First Voices Radio

In the first segment, Tiokasin talks with returning guest Max Wilbert about the new book that he co-authored with Derrick Jensen and Lierre Keith titled, “Bright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About It” (Monkfish Press Publishing Company, 2021). Max is a writer, organizer and wilderness guide, and has been part of grassroots political work for nearly 20 years. He’s an author and his essays have been published many places, including CounterPunch and Dissident Voice. Max has been involved in fighting both Canadian and Utah tar sands, in resisting industrial-scale water extraction and deforestation in Nevada, in advocating for the last remaining wild buffalo in Yellowstone, in solidarity work with Indigenous communities in British Columbia, and in campaigns against sexual violence. Order the book at: https://bit.ly/3sZgYQq

Tiokasin welcomes back Peter Buffett in the second segment. Peter, a long-time friend of “First Voices Radio,” is a well established musician, composer and producer as well as Co-Chairman of the NoVo Foundation. Highlights of his music, film and television work include the Fire Dance scene in the Oscar winning film Dances With Wolves, the entire score for 500 Nations the 8 hour miniseries for CBS produced by Kevin Costner, and winning an Emmy for his album, Ojibwe. As Co-Chair of the NoVo Foundation, Peter helps guide the strategic plan and serves as a member of the NoVo Grants Committee. Peter and Tiokasin will discuss Peter’s song, “Land of the Free.” Listen here: https://youtu.be/pHNQ9ixx5XE

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

2. Song Title: Land of the Free (released as a single on April 6, 2021)
Artist: Peter Buffett
Label: N/A
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/VLfU-NjC0mw
(00:54:48)

3. Song Title: Oh, What a World
Artist: Kacey Musgraves
CD: Golden Hour (2018)
Label: MCA Nashville Records
(00:57:33)

Alexis Bunten, (Aleut/Yup’ik) has served as a manager, consultant and applied researcher for Indigenous, social and environmental programming for over 15 years. After receiving a BA in Art History at Dartmouth College, Alexis returned to Alaska, where she worked at the Sealaska Heritage Institute, and the Alaska Native Heritage Center in programming. Subsequently, Alexis earned a PhD in Cultural Anthropology at UCLA, and has served as the Project Ethnographer for the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project, and as a Senior Researcher at the FrameWorks Institute. Alexis is an accomplished researcher, writer, media-maker, and curriculum developer. She has published widely about Indigenous and environmental issues, with articles in American Indian Quarterly, the Journal of Museum Education and American Ethnologist.
Her 2015 book, “So, how long have you been Native?” Life as an Alaska Native Tour Guide,” won the Alaska Library Association Award for its originality, and depth. In addition to writing, Alexis has contributed to several Indigenous-themed productions, including co-producing and writing the script for a documentary nominated for the Native American Film Awards. Alexis has developed educational material for both formal and informal learning environments including university level-courses as well as lifelong learner curriculum. Alexis is also a panelist this week on “The Indigenous Rights of Nature,” a panel discussion organized by Vision Maker Media in partnership with Bioneers’ Indigeneity Program. More about Bioneers’ Indigeneity Program can be found at bioneers.org. The Vision Maker Media panel is available on Facebook and YouTube starting Thursday, April 22. More at visionmakermedia.org

Niya DeGroat is a Diné fashion writer and multidisciplinary creative based in Flagstaff, Arizona. He is originally from Mariano Lake, New Mexico and a citizen of the Navajo Nation. He is also the former Director of Multimedia for Phoenix Fashion Week with years of fashion show production under his belt, including mentoring emerging designers and models. In May 2020, Niya obtained his master’s degree in fashion journalism from the Academy of Art University. As a journalist, he aims to present an Indigenous perspective on fashion by elevating the discussion around contemporary Native fashion. His work has been published in Indian Country Today, Academy Art U News, Fashion School Daily, and Native Max Magazine. Tiokasin and Niya will be discussing Niya’s Feb. 1, 2021 column in Indian Country Today — “Wait a minute America! ‘This is stolen land’: Joe Biden’s inauguration missed the mark by including the tone deaf American folk song”: https://bit.ly/3v5DnNx

