanshawe College (London, ON) and Language specialist for Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. A second-language learner of Anishinaabemowin, Monty has been teaching Anishinaabemowin classes since 2008. He holds a B.A. in First Nations Studies (’07); a Master of Professional Education – Leadership in Indigenous Education (’19), from Western University in London, Ontario; and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, (’15).

He has over ten years of learning and teaching Anishinaabemowin experience at the elementary and postsecondary level.  Monty completed the Anishinaabemowin Immersion Program at Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 2008, the Maatookiidaa Anishinaabewin Adult Immersion program in Bkejwanong (Walpole Island, Ontario) in 2015, and attended three summers of adult immersion in the Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang Ojibwe Language Academy in Cloquet, Minnesota from 2015-2018. Monty has also taught in the Anishinaabemowin Programmer Program at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario in 2015-16. Monty is a co-founder of Eshki-nishnaabemjig, a two-week adult immersion program that has been held in Central Ontario every July from 2016-2019 and 2022-2024.

When we pause to ponder how we are all playing a part in history right now, isn't there always a vantage point to listen from and a vanishing point to see through time in space? Well, Indigenous History Now founders are with us to share their first take on a shared vanishing point from behind the camera vantage point.

Leilani Kaholo is a native Hawaiian composer with a Master of Music in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music. She is also a co-founder and board vice president for Indigenous History Now. Her experiences growing up in the Hawaiian diaspora around Seattle have cultivated an interest in issues of cultural reconnection and combatting homelessness.

haʔł kʷ(i) adsəslabcəbut

(watch over yourself well)

Reidar Kelstrup

Executive Director

Indigenous History Now

www.indigenoushistorynow.org

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Our featured indigenous voice for all of June 2026 is ... Prairie Rose Seminole. As co-tenant of her animal shelter/sanctuary in western North Dakota, Prairie Rose lives an exemplary life as a teacher, healer, warrior, and singer.

Her current life work is at the intersection of "biker culture" and indigenous women riders. Focused on directing a documentary film, that follows several Native women from one sacred site of the Lakota to Sturgis biker rally in early August, she admits to feeling the lure of becoming a story-sharer for the purpose of dispelling the darkness and unawareness that penetrates the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIW-R). 

Prairie Rose Seminole is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation of North Dakota. She is Arikara, Northern Cheyenne and Dakota. Prairie Rose is a dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, and storytelling. With years of experience building relationships in Indigenous communities, Prairie Rose has worked at the intersection of advocacy, arts, and healing. They serve on the boards of Humanities ND, Gender Justice U.S., Olamina Fund and the Midwest Innocence Project. Their latest project, We Ride for Her, a documentary short on missing and murdered Indigenous relatives—draws on deep, trusted relationships built over three years with Indigenous motorcyclists, shedding light on the crisis through their lived experiences. She is currently working on her first documentary feature.

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Our featured indigenous voice for all of June 2026 is ... Prairie Rose Seminole. As co-tenant of her animal shelter/sanctuary in western North Dakota, Prairie Rose lives an exemplary life as a teacher, healer, warrior, and singer.

Her current life work is at the intersection of "biker culture" and indigenous women riders. Focused on directing a documentary film, that follows several Native women from one sacred site of the Lakota to Sturgis biker rally in early August, she admits to feeling the lure of becoming a story-sharer for the purpose of dispelling the darkness and unawareness that penetrates the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIW-R). 

Prairie Rose Seminole is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation of North Dakota. She is Arikara, Northern Cheyenne and Dakota. Prairie Rose is a dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, and storytelling. With years of experience building relationships in Indigenous communities, Prairie Rose has worked at the intersection of advocacy, arts, and healing. They serve on the boards of Humanities ND, Gender Justice U.S., Olamina Fund and the Midwest Innocence Project. Their latest project, We Ride for Her, a documentary short on missing and murdered Indigenous relatives—draws on deep, trusted relationships built over three years with Indigenous motorcyclists, shedding light on the crisis through their lived experiences. She is currently working on her first documentary feature.

Support Broken Lands Trust: https://www.patreon.com/BrokenLandsPodcast

https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7FMFGWX3Q3E/checkout/Q326SKEG5GELYEUWHJBDZ7LB?src=sheet

Our featured indigenous voice for all of June 2026 is ... Prairie Rose Seminole. As co-tenant of her animal shelter/sanctuary in western North Dakota, Prairie Rose lives an exemplary life as a teacher, healer, warrior, and singer.

