Broken Lands: A Podcast About Reparations and Honoring Our Treaties

Northeastern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Monthly

Broken Lands brings together the voices of Native Americans and white settlers to reflect on the effects of treaty violation, the value of reparations, and to imagine a future of living well together. Broken Lands was inspired by the Duluth Reparations offered by the Northeastern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe in the amount of 185400 + 100 + 1100 USD. This offering acknowledges the violated treaties of 1854, 1855, and 1866 in the area we now call "Northeastern Minnesota."

  1. Sep 28

    S4E16: The Heartbeat of a Nation: Dewe'igan (Sacred Drumming)

    When a community, tribe, or nation is bouncing back to reclaim their sovereignty as First Nations, there is no doubt what will be at the center of that come back. When the social structure of an entire country predicts that, "the Indian" will be removed from the land for progress to develop, but the land says, "we are still here," there is always a sacred drum still beating, too. When you listen and come near the Dewe'igan you can feel the future of a culture and a people still standing, singing, and dancing for each other and their sovereign land and waters.  Sarah Derwin currently serves as a Health Educator for Marquette County Health Department and has spent 20 years in public health working in areas of substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention, tobacco control and prevention, syringe service programming, child passenger safety, family health education, and breast and cervical cancer screening programming. Sarah served on the State of Michigan Suicide Prevention Commission from 2019-2024, and currently serves on the The University of Michigan's Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention Community Advisory Board, With One Voice Board (statewide suicide prevention), and the Forsyth Township Library board of trustees. T.J. Derwin is an enrolled member of The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and an outreach worker for Marquette and Schoolcraft County areas under the office of Native American affairs in the state of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. He has spent the previous 20+ years working primarily within indigenous population across rural Michigan. TJ currently serves as a secretary of the Gwynn Area Community School Board of Education, as well as the Market Elder Regional Board of Education. Support Broken Lands Trust: https://www.patreon.com/BrokenLandsPodcasthttps://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7FMFGWX3Q3E/checkout/Q326SKEG5GELYEUWHJBDZ7LB?src=sheet

  2. Sep 14

    S4E15 Danielle Boyer: Ancestral Science and Technology

    From as far back as we can remember, Native Americans have always been scientists and inventors. In many ways they have always been innovators and entrepreneurs, too. So, why not encourage young Native Americans to take this back by reclaiming their heritage within the ranks of tech business start-up culture? Boozhoo (hello)! Danielle Boyer is an Indigenous (Anishinaabe – Enrolled Sault Tribe) youth robotics inventor and advocate exploring how emerging technologies can be ethically used to safeguard Indigenous cultures and languages. The Anishinaabeg are one of the largest Indigenous people groups in North America, residing across the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, where their language, Anishinaabemowin, is endangered. In 2019, Danielle founded The STEAM Connection, a youth-led nonprofit that has provided over one million young people worldwide with free, culturally grounded technical education through robotics. She is best known for designing the SkoBots, wearable AI-powered personal robots that teach Anishinaabemowin using community-authored data, locally run systems, and frameworks rooted in Indigenous data sovereignty. Her work addresses global challenges of ethical AI, language extinction, and equitable access to emerging technologies. Danielle has spoken at the White House, UNESCO Headquarters, and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Recognized as a National Geographic Young Explorer, Echoing Green Fellow, and two-time MIT Solve Fellow, her life and work were featured in an MIT Solve documentary that won a Webby Award, Sundance Brand Storytelling Award, Tribeca X Award, and a SXSW feature. Support Broken Lands Trust: https://www.patreon.com/BrokenLandsPodcasthttps://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7FMFGWX3Q3E/checkout/Q326SKEG5GELYEUWHJBDZ7LB?src=sheet

