Challenging Colonialism

s03e05: Interview with Archaeologist Kent Lightfoot

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 07:59:00 GMT

In our previous episode we explored an example of collaborative, Tribal centered archaeology in looking at the Amah Mutsun Summer Archaeology Program, which collaborated between the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and Archaeology students and professors at the University of Oregon. In this episode we speak with Dr, Kent Lightfoot, recently retired Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught and trained dozens of Archaeologists. Dr. Lightfoot is well known for his advocacy for doing Archaeology that aligns with, and is led by Tribal interests, a departure from the colonial approach to archaeology that we explored in Season 2 of our podcast.

For further reading:

Books:

Indians, Missionaries, and Merchants: The Legacy of Colonial Encounters on the California Frontiers, by Kent Lightfoot

California Indians and Their Environment: An Introduction, by Kent Lightfoot & Otis Parrish

Inclusion, Transformation, and Humility in North American Archaeology: Essays and Other “Great Stuff” Inspired by Kent G. Lightfoot, Edited by Seth Mallios, Sara L. Gonzalez, Michael Grone, Kathleen L. Hull, Peter Nelson, and Stephen W. Silliman

Articles:

"The Study of Sustained Colonialism: An Example from the Kashaya Pomo Homeland in Northern California," by Kent Lightfoot & Sara L. Gonzalez.

"The Study of Indigenous Management Practices in California: An Introduction," by Kent Lightfoot & Amah Mutsun Tribal Chair Valentin Lopez.

Recent Collaborative Archeaological Fieldwork on the Santa Cruz Coast, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band website.

Archaeology’s Diachronic Dimension, Historical Anthropology, and the Hawaiian-Shirt Renaissance: An Interview with Kent Lightfoot, by Seth Mallios, conducted in 2004.

s03e04: Collaborative Archaeology

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 01:08:52 GMT

In our last season, we explored the problematic colonial roots of the academic fields of Anthropology and Archaeology, "Salvage Anthropology" and legacies of extractive and exploitation of Indigenous communities. In this episode we will share an example of how some contemporary archaeologists are working closely with Tribal members to focus their research on issues that are of interest and helpful for Tribal members. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band has been working closely with Archaeologists over the last fifteen years, culminating in a Summer Archaeology Program that draws together Archaeology students and Tribal members from the Amah Mutsun and other partnering Tribes, in a collaborative learning and field work project.

Speakers:

Amah Mutsun Tribal Members, Gabriel Pineida & Elizabeth Rodriguez, Cameron Dakota-Chow Garcia (Chalon Ohlone-Esselen, Zacateco), Amah Mutsun Land Trust Cultural Resources Program Manager, Alec Apodaca, and Gabe Sanchez, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon.

For further reading / listening:

2025 Summer Internship Program: Collaborative Archaeology, Heritage, and Cultural Landscapes

Recent Collaborative Archaeological Fieldwork on the Santa Cruz Coast

California Archaeology, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2013) - Special journal examining the collaborative work done by California State Parks, UC Berkeley Archaeology Department, and members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.

You can listen to our previous episodes about the historic problems in Archaeology at these links:

s02e02: Salvage Anthropology "A Nasty Business"

s02e03: The Legacy of Kroeber, Ishi, & UC Berkeley

s03e03: The Scandal of Cal with Tony Platt

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:00:48 GMT

This episode includes an interview with Tony Platt, author of The Scandal of Cal: Land Grabs, White Supremacy, and Miseducation at UC Berkeley.

Dr. Platt is the author of thirteen books and 150 essays and articles on race, inequality, and social justice in American history, among them Beyond These Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States; Bloodlines: Recovering Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws, from Patton’s Trophy to Public Memorial; and The Child Savers: The Invention of Delinquency.

In this interview he also discusses the book he wrote prior to this one, Grave Matters: The Controversy over Excavating California’s Buried Indigenous Past, which explores the Indigenous led fight to protect burial sites up in Humboldt County in the 1970s and 80s. We encourage you to check out both books.

You can find more about Dr. Platt's work on these topics in the following articles:

"A Top UC Berkeley Professor Taught With Remains That May Include Dozens of Native Americans," ProPublica, March 5, 2023.