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

2. Song Title: Feels Like Summer Cover
Artist: Donald Glover (Childish Gambino)
CD: Summer Pack (2018)
Label: Wolf+Rothstein/Liberator Music
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/izFvp_JXaqg
(00:34:15)

3. Song Title: This Land is Our Land
Artist: Todd Snider
CD: Songs for the Daily Planet (1994)
Label: MCA Records
(00:57:32)

This week, Director Julia Barnes joins Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse. Julia is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She is the director of “Sea of Life” and “Bright Green Lies.” “Bright Green Lies” — which is also the title of the new book by Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith and Max Wilbert — investigates the change in focus of the mainstream environmental movement, from its original concern with protecting nature, to its current obsession with powering an unsustainable way of life. The film exposes the lies and fantastical thinking behind the notion that solar, wind, hydro, biomass, or green consumerism will save us from climate change. Tackling the most pressing issues of our time will require us to look beyond the mainstream technological solutions and ask deeper questions about what needs to change. The film will premiere online on Earth Day, April 22. For more information about the film and how to buy tickets for the online premiere, visit brightgreenlies.com.

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

2. Song Title: A Cry in the Forest
Artist: Dan Fogelberg
CD: Dan Fogelberg Live: Greetings from the West (1991)
Label: Sony Music Entertainment
(00:36:53)

3. Song Title: The Venus Project
Artist: Lost Children of Babylon featuring Rasul Allah, Cosmic Crusador, Atun Sen Geb and Emily Clibourn
CD: Zeitgeist: The Spirit Of The Age (2010)
Label: Soul Kid Records/Chambermusik
(00:42:25)

4. Song Title: Feels like Summer
Artist: Donald Glover (Childish Gambino)
CD: Summer Pack (2018)
Label: Wolf+Rothstein/Liberator Music
(00:53:05)

This week, Míċeál Ó Coisdealḃa (AKA Mike Costello) joins Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse. Míċeál is an Irish Republican activist who was born in Connemara, Ireland, a native Irish-speaking area. Following travels during his earlier years, including time in Australia and learning about the Indigenous people in that country, he moved to the U.S., and by the 1960s settled in New Jersey, where he lives today. The situation in Ireland was making the news in the U.S. back in those days; and Míċeál became involved in supporting the struggle for Irish freedom. He was National Chairman of the IPOW (Irish Prisoner of War) Hunger Strike Committee during the Irish Hunger Strike in 1981. Over the years he was involved in a number of fundraising and commemorative events to promote the cause of Irish Freedom. Also, during this time, Míċeál learned about the plight of the Indigenous people here and the great generosity of the Choctaw people, who collected money to help the starving people in Ireland during An t-Ár Mór,” the Great Genocide (also called the potato famine). Míċeál says, “I am awed by the extreme generosity shown to my ancestors by the Native Americans when they were enduring their own horrors.”
Míċeál has today undertaken a project on behalf of the Navajo Nation Covid Relief Fund in an effort to raise awareness. In solidarity with Native nations whose ancestors were forced to walk the “Trails of Tears” in the mid-19th century, Míċeál started his own walk on Thanksgiving eve 2020. “On days that I walk, I am doing 10-12 miles per day toward my goal of 5,045 miles,” he says. Míċeál ’s progress is posted regularly on his Facebook page: “Irish 4 Navajo,” where he also highlights the plight of the Navajo once again, this time in the face of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

2. Song Title: The Hawk Project
Artist: The Hawk Project with Dennis Yerry, Ken Little Hawk and Gus Mancini
CD: Let Us Put Our Minds Together (2011)
Label: HAWK
(00:51:00)

3. Song Title: Oh, What a World
Artist: Kacey Musgaves
CD: Golden Hour (2017)
Label: MCA / Nashville Records
(00:56:45)

In this episode of “First Voices Radio,” Tiokasin welcomes back Stephany Seay. Stephany was born in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and raised in Virginia. She became aware of this culture’s capacity for mindless destruction as the beaches and forests she grew up in were destroyed by so-called development. Stephany has been an earth activist since the late 1980s, has apprenticed as a wildlife rehabilitator, and is a student of horses. She started following the work of the Buffalo Field Campaign in 1997. In January 2004, she moved to Montana and has been on the front lines with the Buffalo Field Campaign ever since. Stephany has been a member of Deep Green Resistance since 2015 and stands in solidarity with those—human and non-human—who want to bring an end to industrial civilization and the culture that is killing our planet. 

