In this episode, Ethan Paul from Holy Cross plays music with his acoustic guitar. Laura and Ethan discuss Ethan's childhood, his music journey, and he shares some of the things that gets him through hard times. Be sure to like the Urban Auntie Show on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @urbanauntieshow
In this episode, Laura and Rinam Kowalski ask Johon Atkinson about his mental health journey and how he works to help others. Johon is from Metlakatla, Alaska and he comes from the Tsimshian and Pawnee people.
In this episode, Gitsighiy, also known as Isaac Ticknor, from Gatringithchagg (Anvik, Alaska) and Ethan Paul from Holy Cross, Alaska play music. They are musicians of the Two Feather Band, but most commonly known as the Holy Cross Band. Check out their Facebook page! Isaac told some hunting stories and told us about his leadership positions. Isaac is the 2nd Chief of Anvik, former Chairperson for the Emerging Leaders, he served on the Tanana Chiefs Conference Youth E-Board, he served on the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative nominating committee. Like the Urban Auntie Show on Facebook, follow @urbanauntieshow on Instagram and Twitter!
Check out this interview with William Wilkinson from the Center for Native American Youth. William H. Wilkinson is Diné, Cherokee, and a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. He has earned his A.A. in Communication Studies and his B.S. in Business Administration from Haskell Indian Nations University (Haskell) and is pursuing his M.S. in Public Policy & Management as a Tribal Affairs Fellow at the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Will has served in student government leadership and received national recognition for his demonstrated leadership and campus service by NASPA's (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community with the Dr. Arthur Taylor Student Commitment to Service Award. In his final year at Haskell, Will was named Haskell's Student of the Year. In the summer of 2019, Will was accepted into the summer class of congressional interns within the Native American Political Leadership Program at The George Washington University and interned for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. In the summer of 2022, Will was admitted into the summer class of political interns within the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation and was placed in the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. In both placements, Will worked on various policy issues, projects, and consultations and now serves as a Graduate Fellow for the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute.
In this episode, Laura and Cordelia, discuss Cordelia's experiences as a graduate student, as a contestant in the Miss Indian World Pageant, and as a Remembering Our Sisters fellow. Cordelia has taken part in a lot of cool opportunities and she has some great advice for other Native people. Cordelia Falls Down is a member of the Apsáalooke Nation and United Keetoowah Band. Her name is Biabaashíalebaaxpáash which translates to “Sacred Dream Woman” given to her by her grandfather Art Alden, a Vietnam veteran. Cordelia is from the Crow reservation of Montana but currently resides in Norman, OK where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Masters in Tribal Governance and Policy at the University of Oklahoma. Her area of emphasis focuses on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit +, Indigenous methodologies, and community planning. She is currently a Fellow at the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute where she has served roles as a Remembering Our Sisters Fellow, Democracy is Indigenous organizer, and cultural preservation ambassador.
In this episode, guest Shondiin Mayo discusses her cultural identity and how it weaves with her bachelor’s degree and her future goals. We also chat about other fun topics like native games, boat racing, and beaded earrings (of course). Shondiin Mayo is Diné (Navajo) and Denaa and is of the Bitterwater Clan and born to the Koyukon Athabascan people. Her name means “Sunshine” in the Navajo language as she is originally from Stevens Village, Alaska, and grew up in both Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Navajo Nation. Shondiin’s childhood was influenced by the subsistence lifestyle of fishing and living in a rural Alaska village as well as spending time on the reservation with her family. There, she learned values such as an appreciation for the land, preservation of traditional knowledge, and the responsibility to continue her heritage. Shondiin recently graduated from Northern Arizona University with a bachelor's degree in Creative Media and Film with an emphasis in Documentary and a minor in Ethnic Studies. Shondiin enjoys traveling and learning about other Indigenous communities. She also enjoys learning about her heritage and participating, in community events or taking part with her family, in subsistence activities such as boat racing, berry picking, and harvesting sheep in the Navajo Nation. Follow @urbanauntieshow on Instagram and Twitter, and like us on Facebook!
In this episode, I talk with Loni about the various leadership positions she held within her state government, tribe, and other boards. She talks about how she advocates for Native people in the different positions she has held. Loni Grinnell-Greninger (“yúčciʔə”) was appointed to Tribal Vice Chair in January 2020 and elected in November 2020. She graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012, and her Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in Tribal Governance from The Evergreen State College in 2016. Her professional experience includes four years of working with the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS) as an Office of Indian Policy Regional Manager, and then as a Statewide Tribal Liaison in the Department’s Division of Behavioral Health & Recovery. Both positions led to help create systems and policy that increases access to state services for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Additionally, another role was to educate state workers in the government-to-government relationship that the State has with its Federally Recognized Tribes. In 2017 she moved back home to her Tribe, serving her people and greater community as the Deputy Director, and now Director, of the Social & Community Services Department. Her work includes local, state, and federal relations and education, as well as cultural leadership.
