5 episodes

A podcast on the truth about the creation of U.S. National Parks, retold by Indigenous voices.

Parks is about the Indigenous people who lived, hunted, and created communities on U.S. public lands, living reciprocally with nature for centuries before settler-colonists arrived. It’s about the racism, violence, and lies perpetrated by colonizers and the federal government as they dispossessed land from Native people not long ago.

On this podcast, you'll hear Indigenous perspectives on what’s happening to the land now, and what they hope for tomorrow.

Parks asks you to take a new look at our beloved natural spaces — including their conflicted pasts and their uncertain futures.

Parks Mary Mathis, Cody Nelson

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.8 • 147 Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires macOS 11.4 or higher

A podcast on the truth about the creation of U.S. National Parks, retold by Indigenous voices.

Parks is about the Indigenous people who lived, hunted, and created communities on U.S. public lands, living reciprocally with nature for centuries before settler-colonists arrived. It’s about the racism, violence, and lies perpetrated by colonizers and the federal government as they dispossessed land from Native people not long ago.

On this podcast, you'll hear Indigenous perspectives on what’s happening to the land now, and what they hope for tomorrow.

Parks asks you to take a new look at our beloved natural spaces — including their conflicted pasts and their uncertain futures.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires macOS 11.4 or higher

    Episode 4: Ioway and Frog Bay

    Episode 4: Ioway and Frog Bay

    Frog Bay and Ioway are two tribal run National parks in the midwest. Our reporter Yvonne Krumrey takes us to these tribal run parks and introduces us to the people who run them. While these parks are just a few years old, they are tangible examples of tribes taking back their land so they can preserve it and their cultures.

    • 20 min
    Episode 3: Acadia

    Episode 3: Acadia

    This episode focuses on the Wabanaki land that is now known as Acadia National Park. Parks guests Darren Ranco and Suzanne Greenlaw help us learn about the history of colonization around today’s parklands and how it affects the environment. They also discuss the contemporary efforts to increase tribes’ access to harvesting sweetgrass within the borders of the park and how decolonizing research is helping in that fight.

    • 22 min
    Episode 2: Grand Canyon

    Episode 2: Grand Canyon

    Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, and many other native tribes have been living in and around the Grand Canyon for time immemorial. For most of their lives, the threat of uranium mining or Disneyland-like tourist attractions were absent…until now.
    On this episode, we hear from three Native women who have spent their life in and around The Grand Canyon, about their knowledge of this area, their work to protect the land today, and what they hope for the Grand Canyon's future.

    • 32 min
    Episode 1: Yellowstone

    Episode 1: Yellowstone

    Yellowstone was the first U.S. National Park, established in 1872. But before Yellowstone was established, Indigenous tribes like Shoshone, Blackfoot, and Crow were living on the land for thousands of years. These are stories of their lives before, the lies and dispossession it took to create the park, and the attempted genocide that followed.
    This episode also takes a look at those communities now, the issues that have followed them for decades following their dispossession, and how their culture lives on.

    • 27 min
    Introducing: Parks

    Introducing: Parks

    U.S. National Parks were built on the idea of wilderness preservation, “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” Today, millions of people still visit places like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon every year with the idea of escaping an overwhelming digital world to commune with “pristine” nature. What visitors don’t know is who’s land they’re standing on.
    This podcast is about the Indigenous people who lived, hunted, and created communities on these lands, living reciprocally with nature for centuries before white people arrived. It’s about the racism, violence, and lies that led colonizers and the government to dispossess land from Natives.
    These actions have unacknowledged consequence for the people and the environment. We’re going to explore how Indigenous communities were able to live through genocide, continue their traditions, and lead America’s most important environmental victories of the past and present.
    Episodes coming summer 2021. Visit parkspodcast.com for more.

    • 3 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
147 Ratings

147 Ratings

SarahGoodall ,

Great reporting and sharing of indigenous experiences!

LOVED listening to the episodes!! Are more being produced?!?? I hope so!!!

iamnickname1 ,

Speaking with a dragging out your last half of the worrrrdddd!

Could listen tooo, the young lady speakkk with the dragging out of her last word in every sentenncce! Sounds entitled and pompous. Not normally negative but that is a show dropper!

eceturnator ,

Remembering How To Take Care of the Land

If the country helps native people remember their knowledge, and ways of relating to their land, we all learn and benefit from it. This podcast is invaluable coming from the NPS itself. I look forward to more conversations like this.

Top Podcasts In Society & Culture

MeSsy with Christina Applegate & Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Wishbone Production
Stuff You Should Know
iHeartPodcasts
The Viall Files
Nick Viall
This American Life
This American Life
Unlocking Us with Brené Brown
Vox Media Podcast Network
Shawn Ryan Show
Shawn Ryan | Cumulus Podcast Network

You Might Also Like

Sidedoor
Smithsonian Institution
Field Trip
The Washington Post
Ologies with Alie Ward
Alie Ward
Throughline
NPR
The Daily
The New York Times
Radiolab
WNYC Studios