In Episode 102 of Red Hoop Talk host Jennifer welcomes Michael Duncan (Wintun, Maidu, Wailaki, Western Band Shoshone), founder and Executive Director of Native Dads Network, a Sacramento-based organization focused on fatherhood, wellness, and intergenerational healing. Michael shares how his own lived experience—overcoming addiction, incarceration, and disconnection from identity—shaped his commitment to building stronger Native families and restoring cultural foundations for the next generations.

Through Native Dads Network, Michael leads initiatives that center healing, accountability, and cultural identity, including the Boys With Braids program, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, and IMPACT (Indigenous Mentors Protecting Ancestral Cultural Tribal Traditions). He reflects on the origins of this work, including his childhood experiences of being bullied for having long hair, which inspired a movement to protect Native youth and restore pride in cultural identity. His work also addresses broader issues impacting Native families, including the lasting effects of colonization on fatherhood, masculinity, and community health.

During the conversation, Michael speaks candidly about the cycles of intergenerational trauma and the urgent need to shift toward intergenerational healing. He emphasizes that while understanding trauma is essential, accountability remains critical, and that healing begins with belief—without it, change cannot take root. The discussion also explores how harmful norms around masculinity and emotional suppression have shaped generations of Native men, and how redefining strength through vulnerability, connection, and cultural grounding can create healthier families and Nations.

Michael also highlights the importance of early intervention for Native youth, noting that exposure to substances is happening at increasingly younger ages. He raises concerns about the normalization and misinformation surrounding cannabis and its impact on youth development, while reinforcing the role of mentorship, ceremony, and community-based approaches in prevention and healing. His work through programs like Boys With Braids, IMPACT, and broader men’s wellness movements demonstrates that meaningful change does not rely on funding alone, but on commitment, belief, and action.

Each episode of Red Hoop Talk connects listeners with powerful Native voices and lived experiences. By supporting the Association on American Indian Affairs, you help strengthen these voices and advance the work to protect Native cultural sovereignty and the next generations.

In Episode 101 of “Red Hoop Talk,” host Jennifer sits down with Michelle Schenandoah (Onʌyota’:aka/Oneida Nation, Wolf Clan), an inspirational speaker, filmmaker, and founder of Rematriation, to explore what it means to return the sacred to the mother. Joining from Onondaga Nation Territory, Michelle reflects on her Haudenosaunee matrilineal teachings and the responsibility she carries as a Haudenosaunee woman raised in a family of traditional leadership.

She draws a clear distinction between repatriation and rematriation, explaining that rematriation centers women, restores balance, and renews the relationship between land, governance, and cultural continuity. From birth practices that return the placenta and umbilical cord to the earth, to the enduring teachings of the Two Row Wampum, Michelle grounds listeners in a worldview where sovereignty and ceremony are inseparable.

The conversation also confronts the ongoing impact of the Doctrine of Discovery, not as distant history but as a legal framework that still shapes land ownership and federal Indian law today. Michelle connects these doctrines to landmark cases and to everyday land transactions, challenging listeners to understand how deeply embedded these assumptions remain. She shares a personal story about searching for Native representation in her U.S. history textbooks as a child—only to find her people’s presence reduced to a few brief pages—underscoring the urgency of truthful education. As a trained lawyer, journalist, and creator of the PBS-distributed series Rematriated Voices, Michelle continues the work of her grandmothers, who led generations of Oneida land claims, by amplifying Indigenous women’s voices and illuminating the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s global influence on democracy and women’s rights.

The episode also marks Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month with guest Michelle Sanchez Higginbotham of the California Consortium on Urban Indian Health (SACQUI / Rising Together). She outlines how abuse can surface in youth relationships—emotionally, physically, sexually, financially, and through technology—and reminds listeners that prevention begins earlier than many adults realize. Through practical guidance on teaching boundaries, recognizing red and green flags, and removing shame from conversations about consent, she emphasizes the importance of creating safe pathways for youth, including Two-Spirit and 2S+LGBTQ relatives, to seek support. A story shared about a young teen confidently rejecting the idea that a date entitles someone to her body offers a powerful example of boundary-setting rooted in self-worth and cultural strength.

Together, these conversations weave law, land, governance, and youth safety into a larger call for cultural restoration and collective responsibility. Each episode of Red Hoop Talk connects listeners with powerful Native voices, and by supporting the Association on American Indian Affairs, you help keep those voices strong.

In this 100th episode of Red Hoop Talk, host Jennifer is joined by Shannon O’Loughlin, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Association on American Indian Affairs’ CEO and Attorney, for a candid conversation on sovereignty, repatriation, identity, and community responsibility. They reflect on the purpose of Red Hoop Talk as a space for honest, community-centered dialogue and the significance of reaching this milestone.

Shannon discusses the complexities of Native identity, enrollment, and recognition, addressing how federal and state systems shape sovereignty and services for Native Nations. She also names difficult issues such as disenrollment and “pretendianism,” underscoring how misunderstandings of sovereignty continue to affect Native governance and belonging.

