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Native Circles

Dr. Farina King, Dr. Davina Two Bears, Sarah Newcomb, Eva Bighorse, & Brian D. King

55 episodes

4 days ago

This special episode of the Native Language Protectors and Carriers series features Freddie Lewis, a dedicated Choctaw language instructor at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Farina King talks with Freddie about the challenges and joys of sustaining Indigenous languages such as Choctaw. Freddie shares personal stories about his family’s experiences with boarding schools, the power of community-led language revitalization, and how teaching connects generations. The conversation highlights the r...

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All content for Native Circles is the property of Dr. Farina King, Dr. Davina Two Bears, Sarah Newcomb, Eva Bighorse, & Brian D. King and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

This special episode of the Native Language Protectors and Carriers series features Freddie Lewis, a dedicated Choctaw language instructor at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Farina King talks with Freddie about the challenges and joys of sustaining Indigenous languages such as Choctaw. Freddie shares personal stories about his family’s experiences with boarding schools, the power of community-led language revitalization, and how teaching connects generations. The conversation highlights the r...

Show more...

Episodes (20/55)

Native Circles

Learning Choctaw Language and Legacy with Freddie Lewis

This special episode of the Native Language Protectors and Carriers series features Freddie Lewis, a dedicated Choctaw language instructor at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Farina King talks with Freddie about the challenges and joys of sustaining Indigenous languages such as Choctaw. Freddie shares personal stories about his family’s experiences with boarding schools, the power of community-led language revitalization, and how teaching connects generations. The conversation highlights the r...

4 days ago

49 minutes

Native Circles

Come Together: Learning and Teaching Ojibwe Language Through Partnership with Anton Treuer and Chelsea Mead

In this episode, host Dr. Farina King is joined by Dr. Anton Treuer and Dr. Chelsea Mead to explore the transformative partnership between Bemidji State University and Minnesota State University, Mankato, dedicated to revitalizing the Ojibwe language. The conversation delves into the power of intergenerational learning, the use of technology to bridge distances, and the importance of community in language preservation. Anton and Chelsea share personal stories, discuss the challenges and trium...

4 weeks ago

44 minutes

Native Circles

A Collaboration of Indigenous Truthtelling of Boarding Schools

A Collaboration of Indigenous Truthtelling of Boarding Schools This episode features voices from a panel on the collaboration, “Indigenous Truthtelling of Boarding Schools,” held at the University of Oklahoma in August 2025 and funded by a NHPRC-Mellon Planning Grant for Collaborative Digital Editions in African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American History and Ethnic Studies. The panelists share their experiences studying Native American boarding schools and discus...

1 month ago

25 minutes

Native Circles

Heather Tanana's Work for Universal Water Access in Tribal Communities

Heather Tanana (Diné), a law professor at the University of Denver and associate faculty member with the Center for Indigenous Health at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, joins host Farina King to discuss her chapter in COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic. Her chapter, “The Intersection of the Law and Health: Water (In)security in Indian Country,” asserts that access to clean water is essential for health, culture, and community...

3 months ago

48 minutes

Native Circles

"The Language Called Me": Robert Collins and Learning Potawatomi Language

At age 40, Robert Collins realized that the Potawatomi language was still alive, which changed the course of his life. Now a dedicated language instructor for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and various universities across Oklahoma, Collins shares his journey from machinist to language protector. In this episode, he emphasizes the sacredness of Bodwéwadmimwen (Potawatomi language), innovative teaching methods, and his dream of creating future generations of Potawatomi speakers and educators. Th...

4 months ago

13 minutes

Native Circles

"Language Is the Key": A Conversation with Cheyenne Language Protectors Michael Elizondo, Jr. and Chaz Meadows

On this episode of the special series featuring Native Language Protectors and Carriers, we reflect on the legacy of the Native American Languages Act of 1990 through the stories of Michael Elizondo, Jr. and Chaz Meadows. They are two citizens of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes who are reclaiming their languages, one word and one conversation at a time. From learning with elders and attending ceremonies to immersive master-apprentice programs and digital classes, they share how language conne...

4 months ago

14 minutes

Native Circles

Wołí Bee: Christine Ami's Journey of Cultural Arts and Resilience

In this powerful conversation, Dr. Christine Ami shares her journey of navigating the cultural arts program and collaborating on the T’áá wołí bee exhibit at Diné College during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the lens of Wołí Bee, a Diné concept of perseverance, she discusses how Indigenous cultural arts undergirds resilience, community connection, and healing. Christine explores the challenges of maintaining educational programs, supporting students, and preserving cultural practices while f...

5 months ago

50 minutes

Native Circles

Gavin A. Healey on "Demistifying" Native Graffiti and Aerosol Muralism of the Pandemic

In this episode, Dr. Farina King is joined by Dr. Gavin A. Healey, a contributing author of COVID-19 in Indian Country and Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Applied Indigenous Studies at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Gavin highlights how Indigenous graffiti and muralism emerged as vital tools of community care and resistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from his chapter, “Native American Graffiti and Aerosol Muralism of the Pandemic,” Gavin addresses works by artists such ...

6 months ago

32 minutes

Native Circles

Amoneeta Beckstein and Tapati Dutta Discuss Reziliency of Native College Students During COVID-19

In this episode of Native Circles, Dr. Farina King, co-editor of COVID-19 in Indian Country, talks with co-authors Dr. Amoneeta Beckstein and Dr. Tapati Dutta about their chapter, exploring the lived experiences of eight Native American college students during the pandemic. Drawing from semi-structured interviews, the chapter centers the students' voices as they navigate the challenges of COVID-19—illuminating themes of historical trauma, mental health struggles, and educational disruptions r...

