NextGen Native

“I wanted to inspire [my sister] to carry on our traditions through any kind of art.”--Cynthia Begay

Cynthia Begay is Hopi and the brains and talent behind Hopi Girl Silver. Check out her amazing work at www.hopigirlsilver.com.

Cynthia grew up in Bakersfield, CA. During the summers, she would spend time with her family back home. There she watched family members that were silversmiths. When she went to college she would ask “which family member made that for you?” Only to realize that not everyone can get their jewelry from their family members. She was determined to work with silver, but thought she would do it when she retired and could move to the rez.

She is currently in a Master’s program in health (epidemiology research) and plans to pursue her Ph.D.

• Her solo trips to the rez and the experience of Urban natives trying to engage back home.
• Why college was never a question for Cynthia.
• How seeing health disparities inspired her to pursue a degree in health care to impact her community.
• How she connected to Native American Research Center for Health.
• Four Directions Summer Research Program at Harvard.
• How health research connects directly to community impact.
• How epidemiology (sort of) relates to the zombie apocalypse.
• How something as simple as “the definition of Indian” in policy conversations is more complex than one may think.
• Imposter syndrome and how to battle it.
• How fellow NextGen Native Jared Yazzie helped encourage her to start her business.
• The importance of social media for growing her business.
• Trickster Company.
• How Cynthia balances work, study, and Hopi Girl Silver.
• Cynthia’s passion for travel.
• Shout outs to Beyond Buckskin, Eighth Generation (both NGN interviewees).

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The Story of Nebraska v. Parker

Vernon Miller is Chairman of the Omaha Nation. Recently, the nation has been in the news as it successfully defended its sovereignty before the Supreme Court in the case Nebraska v. Parker. In this episode, we discuss the background of the case, the strategy put together for the case, and the impact the case will have on his own nation, across Indian Country and on the Chairman’s leadership experience.

In recent years, Indian Country has been timid to bring cases to the Supreme Court because it has been viewed as an unfavorable, perhaps unknowledgeable, about Indian law. But this case turned out very different. The recent decision ruled in favor of the tribe. Unanimously. It was an important victory for the Omaha Nation and for all tribes.

This is a great episode for people that want to learn more about current issues, but may not be a lawyer (like me).

In this episode we discuss:

• The background of the case.
• The history of the case proceeding through the court system.
• How the tribe thought the case was laid to rest, only to learn the Supreme Court decided to hear the case.
• How the case began to weigh on Chairman Miller as a burden because of its potential impact not only to his tribe but to all of Indian Country.
• How the tribe decided to to work with Paul Clement, a well respected attorney, for the case. And how the Supreme Court Project of the Native American Rights Fund and the National Congress of American Indians worked with the nation along the way.
• The experience of watching the case be debated, and the uncertainty felt after watching the arguments.
• How the Chairman heard, and where he was, when he heard about the decision in favor of the tribe.
• The case was the last one heard by the late justice Antonin Scalia. And how the late justice once acknowledged that often times the Supreme Court “makes it up” when dealing with Indian law.
• Even though this major case is laid to rest, there is still work to do on other issues.

For all the details, listen to the episode. You can also listen on:

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Johnnie Jae on being a suicide survivor “You don’t just have to survive, you can thrive...”

Johnnie Jae’s Bio

Johnnie Jae is of the Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw tribes of Oklahoma. She is the managing partner of Native Max Magazine, founder of A Tribe Called Geek, and contributor to Native News Online. She is the manager and producer for the Success Native Style Radio Network, where she hosts the Indigenous Flame and A Tribe Called Geek radio shows. She is also a founding board member of Not Your Mascots.

Known as the “Brown Ball of Fury,” Jae seamlessly shifts from humor and pop culture to advocacy and digital media, which has made her a much-sought after speaker and commentator. Her work has been discussed in many media outlets, such as Indian Country Today, ATPN, CBC, USA Today, BBC, Women’s E-News, Takepart.com and Upworthy. She has been a guest on several radio shows, including Native America Calling, Native Trailblazers, BBC’s World Have Your Say, and ICI Radio.

Johnnie’s challenge to NextGen Natives

Be real, work hard, and love with all your might.