Repatriation remains central to the conversation, with Shannon framing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) as a human rights responsibility rather than a procedural requirement. She emphasizes the return of Ancestors and sacred belongings as an act of cultural restoration and self-determination, and reflects on the role of the Repatriation Conference in advancing this work. Shannon also speaks to law as a tool that can either exclude or empower, highlighting the responsibility of attorneys to support Native Nations’ decision-making.

Personal reflection weaves throughout the episode. Shannon shares how learning her family history shaped her path to law school, while Jennifer reflects on culture, education, and representation. Together, they return to a core truth: sovereignty lives with the people and is exercised through participation, responsibility, and community connection. Listeners are encouraged to engage with Red Hoop Talk and learn more about the Association’s work supporting Native voices and cultural restoration.

In Episode 98 of “Red Hoop Talk,” Jennifer sits down with Sandy White Hawk (Sicangu Lakota), a nationally respected advocate whose life story has reshaped how the country understands adoption, foster care, and the long-term impacts of Native child removal. Taken from Rosebud at just 18 months old, Sandy grew up far from her relatives, culture, and sense of identity. Her adoptive home was marked by racial, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse — a reality she now speaks about openly to expose the cost of family separation on Native Nations.

Sandy’s early adulthood took her into the Navy, where she found belonging among Black servicemembers who understood the experience of being racialized and displaced. Sobriety, ceremony, and eventually returning home to Rosebud became turning points in her healing. That journey — from survival to reconnection — now fuels her life’s work.

As founder and director of the First Nations Repatriation Institute, Sandy has become one of the leading voices on adoptee and foster-care healing. She organizes Truth Healing Reconciliation forums, supports adoptees and birth relatives through community groups, and trains practitioners across the country on the realities behind Native child removal. Her research highlights the stark truth many adoptees carry: high rates of abuse, staggering mental-health impacts, and the lifelong ache of growing up without seeing one’s own face reflected back. As she says in the episode, “Love does not replace identity,” and “If it were truly in the best interest of the child, we would not be terminating parental rights.”

Sandy’s insights ground the conversation in sovereignty, responsibility, and the hard truth that adoption has become a multi-billion-dollar industry built on the ongoing removal of Native children. She discusses Indian Child Welfare Act as an act of Native Nation self-governance, the importance of returning children to their Nations, and the research she’s led showing high rates of abuse and suicide attempts among Native adoptees.

Listeners can learn more at WeAreComingHome.org, explore the documentary Blood Memory, or read her book A Return to the Heart. “Red Hoop Talk” continues to uplift the stories Native Peoples share about identity, truth, and healing — and supporting the Association on American Indian Affairs helps carry that work forward.

In Episode 96 of Red Hoop Talk, host Jennifer welcomes Julian Brave NoiseCat (Canim Lake Band Tsq̓éscen̓/Líl̓wat Nation), a writer, Oscar-nominated filmmaker, champion powwow dancer, and student of art and history. Julian’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Yorker, earning him honors such as the 2022 American Mosaic Journalism Prize and recognition on the TIME100 Next list. His first documentary, Sugarcane, co-directed with Emily Kassie, was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Directing Award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. His debut book, We Survive the Night, continues his work of truth-telling and cultural revival through story.

In this episode, Julian opens up about the intergenerational trauma caused by residential and boarding schools across North America—beginning with his father’s survival story and their journey toward healing through art and storytelling. He shares how Sugarcane and We Survive the Night became acts of remembrance and reclamation, helping to confront painful histories while restoring connection across generations. Julian also reflects on how his mother ensured he stayed rooted in his Indigenous identity while growing up between Oakland and Canim Lake, and how the trickster figure Coyote helped him understand his father and the complexity of Native masculinity.

Through an intimate and thought-provoking conversation, Julian explores how storytelling, art, and truth-telling are powerful tools for resistance and renewal. He discusses the lasting legacy of the Alcatraz occupation and how it helped shift U.S. federal policy from “termination” to “self-determination” for Native Nations. For Julian, the work of storytelling is a responsibility as much as an art: “Once you commit to telling a story, you can’t half tell it—you have to go all the way there.”

Listeners will come away inspired by Julian’s reflections on reciprocity, generosity, and what it means to carry stories forward with integrity. Sugarcane is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+ under National Geographic, and We Survive the Night is available through Alfred A. Knopf and Penguin Random House. Follow Julian on Instagram at @jnoisecat and his father, artist Ed Archie NoiseCat, at @noisecatart.

Each episode of Red Hoop Talk connects listeners with powerful Native voices. By supporting the Association on American Indian Affairs, you help protect Native cultures, uplift Native storytellers, and strengthen the next generations.

Angeline Boulley, citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, joins host Jennifer Robin on the 97th episode of Red Hoop Talk to chat about the power of stories to heal, educate, and protect culture. Born into a family of storytellers, Angeline has spent her career in Native education and now brings that lived experience into her work as a bestselling author. Her novels reflect not only Ojibwe lifeways in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but also the realities of Native youth navigating identity, justice, and survival.

