Mother Earth Medicine. An Ancestral Intelligence Podcast to Heal Our Future

In Episode 3, co-host Aimee Roberson (Chahta/Chikashsha) speaks with Alicia Moncada (Wayuu) and Avexnim Cojtí (Maya K'iche') about what it means to be Indigenous, how all of humanity has Indigenous roots, and the fierce love needed to care for and ensure the continuance of our cultures, communities, and connections to Mother Earth. Don't miss this conversation! Listen to “Fierce Lov...

In Episode 2, one of our hosts, Dr. Lyla June Johnston (Diné/Tsétsêhéstâhese), speaks with Burhan Sönmez about the revitalization of the Kurdish language.  Listen to “Healing Our Future: Mother Earth Medicine with Lyla June and Aimee Roberson”. 

In Episode 1, our hosts, Dr. Lyla June Johnston (Diné/Tsétsêhéstâhese), Cultural Survival Board Member, and Aimee Roberson (Chahta/Chikashsha), Cultural Survival Executive Director, discuss their inspiration for this new podcast rooted in the wisdom of their ancestors. Aimee and Lyla honor Indigenous cultures and values and invite listeners to collectively dream and co-create a future of mutual fl...

In this Episode, Dr. Lyla June Johnston speaks with Aimee Roberson , Executive Director of Cultural Survival , to announce an exciting new transition! Lyla June and Nihizhi Podcast are joining forces with Cultural Survival to launch a brand new podcast called "Mother Earth Medicine"! Aimee and Lyla will now co-host the new show, combining their extensive networks with Indigenous communit...

In this episode, we speak with Tela Troge, a Shinnecock Nation matriarch, lawyer, and kelp farmer, Indigenous to what is now known as Long Island, NY. She shows us how ushering life back into the Shinnecock Bay is not as hard as it seems. By fighting against the billionaire class that tried to take up the land of the area, and pushing against patriarchy that tried to limit women's leadership,...

Karelle Hall and Courtney Streett share their experience in the colonial state of Delaware as Nanticoke Tribal Members to bring back their ancient seeds, carry on the ways of their ancestors, and thrive in the face of ongoing colonization.  They also speak with host Lyla June (www.lylajune.com) on the topic of Afro-Indigeneity and their collective work to abolish blood quantum and celebrate plural...

In this episode, host Lyla June interviews Justin Adams, co-founder of Ostara and chair of Embercombe. The episode discussion revolves around reconnecting with the earth through the lens of European indigenous roots. Unlike the traditional focus on Turtle Island's Indigenous peoples, this episode explores pathways for individuals of European descent to reclaim ancestral relationships with the...

This episode, host Lyla June is in conversation with Theresa "Bear" Fox, a song carrier and knowledge bearer of the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk Nation) from Akwesasne Territory in northeastern Turtle Island. Together, they explore her journey as a community member, her deep connection to her culture, and how she came to carry the songs and stories of her people. This heartfelt exchange o...

In this episode, host Lyla June interviews Charlene Nijmeh , the chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe , which is comprised of all known surviving American Indian Lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay Region. Throughout the episode, the discussion focuses around the powerful history of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, stories of resilience, and the "Trail of Truth", a 90-day horseback j...

In this episode, host Lyla June interviews Dean Barlese , an elder and spiritual leader from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and Max Wilbert , writer and community organizer whose been part of grassroots political work for 20 years, and is the founder of Protect Thacker Pass. Their discussion focuses around the status of the lithium mining project to be built on Thacker Pass, a physical feature loca...

In this episode, host Lyla June talks with Maria Azhunova of the Buryat-Mongol Indigenous Peoples, Director of the Land of Snow Leopard Network. Their discussion focuses around the significance of the Snow Leopard, it's meaning and how they are spreading awareness and education on this sacred animal, as well as protecting the animal from humans and outside dangers that can interfere with the...

In this episode host Lyla June talks with  Shelly Covert, spokesperson for the Nisenan Indigenous Nation, native to Grass Valley & Nevada City areas of northern California. Co-founders of CHIRP ( California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project ) Shelly Covert and Ember Amador discuss their $2.4M GoFundMe campaign to recover sacred lands stolen during the California  Gold Rush. As of the publi...