In the second half: On May 7, 2020 an international online gathering and sharing of Indigenous knowledge and healing was held with Original Nations of the Western Hemisphere in light of the ancient prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, which is of great impact and sometimes harsh reality with Mother Earth. This gathering was called the International Day of Blessing for Mother Earth, a call to action and international invitation to connect through and with Indigenous Elders and knowledge keepers with an intention to learn, grow, heal and return to Wotawacin Oṫokohe (completion of our blue energy). Claude Tokala Hocokan Waokiya Ob Mani Two Elk feels the urgency of our moment and has decided to do something about it. Animated by the knowledge of his ancestors and spiritual mentors and working closely with psychologist Dr. Jami Bartgis (Cherokee Nation), Tokala is on a global mission to heal us all and our planet of our collective traumas. Tokala and Jami, with partners from North, Central and South America, have started a network of international collaborators and volunteers dedicated to integrally improving health, well-being, and equity for Indigenous peoples of the Americas. By supporting Indigenous interventions across borders, through prayer, activism, art, education, and outreach, they are working toward the unity of the people and for everyone’s return to a healthful self and a healthy environment. This pandemic and its message to the planet has underscored the urgency of their work and they are gathering to offer blessings for the healing of our Mother (Earth) and her people.

We hear first from the Wicasa Wakan Richard Moves Camp of the Oglala Lakota in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and then we will move to the southern continent to Ecuador and the Quiche Elder Angel Tipan Santillan.

“First Voices Radio” would like to thank Claude Two Elk and JJ Lind for making the audio of Elders available, and to the interpreters, editors and Supporting Partners: Immediate Medium Indigenous Ways, Emily Johnson/Catalyst, International Indian Treaty Conference, InnerCHANGE WORKS, Collapsable Hole (USA), One Fire Associates, LLC (USA), and Oklahoma Health Sciences Center."

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

2. Poem Title: Buffalo Mountain
Artist: ElizaBeth Hill
CD: Hearts of the Nations (1999)
Label: N/A
(00:28:00)

3. Song Title: Justice
Artist: Bruce Cockburn
CD: Inner City Front (1981)
Label: True North Records
(00:50:32)

4. Song Title: Just Another Holy Man
Artist: Floyd Red Crow Westerman
This is a cover of “They Killed Him” by Kris Kristofferson from his 1986 album, “Repossessed” (Mercury).
(00:55:15)

In the first half-hour, Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse talks with Myron Smart and Will Falk. They offer listeners an update on the latest activities at Thacker Pass in Nevada. Myron Smart is a descendant of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. He was raised in his traditional ways of life in our Native culture. Some of the things Myron loves include everything outdoors, animals and taking care of his horses. Will Falk is a biophilic writer, lawyer and the author of “How Dams Fall: Stories the Colorado River Told Me,” published by Homebound Publications. More about Will at willfalk.org. More about Thacker Pass: protectthackerpass.org. “LIKE” Protect Thacker Pass on Facebook.

In the second segment, Tiokasin welcomes artist Hiroyuki Hamada. Hiroyuki, who was born in Tokyo, has exhibited throughout the United States and in Europe, and is represented by Bookstein Projects. He has been awarded various residencies, including those at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, the Edward F. Albee Foundation /William Flanagan Memorial Creative Person’s Center, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the MacDowell Colony. Hiroyuki’s work has been featured in various publications, including Stokstad and Cothren’s widely used art history text book “Art: A Brief History” (Pearseon). In 1998 he was the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant; he was a two time recipient of New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships (2009 and 2017), and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018. Hiroyuki lives and works in East Hampton, New York. Tiokasin will discuss Hiroyuki’s recent essay, “The Mechanism of Invisible Hand, Invisible Cage, and Invisible Empire Over Humanity and Nature” (Dissident Voice, Feb. 9, 2021: https://bit.ly/399Ed3f). Find out more about Hiroyuki and his art at http://hiroyukihamada.com/

Production Credits:

Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer

Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer

Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:

1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)

Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters

CD: Tahi (1993)

Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)

(00:00:44)

