Seedcast Nia Tero

[In Passamaquoddy] “And all of a sudden the sun begins to rise until everyone could see the sun. And the sun felt so nice and was very bright. The Knowledge Keeper says, ‘The People of the First Light know that the sun loves us.’” ~ Roger Paul, Passamaquoddy Language Keeper and Storyteller 
In Seedcast's second Sonic Journey, join the circle as we bear witness to a Wabanaki ceremony singing up the sun. We’ll listen to spoken words, music, and the ocean breeze that fills the soundscape of the short film Weckuwapok (The Approaching Dawn). We will have a front seat to a story by Passamaquoddy Language Keeper and Storyteller Roger Paul, warm words from filmmaker Chris Newell, a special contribution from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (the first Native cabinet secretary in the United States), and a collaboration of music and songs from Chris, Yo-Yo Ma, and Lauren Stevens. 


This Sonic Journey is dedicated to Wayne Newell, father to Chris Newell and now an ancestor whose values carry through his son, spirit, and the people of the light.  


We send much gratitude to the collective of filmmakers who created this film as part of the first season of the Emmy-winning Reciprocity Project, which is a partnership between Nia Tero and Upstander Project, in association with REI Co-op Studios. 


Host: Jessica Ramirez. Producer and Editor: Stina Hamlin. Story Editor & Audio Mix: Jenny Asarnow.  


Relevant Links: 
Watch the film Weckuwapok on the Reciprocity Project website. Learn more about Yo-Yo Ma’s nonprofit Our Common Nature Learn more about Reciprocity Project and partners Nia Tero, Upstander Project, and REI. Seedcast is a production of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit which supports Indigenous land guardianship around the world through policy, partnership, and storytelling initiatives.

Enjoy the Seedcast podcast on the Nia Tero website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

Keep up with Seedcast on Instagram and use the hashtag #Seedcast.

Imagine learning a language that is spoken by only a few hundred people—an Indigenous language that belongs to a people and a land that have been in relationship with each other for countless generations. This is the heart of our episode about Gwich’in language revitalization in the Boreal. 


Princess Daazhraii Johnson (Neets'aii Gwich'in) is an Indigenous TV and film producer on a patient journey of learning, reclaiming, and revitalizing Gwich’in. The language connects her to the land and to the people who came before her. “Our generation is really making the effort to use the language, and express ourselves in the language, and it's really powerful,” she explains. 
 
Princess and her dear friend Alishia Carlson (also Neets'aii Gwich'in) talk with language journalist Kavita Pillay about the struggles of learning Gwich’in, and the joy with which they approach the effort, especially in relation to the language learning of children. Princess is inspiring a whole new generation to be curious about Indigenous languages through her work as a screenwriter on the Peabody award-winning PBS Kids series Molly of Denali. Also in this episode: a celebration of caribou. 



Content note: The episode touches on the violence of residential schools on Turtle Island and how they contributed to today’s language crisis. 


Learn more: 


Dinjii Vadzaih Dhidlit: The Man Who Became a Caribou (bilingual book) "Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa (We Will Walk the Trail of our Ancestors)" (short film by Princess and Alishia, part of Reciprocity Project) Seedcast Sonic Journey episode featuring “Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa (We Will Walk the Trail of our Ancestors)” Molly of Denali (PBS) Subtitle, a podcast co-hosted by Kavita Pillay and Patrick Cox This episode won a 2022 Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA, formerly Native American Journalists Association) award for Best Radio/Podcast Coverage of Native America, Second Place. 

Host: Jessica Ramirez. Producer: Kavita Pillay. Story Editor: Jenny Asarnow. Special thanks to Michelle Hurtubise and Patrick Cox. 


Seedcast is a production of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit which supports Indigenous land guardianship around the world through policy, partnership, and storytelling initiatives.

Enjoy the Seedcast podcast on the Nia Tero website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

Keep up with Seedcast on Instagram and use the hashtag #Seedcast.

“I’ll always remember my grandfather’s stories... about what it means to be a Gwich'in person. We want our children to live like our Ancestors.” - Alisha Carlson, translation from Gwich’in 
We hope you’re ready for something different. In this episode of Seedcast, we’re going on a Sonic Journey, immersing ourselves in the words and sounds from a story told entirely in the Gwich’in language. “Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa (We Will Walk the Trail of Our Ancestors)” is a short film created by friends Princess Daazhraii Johnson and Alisha Carlson, who are working to revitalize the Gwich’in language and keep the lessons of their elders and ancestors alive in the Boreal. In this episode, hear the sounds of snowshoes crunching on ice, crackling fires, and lessons passed down from Alisha’s grandfather to her and her children. 
We send much gratitude to both Princess and Alisha for sharing their beautiful film. We also extend thanks to Alisha’s grandfather, Chief Reverend Trimble Gilbert, and the other community members whose voices we hear in this episode. Thanks also to our sibling initiative, the Emmy-winning Reciprocity Project, which is a partnership between Nia Tero and Upstander Project, in association with REI Co-op Studios. 
Host: Jessica Ramirez. Producer and Editor: Stina Hamlin. Story Editor: Jenny Asarnow. Audio Mix: Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker. 

