Culture & Spirituality As Substance Use Treatment in Indigenous Communities
In the late 1990s, psychologist Dr. Joseph Gone, a professor and member of the Aaniiih Gros Ventre tribe, returned home during his doctoral training to the Fort Belknap Reservation in north central Montana. There, he set aside eurocentric concepts of psychology he was learning in school and instead asked tribal members how mental illness is addressed using traditional Indigenous practices. What he learned changed the trajectory of his...
The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation
Caste—one of the oldest systems of exclusion in the world—is thriving. Despite the ban on Untouchability 70 years ago, caste impacts 1.9 billion people in the world. Every 15 minutes, a crime is perpetrated against a Dalit person. The average age of death for Dalit women is just 39. And the wreckages of caste are replicated here in the U.S., too—erupting online with rape and death threats, showing up at work, and forcing countless...
Nuclear Colonialism and The Story “Oppenheimer” Didn’t Tell (Encore)
Oppenheimer swept the Golden Globes, reigniting public interest in the Manhattan Project, the WWII-era secret program to develop the atomic bomb and the impacts of nuclear power. But what the film leaves out alters our understanding about the real impacts of this advancement. On today’s encore episode, we hear about nuclear colonialism and how it has changed the course of the people and places of New Mexico with Myrriah Gómez,...
But Next Time Part 2: Language Justice and the Road to Recovery After Disaster (Encore)
This week we continue delving into community-rooted disaster relief in California, from wildfires to the pandemic. From building mutual aid networks, to translating emergency messages in common local languages, we see in action the incredible difference language justice can make in our communities. In Sonoma County, organizers hit the field with information on where to get food, shelter, and support. In San Francisco, they set up a...
Saltwater Soundwalk: Indigenous Audio Tour of Seattle (Encore)
In this special encore episode of Making Contact, we present “Saltwater Soundwalk”: Indigenous Audio Tour of Seattle. Produced by Jenny Asarnow and Rachel Lam, this rhythmic, watery audio experience, streams of stories that ebb and flow, intermixes English with Coast Salish languages. Indigenous Coast Salish peoples continue to steward this land and preserve its language, despite settler colonialism, industrialization and...
The Rest of the Story: Indigenous Resistance
In this episode, we revisit two stories concerning indigenous rights we’ve covered in the past. In the first half, Rebecca Nagle joins us to discuss the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act and why the legitimacy of the law is so important to tribal sovereignty. We also talk about the right’s legal strategy in the last few decades and what that means for decisions at the Supreme Court. In the...
The Shadow of Nuclear Colonialism
The film Oppenheimer has reignited public interest in the Manhattan Project, the WWII-era secret program to develop the atomic bomb. But the movie leaves out important parts of the story. On today’s show, we hear about the impact of nuclear colonialism and the Manhattan Project on the people and places of New Mexico with Myrriah Gómez, author of Nuclear Nuevo México: Colonialism and the Effects of the Nuclear Industrial Complex...
Mexicans Confronting Racism: Aztec myths to modern stereotypes
There’s an idea in Mexico that racism doesn’t exist, that all Mexicans are “mestizo” – a homogenous blend of Spanish and indigenous. But cultural worker José Antonio Aguilar says racism is lived by Black and brown Mexicans in many ways. He founded Racismo MX, an organization which seeks to dismantle racism, after coming to terms with his own racial reality as a “prieto” – a brown man. We also hear from anthropologist...
The Fight Over the Indian Child Welfare Act Is Not Just A Custody Battle (ENCORE)
It’s a lesser-known case in the docket for the Supreme Court, but if The Indian Child Welfare Act is overturned, it could have massive implications for the laws that govern Indigenous sovereignty in the United States. We talk with author and activist Rebecca Nagle about the case of Baby O and the Librettis and how their story led to Halaand v. Brakeen. But, we also investigate the money and interests behind the lawsuit....
Saltwater Soundwalk: Indigenous Audio Tour of Seattle
Today on Making Contact we present “Saltwater Soundwalk”: Indigenous Audio Tour of Seattle. Produced by Jenny Asarnow and Rachel Lam, this rhythmic, watery audio experience, streams of stories that ebb and flow, intermixing English with Coast Salish languages. Indigenous Coast Salish peoples continue to steward this land and preserve its language, despite settler colonialism, industrialization and gentrification. Part story, part...