In this episode we discuss:

• Johnnie Jae's unique upbringing for the first seven years of her life.
• How school taught her that being “Native” was different.
• Johnnie’s various interests in school (cello, violin, classically trained vocalist) led to her being tokenized, and how that tokenization gave her access to opportunities others may not receive.
• The complexities of being “Native.”
• Suicide and the experience of suicide survivors. Johnnie is a multiple suicide-attempt survivor. We talk about addressing the stigma of suicide in Indian Country. The topic begins around the 21 minute mark. I urge you to listen. It’s a difficult topic but we need to have these conversations.
• Brene Brown’s TED talks on vulnerability and shame. I feel I’m a broken record because I’ve referenced this several times previously. But I really think it’s important information for Indian Country!
• How Native Max, A Tribe Called Geek and NextGen Native all have common goals to connect and share stories of different Native groups (nerds, fashionistas, etc.) around the country.
• Indian Country needs more voices in media telling our stories.
• How we tell Native youth that they can be successful, but we don’t discuss what it means when you find success and how to handle or navigate it with others.
• The difference between “walking in two worlds” vs walking in your own two shoes.
• How YOLO is very similar to the famous quote attributed to Chief Tecumseh.

For all the details, listen to the episode. You can also listen on:

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“We were never afraid to admit what we didn’t know...But we did not fear to dream big...it is your right to dream big bold visions about your future, and your right to pursue those visions.”

Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation is doing some incredible work on Pine Ridge. And Nick Tilsen is the Executive Director of the organization.

Thunder Valley was created after Nick and others were scolded by some ancestors during a sweat. They had been complaining about the way the rez is. The ancestors challenged them: “how long are you going to let other people decide the future for your children. It’s time to stop talking and start doing. Don't come from a place of fear, come from a place of hope.” And with that, Thunder Valley CDC was created, named after a spiritual circle on the reservation.

Nick Tilsen is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota. When he was five years old, his parents separated and he moved to Minneapolis with his father. He went from a predominantly Native American school district to a school where no single group made up more than 20 percent of the population. But no matter how long he lived in Minnesota, he knew his home was Pine Ridge.

After high school, Nick spent some time in Alaska fishing. Eventually he joined U.S. Trek. He traveled around the country interviewing leaders in their local communities. He saw the impact they had in their communities and was inspired by them.

Nick had what he calls “a burning desire to be amongst his land and his people.” Nick returned to Pine Ridge to work like those he had interviewed while traveling. He sought to reclaim his family’s land, living in a tent while remodeling his parents’ house.

Eventually he had his encounter with the ancestors and he created Thunder Valley. Where a field once sat, Thunder Valley is now a hive of activity disrupting the status quo. Thunder Valley is creating a 34 acre community from scratch. They employ 30 people. The organization has received significant attention recently, including from President Obama. But the work has been a decade in the making.

Nick’s work is changing his community for the better. But Nick views his work and that of Thunder Valley as the stewards of the work. It is really the people who are making these changes.

“Life gets better...Things get much better... if you can get through that hard stage... Life, love, happiness, everything gets a whole lot better…”

Stacey Ecoffey is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota. She grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in Pine Ridge. She is currently the Principal Advisor for Tribal Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Growing up, horses were a big part of Stacey’s life. Her grandfather always had her on a horse, and she found horses to be a big stress relief. She attended rodeos. She also enjoyed school

Stacey Ecoffey attended Colorado State University. She earned a degree in Cultural Anthropology with a focus on Native American studies. Her school was far enough away that she could be in her own world, but close enough to home that the self-described “rez girl” could get home to visit family, too.

She thought she would return home to work for the tribe, but decided to attend graduate school before coming home. So she attended Boston College and earned her Master’s Degree in social work.

After grad school, she returned home and ended up finding a job as a coordinator for the tribal council’s Health and Human Service Committee. Very similar to Jodi Gillette, Stacey believes this experience was critical to learning how to function and maneuver and get things done in DC.

In this episode we discuss:

• Stacey’s philosophy to always move forward, to have a glass half full.
• How a fellowship prompted her move to DC.
• The importance of networking.
• How attending the Indians into Medicine program got Stacey used to being away from home.
• How Stacey learned that you can always come back home.
• How being away from home can strengthen who you are and your values.
• The sacrifices people make when they are away from home.
• How to make an impact in your community.

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This is part 3 of a series called Lakota Voices.

For more episodes, subscribe to iTunes or Stitcher or visit NextGen Native to get all previous episodes.

Join the conversation using #nextgennative and #lakotavoices. Better yet, join the conversation in person with friends, family, teachers, elders and others.

“I never thought of myself as pitiful”… “but I struggled with the injustice of our history”-- Jodi Gillette

Indian Country is humble. It encourages, as discussed on a previous episode, leadership as service. Jodi Gillette is a great example of this leadership style.

Jodi Gillette is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She grew up in Kyle, South Dakota. Jodi describes herself as one of the most fortunate people in the country because of where she is from. As a child she was surrounded by family and friends. Sports, ceremonies, and powwows were central to her childhood.

Her upbringing provided a solid foundation for her education and career. Jodi became well known throughout Indian Country through her service in the White House under President Obama. She was a policy advisor to President Obama on Native American affairs, and served in other key positions throughout her tenure in the administration. She now serves as a policy advisor at Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry LLP.