The Repatriation Project: The Delayed Return of Native Remains

The Repatriation Project: NAGPRA Database

For more on the history of UC Berkeley and Alfred Kroeber, give a listen to our podcast episode on these topics:

s02e03: The Legacy of Kroeber, Ishi, & UC Berkeley

On NAGPRA and Repatriation, listen to:

s02e04: "You Have Disturbed Our Ancestors" (NAGPRA p.I)

s02e05: "Bury Them with Dignity" (NAGPRA p. II)

s02e06: "This Work Has to be Done" (NAGPRA p.III)

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interview: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

"Chumash Uprising" logo artwork: John Jota Leaños

s03e02: Refusing Settler Domesticity by Caitlin Keliiaa

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 07:00:32 GMT

This episode includes an interview with Caitlin Keliiaa about her new book, Refusing Settler Domesticity: Native Women's Labor and Resistance in the Bay Area Outing Program. Dr. Keliiaa's study explores the history of young Native women’s lives and experiences as Bay Area domestic workers through the San Francisco Bay Area Outing Program, connected with the Indian Boarding Schools.

You can find more on Dr. Keliiaa's work at her website, or follow her on her instagram.

You can purchase her book online with a 40% off discount by using the following link and discount code:

tinyurl.com/keliiaa

Use the code WASHOE for 40% off

If you are based in the SF Bay Area and want to buy the book from a local bookseller, you can find it at Books on B in Hayward and the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) gift shop.

For more on the Indian Boarding Schools, with a focus on California, you can listen to our previous podcast episode, which included Dr. Keliiaa:

https://rss.com/podcasts/challengingcolonialism/480178/

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interview: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

"Chumash Uprising" logo artwork: John Jota Leaños

s03e01: Indigenizing California Mission Art and Architecture By Yve Chavez

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 04:24:58 GMT

As we resume the Challenging Colonialism podcast after a break, we will be diving into a series of book talks with Indigenous Californian scholars and allies. We are fortunate to be in a time where there are many excellent and important studies being published. We wanted to share these works with our listeners.

The first in this series is the new book Indigenizing California Mission Art and Architectur,e, by Dr. Yve Chavez. You can find her work at the following links:

Indigenizing California Mission Art and Architecture

Visualizing Genocide: Indigenous Interventions in Art, Archives, and Museums

“Remembering Our Ancestors: Photographing Mission San Gabriel’s Cemetery," inVisualizing Genocide: Indigenous Interventions in Art, Archives, and Museums, edited by Yve Chavez and Nancy Marie Mithlo, 21-37. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2022.https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv3006zsc.7

“Eighteenth-Century Loom and Basket Weaving at the California Missions,” Journal18, Issue 18 Craft (Fall 2024), https://www.journal18.org/7537.

“Decolonizing California Mission Art and Architecture Studies.” In The Routledge Companion to Decolonizing Art History, edited by Tatiana E. Flores, Charlene Villaseñor Black, and Florencia San Martin, 286-296. New York: Routledge, 2023. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003152262

For more from Dr. Yve Chavez, give a listen to our very first episode on the Bell Removal movement, which included an interview with Dr. Chavez:

s01e01 Instruments of Colonization

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interview: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

s02e10 Museums: Let Them Know We're Still Here (Season 2 Finale)

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 05:20:40 GMT

Our 10th and final episode of Season 2 extends our critique on the history of colonial acquisitions and collections with a focus on the colonial legacies of the institutions of Museums. We focus on the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, recent movements to 'decolonize' museums as with the Museum of Us in San Diego, and discuss whether it is possible to ultimately decolonize these institutions.

Speakers:

Dr. Amy Lonetree (enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation), Dr. Alírio Karina, Dr. Samuel Redman, Gregg Castro (t'rowt'raahl Salinan / Rumsien & Ramaytush Ohlone), Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy (Hupa, Yurok, Karuk), Nicole Lim (Pomo), Dr. Micah Parzen, Dr. Chris Green

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Special advisor on this episode: Kathleen Aston.

Links & Further Reading:

California Indian Museum & Cultural Center

Acorn Bites

Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums, Amy Lonetree

The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations, Edited by Amy Lonetree and Amanda J. Cobb

“Decolonizing Museums, Memorials, and Monuments,” The Public Historian, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 21–27 (November 2021), Amy Lonetree

Museum of Us

“Race: Are we so different?” Exhibit

Museum of Us: Colonial Pathways Policy

Against and Beyond the Museum, Alírio Karina

s02e09: "The Archive is a Dangerous Place"

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 08:00:18 GMT

Episode 9 explores the ways in which colonialism and colonial collections have impacted the development of archives, and the restrictions of these spaces. We follow the stories of Indigenous scholars who have worked to reclaim Indigenous knowledge, songs, and documents from archival collections. We also explore questions of data sovereignty, digital sovereignty, and intellectual property rights.