  3. Aug 31

    S4E14 Pt. 2 Full Immersion: Remembering Mother Tongues, After Decolonization

    Walpole Island is between Detroit, MI and London, ON in Lake St. Claire and home to one of the most effective indigenous language immersion experiences in the world. Monty McGahey II attended this highly esteemed program, Maatookiidaa Anishinaabewin Adult Immersion of Bkejwanong, in 2015 and has continued to immerse himself and recover one of his First Nations languages by growing in fluency one day at a time.  If you want to know how to recover after decolonization, listen to this story of each one, teach one from a pedagogy that is both slow in pace to support deliberate and sustainable growth of tribal sovereignty. Ozaawaa Giizhgo Ginew (Monty McGahey II) is from Deshkan Ziibiing (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation) located in southwestern, Ontario and is of Anishinaabe and Oneida descent. He is married with two children. He is currently the Anishinaabemowin instructor for the Paswe’aatigook Anishinaabemowin Immersion Diploma Program through Fanshawe College (London, ON) and Language specialist for Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. A second-language learner of Anishinaabemowin, Monty has been teaching Anishinaabemowin classes since 2008. He holds a B.A. in First Nations Studies (’07); a Master of Professional Education – Leadership in Indigenous Education (’19), from Western University in London, Ontario; and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, (’15). He has over ten years of learning and teaching Anishinaabemowin experience at the elementary and postsecondary level. Monty completed the Anishinaabemowin Immersion Program at Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 2008, the Maatookiidaa Anishinaabewin Adult Immersion program in Bkejwanong (Walpole Island, Ontario) in 2015, and attended three summers of adult immersion in the Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang Ojibwe Language Academy in Cloquet, Minnesota from 2015-2018. Monty has also taught in the Anishinaabemowin Programmer Program at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario in 2015-16. Monty is a co-founder of Eshki-nishnaabemjig, a two-week adult immersion program that has been held in Central Ontario every July from 2016-2019 and 2022-2024.

  4. Aug 17

    S4E13 Pt. 1 Full Immersion: Remembering Mother Tongues, After Decolonization

    Walpole Island is between Detroit, MI and London, ON in Lake St. Claire and home to one of the most effective indigenous  language immersion experiences in the world. Monty McGahey II attended this highly esteemed program, Maatookiidaa Anishinaabewin Adult Immersion of Bkejwanong, in 2015 and has continued to immerse himself and recover one of his First Nations languages by growing in fluency one day at a time.  If you want to know how to recover after decolonization, listen to this story of each one, teach one from a pedagogy that is both slow in pace to support deliberate and sustainable  growth of tribal sovereignty. Ozaawaa Giizhgo Ginew (Monty McGahey II) is from Deshkan Ziibiing (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation) located in southwestern, Ontario and is of Anishinaabe and Oneida descent. He is married with two children. He is currently the Anishinaabemowin instructor for the Paswe’aatigook Anishinaabemowin Immersion Diploma Program through Fanshawe College (London, ON) and Language specialist for Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. A second-language learner of Anishinaabemowin, Monty has been teaching Anishinaabemowin classes since 2008. He holds a B.A. in First Nations Studies (’07); a Master of Professional Education – Leadership in Indigenous Education (’19), from Western University in London, Ontario; and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, (’15). He has over ten years of learning and teaching Anishinaabemowin experience at the elementary and postsecondary level.  Monty completed the Anishinaabemowin Immersion Program at Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 2008, the Maatookiidaa Anishinaabewin Adult Immersion program in Bkejwanong (Walpole Island, Ontario) in 2015, and attended three summers of adult immersion in the Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang Ojibwe Language Academy in Cloquet, Minnesota from 2015-2018. Monty has also taught in the Anishinaabemowin Programmer Program at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario in 2015-16. Monty is a co-founder of Eshki-nishnaabemjig, a two-week adult immersion program that has been held in Central Ontario every July from 2016-2019 and 2022-2024.

  5. Jul 13

    S4E12: Story Sharing, Sharing History: A Young Couple DocufilmmakerTeam Seeks Truth

    When we pause to ponder how we are all playing a part in history right now, isn't there always a vantage point to listen from and a vanishing point to see through time in space? Well, Indigenous History Now founders are with us to share their first take on a shared vanishing point from behind the camera vantage point. Leilani Kaholo is a native Hawaiian composer with a Master of Music in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music. She is also a co-founder and board vice president for Indigenous History Now. Her experiences growing up in the Hawaiian diaspora around Seattle have cultivated an interest in issues of cultural reconnection and combatting homelessness. haʔł kʷ(i) adsəslabcəbut (watch over yourself well) Reidar Kelstrup Executive Director Indigenous History Now www.indigenoushistorynow.org Support Broken Lands Trust: https://www.patreon.com/BrokenLandsPodcast https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7FMFGWX3Q3E/checkout/Q326SKEG5GELYEUWHJBDZ7LB?src=sheet

