Our newest podcast guest is Pamala Silas, a Menominee and Oneida woman, longtime friend, extraordinary organizer, and someone who knows how to build structures, organizations, resources, relationships, and physical spaces that support Indigenous people.

Pam helped create a dedicated space for Indigenous people at Northwestern University. Her work connecting Menominee citizens living in Chicago with Menominee Nation is a beautiful story of what it means to bridge home.

Our conversation, “Bridging Home: Connecting and Creating Community” explores gathering resources from systems that have them and bringing those resources into community.

Pam also offered a few words of encouragement when The Aunties Dandelion was just beginning that stayed with me for six years. A reminder: when you see someone doing something important, tell them. Sometimes being seen at exactly the right moment makes all the difference.

Shoutout to Indigenous Screen Office for their continued support of this program.

Host: Kahstoserakwathe

Production Manager: Tamara Louks

Editor: Eve Krogman

Audio Engineer: Mariana Hutten

We are deeply grateful.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we're visiting with ceramic artist, educator, organizer, and muralist, Margarita Paz Pedro, whose work runs from the neighborhoods of Albuquerque to the Venice Biennale. She was born in Albuquerque, raised in Las Cruces, and carries family ties to Laguna Pueblo. She recently completed an MFA in studio arts from the incredible IAIA, the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

She's built a body of work where public art and private practice inform each other in beautiful ways. In her recent studio work, she's been embedding seeds into clay, so that breaks down over time and goes back to the earth. Beautiful.

Margarita also leads AlmaTile. That's an apprenticeship-based public art organization that builds murals all over New Mexico.

She and her collaborators are building the next generation of mural artists by building real walls in real neighborhoods, alongside artists who already know the craft. These are really notable skills. Enjoy this deeply personal exploration of art and community. Nyá:wen Indigenous Screen Office for supporting these stories.

Host: Kahstoserakwathe (Kanyen'kehà:ka, Six Nations)

Project Manager: Tamara Louks

Editor: Kahstoserakwathe

Audio Engineer: Mariana Hutten Czapski

Marketing Consultant: Kattie Laur

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sayokla Kindness is an internationally recognized, award-winning multi-disciplinary bead and wampum artist from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Turtle Clan, whose work has been exhibited and celebrated for its extraordinary beauty, technical mastery, and cultural depth. Rooted in Haudenosaunee teachings, her practice bridges ancestral knowledge and contemporary Indigenous art in ways that are unmistakably her own.

In this conversation, Sayokla shares the winding path that brought her home. We talk about her journey as an artist, the responsibilities of carrying cultural knowledge, and the profound teachings embedded within her work. One powerful story (among so many) after recently harvesting quahog shells with a mentor, then attempting to make dozens of wampum beads, only fourteen were successful. Rather than seeing those failed attempts as setbacks, she speaks with deep gratitude for the fourteen that survived.

Today, she is a Haudenosaunee woman who can recite the Thanksgiving Address, while holding wampum beads that she strung herself. Sayokla's work demonstrates that artistic excellence and ancestral knowledge are entangled pursuits. Whether exhibiting internationally or sitting with the teachings of wampum, she shows us what it looks like to carry Haudenosaunee knowledge forward with generosity, integrity, and joy.

Host/Producer: Kahstoserakwathe

Production Manger: Tamara Louks

Editor: Eve Krogman

Audio Engineer: Mariana Hutten Czapski

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.