Her current life work is at the intersection of "biker culture" and indigenous women riders. Focused on directing a documentary film, that follows several Native women from one sacred site of the Lakota to Sturgis biker rally in early August, she admits to feeling the lure of becoming a story-sharer for the purpose of dispelling the darkness and unawareness that penetrates the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIW-R). 

Prairie Rose Seminole is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation of North Dakota. She is Arikara, Northern Cheyenne and Dakota. Prairie Rose is a dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, and storytelling. With years of experience building relationships in Indigenous communities, Prairie Rose has worked at the intersection of advocacy, arts, and healing. They serve on the boards of Humanities ND, Gender Justice U.S., Olamina Fund and the Midwest Innocence Project. Their latest project, We Ride for Her, a documentary short on missing and murdered Indigenous relatives—draws on deep, trusted relationships built over three years with Indigenous motorcyclists, shedding light on the crisis through their lived experiences. She is currently working on her first documentary feature.

Support Broken Lands Trust: https://www.patreon.com/BrokenLandsPodcast

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When the Oglala Lakota Episcopal Church was formed in 2008, as a response to the dishonoring of past relations, many of the Tatanka Numpa Tiospaye took a stand that their ancestors took several generations ago.

Rev. Twilla "TR" Two Bulls is based in Red Shirt Table, where she serves in ministry at both Christ Church Red Shirt Table and St. John's Episcopal Church. A dedicated advocate for her community, she is currently serving her second term as President. Alongside her family, TR will be taking on the role of Manager at Pejuta Sapa Coffee Shop and Art Gallery, blending community, culture, and entrepreneurship. TR is a mother of two and grandmother to one granddaughter. Michael Two Bulls is an artist based in Rapid City, South Dakota. He earned his BA from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Working primarily in silk screening, Mike maintains an active studio practice. Beyond his artwork, he is a strong advocate for community programs, with particular dedication to Red Shirt Table and their mission to keep the buffalo off his homeland.

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A Tamil Sage from the First Century still speaks, "Without Love in the heart, life is like a sapless tree in a barren wilderness." 

What is real for you as an attentive listener to this podcast? If this question is something that you can feel resonating in your heart, then we wholeheartedly invite you to listen to this episode with our new curriculum developer and community administrator, Colleen Bernu ( Fond du Lac).

Who am I related to after listening for the other persons perspective? When this inquiry crops up, then you might be ready to take the next step and enter the Broken Lands Trust learning community through our new land page. 

Colleen Bernu (Fond Du Lac band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Wiigwaasikaag Community) lives on the Fond Du Lac Indian Reservation with her family. Colleen is a life-long learner, holding degrees and certificates from multiple institutions, working in positions that provided growth through diverse knowledge systems, and humbly learning from tribal elders, family, and community members. Colleen is dedicated to using her professional training and life experiences to bridge diverse communities through a process of truth-telling that creates space where communal healing may begin. As Administrator of Broken Lands Trust, she partners to build supportive curriculum to achieve these goals.

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Balancing an American Indigenous identity with a Christian faith calling from within a "liminal space" between these worlds can be a place of learning and discernment. 

Vance Blackfox cannot help but be Native, but he chooses to be Christian every day, and this liminal space helps him navigate how to be safe and effective in non-Indigenous environments. 

When asked about changes in tribal inclusion within the church since he started in 1988-89, Vance expressed frustration that many of the same issues he raised decades ago remain unresolved, questioning when the church will fully implement promised changes.

Vance Blackfox, an Indigenous theologian and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, serves as the Director of Ecumenical and Tribal Relations of the Indigenous Theological Circle. Previously, Vance served the churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as the Director of Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations. An alumnus of Texas Lutheran University (TLU) and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), Vance has served the ELCA in multiple capacities, from taking a post as National President of the Lutheran Youth Organization during his TLU days to later working as a diversity and cultural education professional for the Women of the ELCA, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, California Lutheran University, ELCA Youth Gathering, and LSTC’s Youth in Mission. In addition to serving numerous ELCA and ecumenical teams and committees throughout the years, he has also served as Indigenous Theologian and Coordinating Team Member for the ELCA’s Theological Round Table, as Indigenous theologian for the Faith-Based Initiative for the City of San Antonio, and is the creator and producer of the Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium hosted at LSTC.Vance is the founder and director of Other+Wise, a multi-site cultural education and cultural immersion program for youth and student groups from across the country. He has also served as the Director of Communications at the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and at Native Americans in Philanthropy, and has held executive director positions at the Haskell Foundation, which supports Haskell Indian Nations University, and the Oaks Indian Mission.

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