2. Song Title: Sundancer 21

Artist: Eagle & Hawk

CD: Liberty (2019)

Label: Rising Sun Productions / Producer: Vince Fontaine

Music Video: https://youtu.be/xOGMCch5GAg

(00:35:25)

3. Song Title: Rule the World

Artist: Michael Kiwanuka

CD: Love and Hate (2016)

Label: Polydor Records

(00:56:12)

Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse welcomes two guests. Konkankoh has more than 40 years of experience across social entrepreneurship development sectors in Africa and Europe. His career spans senior leadership and entrepreneurial roles in social transformation, environmental management, sustainable development and consulting. Since 1996 when Konkankoh registered Better World Cameroon (BWC), he has been leading a green revolution and youth development concept based on Systems thinking, an innovative method of resolving the cultural challenges pushing thousands of youth to migrate out of Africa. Konkankoh was evicted from his country in 2018 by the civil war and lives today in Portugal where he mentors a group of young change-makers, developing new societal platforms in the domains of education, social inclusion, healthcare, civil society governance, and livelihoods. Konkankoh’s youth development platform Ndanifor Permaculture Ecovillage that was recently burnt down by French Cameroon military included regenerative agriculture systems supported by global philanthropic collaborators. In parallel to Ecovillage design work, Konkankoh is grooming Global Ecovillage Network, Africa’s next-generation leadership engaged in developing a regenerative education system. Faced with the challenges of the Genocide in Ambazonia and COVID-19 pandemic, Konkankoh focuses his attention on reconnecting refugees to the land using Permaculture and looking for support to accompany them with seed funding. Konkankoh’s organization Better World is a not-for-profit incubator and accelerator focused on non-formal education. Konkankoh is a social Innovation advisor to Defend the Sacred Alliance. For more information, visit: https://betterworld-cameroon.com/ and https://spiritofndanifor.wordpress.com/

Koh is a journalist and Communications Manager for BWC. Koh has worked in print and broadcast media in Cameroon but is now involved in freelance, digital media journalism, and activism since moving to Portugal in 2019 due to the severe crackdown on journalists reporting the atrocities happening in Southern Cameroons. Koh has been with BWC for more than 9 years and participates in the organization’s efforts to improve the lives of women and young people through regenerative education and entrepreneurship. Koh’s current work centers around creating awareness in Europe about the ongoing crisis in his country to push for international support towards an end to the war. Koh is also the co-founder of two small startup companies in Cameroon, Njangi and K and K media. Koh is passionate about storytelling, art and technology, believing they're key areas that will take Africa to the level where it is no longer portrayed in Western media narratives as a place of poverty and disease, but where Africans can tell their own stories and forge their path, void of post-colonial shackles and western exploitation.

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

2. Song Title: Kothbiro
Artist: Ayub Ogada
CD: The Constant Gardener (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2005)
Label: Higher Octave Music
(00:41:07)

3. Song Title: 4R Ancestors
Artist: Keith Secola
EP: Wild Band of Indians (1996)
Label: AKINA Records
(00:46:03)

4. Song Title: Grand Canyon
Artist: Mat Kearney
Single: October 2020
Label: N/A
(00:50:25)

5. Song Title: Generation
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie
CD: Power in the Blood (2015)
Label: Tr

In the first segment, Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse welcomes Corrina Gould and Christopher “Toby” McLeod. Corrina Gould is Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone, born and raised in Oakland, California. She is the spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan and co-founder of the Indigenous women-led Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. Corrina has worked tirelessly to protect the 425 shellmounds that ring San Francisco Bay, and is currently focused on protecting the West Berkeley Shellmound and Village Site, the first and oldest Ohlone settlement on San Francisco Bay—a designated Berkeley City Landmark since 2000, and one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Sites in America in 2020. More information at https://shellmound.org/ and sogoreate-landtrust.com/

Christopher (Toby) McLeod has been Project Director of the Sacred Land Film Project since 1984. In 2013, he completed the four-part series Standing on Sacred Ground, which aired on PBS. Toby produced and directed In the Light of Reverence (2001) and three other award-winning documentaries broadcast on national television: The Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area? (1983) and NOVA: Poison in the Rockies (1990). Toby has a master’s degree in journalism from U.C. Berkeley and a B.A. in History from Yale and has received a Student Academy Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Toby has worked with Indigenous communities as a filmmaker, journalist and photographer for 44 years. Standing on Sacred Ground is available from Bullfrog Films, StandingOnSacredGround.org and sacredland.org.

