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We are living in tremendously uncertain times and this month’s guest, artist Yvette Molina, reminds us through her expansive work of the relationship between justice and care. Yvette is Mexican-American of Chippewa of Turtle Mountain descent who is currently artist-in-residence at the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Her collaborative exhibition, A PROMISE TO THE LEAVES, centers the four elements: earth, air, water, fire, and a fifth presence, the cosmos. By focusing on these ancient, essential forces, Molina invites us to remember that humans, plants, and all earthly beings are composed of star matter and sustained by the elements. Her work encourages us to understand care as inherently relational. Care for one another, human and non-human alike, is care for ourselves and all of creation.
Yvette’s artistic practice is rooted in community engagement and activism - through processional banners, ritual, storytelling, costumes, collage, painting, and sculpture. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Stockholm Fringe Festival, the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Arsenal Contemporary Art, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, NADA FAIR, and the Legion of Honor and de Young Museums in California. She currently lives and creates in Oakland, California.
Nyá:wen to Indigenous Screen Office for supporting these important stories!
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Our Aunties Emergent mentoring program returns as guest host Alex Jacobs-Blum Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga), Wolf Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River visits with Grandmother Renée Thomas-Hill Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), Turtle Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River
As a Haudenosaunee woman, Grandmother Renee Thomas Hill carries the deep responsibility of upholding and sharing the teachings of “Our” Way of Life, guided by peace, power, and righteousness. Renee is founder of Grandmother’s Voice, a visionary Indigenous organization that aims to unite Indigenous voices while extending a warm invitation to individuals from all directions.
Renee is an auntie and grandmother to many and reminds us how the natural world cares deeply for us. “Right now it's the frogs that are singing and oh gosh, I get all excited hearing the frogs, and then when I wake up and I hear the birds singing, that's my medicine, says Grandmother Renee, “They're taking care of me. They're looking after me. The sun rises and it's taking care of me. So just those moments, slowing down and just appreciating everything that's around you is that medicine that builds up your immune system.”
Alex Jacobs-Blum (she/her) is a Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga) and German visual artist and curator living in Hamilton, ON. Her research focuses on Indigenous futures and accessing embodied ancestral Hodinöhsö:ni’ knowledge. The core of her practice and methodology is a strong foundation in community building, fostering relationships, empowering youth, and Indigenizing institutional spaces. Her creative process is rooted in storytelling and challenging hierarchical power structures. Alex endeavours to facilitate transformative change infused with love and care.
Check out our February interview with Alex as our guest!
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AUNTIE: Wa’tkwanonweráton Sewakwé:kon. Today, we’re visiting with Alex Jacobs Blum who is Cayuga and Wolf Clan, from Six Nations of the Grand River.
Raised away from her territory, Alex now engages dual tracks of art and curation to find a pathway—to the natural world, her Haudenosaunee teachings and community - and to herself.
Alex shares her remarkable journey back to Cayuga territory in Central New York a few years back where she reconnected with ancestors to find her path forward.
AJB: You know growing up - there was a lot of shame built up around my identity, so I had been working to unpack and unlearn that. And then when I was there - you know I just felt so validated in myself and I felt so surrounded by so much care.
AUNTIE: Alex is well-known for surrounding others with the same type of care as she nurtures a supportive web of relationships, uplifts young artists, and weaves Indigenous perspectives into institutional spaces. Through her transformative work she disrupts hierarchical power structures in storytelling and creates space for collective, Indigenous, matrilineal voices to be amplified. And in the wake of her mother’s recent passing, Alex’s work has become a way to make sense of her own profound loss.
If you’re in region around Six Nations, you can experience Alex’s work firsthand—her In the Shadow of the Eclipse residency is on view at the Art Gallery of Hamilton until March 16, 2025. She also co-curated Ascending Horizons with Métis artist Kim Anderson, now showing at the McMaster Museum of Art until June 20, 2025.