As discussed throughout Season 2, colonial extraction and collections have resulted in the theft of Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous bodies, and so much more. Previous episodes have explored issues of 'salvage anthropology' and repatriation. This episode shifts the focus to efforts to reclaim Indigenous knowledge, whether that be in the form of songs, wax cylinders, documents, letters, or other forms stored in colonial archives.

The speakers in this episode include:

Dr. Robin R. R. Gray (Ts’msyen/Cree)

Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva)

Carolyn Rodriguez (Amah Mutsun)

Sedonna Goeman-Shulsky (Tonawanda Band of Seneca)

Links for further reading:

"Cahuilla Basket Returns Home," by Emily Clarke, August 12, 2022, in News from Native California.

CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance

GIDA, Global Indigenous Data Alliance: Promoting Indigenous Control of Indigenous Data

Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance: Research, Policy, and Practice for Indigenous Data Sovereignty

"Indigenous Digital Sovereignty: From the Digital Divide to Digital Equity," by Davida Delmar, Jul 19, 2023

"Ts'msyen Revolution: The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming," Robin R.R. Gray Dissertation.

Dr. Robin Gray: “Embodied Heritage: Enactments of Indigenous Sovereignty” (video)

"Toypurina: Our Lady of Sorrows," Weshoyot Alvitre, Kickstarter

Theft Is Property! Dispossession and Critical Theory, Robert Nichols

Challenging Colonialism is produced by Daniel Stonebloom & Martin Rizzo-Martinez. All interviews by Martin, all audio engineering and editing by Daniel. All music by G. Gonzales. The title of this episode comes from Dr. Robin Gray.

s02e08: Ascención Solórzano and the Mutsun Dictionary

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 20:24:47 GMT

Episode 8 features an interview with Marion Martinez and her daughter, Veronica, both of whom are members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. They will be speaking about Marion’s great grandmother, Ascencion Solorsano de Cervantes, and mother, Martha Herrerra. Ascencion, who passed away in 1930, was the last fluent Mutsun speaker and one of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band’s beloved ancestors.

In 1929, Ascencion spent three months with Ethnographer and linguist John Peabody Harrington, who recorded thousands of pages of notes on Mutsun language, culture and history. Today, Marion, Veronica, and many other Amah Mutsun Tribal members draw on these important notes to learn about their ancestors. This season we have featured a series of stories about ’salvage anthropology’ and the damage done by scholars and activists towards Indigenous communities. This story helps show the complexity of this history, and ways in which contemporary Indigenous community members can sometimes draw on these records in important ways.

The speakers in this episode are: Veronica Martinez & Marion Martinez, both Amah Mutsun, interviewed by Martin Rizzo-Martinez.

Links for further reading:

Maria Ascención Solórsano (de Garcia y de Cervantes), Ed Ketchum, Amah Mutsun Tribal Historian (and descendant of Ascención)

The Long Journey to Revitalize a Native Language, University of Arizona News, Feb. 16, 2016

Reviving deep-rooted knowledge, Lisa Renner, UCSC NewsCenter, November 23, 2021

The Amah Mutsun's Battle to Preserve, Mark R. Day, ICT News, Sept 13, 2018

The Saint of Gilroy who helped save her culture and language, Robert Eliason, Benito Link, January 23, 2021

A Native American's Last Testament: Opera, Sasha Khokha, NPR Music, March 29, 2008

Ohlone/Costanoan Indians of the San Francisco Peninsula and their Neighbors, Yesterday and Today, Randall Milliken, Laurence H. Shoup, and Beverly R. Ortiz, 2009

Chasing Voices: The Story of John Peabody Harrington (documentary), PBS

Challenging Colonialism is produced by Daniel Stonebloom & Martin Rizzo-Martinez. All interviews by Martin, all audio engineering and editing by Daniel. All music by G. Gonzales.

s02e07: Federal Recognition Discussion

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 07:00:23 GMT

Episode 7 [1:37:47] explores the complexities of what is known as Federal Recognition, and the Federal Recognition Process, which relate to Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. This is an extremely complex topic, especially in relation to Native Californian Tribes. Our guests, Dr. Olivia Chilcote (a member of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians), and Dr. Vanessa Esquivido (an enrolled member of the Nor Rel Muk Wintu Nation, who is also Hupa & Xicana), both have expertise in the process as it relates to their Tribes' attempts to achieve Federal Recognition. And yet, this conversation just scratches the surface of this complex topic.

