Live Panel on Bears Ears National Monument - Episode 15

On March 3rd, 2018 Lyle hosted a live panel on Bears Ears National Monument with indigenous activists at Friends of Cedar Mesa’s annual Celebrate Cedar Mesa event. In addition to Lyle himself, the panel also featured Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk (former co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Councilwoman and current Education Coordinator for the Ute Indian Museum), Ed Kabotie (Hopi/Tewa artist, musician, and activist) and Angelo Baca (Diné/Hopi, Filmmaker and Cultural Resources Coordinator for Utah Diné Bikeyah). The four talk about their experiences with Bears Ears National Monument, but also use the topic to discuss larger issues, including tribal sovereignty, indigenous and Western science collaborations, boarding schools, and how we can all be better activists. Their heartfelt words led to a standing ovation and an encore. Thank you again to Friends of Cedar Mesa and to all the panelists.

“The time of the Indian expert is over. It’s time for expert Indians.”
— Angelo Baca - Utah Dine Bikeyah

Nation-Building After Federal Recognition - Episode 14

On today’s episode, Jessica speaks with Sandra Hernandez, Tribal Treasurer, and Colin Rambo, Cultural Resources Manager, of the Tejon Indian Tribe. We talk about their history, from having the first reservation in California to unknowingly losing all their land due to an unratified treaty to becoming the 566th federally recognized tribe through the reaffirmation process. They talk about what it’s like literally building a nation from scratch, in addition to revitalizing their language and culture. Finally they end out talking about their cultural preservation program and the curation facility that they built. This facility is now being used to fund their larger cultural goals. 
 

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Ethnography, Videography, and Public Anthropology - Episode 13

On today’s episode, Jessica interviews Dr. Sean Gantt, Acting Director of Education for Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. He talks about his vision for education at Crow Canyon, the value of public anthropology, and what drew him to this type of work. Sean also talks about his work as a graduate student working for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. There he helped with the development of an interpretation plan for the Nanih Waiya cultural landscape, the Choctaw Mother Mound, which was transferred to the tribe from a state park. From there we discuss videography and ethnography, including the importance of community based and reciprocal methods. Finally we close out by talking about specific ways that anthropology can improve as a discipline, including the role of conferences, and specific actions individual anthropologists can take to make anthropology a safer space for indigenous people.

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