First Voices Radio

Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse talks with Bryan Nurnberger, President and Founder of Simply Smiles, an organization that builds villages of foster homes for indigenous children. The Simply Smiles model of foster care is a new and progressive one that provides a desperately needed, scalable and culturally appropriate response for Native children in Oaxaca, Mexico and on the Cheyenne River Lakota Reservation in South Dakota. In 2002, Bryan was a professional mountain climbing guide recovering from a climbing injury when he began volunteering at a Mexican orphanage. His experiences there inspired him to create Simply Smiles. Bryan was given the Lakota name “Cante Waste Wicasa” which means “Kind Hearted Man.” Backed by tribal elders, the tribal council, and the local community, the Simply Smiles Children’s Village on the Cheyenne River Reservation is serving the immediate needs of the most-at-risk Lakota children, but also scaffolding a brighter future by guiding today’s most vulnerable children to become tomorrow’s strongest and most influential adults. Simply Smiles children’s villages foster leaders, role models, and citizens of the world. Bryan says: “Simply Smiles has an important role to play in reaching a brighter future. But when the success story is written it should not be a story of this organization. It should be the story of how Native children wanted something different, something better, and with a little help, worked to achieve it. An organization like ours should be felt not seen. We should be a wind at your back.” More information at https://www.simplysmiles.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)

2. Song Title: Warrior
Artist: Raye Zaragoza
CD: Woman in Color (2020)
Label: Rebel River Records
(00:31:25)

3. Song Title: Another Day in Paradise
Artist: Phil Collins
CD: But Seriously (1989)
Label: Atlantic Records
(00:35:00)

4. Title: Spiritual Logic
Artist: Tiokasin Ghosthorse
CD: Ghosthorse/Akantu: The Origin Series - Live at The National Sawdust, 2017, Brooklyn, NY ) (not yet released)
Label: Ghosthorse
(00:40:10)

5. Song Title: In the Air Tonight
Artist: Phil Collins
CD: Face Value (1981)
Label: Atlantic Records
(00:54:10)

In the first segment, Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse welcomes Max Wilbert. Max is a writer, organizer and wilderness guide. A third-generation dissident, Max grew up on Duwamish land in post–WTO Seattle. Max is the author of two books, most recently “Bright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About It” (Monkfish, 2021. Max’s essays have been published in Earth Island Journal, Counterpunch and Dissident Voice, and have been translated into several languages. Max has been part of grassroots political work for nearly 20 years. He 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.

In the second segment, Tiokasin speaks with returning guest Christine Diindiisi McCleave (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe). Christine is the CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. A descendant of boarding school survivors, Christine completed her master’s thesis at Augsburg University on traditional Native American spirituality and Christianity, and the impact of boarding schools on Indigenous communities today. Christine is a graduate of the mini–MBA program at the University of St. Thomas and holds a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Northwestern College. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is sending 1,000 care packages to Native elders who are boarding school survivors or their direct descendants. The We Love You! Elder Care Packages, which are being carefully arranged by volunteers from the Tulalip community in Washington State, are filled with items that were created or produced by Indigenous artists, healers, entrepreneurs, companies, and friends from across Turtle Island. More information at https://boardingschoolhealing.org/elder-care-packages/

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: Chosen Road
Artist: Cary Morin
CD: Dockside Saints (2020)
Label: Cary Morin
(00:21:27)

3. Song Title: Rule the World
Artist: Michael Kiwanuka
CD: Love and Hate (2016)
Label: Polydor Records
(00:45:25)

4. Song Title: Cold
Artist: Chris Stapleton
CD: Cold (2020)
Label: Mercury Records Nashville
(00:51:22)

In the first segment, Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse welcomes Adele Vrana and Anasuya Sengupta, Co-Directors and Co-Founders of Whose Knowledge?

Adele Vrana has led business development and partnerships initiatives to help build a more plural and diverse communities in her native country of Brazil and globally. She is the former Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Wikimedia Foundation and a 2015 Erasmus Prize laureate on behalf of her work to expand access to Wikipedia in the Global South. Adele holds a B.A. in International Relations and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Sao Paulo.

Anasuya Sengupta has led initiatives in India and the USA, across the global South, and internationally for more than 20 years, to amplify marginalized voices in virtual and physical worlds. Anasuya is the former Chief Grant-making Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, former Regional Program Director at the Global Fund for Women, and a 2017 Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow. Anasuya received a 2018 Internet and Society award from the Oxford Internet Institute, and is on the Scholars’ Council for UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry. Anasuya holds a Masters of Philosophy in Development Studies from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She also has a B.A. in Economics (Honors) from Delhi University.

