Indigenae Podcast

Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy offers us the opportunity to explore the revitalization of ceremony that marks the passage into adulthood. Dr. Risling-Baldy speaks about the importance of uplifting our young people and honoring the ancestral strength of our bodies. She unpacks toxic eurocentric ideologies and modes of colonization and reminds us of the sacred nature of menstruation, queer identity, and becoming.
 
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy (Hupa, Yurok and Karuk) (she/her) is an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Native American Studies at Humboldt State University. Her research is focused on Indigenous feminisms, California Indians, Environmental Justice, and Decolonization. Her book We Are Dancing For You: Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women's Coming-of-age Ceremonies was awarded "Best First Book in Native American and Indigenous Studies" at the 2019 Native American Indigenous Studies Association Conference.  She received her Ph.D. in Native American Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Feminist Theory and Research from the University of California, Davis and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Literary Research from San Diego State University. She also has her B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University. Dr. Risling Baldy is Hupa, Yurok and Karuk and an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Northern California. In 2007, Dr. Risling Baldy co-founded the Native Women's Collective, a nonprofit organization that supports the continued revitalization of Native American arts and culture. She lives in Humboldt County with her husband, daughter, step-son, and a puppy named Buffy.

Resources:
Cutcha’s Book

• Risling-Baldy, We Are Dancing for You: Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women's Coming-of-Age Ceremonies. University of Washington Press, 2018

Publications

• Risling-Baldy, "mini-k’iwh’e:n (For That Purpose—I Consider Things) (Re)writing and (Re)righting Indigenous Menstrual Practices to Intervene on Contemporary Menstrual Discourse and the Politics of Taboo" ​Cultural Studies↔ Critical Methodologies (2016): 1532708616638695.
• Miranda, The Extermination of the Joyas: Gendercide in Spanish California GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, Duke University PressVolume 16, Number 1-2, 2010
• Buckley & Gottlieb, Blood Magic: The Power of Menstruation, ​​

Cutcha’s Blog

• www.cutcharislingbaldy.com/blog

Support the Native Women’s Collective:

https://www.nativewomenscollective.org/   

From creation stories to clinical spaces, Ursula Knoki-Wilson walks us through celebrating the mystery and wonder of new life. Ursula speaks to the importance of sacred birthing spaces and support during pregnancy and childbirth. Ursula’s own journey of Navajo traditional and clinical midwifery practices offers a way to think about strengths-based community health that ensures our generations to come.

Ursula Knoki-Wilson (she/her) is a Navajo CNM, MSN, MPH. She serves as Community Relations Liaison Officer for the Office of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Chinle Service Unit, NAIHS, Chinle, AZ. She has also served as Chief of Nurse-Midwifery Service within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility from March 1996 to March 2013. From 2000 to 2013, she served as the IHS Chief Clinical Consultant for Advance Practice Nurses. Ursula has worked many years in promoting the integration of Navajo cultural concepts into health care practice for health professionals. She serves as Chairperson on the Traditional Navajo Medicine Committee at Chinle Service Unit. 

Changing Woman Initiative:

• http://www.changingwomaninitiative.com/

Publications

Jennie R Joe, Robert S Young, Jill Moses, Ursula Knoki-Wilson, Johnson Dennison; A collaborative case study: The Office of Native Medicine PMID: 27115132, American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 2016

Coming soon to the Indigenae Podcast: Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy talks about the revitalization of Coming of Age ceremonies, the sacred nature of menstruation, and the transition to adulthood.

Coming soon to the Indigenae Podcast: Midwife Ursula Knocki-Wilson (Navajo) speaks to the importance of sacred birthing spaces and support during pregnancy and childbirth. Her journey of Navajo traditional and clinical midwifery practices offers a way to think about strengths-based community health that ensures our generations to come.

The Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health proudly announces the launch of Indigenae, a community-grounded podcast celebrating Indigenous Womxn’s Health and Wellbeing. Listeners can subscribe to the Indigenae Podcast on all streaming services for new episodes every Tuesday.

The Indigenae podcast shares conversations with traditional practitioners, Indigenous health care workers, activists, researchers, artists, and survivors. Hosts Sarah Stern, Olivia Trujillo, and Dr. Sophie Neuner take listeners on a journey through Indigenous womanhood, exploring topics from Coming of Age to Becoming an Elder. “Indigenae is really about telling stories,” says Sarah Stern, Citizen of the Cherokee Nation, “and for Indigenous peoples, storytelling is a traditional way of learning how to live well”.

All episodes were guided by an advisory board of Elders, mothers, and daughters, who came together from Tribal nations across Turtle Island, also known as North America, to define topics, guests, and discussions. 

Follow the Center for American Indian Health on Social Media:
Facebook: @JHUCAIH
Twitter: @JHUCAIH
Instagram: @johnshopkinscaih