Cultivating Indigenous Voices

Photo by: Lower Arizona In this episode I have Miguel in the studio discussing the work he does in the local community and what stereotypes look like in the Mexican culture  #SmashingStereotypes. Together we talk about experiences involving our two cultures and it’s similarities.  Within’ the Native American and Mexican culture, the two tend to blend, especially for Southern tribes who’s lands ext...

TNYC Offical Logo In this episode I sit with three young Native youth; Lourdes, Maddy, and Steven, who grew up in the Chukson (Tucson) area and are currently members of the Tucson Native Youth Council . One of the main topics we discussed was the recent issue about how Tucson Unified School District has handled past and recent situations regarding allowing Native students to wear their cultural, t...

Photo by: Lupe Sutelo In this episode I interview special guest Lupe Sotelo, lead of the Tucson chapter of Latino Outdoors (LO). This nationwide movement began as an opportunity to connect and engage more Latino communities to the outdoors. The founder, José González , discovered that there was little to no information about American-Latino organizations in conservation during his search. At that...

Melodie Lopez In this episode we meet with Melodie Lopez, founder of Indigenous Strategies LLC , whose goal is to bridge the gap between misconceptions and understanding of working with native students/groups within the Tucson area. Her life’s work has revolved around advocating and providing opportunity for natives and non-natives to embrace and learn the mechanisms within Indian Country. Melodie...

In this episode you will hear from Gertrude Lopez also known as Gertie, share her story growing up beside her dad Augustine Lopez Sr., listening, learning, and carrying traditional waila music. The music once known as chicken scratch has been around about 100 years. It represents styles of polka, mazurka, cumbia, etc. It has been recorded that back in the 1800’s during the missionary times, O’odha...

Photo credit: DJ Jahmar International This episode features DJ Jahmar International, a local here in Tucson who’s career as a professional DJ has given him the opportunity to expand into Native communities throughout the states. Not only does he spread happiness and cheer through music for any occasion, he and his team are committed to spreading awareness about homelessness and hunger. Jahmar is a...

                   Art created by Gabriel Ayala In this interview we welcome local classical musician Gabriel Ayala of the Yoeme/Pascua Yaqui Tribe to the studio. I also introduce another special guest Carmen, who is the new intern for Cultivating Indigenous Voices. Here all three of us engage in great conversation getting to know Gabriel a little better, while sharing a few laughs. Hear the inter...

In this podcast episode we share the background story of the success of two young O’odham (people) who are recent business owners of a health and fitness club. Their journey has been a long one and even through the struggles they never let their dream of owning their own Herbalife Nutrition club go. Growing up on the south side of Tucson, these two have had their share of challenges to overcome as...

This episode was pre-recorded at the Amity Foundation Circle Tree Ranch located on Tanque Verde Road on the far east side of Tucson. The topic of conversation led me to this unique area that quietly sits on a huge ranch full of large trees, a community garden, housing for recovering residents, and so much more. The majority of the population is Native American that represents many tribal affiliati...

During this interview I sat with Matthew Saraficio who is a recent graduate from Arizona State University earning a Bachlor’s degree in Acting. He talked about his role and experience during the production of “Shooting Columbus.” The performance was presented by Borderlands Theater and created by the group Fifth World Collective. The group consisted of indigenous and non-indigenous actors who port...

“The Tucson women’s march was a part of a nation-wide and global movement for believers in equality to stand together in solidarity the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. The movement itself was not anti-Trump but rather a non-partisan pro-equality demonstration intended to show the world that we stand together for the protection of our rights, our safe...