More:
Watch the film Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa (We Will Walk the Trail of our Ancestors).Learn more about Reciprocity Project and partners Nia Tero, Upstander Project, and REI. Listen to this Season One episode about Gwich'in language revitalization, featuring Princess and Alishia, produced by Kavita Pillay.Seedcast is a production of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit which supports Indigenous land guardianship around the world through policy, partnership, and storytelling initiatives.

Enjoy the Seedcast podcast on the Nia Tero website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

Keep up with Seedcast on Instagram and use the hashtag #Seedcast.

“It’s a radical act of solidarity in itself to take care of the Earth that we are all living on. We can’t be here without the nurturing that we get from the Earth.” ~Korina Emmerich 
Indigenous cultures have contributed to some of the most exquisite and incredible fashion designs that people wear today, and it’s no surprise that Indigenous fashion designers are thinking about their impact and how it affects climate change.  


Our latest Spotlight comes from the amazing team behind The Solidarity Index, and they’re sharing their conversation with Indigenous fashion designer and community builder Korina Emmerich (Puyallup). Most notably her work has been featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the pages of Vogue and Elle, and been worn by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and actor Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs). Korina is the founder of the slow fashion brand EMME Studio, and co-founder of Relative Arts, a community space that celebrating sustainable and subversive art and fashion in New York. Emmerich speaks with The Solidarity Index host Zahyr Lauren, aka The Artist L. Haz, about solidarity and sustainability. 


Special thanks to Stina Hamlin for your beautiful work and your generous introduction to The Solidarity Index team. And big hugs to everyone behind The Solidarity Index: Zahyr Lauren aka The Artist L. Haz, Jen Bell, Shalva Wise, and Stina Hamlin. 

Learn more:  
The Solidarity Index  Korina Emmerich's EMME Studio and Relative Arts NYC Also mentioned in this podcast: 
Seattle Indian Health Board (Estelle Lucero, Abigail Echohawk) Finding Tamika (Erika Alexander) Dr. Adrienne Keene Indigenous Companies: 
Eighth Generation  Urban Native Era Seedcast is a production of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit which supports Indigenous land guardianship around the world through policy, partnership, and storytelling initiatives.

Enjoy the Seedcast podcast on the Nia Tero website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

Keep up with Seedcast on Instagram and use the hashtag #Seedcast.

Sometimes it’s important to go back to your roots. 
Seedcast is proud to re-release our third episode ever, an interview with filmmaker Brit Hensel (Cherokee Nation). When first released in December of 2020, our team was just beginning to learn how to produce a podcast. We still love the rawness and honesty of this conversation between Brit and host Jessica Ramirez. 


In this episode, Brit talks about the meaning of reciprocity, cultural preservation by way of language, how the ways in which we treat animals reflect how we treat each other, and the importance of narrative sovereignty. When we made this, we already knew that Brit was a bright star. Since the original release of this episode, Brit’s film ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught), which she created with Keli Gonzales (Cherokee Nation), was a selection of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival – which made Brit the first ever female Cherokee director to have a film featured at Sundance – and earned an IDA Award nomination for best short film. Brit has also worked on all three seasons of the FX series Reservation Dogs. We cannot wait to hear what Brit is going to do next.  


ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught) is part of the first season of Reciprocity Project, a partnership between Nia Tero and Upstander Project, in association with REI Co-op Studios. 


Host: Jessica Ramirez. Producers: Jessica Ramirez, Felipe Contreras, Tracy Rector 
Seedcast is a production of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit which supports Indigenous land guardianship around the world through policy, partnership, and storytelling initiatives.

Enjoy the Seedcast podcast on the Nia Tero website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

Keep up with Seedcast on Instagram and use the hashtag #Seedcast.

“Pregnancy is a natural time to think about, ‘what is it that I'm going to pass down?’ For most of us, that is culture... our spirituality, our language, our food, and our connection to land.”    
Parenting is a cultural practice that has the power to heal historical trauma, according to Camie J. Goldhammer (mixed race heritage, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate). She is a birth worker and lactation consultant who is devoted to supporting Indigenous parents - both living on their homelands and in the diaspora. She describes her own spiritual experience of healing her ancestors through her first birthing experience, and the essential role non-parents play in the lives of new parents and families. Camie trains Indigenous doulas and lactation consultants across Turtle Island and is the founding executive director of Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services, an Indigenous agency that serves Indigenous babies and their families.       


Host and Producer: Jessica Ramirez. Story Editor: Julie Keck. Audio Mix: Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker. 



Seedcast is a production of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit which supports Indigenous land guardianship around the world through policy, partnership, and storytelling initiatives.

Enjoy the Seedcast podcast on the Nia Tero website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

Keep up with Seedcast on Instagram and use the hashtag #Seedcast.