  6. Jun 29

    S4E11 Pt. 2 A Prairie Rose Sanctuary: Come Along for the Ride

    Our featured indigenous voice for all of June 2026 is ... Prairie Rose Seminole. As co-tenant of her animal shelter/sanctuary in western North Dakota, Prairie Rose lives an exemplary life as a teacher, healer, warrior, and singer. Her current life work is at the intersection of "biker culture" and indigenous women riders. Focused on directing a documentary film, that follows several Native women from one sacred site of the Lakota to Sturgis biker rally in early August, she admits to feeling the lure of becoming a story-sharer for the purpose of dispelling the darkness and unawareness that penetrates the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIW-R).  Prairie Rose Seminole is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation of North Dakota. She is Arikara, Northern Cheyenne and Dakota. Prairie Rose is a dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, and storytelling. With years of experience building relationships in Indigenous communities, Prairie Rose has worked at the intersection of advocacy, arts, and healing. They serve on the boards of Humanities ND, Gender Justice U.S., Olamina Fund and the Midwest Innocence Project. Their latest project, We Ride for Her, a documentary short on missing and murdered Indigenous relatives—draws on deep, trusted relationships built over three years with Indigenous motorcyclists, shedding light on the crisis through their lived experiences. She is currently working on her first documentary feature. Support Broken Lands Trust: https://www.patreon.com/BrokenLandsPodcast https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7FMFGWX3Q3E/checkout/Q326SKEG5GELYEUWHJBDZ7LB?src=sheet

  7. Jun 15

    S4E10 Pt. 1 A Prairie Rose Sanctuary: Come Along for the Ride

    Our featured indigenous voice for all of June 2026 is ... Prairie Rose Seminole. As co-tenant of her animal shelter/sanctuary in western North Dakota, Prairie Rose lives an exemplary life as a teacher, healer, warrior, and singer. Her current life work is at the intersection of "biker culture" and indigenous women riders. Focused on directing a documentary film, that follows several Native women from one sacred site of the Lakota to Sturgis biker rally in early August, she admits to feeling the lure of becoming a story-sharer for the purpose of dispelling the darkness and unawareness that penetrates the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIW-R).  Prairie Rose Seminole is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation of North Dakota. She is Arikara, Northern Cheyenne and Dakota. Prairie Rose is a dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, and storytelling. With years of experience building relationships in Indigenous communities, Prairie Rose has worked at the intersection of advocacy, arts, and healing. They serve on the boards of Humanities ND, Gender Justice U.S., Olamina Fund and the Midwest Innocence Project. Their latest project, We Ride for Her, a documentary short on missing and murdered Indigenous relatives—draws on deep, trusted relationships built over three years with Indigenous motorcyclists, shedding light on the crisis through their lived experiences. She is currently working on her first documentary feature. Support Broken Lands Trust: https://www.patreon.com/BrokenLandsPodcast https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7FMFGWX3Q3E/checkout/Q326SKEG5GELYEUWHJBDZ7LB?src=sheet

  8. Jun 1

    S4E9: A Prairie Rose Sanctuary: Come Along for the Ride

    Our featured indigenous voice for all of June 2026 is ... Prairie Rose Seminole. As co-tenant of her animal shelter/sanctuary in western North Dakota, Prairie Rose lives an exemplary life as a teacher, healer, warrior, and singer. Her current life work is at the intersection of "biker culture" and indigenous women riders. Focused on directing a documentary film, that follows several Native women from one sacred site of the Lakota to Sturgis biker rally in early August, she admits to feeling the lure of becoming a story-sharer for the purpose of dispelling the darkness and unawareness that penetrates the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIW-R).  Prairie Rose Seminole is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation of North Dakota. She is Arikara, Northern Cheyenne and Dakota. Prairie Rose is a dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, and storytelling. With years of experience building relationships in Indigenous communities, Prairie Rose has worked at the intersection of advocacy, arts, and healing. They serve on the boards of Humanities ND, Gender Justice U.S., Olamina Fund and the Midwest Innocence Project. Their latest project, We Ride for Her, a documentary short on missing and murdered Indigenous relatives—draws on deep, trusted relationships built over three years with Indigenous motorcyclists, shedding light on the crisis through their lived experiences. She is currently working on her first documentary feature. Support Broken Lands Trust: https://www.patreon.com/BrokenLandsPodcast https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7FMFGWX3Q3E/checkout/Q326SKEG5GELYEUWHJBDZ7LB?src=sheet

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About

Broken Lands brings together the voices of Native Americans and white settlers to reflect on the effects of treaty violation, the value of reparations, and to imagine a future of living well together. Broken Lands was inspired by the Duluth Reparations offered by the Northeastern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe in the amount of 185400 + 100 + 1100 USD. This offering acknowledges the violated treaties of 1854, 1855, and 1866 in the area we now call "Northeastern Minnesota."

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