7 months ago

40 minutes

Native Circles

Shaina A. Nez and "COVID-19 Memory Dreamscapes"

In this episode, co-editor Dr. Farina King of COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic speaks with contributing author Dr. Shaina A. Nez about her chapter, “COVID-19 Memory Dreamscapes.” A Diné writer from Lukachukai, Arizona, Shaina reflects on the meanings of her dreams and memories during the pandemic while navigating the hardships of single motherhood and a child custody battle. Drawing from her deep connection to land and family, she explores h...

8 months ago

31 minutes

Native Circles

Native Wellbeing and Dr. Yvette Brown-Shirley's Healing Path

In this episode of Native Circles, Eva Bighorse and Dr. Farina King talk with Dr. Yvette Brown-Shirley, a Diné neurologist specializing in sports neurology and brain injury medicine at Barrow Neurological Institute. Dr. Brown-Shirley shares her experiences of becoming a neurologist and how her identity as a Diné woman healer informs her approach to medicine. She discusses the urgent need to address health inequities affecting Native communities, such as the lack of access to neurological care...

9 months ago

42 minutes

Native Circles

Cherokee Elder Christine Armer and "Keeping the Language"

Christine Armer is a Cherokee elder and language instructor of nearly 20 years at the University of Oklahoma who grew up in a Cherokee community where she wasn’t introduced to the English language until she attended grade school. This is the first of a new Native Circles podcast series featuring Native Language Protectors and Carriers, including Mrs. Armer. Listen to her story of teaching Cherokee language and why learning Native American languages at all levels of education is crucial. Dr. F...

9 months ago

18 minutes

Native Circles

"Buffalo Dreamer": Violet Duncan on Creativity, Community, and Healing

In this Native Circles episode, Eva Bighorse and Dr. Farina King sit down with Violet Duncan, an award-winning author, dancer, and storyteller from the Plains Cree of the Kehewin Cree Nation and of Taino descent. Together, they trace Violet's path as a creative force, diving into the themes of her National Book Award-nominated youth novel, Buffalo Dreamer (published by Nancy Paulsen Books in 2024), and her upcoming children's book, "Life is a Dance." The conversation touches on the impacts of...

10 months ago

52 minutes

Native Circles

Kaitlin Reed and "Settler Cannabis"

In this episode, Dr. Davina Two Bears and Dr. Farina King are joined by Dr. Kaitlin Reed (Yurok/Hupa/Oneida) to discuss her groundbreaking first book, Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California, published in 2023 by the University of Washington Press. Dr. Reed is an Associate Professor of Native American Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, where she serves as the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Faculty Fellow and Co-Director of the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereign...

11 months ago

49 minutes

Native Circles

Indigenizing Technologies for Learning: Kelly Berry on Gaming, Education, and Culture

This episode features Dr. Kelly Berry, an enrolled citizen of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Plains Apache) with affiliations to the Kiowa and Choctaw Nations. Dr. Berry is a Mellon Impact Post-Doctoral Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. His groundbreaking research explores the intersections of eSports, Native American education, and technology, focusing on infusing Indigenous knowledge into classrooms and reimagining the possibiliti...

12 months ago

39 minutes

Native Circles

Blaire Morseau and Neshnabé Knowledge

In this episode, Dr. Blaire Morseau joins Dr. Davina Two Bears and Dr. Farina King to discuss her work with Neshnabé (Potawatomi) knowledge systems, focusing on birch bark, language, and archives. Dr. Morseau highlights the significance of Simon Pokagon's nineteenth-century birch bark books, featured in her edited volume As Sacred to Us: Simon Pokagon’s Birch Bark Stories in their Contexts. The conversation explores how traditional cultural knowledge and ecological wisdom are preserved and re...

1 year ago

53 minutes

Native Circles

Calling Back Home with Ah-in-nist Sipes

Ah-in-nist, also known as Clifford, Sipes is Cheyenne with family ties in both Oklahoma and Montana. His father was the last authorized historian of the Cheyenne People, and a respected Chief and Pipe Carrier. His Mother is a citizen of the Caddo Nation. Ah-in-nist currently resides and works in Oklahoma. He writes and speaks publicly, working most recently on the "Calling Back the Spirits" initiative to "preserve by art and the written word what was previously learned only through the oral r...

1 year ago

52 minutes

Native Circles

"With the Ancestors": Mel Fillmore and Policy Work with MMIP

Co-founders of the Native Circles podcast Sarah Newcomb and Farina King co-host this session introducing Dr. Melanie ("Mel") Fillmore (they/them/she/her) who is urban mixed Hunkpapa, Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota. Mel is an assistant professor of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Their work is an iterative approach to understand the political engagement of Indigenous communities in policy and data. They envision a future of ...

1 year ago

56 minutes

Native Circles

Liz Ellis and "The Great Power of Small Nations"

Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Ellis talks with co-hosts Davina Two Bears and Farina King about her journey, which led her to writing her first book The Great Power of Small Nations: Indigenous Diplomacy in the Gulf South. She highlights aspects of the book and her research that trace the formation of Native Nations in the early Southeast and the ways that Indigenous migration and immigration practices shaped and limited the extent of European colonization. Liz is Peewaalia and a citizen of the Peoria T...

1 year ago

45 minutes

Native Circles

Dr. Joshua Nelson and "Trail of the Thunderbirds"

Dr. Joshua Nelson, a Cherokee Nation citizen scholar, talks with Dr. Farina King about his experiences in Italy and work on a documentary tentatively titled, "Trail of the Thunderbirds." His documentary film project features two Native American Medal of Honor awardees, Ernest Childers and Jack Montgomery of the 45th Infantry Division, known as the "Thunderbirds," during World War II. President's Associates Presidential Professor Dr. Nelson is an associate professor of English and affiliated f...

1 year ago

46 minutes