In this episode of the Lakota Voices series, we discuss Jodi’s background further and how she ended up in the administration. The episode covers a lot of ground, and we didn’t get to discuss other aspects of Jodi’s life that has also received significant attention.

In this episode we discuss:

• The role of sports in her life.
• Shauna Long (Standing Rock Sioux), a professional basketball player in Morocco and daughter of a childhood friend.
• How Jodi attended a math and science program at Phillips Academy, and eventually attended the boarding school for her high school education.
• Her experience at Dartmouth (which she was admitted to after an essay made up for her SAT score), including how Jodi almost left school but Dartmouth went “all in” to keep her enrolled.
• How anyone can make a difference in the lives of others, and it doesn’t need to be a grand gesture.
• Jodi’s determination to change the narrative told about Native peoples as part of her work as an assistant on the production How the West was Lost.
• How hard it is to make change in tribal government...and how that experience was the best preparation for her experience at the White House.
• Jodi’s book recommendations of The Black Swan and Between the World and Me.
• Her challenge to NextGen Natives: Learn your language.

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This is part 2 of a series called Lakota Voices.

For more episodes, subscribe to iTunes or Stitcher or visit NextGen Native to get all previous episodes.

Join the conversation using #nextgennative and #lakotavoices. Better yet, join the conversation in person with friends, family, teachers, elders and others.

*Credit to Jolynne Woodcock for the photo.

“I like to tell [students] you’ll never know what you’re capable of until you try.”

“The future is whatever they want it to be. And there is nothing that should stop them from getting there.”

--Mike Black

Mike Black, Oglala Sioux, is the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Mike’s story is a great example of what happens when you combine experience, skills, and mentorship. On their own, each is a valuable asset. But they may not be enough individually to propel your career to the highest level. Combined, they are powerful.

Mike Black was born in Flandreau, South Dakota and grew up in Aberdeen, South Dakota. As a kid, Mike enjoyed school and sports. Math came easy to him, so it’s no surprise that he attended the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Several friends from Aberdeen also attended the school, providing a critical peer support group.

After college, Mike wanted to return to Aberdeen. The BIA was hiring a mechanical engineer so it worked out well for him to take this position. But Mike’s path wasn’t a straight line to the Director’s chair. He started as a “GS-5.” The “GS” scale is how the government determines pay for employees. To provide perspective, the GS schedule goes to 15. So Mike started in the bottom third of pay. Maybe, despite the pay, Mike had some amazing work, right? Wrong. Mike spent the first several months printing blueprints. Mike learned the lesson that even though he was full of energy and had a degree, he had to learn the ropes before getting to work.

But along the way, the same supervisor who put him on the printer also allowed Mike to ask questions. He was able to learn about the more substantive hands-on work. He learned not only the nuance of the trade but how to operate within BIA. He also learned humility. Mike embraced those lessons and kept them close as he rose through the BIA. To hear how he did it, listen to part 1 of Lakota Voices.

In this episode we discuss:

• The tradeoffs for a college student to do doing manual labor jobs vs. internships during summer break.
• The role of mentors in professional development.
• Who can be a mentor (hint: EVERYONE).
• How being told “no one is irreplaceable” was some of the best advice he ever received.
• How important it is to push your comfort zone.
• Balancing personal life and career development. Rarely do either of these subjects care about the other when presenting opportunities or challenges.
• One of Mike’s critical growth moments that involved balancing a significant personal situation (divorce) and moving to another state for a promotion.
• Challenges and opportunities are often the same thing.

This is part 1 of a series called Lakota Voices.

For more episodes, subscribe to iTunes or Stitcher or visit NextGen Native to get all previous episodes.

Pine Ridge is WAY TOO FAMILIAR with the tired narrative of Indian Country as poverty porn. It is ground zero for media that perpetuate the narrative. It’s also the example used by those trying to counter it. But there’s another story about Pine Ridge and Indian Country generally. It’s our story told by us. In general, I call this story NextGen Native. And I’m excited to launch a series that focuses on this story in a specific community. The series is called Lakota Voices.

(ed note: I know the pic below is of kids from Rosebud, but they are with FLOTUS which is awesome. Let's roll with the flow)

A photo posted by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on May 27, 2015 at 2:47pm PDT

Native Youth at the Forefront

Native youth issues are receiving significant focus right now, and it’s powerful. I remember listening to President Obama describe his and Mrs. Obama’s experience visiting Indian Country and how that prompted the entire Administration to focus more on Native youth. The President launched Generation Indigenous to focus attention and resources on these issues.