We are Yetinistenha ne Tekaronkyakánere – the Aunties Dandelion and wa’tkwanonhweráton greetings, love, and respect to Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office – teyonkhiwihstekénha – who provide the support to keep this show running. And can you do us a big favor by liking and sharing our episodes – and subscribe to our feed on your favorite platform. It goes a long way to support voices of Indigenous changemakers. #IndigenousArt #IndigenousCreatives #Haudenosaunee #Cayuga #IndigenousVoices #Storytelling #ArtCurator #MatrilinealPower #IndigenousMedia #AuntiesDandelion #ListenToYourAunties 🎙️💫
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***CLARIFICATION: Louise Wakerakas:te Herne is the only condoled Bear Clan mother for the Mohawks/Kanyen'kehà:ka. **** AUNTIE: Wa’tkwanonhweráton Sewakwékon! We’re starting strong in this Ohserá:se – this New Year – on The Aunties Dandelion podcast as we visit with Iehstoseranón:nha, who is Kanyen’kehà:ka and Bear Clan.
Iestohseranon:nha is a feather protector, community connector, and graphic artist. She is also a survivor of the Sixties Scoop – a term that refers to Canada’s mass removal of Onkwehón:we children into the welfare system and non-Indigenous families without consent of their own families or communities. That removal began in the 1960s and continues to this day.
Iehstoseranón:nha was 18 in 1989 when she found her biological family and spent these past decades reconnecting with her Mohawk territory at Akwesasne. She recognizes the unique emotional and spiritual perspective this epic journey brings.
IESTOHSERANON:NHA: Adoptees like me – Indigenous, Native, Onkwehón:we that are just coming home – we have spent our lives on the colonial side, with a Native heart and a Native spirit. And so we see in each other and we see our colleagues: we are the bridges, right? Because we can sit in both worlds and we can connect that in a different way than anyone else.
AUNTIE: Iehstoseranón:nha centers Indigenous women creatives as the owner, writer, and artist at Pass the Feather Indigenous, and founder of Indigenous Arts Collective of Canada – a registered charity. She was the first facilitator of the National Day of Truth Reconciliation on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill and founder of the National Indigenous Women Arts Conference. She takes the gifting of feathers seriously and I was grateful to receive a beautiful feather fan from her as we began our visit.
IESTOHSERANON:NHA: To be really, really truthful – it is friendship making, it’s relationship making. And I don’t give them to many people but when I do it’s because someone has touched me in a way and given me time in a way that I never expected them to. And so my first response is to share that medicine with them because that is important medicine that I think that people forget about. It’s that flight and that connection to Sky World.
AUNTIE: I feel a particular connection with Iehstoseranón:nha – whose name means “she keeps the feathers” because my name – Kahstoserakwathe – means Bright Feather – can you hear the similar Mohawk root word for feather - oshstòseri - in our names? It’s all about the feathers. We are Yetinistenha ne Tekaronkyakánere – the Aunties Dandelion and we’re sending a big wa’tkwanonhweráton to the Indigenous Screen Office – teyonkhiwihstekénha – who are providing us financial support for the third year in a row. And can you do us a big favor by liking and sharing our episodes – and subscribe to our feed on your favorite platform. It goes a long way to help us bring stories of Indigenous changemakers your way.
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Honoring our epic Auntie Germaine Tremmel (kénha) in this powerful episode — a Lakota Water Warrior, lawyer, and descendant of Sitting Bull. 💧✨ We first met her in 2017, in the wake of the Standing Rock protection actions, and her wisdom and humour still pushes and pulls on us. Joining Kahstoserakwathe is Wisconsin activist and Food Sovereignty advocate Rebecca Kemble. Together, we remember Auntie Germaine’s profound insights — including her prediction of the global pandemic.
Germaine's voice carries truth, love and the spirit of resistance. Don't miss this unforgettable episode.
#PowerfulAuntie #WaterIsLife #LakotaWarrior #IndigenousWisdom
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Nęyękwawęta'θkwáhshek - Tuscarora Language Program
Onkwawénna Kentsyóhkwa - Six Nations Kanyen'ké:ha language program that helped Tuscarora Nation
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Here's the FB page for Skaronhyasekò:wa - The Mohawk immersion school where Otsistohkwí:yo works with early years students and where Tehahenteh taught when the school was being built.
Tekarahkwarásare = The Eclipse (the faces that lay over each other)
Kayanere'kó:wa - The Great Law (the great space between steps)
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Art Gallery of Hamilton - 500 Year Itch
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Silo City: Why Here, Why Now with Jodi Lynn Maracle
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