Stay ConnectedThe Young & Indigenous Podcast amplifies the voices, stories, and experiences of Indigenous people in all walks of life, creating a platform that fosters empowerment and meaningful conversations.
Through storytelling, we uplift the spirits of Native youth, strengthen community, and celebrate indigeneity. By honoring the voices of our ancestors, we are reclaiming our narrative and preserving our way of life.
Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Cree musician, artist and activist, has always been ahead of the curve. For six decades, she’s fought for Indigenous rights and visibility through her work. Today, we’re sharing a special episode from the folks over at PBS’ Webby Award-winning podcast American Masters: Creative Spark. Their host Joe Skinner sits down with Sainte-Marie for a compelling conversation about her creative process and inspiration, and how she brought the song “Carry It On” to life. Listen to the full episode with Buffy Sainte-Marie and follow American Masters: Creative Spark for even more interviews here: https://link.chtbl.com/VqMug88H?sid=YoungIndigenous
During the month of September, CSSP embarked on filming the pilot for our first narrative series titled “Canoe Journey”. This coming of age story centered around youth mental health and finding your identity places an emphasis on immersing yourself in culture as a preventative tool. It was a 10-day shoot and the YAI team was there on set during all of production playing various roles within. We were production assistants, talent handlers and set designers; it was truly the best experience. During this time we sat down to speak with a few of the actors. This is the first of those interviews.
Sam Bob speaks on his time spent at a residential school and how it has affected his life now and the impact that experience has had upon his children. He discusses how he has learned to heal from that trauma. Sam talks about how love based behavior is key to prevent passing on trauma and also to mend relationships. Intergenerational trauma is prevalent in our people today due to colonization and Sam’s wisdom can be learned and shared to start or continue on a healing path. Breaking into the acting world and all the steps leading up to it is another talking point in this episode, with his advice of: “falling into belief,” or really believing in the story you are portraying. We are grateful to Sam’s dedication to healing and his craft of acting which have landed him gigs in Northern Exposure, The X Files and in scenes with Anthony Hopkins. Hope you enjoy the interview as much as we do.
Skelotses is our ancestral territory, it is our homeland. In the final part of our series with the Lummi Summer Youth Program we travel by boat through our homeland, the San Juan Islands; we are reminded how culture and community are used as preventative tools for positive youth mental health. We listen to youth tell us what they learned, and elders explain origin stories as well as more recent tribal history since the Point Elliot Treaty. It was a beautiful day full of whale watching, rich storytelling and togetherness traveling the traditional highways our ancestors once took. Join us as we embark on the final leg of the ‘Walking With Our Ancestors’ journey.
In the second part of the Walking with our Ancestors event, we highlight local Native artists. On this day various local artists came in to instruct the youth on language, beading, cedar weaving, wool weaving, and traditional medicines. We listen to them as they speak on their experiences both in life and with their practice, as well as the youth while they are soaking in all the knowledge.
In the second part of the Walking with our Ancestors event, we highlight local Native artists. On this day various local artists came in to instruct the youth on language, beading, cedar weaving, wool weaving, and traditional medicines. We listen to them as they speak on their experiences both in life and with their practice, as well as the youth while they are soaking in all the knowledge.
Walking with our Ancestors is an event we are documenting with the Lummi Summer Youth Program. Centered around youth prevention, this event is in collaboration with the Northwest Indian College and the purpose is to instill the importance of cultural identity. This is the first episode in a three-part series and in it we highlight Aunt Ernestine talking about her life living on Portage Island along with some interviews with the youth while they participate in the cultural practice of clam digging.
This Podcast is brought to you by the Northwest Indian College Center for Health and the LIBC Native Connections Project, a grant funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) 5H79SM063454.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and content expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), or the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
Welcome back to Young and Indigenous Season 2! We’re super excited to continue through our journey of storytelling and also to introduce two new members to the team. Santana and Haley join-in alongside Isabella and are eager to get this new phase of the podcast started. We can't wait for you to see what we have in store for the future!
As season one of Young and Indigenous wraps up, we come together to give thanks to everyone who has been involved in our podcast so far. Hy’shqe to each and every person who shared their words with us and stay tuned for the next phase of our work! Special thanks to Michelle and Kyla Polasky and Eliza Julius for their hard work and beautiful spirits. Your contributions will always shine in the podcast, and we wish you well in your future endeavors.