In this segment, Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse talks with Tash Terry of IndigenousWays and Indigie Femme.The birth of IndigenousWays came in 2007. Co-founders, Tash Terry, Diné (Navajo) Nation and Elena Higgins, Maori/Samoan, began performing that year as Indigie Femme, an Indigenous woman empowered musical duo.Based on the overwhelming feedback they received, they were inspired to start Indigenous Ways.Through travels they discovered that globally, Indigenous communities identified a need for survival through deeper integration of their culture, their spirituality and their community.They determined that music, story-telling and the arts provided opportunities to raise awareness and global support for Indigenous communities.IndigenousWays is an Indigenous women-led nonprofit based in Northern New Mexico, where Native Americans represent 10.6 percent of the population.For the past 14 years, the organization has been providing all-inclusive Indigenous educational programs that encompass artistic and musical performances, along with programs developed to acknowledge cultural awareness, values and practices.IndigenousWays is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Soundcloud.More at https://www.indigenousways.org/

Indigie Femme has won many awards along the way, including 2016, 2014 and 2012 New Mexico Music Award and 2013 Aboriginal Peoples Choice as Best International Duo.Indigie Femme’s music can be sampled, and they can be reached, through a variety of platforms including:ReverbNation, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace and Instagram.More at https://www.indigiefemme.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. Audio from 6-minute documentary film: IndigenousWays and the Relief Runs to Black Mountain on the Navajo Nation
Producer: IndigenousWays, Santa Fe, NM, https://www.indigenousways.org
YouTube Link Only: https://youtu.be/Ht4oFsb5y7o
(00:38:35)

3. Song Title: Nga Iwi E
Artist: Indigie Femme
CD: Hau Waiata (2012)
Label: Indigie Femme
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On this week’s episode, “First Voices Radio” digs deep into its 28-year-old Archive and brings listeners other interpretations and observations surrounding the American holiday known as “Thanksgiving.”

Part 1:

This interview was first aired in 2005. Robert Jensen is an emeritus professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Austin and a founding board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center. In his writing and teaching, Dr. Jensen draws on a variety of critical approaches to media and power. He has addressed questions of race through a critique of white privilege and institutionalized racism. Dr. Jensen and Tiokasin discuss the history of Thanksgiving, based on themes in his book, “The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege” (City Lights, 2005).

Part 2:

This is a special broadcast of the late John Trudell’s “Thanksgiving Day Address.” Although Trudell's remarks are from 1980, listeners will be amazed at how his observations have stood the test of time and still ring very true to today. The names of U.S. politicians that Trudell mentions have changed over the years but the issues that Native people faced then and now remain the same. John Trudell (1946-2015) has been identified as a poet, a fighter for Native American rights, an agitator, and lots of other things. But if you were to have asked him which of these descriptions best suits him he would have refused to be pinned down. “Actually I don’t consider myself to be any of those things. They’re things that I do…but they’re parts of me. They’re not the total.” Indeed, Trudell was the complex sum of all that he saw, endured and accomplished in his 69 years, a time in which he experienced more than most people might in several lifetimes. More information about John Trudell can be found at https://www.johntrudell.com/.

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: Don’t Abuse the Medicine (July 2020)

Artist: Girls Rising

CD: Released as a Single: https://youtu.be/29rIixMxmIQ

Label: Produced by On Native Ground

(00:26:50)

3. Song Title: The Cleansing

Artist: John Trudell

CD: Tribal Voices (1983)

Label: Effective

Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse welcomes Max Nesterak, reporter and producer of "Uprooted: The 1950s Plan to Erase Indian Country" (Nov. 1, 2019, Minnesota Public Radio and APM Reports). Max is a reporter for Minnesota Reformer, a news outlet in Minnesota, which is part of the States Newsroom Network. Previously, he was at Minnesota Public Radio and National Public Radio.
 
Tiokasin talks with Oqwilowgwa, Kim Recalma-Clutesi of the Qualicum First Nation, British Columbia, Canada. Oqwilowgwa is a cross-cultural interpreter, teacher, researcher and writer on topics of ethnobiology and tribal history. She is also a nonprofit director, political organizer, and award-winning videographer and film producer. Oqwilowgwa is a co-author of "Indigenous song keepers reveal traditional ecological knowledge in music" (The Conversation, Jan. 2, 2020).
 
 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: Lay Laya (Kurdish Lullaby) 
 Artist: Lay Laya (feat. Mina Deris and Mehdi Abbasi) 
 CD: Lay Laya (2019) 
 Label: Hesam Naseri, Mina Deris, Mehdi 
 (00:28:00) 
 
 3. Song Title: Single World 
 Artist: Lay Laya (feat. Mina Deris and Mehdi Abbasi) 
 CD: Lay Laya (2019) 
 Label: Hesam Naseri, Mina Deris, Mehdi Abbasi 
 (00:57:44) 

Mark K. Tilsen Mark is an Oglala Lakota poet and educator from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. At Standing Rock, he stepped into the role of a direct action trainer and police liaison. Since then he has led trainings and teach in’s about the lessons learned from Standing Rock.