In the second segment, Tiokasin welcomes back Steven T. Newcomb (Shawnee, Lenape). Steve is a scholar, educator, author, journalist, film producer, public speaker and workshop leader/facilitator. He is internationally recognized for his more than three decades of research and writing on the origins of federal Indian law and international law dating back to the early days of Christendom, most notably focused on the religious doctrine now known in history as the Doctrine of Christian Discovery. Steve is author of "Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery" (Fulcrum Publishing, 2008) and a Producer of the 2015 documentary film, "The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code” directed and produced by Sheldon Wolfchild (Dakota). Steve’s website is http://originalfreenations.com/. For additional information about Steve and his other projects, visit redthought.org and shawnanbluestar.com

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

2. Song Title: Make You Crazy
Artist: Brett Dennan feat. Femi Kuti
CD: Hope for the Hopeless (2008)
Label: Dualtone Records
(00:26:08)

3. Song Title: Begin Again
Artist: Nick Mulvey
EP: Begin Again
Label: Eel Pie Records
(00:29:42)

4. Song Title: Nicto Kicko
Artist: Laura Niquay
CD: Waska Matisiwin (upcoming release date: April 21, 2021)
Label: Musique Nomade
(00:53:38)

On his edition of “First Voices Radio,” Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse welcomes Nick Mulvey, as his guest for the full hour. Nick Mulvey is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member of the band Portico Quartet in which he played the hang. In 2011, Nick started his career as a singer-songwriter releasing the EPs “The Trellis” and “Fever to the Form”; his studio album “First Mind” in 2014 received a Mercury Music Prize nomination. His album, “Wake Up Now,” was released in September 2017, and “Dancing for Answers” was released in 2018.

“Begin Again,” his latest EP, was released in 2020. In Nick’s short cinematic film, which expands on the themes of “Begin Again,” he says: “We are living through an incredible shift. The old ways are dying, right before our very eyes.” View the film: https://youtu.be/wRyIuFRbSQA. Nick’s official website is: https://www.nickmulvey.com/

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

3. Film (Audio): Nick Mulvey - Begin Again (A Short Film) - December 2020
Artist: Nick Mulvey
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/wRyIuFRbSQA
Film Synopsis: To celebrate the limited edition vinyl release of “Begin Again,” Nick Mulvey together with director Sam Mulvey brings us a short and poignant film reflecting on the meaning of “Begin Again” and how the musical project developed in one of the most unprecedented years in our lifetime.
(00:03:50)

3. Song Title: In the Anthropocene
Artist: Nick Mulvey
CD: Released as a single in 2019
Label: N/A. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYnaQIvBRAE
(00:52:17)

On this edition of “First Voices Radio,” Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse welcomes Francene Blythe-Lewis. Francene is Executive Director of Vision Maker Media, a public media nonprofit in Lincoln, Nebraska. Vision Maker Media is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. Francene leads Vision Maker Media to seek and advance new Native film talent, fund Native media content and produce Native film and television public media intended for public television broadcasting. She works directly in partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its many entities to provide prime Native content for digital and educational platforms. Francene specializes in cultural education, cultural arts programming and executive management in the arts. Her passion for her work has inspired others to gain knowledge and discovery in learning and understanding Native peoples worldwide. As a proud Native woman, Francene Blythe-Lewis is Eastern Cherokee, Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota and Diné. For more information, visit visionmakermedia.org.

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:

1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

3. Song Title: Higher Ground
Artist: Playing for Change
CD: PFC2: Songs Around the World (2011)
Label: Concord
(00:23:14)

3. Song Title: The Cleansing
Artist: John Trudell
CD: Tribal Voice (1983)
Label: Effective
(00:28:11)

4. Song Title: The Big Ones Get Away
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie
CD: Coincidences and Likely Stories
Label: Ensign Records (1992)
(00:47:07)

5. Song Title: We Are Never Apart
Artist: Nick Mulvey
CD: Wake Up Now (2017)
Label: FICTION
(00:50:49)