In this episode Laura chats with Brittany about broadband issues in Alaska and specifically in rural Native communities. Apply for the Affordable Connectivity Program at https://www.affordableconnectivity.gov/. Go to Lifeline to sign up for a free smartphone with unlimited talk, text, and data. You can contact Brittany at brittany@akpirg.org for more info. Brittany is Koyukon Dené from Rampart, Alaska; a village along the Yukon River. She grew up spending summers in the village learning how to live off the land with no running water and spending the winter in the city of Fairbanks going to school. For high school she decided to attend a state-run boarding school in Sitka, Alaska with students from every region. After having a successful student athlete career in high school, she continued this journey with the women’s wrestling team at Menlo College where she earned a psychology degree. Brittany ended up in a culinary career in the Bay Area of California post-graduation during the pandemic. Brittany saved money from this job to go on a year-long endeavor to roadtrip across the country to reconnect with relatives, uplift Indigenous stories, and learn about the land and waters people come from. During this roadtrip Brittany secured a career in telecommunications as a broadband advocate with two Alaskan non-profits. Brittany has since returned to Alaska to champion digital equity, join back into community, return to the culture, and reconnect with living off the land again.
In this episode Auntie Laura interviews Jamie Marunde. Jamie is from Northway, AK and is the Vice President of Lands and Natural Resources at Doyon Limited. Jamie will discuss her knowledge on lands use in Alaska. We will be discussing regulation of Native land and development on Doyon lands. If you want to learn more about Doyon lands or look at maps you can go to https://www.doyon.com/lands/ Be sure to like the Urban Auntie Show on Facebook and follow @urbanauntieshow on Instagram and Twitter.
Daysha Gunther is a mixed Yup’ik evaluator based in Seattle. Her work at the Urban Indian Health Institute largely focuses on evaluating their chronic disease prevention community grants program through the lens of the UIHI Indigenous Evaluation framework. Through this work she tells the story of how urban Indian organizations improve health outcomes by centering culture and community. Martell Hesketh, MPH is a member of the Michel First Nation (Mohawk/Plains Cree) from Treaty 6 territory in Canada. She grew up on Coast Salish land in Northwestern Washington state and currently works as an Evaluator II at the Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI), where she designs and implements evaluations for UIHI projects and other tribal and non-profit partners. She is also a facilitator for UIHI’s Indigenous Evaluation Workshops and enjoys teaching others about new ways to approach evaluation as storytelling. For her undergraduate degree, Martell studied Human Biology at Stanford University and later completed her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Washington. She is passionate about addressing the root causes of health disparities and centering Indigenous values and ways of knowing in the evaluation of public health programs.
Meda and Laura discuss the history of Alaska Native health and how it looks today. Meda dives into traditional ways of healing and her pathway to becoming a traditional healer. Meda DeWitt is a traditional healing expert with a Master of Arts in Alaska Native Traditional Healing. Her clan is Naanyaa.aayí and she is a child of the Kaach.aadi. Her family comes from Shtuxéen kwaan, also known as Wrangell, AK.
In this episode, Dr. Jessica discuss lessons she learned in her childhood, her educational journey, her work on the Fairbanks Native Association Board, her work at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as a professor, and her various research projects.
In this episode, Laura talks with Samantha Wade. Samantha is a senior at the University of Alaska Fairbanks graduating with a degree in Biology with a concentration in Biomedicine. She was raised in Wainwright, Alaska where she learned the dances of her Native people, ate berries, and learned how to bead. Samantha hopes to become a doctor one day and serve people in her region.
In this episode, Rinam and Laura discuss Rinam's work at the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living. Rinam Kowalski is a two-spirit and nonbinary person who is passionate about their role in building up community. Rinam is involved with the Fairbanks Queer Collective. The mission of the Fairbanks Queer Collective is to build community through performance art and community outreach. Follow the Fairbanks Queer Collective on Instagram @fbxqc and like their Facebook page. You can also check out their website at https://www.fbxqc.com/. You can contact the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living at (907)452-2293 and you can check out their website at https://iacnvl.org/.
In this episode, Laura does an interview with Savannah LaBua and Dezy Hall, who are in the band Modern Natives. Modern Natives is a punk group with meaningful lyrics. Check out their website https://www.modern-natives.com/
In this episode of the Urban Auntie Show, Amy Topkok will discuss her life, masters research on skin sewing, and the current research she is doing in her Ph.D.
In this episode, Gareth Erhart, whose stage name is Ice Watah, discusses his journey into drag. Gareth talked about how he expresses and shares his culture through drag performances. You can see when his next show is on the Klondike Drag Facebook page and their Instagram @klondikedrag. https://www.facebook.com/klondikedrag/
In this episode, Deloole'annh discusses her upbringing in Hoonah and her college experience at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She explains the work she does at Native Movement as the Environmental Justice Director. Check out the Native Movement Facebook page and their Instagram at @native_mvmt to stay updated.
In this episode, Evon Peter discusses how his upbringing has influenced the person he has become today. Evon talks of his previous leadership roles and his current job as the director of Tanan Ch'at'oh.
In this episode, Dr. Elise Pletnikoff of Kodiak talks about her journey to becoming a physician. Dr. Elise discusses the challenges she faced and how she overcame those challenges.