Chatting with S'Klallam and Lummi Tribal member, Elaine Grinnell, we are immersed and captivated by her singing and storytelling. She shares stories with important life lessons like the whale story but also the salmon story that teaches the origin of the salmon's hooked nose. These lessons, and many more, are shared along with the importance of bringing back the old ways, eating healthier foods and taking care of Mother Earth. She also speaks on another key principle, balance, balance in diet and balance in your life in general. You can check out Elaine’s Spotify channel for more stories!
Lummi Nation member Mark Julius joins us in this episode of Young and Indigenous. As we go through his inspiring life story, we talk about growing up in poverty alongside his 14 siblings and what it was like living and surviving on their own while still being kids and ending up playing and swimming in the Nooksack River at the end of each day. Having spent some time in the foster care system, he had many different experiences with many different families and we hear about some of the trials being in that kind of setting. Later in his life, he meets his wife and we hear about their love story. Mark had many successful business ventures that included fishing, retail in fireworks, toys and gifts, and car re-selling. Throughout his life, Mark has kept a close relationship with God and we get into the various miracles he’s witnessed and how he utilized his faith to help his community.
The pain of residential schools is still being felt today. I want to introduce our guests Suann Riddick and Fred Lane; in this podcast episode you will get to hear some of the research that Suann is doing on residential schools. What we went on through the boarding school era was tragic and Suann speaks to the stories of over 150,000 Indigenous children who were forced into these schools. Indigenous children were stripped of their language, culture, traditions, family heritage, elders, food sources, and homes. Everything was taken. When you hear about these things, challenge yourself to think about the trauma and sorrow that our people have endured and what we still deal with till this day. We are the natural preservers of these lands we share. We took care of these lands for thousands of years. When you see us remember what happened and that we are still here. The Annual Reports of Indian Commissioner of Indian affairs of the Indian agents in the 1890’s and explain exactly some of the conditions of these residential schools. It hurt me deeply to read. I feel the indigenous children’s hurt from the atrocities of events that happened. Some of these children were my relatives. My grandparents went through boarding school. So when you listen to these stories I hope you stop and think for a second that it was someone's grandchild, that was someone's child, that was someone's sibling, that was a human child, a part of someone's family, a part of culture and traditions. Hy’shqe (Thank you) to everyone who has participated in this podcast episode my hands go up to each and every one of you today for the knowledge stories and teaching you all have given me and our audience today by giving more background on the research you are doing in Residential schools so again thank you Suann for your time and thank you Fred for conducting this interview with her can’t wait to hear more. SuAnn Reddick Bio: I was born in California and moved to Oregon in 1970. After working in the landscape construction field, I entered the UO Landscape architecture program in 1984. I completed the bachelors and masters program in ‘88 and ‘90 and discovered my love for writing and history. My first publication was in the Oregon Historical Quarterly in 1990. After I became involved at Chemawa, I published a history of the evolution of the school in OHQ in 2000, and have also done a lot of research and published articles on the Medicine Creek Treaty and Fox Island Council. I am hoping to compose a detailed history of the acquisition and loss of the land at Chemawa from 1884 to the present and continue to advocate for the placement of campus land into trust for the permanent benefit of Indian education. I still live on acreage outside McMinnville with my dog and two cats, maintain my large yard and garden and continue to research the land at Chemawa and share whatever knowledge I have for many years with others. Fred Lane Bio: Sul ka dub (as known as Freddie Lane) was born and raised on the Lummi Reservation west of Bellingham WA. He is the eleventh of 12 children of Vernon & Nancy Lane. Fred's father Swe lus defied the United States government in the late 1960's when (as Chairman) Vernon led the tribe in building the Lummi Aquaculture without permits from the US Army Corp of Engineers paving the way for sovereignty and jurisdiction and self-determination across Indian Country. Freddie is a former councilman of the Lummi Indian Business Council and most recently was the Road Manager for the Red Road to DC, where the House of Tears Carvers gifted President Joe Biden a totem pole. He is currently hosting a series of online forums, most notably leading talks for the release of Lolita, the orca at the Miami SeaQuarium.
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