What does it mean to say that rape is not a crime of passion, but a tool of conquest? In this searing episode, Matika sits down with Chief Justice Sarah Deer—legal scholar, citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and longtime advocate for Native women—to break down the root causes of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP) crisis. Together, they trace the systemic failures—from jurisdictional loopholes and underfunded Tribal justice systems to harmful stereotypes and state indifference—that enable violence against Native people to persist across generations.

Sarah shares insights from decades of research, courtroom advocacy, and lived experience. She explains why the word “rape” still matters, how U.S. law continues to reflect colonial patriarchy, and what tribal sovereignty has to do with personal safety. With clarity and care, she connects the dots between land theft, gender-based violence, and narrative erasure—and offers a vision for Indigenous feminist legal theory that centers survivor agency and collective healing.

This is a vital episode for anyone who wants to understand the roots of violence and the pathways to justice in Indian Country.

Learn more about Sarah Deer’s work at sarahdeer.com.

Educational Reading & Reports

• Sarah Deer’s The Beginning and End of Rape is essential reading on how U.S. law enables violence against Native women—and how we can reclaim justice through sovereignty and Indigenous feminist legal theory. Purchase the book here.

• Broken Promises: Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans is a 2018 report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights detailing chronic underfunding of Native programs. Read it here.

• Justice Denied: The Reality of the Tribal Law and Order Act by Amnesty International explores how systemic legal gaps harm Native women. View the report.

Advocacy & Action

•The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center offers toolkits, trainings, and support for survivors and advocates working to end violence against Native women.

•The Sovereign Bodies Institute collects data and honors MMIW2S cases, centering Indigenous-led research and action.

•MMIW USA provides direct services and support for families of the missing and murdered, offering healing and justice-centered care.

•The Urban Indian Health Institute provides data, reports, and resources on urban Native health disparities, including MMIWP-specific studies.

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Support the show

Follow us on Instagram @amrpodcast, or support our work on Patreon. Show notes are published on our website, Allmyrelationspodcast.com. Matika's book Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America is available now! T'igwicid and Hyshqe for being on this journey with us.

We are so proud to introduce our newest collaboration: The Old Growth Table, a brand new podcast hosted by Valerie Segrest (Muckleshoot), launching from our home at Tidelands Studio in downtown Seattle. It’s something we’ve been manifesting for years and it’s finally here!

In this very special episode, we invite you into the first season of The Old Growth Table by airing its premiere episode right here on All My Relations.

Valerie Segrest, Native nutritionist and food advocate, invites us in with teachings about springtime, a season of awakening, when the first wild foods emerge after months of winter stillness. She introduces us to two early spring greens—nettles and dandelions—and shows us how they offer more than nutrition. These are ancestral foods that carry teachings, stories, and ceremony.

With humor, honesty, and deep care, we talk about what it means to rekindle relationships with these foods, especially when those relationships have been disrupted or shrouded in shame. Valerie reminds us that food is not just about nutrients— they offer us wisdom, remembering, and healing.

Valerie also welcomes two powerful voices in Indigenous food sovereignty—Mariah Gladstone of Indigikitchen and Sean Sherman, author of The Sioux Chef—who join the conversation to reflect on what it means to say: Our food is our medicine.

So come join us. Let’s listen, gather, and nourish. 🌿

This is The Old Growth Table. And this is just the beginning.

Please support the work of our amazing guests:

• Mariah Gladstone – Founder of Indigikitchen on at www.indigikitchen.com/ and on Instagram at @indigikitchen
• Sean Sherman – Chef, author of The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, at https://seansherman.com/ and on Instagram at @siouxchef

Help us grow The Old Growth Table by subscribing, rating, and sharing:
🔗 oldgrowthtable.com
🎧 Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts
📲 Follow us on Instagram: @oldgrowthtable
💌 Share with your community — and let us know how you’re (re)connecting to ancestral foods

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

Follow us on Instagram @amrpodcast, or support our work on Patreon. Show notes are published on our website, Allmyrelationspodcast.com. Matika's book Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America is available now! T'igwicid and Hyshqe for being on this journey with us.

In early January 2025, catastrophic wildfires swept through the ancestral homelands of the Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh, and Chumash Peoples. National media coverage largely overlooked how our Indigenous relatives were responding, and coping amid the uncontrollable flames, and how they were recovering after.

To document these stories from an Indigenous perspective, we sent our teammate Francisco “Panchó” Sánchez, a Xicano filmmaker and journalist, to Tovangar. In this episode, he sits down with community members, activists, and organizers so we can hear their experiences and understand this climate crisis from an Indigenous perspective. We are honored to be in conversation with:

– Jessa Calderon (Chumash and Tongva), poet, musician, author of Sisterhood, and Director of The Land, Water and Climate Justice for Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

– Jolie Varela (Tule River Yokuts and Nüümü), founder of Indigenous Women Hike.

– Vinecea Edwards Esq (Mvskoke), Senior Director of Operations and Strategy at Urban American Indian Involvement (UAII).

– Amy Stretten (Chickahominy), Director of Marketing and Communications at UAII.

– Alexia Palomino Cortez, PhD candidate and Altadena fire survivor.

– Katherine Guerrero-Yañez, adopted Tongva tribal member and Altadena high school teacher.

If settler-colonialism’s land mismanagement is the root of our current climate catastrophe, then the path forward is rooted in Indigenous land stewardship, for we know fire as a relative, water as life, and earth as home. The stories shared in this episode remind us that the work ahead requires us all — not just to respond to crisis, but to return to relationship. To steward, to protect, to show up for each other like family. Because relatives keep us safe.

Learn more and support the work of our guests:
– Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples: sacredplacesinstitute.org
– Indigenous Women Hike: indigenouswomenhike.com
– Urban American Indian Involvement (UAII): uaii.org

Credits
Reporting, field production and film work by Francisco “Pancho” Sánchez (@videosdelsancho)

Editing by Teo Shantz

Produced by Matika Wilbur

Co/hosted by Temryss Lane

Social Media by Katharina Mei-Fa Brinschwitz

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

Follow us on Instagram @amrpodcast, or support our work on Patreon. Show notes are published on our website, Allmyrelationspodcast.com. Matika's book Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America is available now! T'igwicid and Hyshqe for being on this journey with us.