Native Circles
This podcast features Native American and Indigenous voices, stories, and experiences for everyone to learn, not only in North America but also throughout the world. The founders of Native Circles are Dr. Farina King (Diné) and Sarah Newcomb (Tsimshian), who were inspired to start this podcast to educate wider publics about the interconnections and significance of Native American, Alaska Native, and Indigenous experiences and matters. The primary co-hosts of the podcast are Dr. King, Dr. Davina Two Bears, and Eva Bighorse. Dr. King is the Horizon Chair of Native American Ecology and Culture and an associate professor of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Newcomb works as a freelance editor, writer, and blogger with degrees in English and a focus in Non-Fiction Creative Writing. Dr. Two Bears (Diné) is a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in the School for Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. Bighorse (Cayuga and Diné) is an Indigenous human development advocate with expertise in tribal healthcare relations. Brian D. King is an assistant editor for the podcast with experiences in journalism and writing. Learn more about the podcast and episodes on the official website of "Native Circles" at https://nativecirclespodcast.com/.
Native Circles
Conversation with Authors of Returning Home: Diné Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School
In this episode, we feature the book Returning Home: Diné Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School. We speak with the authors Dr. Farina King, Dr. Michael P. Taylor, and Dr. James Swensen, who share their thoughts and experiences from working on the book and with the Diné (Navajo) people.
Returning Home works to recover the lived experiences of Native American boarding school students through creative works, student oral histories, and scholarly collaboration. The book reveals a longing for cultural connection and demonstrates cultural resilience. Despite the initial Intermountain Indian School agenda to send Diné students away and permanently relocate them elsewhere, Diné student artists and writers returned home through their creative works by evoking senses of Diné Bikéyah (Navajo land) and the kinship that defined home for them.
You can order the book through the University of Arizona Press at https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/returning-home.
Here are some recent related stories:
Sierra Alvarez, “No More Silence: Boarding School Survivor Anita Yellowhair Shares Her Story, Over 60 Years Later,” Cronkite News, May 8, 2023.
Jon Reed's article, "Native activists hope for probe of Utah boarding school," AP, August 14, 2021.
"‘Some Lost Their Lives, Some Found Their Lives’: Remembering The Intermountain Indian School," KUER 90.1, August 6, 2021.