In this episode, host Lyla June interviews Marina Thomas , a curly haired, light skinned Onk Akimel O'odham mother fighting for the existence of our culture so our kids can play in the water. Their discussion focuses around the intense urbanization, colonization, distortion of their history and water theft the Akimel O'odham people are facing in the Phoenix and Tucson area. Throughout th...

In this episode, host Lyla June interviews Jeffrey Haas , a Jewish civil rights and criminal defense attorney who has represented with the families of Black Panther leaders, Water Protectors at Standing Rock, and many more. The conversation focuses on the topic of indigeneity between Zionists and Palestinians, how some members of the Jewish community are feeling about what Israel is doing, the Uni...

In this episode, host Lyla June interviews two Palestinians who work with Sabeel , a Palestinian Christian group in Jerusalem. They work for Palestinian liberation within the context of the settler Zionism of the USA-Israel alliance. We discuss 1) how they are the original and Indigenous Christians of that land, 2) what gives us hope, 3) what the world can do amidst the ongoing genocide of Palesti...

Indigenous People of Turtle Island (ala North America) have been intentionally burning the landscape for millennia with low intensity burns. This cycles the nutrients of dead grasses in the fall into mineral rush ash, that nourishes the seeds and shoots for the coming spring. It also curtails incoming vegetation that may compete with old growth or other highly selected trees. It helps to keep the...

In this episode, we talk with Beverly Longid, an Igorot (Indigenous Philippine) woman of the Bontok-Kankanaey  community. We discuss her efforts with KATRIBU (Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas)—a national alliance of Indigenous Peoples  in the Philippines, to protect the land and environment. The organization is striving to help others understand the land should be protected. While no...

In this episode, we talk with Grace Johnson about traditional Indigenous parenting techniques, from rites of passage to holding our babies when they cry. We also speak with Misty Flowers about the recent win for the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) which was recently challenged by a white family that wanted the right to take a Native child over an available native family because it was a "raci...

In this episode, we speak with Sherlien Sanches of the Kaliña Nation of Suriname, a country in Abya Yala (South America). Her peoples were colonized and enslaved by the Netherlands starting in the 1500s. She currently lives in Amsterdam to advocate and educate for her people, where she helped create the Indigenous Knowledge Center. There are currently the bodies of Kalina babies in the basements o...

Two sisters from different cultural backgrounds discuss the beautiful ways in which Black and Indigenous struggles intersect and have the potential to strengthen one another. Lyla June, of the Diné (Navajo) Indigenous Nation and host of Nihizhi Podcast, speaks with Katina Stone-Butler, musician, advocate, and host of the Black History for White People podcast. They also have hard conversations abo...

Join us, as we delve into the brilliant mind of Indigenous illustrator, cosplayer, comic book creator, Indiginerd, and organizer of áyACon, Denver’s new Indigenous arts convention (www.ayacondenver.art). As a Sičangu Lakota/Tsalagi woman, we are going to learn more about how she is helping to Indigenize the space of fandom, heroes, comic conventions to be more about kinship, support, multiracial u...

In this episode Lyla June and Mona Haydar discuss the similarities between Turtle Island and the various cultures of Islam. Their discussion covers treating animals with honor, the importance of Creator, and the characterization of "savages," as an imperial framing used to justify the extraction of their homelands' resources. Their conversation also reviews the ways in which Europea...

In this episode, Nikyle and Kelli passionately discuss the Indigenous practice of sheep herding as a living, breathing system, spanning across centuries despite colonization and its recurring narrative that seeks to erase us. Our conversation also delves into sheep as relatives, an indivisible entity within a wholistic framework of subsistence living practices, wholly spiritual as food, song, clot...

In this episode, Chef Crystal Wahpepah (James Beard Award Winner) of the Kickapoo Nation discusses our connection to food as it relates to living close to the land, and honoring our responsibilities and gifts as Indigenous people. Her new restaurant, Wahpepah's Kithcen has opened in Ohlone Lands (Oakland, CA) and is a must visit site for artistic and high quality Indigenous foods and dishes. ...

In this episode, we celebrate and uplift Tall Paul's recent album release "The Story of Jim Thorpe." A concept biographical album honoring the life of Jim Thorpe (1887-1953), athlete and Olympic gold medalist of the Sac and Fox Nation.  We also get a chance to hear about the needs and challenges that Native men (and men in general) face and ways to overcome them. Thank you for liste...