He recently spent six months at L’eau Est La Vie Camp helping fight against the Bayou Bridge Pipeline which is the tail end of the Dakota Access Pipeline ending in Louisiana. Recently Mark has been working with the Mni Luzahan Creek Patrol to provide basic security to our unhoused relatives along Rapid Creek in Rapid City, South Dakota. For more information and ways to help, please visit www.mniluzahan.org. The organization is also on Facebook.

Award-winning artist Cary Morin’s new album, “Dockside Saints,” was released in August 2020. Cary has won numerous awards for his work, particularly for his 2017 release, “Cradle to the Grave.” Born in Billings, Montana, Cary is a Crow tribal member and son of an air force officer.

He spent the bulk of his youth in Great Falls, Montana, where he cut his teeth picking guitar standards at neighborhood get-togethers, before relocating to northern Colorado. There, his musical career hit the ground running with The Atoll, a band he founded in 1989 and that toured nationally, gaining a devoted following. Later, he achieved international acclaim with The Pura Fé Trio, for whom the single “Ole Midlife Crisis,” which Morin wrote and performed with Pura Fé, placed at number 17 on France’s iTunes blues chart.

With The Atoll and The Pura Fé Trio, and as a solo artist, Morin has played celebrated venues across the globe, including Paris Jazz Festival, Winter Park Jazz Festival, Folk Alliance International, River People Festival, Shakori Hill Festival, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and most recently Rochefort En Accords festival in France and The Copenhagen Blues Festival.

Described as “one of the best acoustic pickers on the scene today,” Cary brings together the great musical traditions of America and beyond like no other. With deft fingerstyle guitar and vocals that alternately convey melodic elation and gritty world-weariness, Cary crafts an inimitable style often characterized as acoustic Native Americana with qualities of blues, bluegrass, jazz, jam, reggae, and dance.

More about Cary at https://www.carymorin.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: Bare Trees 
 Artist: Cary Morin 
 CD: Dockside Saints 
 Label: Independent Label (Cary Morin) 
 (00:21:55) 
 
 3. Song Title: Jamie Rae 
 Artist: Cary Morin 
 CD: Dockside Saints 
 Label: Independent Label (Cary Morin) 
 (00:26:12) 
 
 4. Song Title: Valley of the Chiefs 
 Artist: Cary Morin 
 CD: Dockside Saints 
 Label: Independent Label (Cary Morin) 
 (00:51:20) 
 
 5. Song Title: Prisoner 
 Artist: Cary Morin 
 CD: Dockside Saints 
 Label: Independent Label (Cary Morin) 
 (00:54:53) 

Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse talks with Chief Terrance Paul, Co-Chair and Fisheries Lead for the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs.

Chief Paul and Tiokasin discuss the current situation involving the Mi’kmaw’s treaty rights to fish (in this particular case, gather lobsters) and the violence — imposed by a small and extremely racist minority — that has erupted and escalated since mid-September 2020 causing damage to Mi’kmaw property and endangering Mi’kmaw lives.

Chief Paul brings listeners up to date on all of the latest developments and the Mi’kmaw peoples’ efforts to work with the Canadian federal government to put a stop to the harassment and violence. People — not just Native people — all over the world are watching what is happening and lending support to the Mi’kmaw people in their struggle to maintain their treaty rights.
 
Chief Paul has held the position of Chief of Membertou First Nation since 1984. During this time, Chief Paul has guided his community and administration into one of the most open and efficient Native communities in Canada.

He has served on numerous boards and task forces, and is one of the original founders of the National Capital Corporation Association (NACCA), which started out as seven Aboriginal corporations and has grown to 50 Aboriginal financial institutions across Canada.

Chief Paul started his career with the Boston Indian Council, where he received his background training in Finance and Management. He began as a Job Placement Officer and was quickly promoted to Director of Finance before being named president of the council. Upon returning home to Membertou, Chief Paul worked as the Economic Development Officer and Band Manager before being elected as Chief.

Chief Paul has achieved many accomplishments in his role as Chief, including doubling the land base for the Membertou Reserve. He also assisted Donald Marshall, Jr., in his successful Supreme Court defense of the Mi'kmaq Treaty Rights to fish, which resulted in approximately $600 million in the Atlantic for the Mi'kmaq. In 2012, Chief Paul was inducted into Junior Achievement Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame recognizing his accomplishments and contributions to Nova Scotia.
 
Second Interview:
 
Tiokasin talks with Antonia Perre, a clinical herbalist, gardener and artist who was born and raised in New York City. They have apprenticed with several herbalists around the Northeast, Central and South America, and Thailand.

They graduated from Bard College where they studied environmental and urban studies in 2015 and Arborvitae School of Traditional Herbal Medicine in 2019. They are a community organizer, gardener, food and environmental justice educator.