Even though fewer and fewer people would consider me as part of any “youth,” this initiative moved me greatly. I’ve fought back tears listening to the president speak of his conversations with Native youth.

Through empowerment, focused resources, and a growing connection with peers in other communities, Native Youth are using their platform to tell their stories and shape their communities. One of the resources they’ve requested is more positive content. This series provides Lakota specific stories. But it’s part of the broader effort of NextGen Native to change the narratives within our communities and about our communities.

NextGen Natives challenge the narrative of our communities often portrayed in the media. The NextGen Native podcast is one conduit for us to share these efforts with each other and the rest of the world. It provides a broader lens for us to see that despite ongoing challenges, we have some amazing things happening in our communities. It humanizes our people.

Typically, NextGen Native stories are from people aged roughly 25-45. But as I’ve said before, every generation is the next generation. Elders can share their stories for the next generation to learn from, but they can also hear what direction the next generation is taking their communities. Native youth can learn from their cousins and aunties and uncles about the work they are doing. They can learn there are so many different ways to positively impact their communities.

Lakota Voices features Lakota people doing great things. This is part of a broader effort to build partnerships to share this content not only through NextGen Native but with others in Lakota communities.

Join the conversation using #nextgennative and #lakotavoices. Better yet, join the conversation in person with friends, family, teachers, elders and others.

Walk Your Own Path

“Walking your own path is getting off the moving walkway at the airport. On the walkway, you may be moving but you are not the one driving the motion nor are you in control of where it is going. Instead, choose yourself where to go and how to get there. It’s more work than the moving walkway, but the payoff is worth it.” Dennis Worden

Usually on the podcast we hear amazing stories from NextGen Natives around the country. This episode I discuss some concepts and ideas that I think are relevant for NextGen Natives. They are things I have been thinking about recently.

A bit of background: the original idea for this episode came from a negative experience that occurred recently. I was going to turn around the negative experience and discuss the upside of why it didn’t bother me as much as it could have. It was then I realized the episode was much bigger than a single incident. It is about how we shape our lives, and choose to respond to the world around us, particularly when things are beyond our control.

We control more about our lives than we may think, and we can then influence how we live our life. It is an intimidating realization. But it’s intimidating because it’s powerful.

I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection about where I want to go in my personal life and in my career. Over the last few years I’ve been introduced to several different resources and ideas that are finally becoming a coherent philosophy for me. And I wanted to share these with you.

In this episode I discuss a few key concepts that are influencing me right now:

• Plan beats no plan. It may not be perfect, but it’s better than nothing.
• You can’t judge a decision by outcomes. You can only judge decisions based on the information at the time a decision was made.
• Creating your life builds conviction about what you are doing. Don’t let critics get your down. It is not the critics who count.
• Stoic philosophy as introduced to me by Tim Ferriss.
• Some thoughts and resources on personal finance as described by Mr. Money Mustache. Including The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement.
• I’m listening to some personal finance podcasts including Scott Alan Turner and Farnoosh Torabi.

Have you had similar experiences? What has helped you find your own path?

“I’m always asked to motivate other people. Motivation has to come from within you. Nobody can give it to you.”-- Waylon Pahona

If you’re reading this, you are probably familiar with Healthy Active Natives. Waylon Pahona created this Facebook page that has almost 60 thousand likes. It’s been a source of motivation and support for people throughout Indian Country. Waylon--who is Hopi, Tewa and Maricopa Piipaash--joined NextGen Native to share his story. If you need some positive energy, Waylon is your guy.

Waylon grew up on Hopi and left when he was 18. He left to get away from some of the negative incidents he experienced. Waylon shared how he was sexually abused and wanted to get away. These negative experiences impacted him profoundly. For many years, he pushed those memories away and was not living a healthy life. He turned himself around (listen to the podcast to learn how) and eventually shared this story with others. This transformation eventually led to the creation of Healthy Active Natives.

In this episode we talk about:

• Being vulnerable--Brene Brown became a viral hit discussing how shame and courage come from the same state: being vulnerable. When you hear Waylon’s story, you’ll see he chose courage over shame.
• Float tanks--how they can be used to process memories, emotions, fears.
• Getting healthy is more than just exercising, or even eating right. It’s about mental balance, too.
• Understanding people to connect and encourage action.
• How to deal with negativity.
• Why Waylon hates the word “haters.”
• Working on letting go.
• Why he got a huge hug while traveling in Canada recently.
• How Derek Jeter’s last hit as a Yankee inspires Waylon.

For all the details, listen to the episode. You can also listen on:

iTunes

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Tell us what you are working on to make yourself better. Leave a comment on Facebook or on Twitter (#nextgennative) about what you are working on to improve yourself. This could be a physical goal, professional development, etc.