Her debut, Firekeeper’s Daughter, was an instant #1 New York Times Bestseller and earned multiple awards, including the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature. She followed up with Warrior Girl Unearthed in 2023, a high-stakes thriller about reclaiming stolen history. Her newest book, Sisters in the Wind, takes readers on a daring journey with a foster teen who fights to claim her heritage on her own terms.

In this episode, Angeline reflects on how she weaves difficult truths into modern storytelling—whether about the Indian Child Welfare Act, repatriation, or the complicated relationship between Native Nations and law enforcement. She shares why she was determined that her audiobooks be narrated by Native voices, teaching narrators to pronounce Ojibwe language with care so the stories carry authenticity. She also recalls how the idea for Firekeeper’s Daughter lived with her for decades before she finally had the chance to bring it to life, writing it piece by piece in the quiet hours of the morning.

For Angeline, stories are not just entertainment. They are acts of cultural survival, a way to keep Native youth connected to their language and lifeways, and a reminder that representation can quite literally save lives.

Each episode of Red Hoop Talk uplifts Native voices like Angeline’s, and by supporting the Association on American Indian Affairs, you help ensure these stories continue to be heard.

In Episode 96 of “Red Hoop Talk,” host Jennifer sits down with Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota and the longtime voice behind First Voices Radio. For more than three decades, Tiokasin has used live radio to share Native perspectives on peace, culture, and our relationship with Mother Earth. Known internationally as an educator, musician, and advocate, he describes himself as a “perfectly flawed human being,” drawing on his Lakota values to explore what it means to live in balance with the world around us.

A master Lakota flute player who has performed everywhere from Lincoln Center to the United Nations, Tiokasin weaves together language, music, and nature as sources of energy and connection. In the episode, he reflects on non-dualistic ways of thinking and how the Earth herself teaches us—no academic degree required. “We were born singing in the form of crying,” he says, offering a powerful reminder that music connects all of us from birth. Tiokasin also talks about listening with patience rather than just tolerance, a lesson learned over decades of interviewing nearly a thousand guests with different worldviews on First Voices Radio, which concluded its final live broadcast in July 2025.

His stories move between personal and universal, from the spontaneity of live radio to the deep meaning carried by Native languages, where words hold not just definition but emotion and spirit. Tiokasin’s work has earned global recognition, including a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, but his focus remains on being a good human being and helping others do the same by accepting life’s mysteries rather than trying to solve them. To hear more from Tiokasin or explore the archives of First Voices Radio, visit firstvoicesindigenousradio.org. Each episode of “Red Hoop Talk” uplifts Native voices like Tiokasin’s, and by supporting the Association on American Indian Affairs, you help ensure these stories continue to be heard.

Mary Youngblood, a citizen of the Seminole and Aleut Nations, is a groundbreaking musician and the first woman to professionally record the Native flute. She is also the first woman to win not just one, but two Grammy Awards for Best Native American Music Album. A classically trained flutist, Mary’s lifelong journey in music began with piano lessons at the age of six and expanded to guitar at ten. Her artistic path has always been rooted in a deep connection to both music and her cultural identity.

It wasn’t until adulthood that Mary was gifted her first wooden Native flute—a moment that marked the beginning of a passionate commitment to an instrument traditionally played only by men. Her compositions, which blend classical, blues, and traditional Native sounds, are haunting and melodic, resonating with audiences across generations. With a collection of over 250 hand-carved flutes, Mary allows each instrument’s unique spirit and texture to shape her performances.

She has released six celebrated albums with Silver Wave Records, including Dance With the Wind, which earned her the 2007 Grammy, and Beneath the Raven Moon, which won in 2003. Her work has also been recognized by the Native American Music Awards, the Association for Independent Music, and the New Age Voice. Mary has collaborated with iconic artists such as Ian Anderson, Bill Miller, and Joanne Shenandoah, weaving messages of healing, identity, and connection to the natural world into her original compositions.

In her first-ever podcast interview, Mary opens up about her life as an adopted child and the powerful journey of reconnecting with her birth family and culture. She shares stories from her 14 years working in California prisons, where she brought music, culture, and self-expression to incarcerated individuals—work that she describes as deeply joyful and meaningful. She also reflects on the challenges of navigating the music industry, including the elimination of the Grammy category for Native American Music, and speaks candidly about the fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation when it comes to non-Native flute players.

Mary is not only a performer but also a respected educator and mentor, dedicated to passing on her knowledge and love for the Native flute to the next generations. Her performances are more than concerts—they are spiritual experiences, where music becomes a form of prayer and storytelling.

Today, Mary lives in Northern California, where she continues to compose, teach, and “dance with the wind” among the trees that inspire her. To learn more or listen to her music, visit MaryYoungblood.com or stream her albums on all major platforms.