1/13/21 - Janene Yazzie, Elizabeth Woody

In the first segment, Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse speaks with Janene Yazzie about LANDBACK, a movement that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous lands back into Indigenous hands. Janene is a Diné woman from the Navajo Nation who has worked on human rights and Indigenous Rights issues for the past 15 years at the national and international levels. As an advocate, entrepreneur, and community organizer Janene works with Indigenous peoples to develop sustainable and regenerative economies through her company Sixth World Solutions. Janene also works part-time as International Indian Treaty Council's Sustainable Development Program Coordinator.

In the second segment, Tiokasin welcomes Elizabeth Woody, Executive Director of The Museum At Warm Springs in Warm Springs, Oregon. They discuss a January 12, 2021 New York Times article: “Tribal elders are dying from the pandemic causing a cultural crisis for American Indians: The virus has killed American Indians at especially high rates, robbing tribes of precious bonds and repositories of language and tradition.” Elizabeth Woody is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. She is of Yakama Nation descent and is “born for” Bitter Water clan of the Navajo Nation. Elizabeth is a renowned poet, author, essayist and visual artist, and is also an educator, mentor, collaborator and community leader. Elizabeth earned a Master of Public Administration degree through the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government’s Executive Leadership Institute of Portland State University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities from The Evergreen State College, and studied Creative Writing and Two-Dimensional Arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has written three books of poetry, and in 2016, she became the first Native American to be named Oregon’s Poet Laureate. In 2018, Elizabeth received a National Artist Fellowship in Literature from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. Elizabeth has led writing workshops, lectures and has served on multi-disciplinary art fellowship jury panels for several foundations and arts organizations nationally.

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:

1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

3. Song Title: What About Those Promises?
Artist: The Thunderbirds Raised Her, feat. Jefferson Sister of Lummi Nation
CD: n/A
Label: n/a
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Y7tZDOWhufA
(00:28:25)

3. Song Title: Love Theme from Spartacus
Artist: Terry Callier
CD: TimePeace (1998)
Label: Verve Forecast Records
(00:54:25)