They are also the co-founder of collectives: Brujas and Herban Cura. They are passionate to share their knowledge with other folks especially in urban centers, in order to interrupt notions of individualism and separatism from nature and grow towards collaborative and symbiotic communities. For more information, visit: https://herbancura.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) 
 
 2. Song Title: Ganulu (Great Black Messenger Bird) 
 CD: Music for the Mother (2020) 
 Label: Underwater Panther Coalition 
 (00:25:36) 
 
 3. Song Title: Salt and the Sea 
 Artist: The Lumineers <

Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse begins the hour talking with Matthew O’Neill, a musical artist who lives in Upstate New York. Matthew's latest project is “Music for The Mother,” the debut album featuring the Ancestral Teyuna Music from the Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta in Colombia.

The album is produced by Matthew’s record label, “Underwater Panther Coalition," a label committed to supporting Indigenous rights and celebrating ancestral musical traditions by releasing projects based on time-honored traditions of gratitude, appreciation, respect and reverence for Mother Earth.

The album is particularly special as it's the first record of its kind and first time a female from Teyuna has ever been recorded. Each track is recorded by the spiritual leaders and promotes healing and cultural integrity through song and ceremony. This release serves as an important defining moment of preservation for these Indigenous peoples of the mountain region.

Underwater Panther Coalition shares 50 percent of profits with the Indigenous groups affiliated with each project.

For more information: https://www.underwaterpanthercoalition.com/. Underwater Panther Coalition on Facebook.
 
In the second half-hour, we feature an interview conducted by Mario Murillo, Host of “Rumba Therapy” heard on Friday evenings from 6-9 pm on WIOX 91.3 FM in Roxbury, NY.

Mario is a Professor and the Vice Dean of the Herbert School of Communication at Hofstra University, and teaches in the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program there. He has covered Latin America for a number of radio outlets and journals.

Indigenous resistance throughout the hemisphere has accelerated. Mario helps us make sense of the ongoing massacres — occurring on an ongoing basis — of Indigenous peoples defending their territories in Latin America, and also keeps us updated on what’s happening with Indigenous resistance movements throughout Latin America.

Mario interviewed Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse and First Voices Radio Guest Host Anne Keala Kelly (Kanaka Maoli) about their perspectives on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which was observed on Oct. 12, 2020.
 
Production Credits: 

•  Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer 
•  Mario Murillo, Guest Host in the Second Half-Hour 
•  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: Ripples of Water 
 CD: Music for the Mother (2020) 
 Label: Underwater Panther Coalition 
 (00:04:04) 
 
 3. Song Title: Cigarra & Cicada (Spirit of the Seed Consciousness of the Seeds) 
 CD: Music for the Mother (2020) 
 Label: Underwater Panther Coalition 
 (00:13:35) 
 
 4. Song Title: Consciousness, The Song of Thoughts 
 CD: Music for the Mother (2020) 
 Label: Underwater Panther Coalition 
 (00:24:57) 
 
 5. Song Title: Who Discovered America? 
 Artist: Ozomatli 
 CD: Street Signs (2004) 
 Label: Real World Records and Concord Records 
 (00:29:05) 
 
 4. Song Title: Abu Senulan (Mother Earth) 
 CD: Music for the Mother (2020) 
 Label: Underwater Panther Coalition 
 (00:59:18) 

Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse begins the hour talking with Debra Utacia Krol.

Debra Utacia Krol, a citizen of the Xolon Salinan Tribe, is an Indigenous affairs reporter at the Arizona Republic. Tiokasin and Debra will discuss her article,“‘Living with fire’ may lead to less destructive wildfires, say Indigenous land stewards,” published in the Arizona Republic on August 24, 2020. https://bit.ly/33yFazL

“First Voices Radio” Co-Host Anne Keala Kelly (Kanaka Maoli) talks with StrongHearts Native Helpline Director Lori Jump (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians). October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. https://www.strongheartshelpline.org/

To close out this week’s show, Tiokasin talks with multi-award nominated and award-winning hip-hop/electronic artist Cody Coyote about his new music video for his award-winning song, “Manidoo Dewe’igan.” The song hit #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown in January 2020. Cody is of Ojibwe and Irish descent with ancestry from Matachewan First Nation in Ontario. Look for “Manidoo Dewe’igan”on all platforms including YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, TikTok and more. Cody can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. His website is https://www.codycoyotemusic.com/

 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: Mind Control 
 Artist: Stephen Marley 
 CD: Mind Control (2007) 
 Label: Universal / Tuff Gong 
 (00:27:25) 
 
 3. Song Title: Manidoo Dewe’igan 
 Artist: Cody Coyote 
 CD: Ma’iinganag 
 Label: Cody Coyote 
 (00:56:02)