In this episode, we depart from our usual format. This episode features a conversation about Federal Recognition between Dr. Chilcote and Dr. Esquivido, facilitated by our co-producer Dr. Martin Rizzo-Martinez and lightly edited by Daniel Stonebloom. Music by G. Gonzales.

For additional information on Federal Recognition, please see the following:

Dr. Olivia Chilcote's new book Unrecognized in California: Federal Acknowledgment and the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians is now available for pre-order!

The Process and The People: Federal Recognition in California, Native American Identity, and the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, 2017 Dissertation by Olivia Chilcote

“Time Out of Mind”: The San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians and the Historical Origins of a Struggle for Federal Recognition, by Olivia Chilcote, California History Journal 2019.

"Unsettling evidence: an anticolonial archival approach/reproach to Federal Recognition," by María Montenegro, 2019.

"The Destruction of Identity: Cultural Genocide and Indigenous Peoples," by Lindsay Kingston, 2015.

"Creating the Space to Reimagine and Rematriate Beyond a Settler-Colonial Present: The Importance of Land Rematriation and ‘Land Back’ for Non-Federally Recognized California Native Nations," 2022 Dissertation by Cheyenne Reynoso.

"The study of indigenous political economies and colonialism in Native California: Implications for contemporary tribal groups and federal recognition,” by Kent G. Lightfoot, Lee M. Panich, Tsim D. Schneider, Sara L. Gonzalez, Matthew A Russell, Darren Modzelewski, Theresa Molino, and Elliot H. Blair, 2013.

s02e06: "This Work Has to be Done" (NAGPRA p.III)

Mon, 17 Jul 2023 07:00:20 GMT

The final part in this 3-episode series continues our focus on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), where we focus on CalNAGPRA, California’s effort to strengthen NAGPRA, as well as other steps taken to improve and refine this difficult process. But we will also hear about resistance to following through on the promises of NAGPRA as well, and hear a few longer personal narratives than in previous episodes, including all-too-rare success stories of repatriation.

As always, thank you to the guests who gave their time and shared their stories:

Dr. Brittani Orona

Sabine Talaugon

Desireé Martinez

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Gregg Castro

Cindi Alvitre

Alexii Sigona

For further reading and more information:

The Social Life of Basket Caps: Repatriation Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, in Hopes of Cultural Revitalization, Vanessa Esquivido

How to Report on the Repatriation of Native American Remains at Museums and Universities Near You, Pro Publica, February 2023.

Righting Historic Wrongs

Ceremony memorializes reburial of indigenous people’s remains at Cal State Long Beach, Press Telegram, September 2016.

Reburying the Past, September 2016.

After 70 Years, UC Berkeley Museum Returns Massacre Remains to Wiyot Tribe, February, 2022.

U.S. Army Corps, UC Berkeley Repatriate Human Remains to Wiyot Tribe, North Coast Journal of Politics, People & Art, January 2022.

UC Berkeley Anthropology Museum Returns 1860 Massacre Remains To Wiyot Tribe

This podcast is produced with support from California State Parks Foundation

s02e05: "Bury Them with Dignity" (NAGPRA p. II)

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 07:00:17 GMT

Part 2 in this 3-episode series continues our broad focus on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). As always, thank you to the guests who gave their time and shared their stories. This episode includes significant discussion of how ancestral remains, funerary objects, sacred items, and objects of cultural patrimony have been collected in the past, continue to be disturbed in the present, as well as the process of repatriation and reburial. This is an extremely sensitive topic, but a very important one that deals with basic human rights and respect, or the lack thereof, and we want to make this clear up front. This topic understandably may be triggering for some. You will hear people discussing in detail the ways in which their ancestors’ bodies have been and continue to be mistreated. Please take care while listening.

Speakers:

Gregg Castro

Sabine Talaugon

Dr. Brittani Orona

Dr. Anthony Burris

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Cindi Alvitre

Desireé Martinez

Additional Reading:

To share Native American culture and history the right way, artifacts should always be returned to tribes, San Diego Union Tribune, November 2022

UCSB out of compliance with state, federal laws for decades; works to return Native remains, Daily Nexus, March 2023

How to Report on the Repatriation of Native American Remains at Museums and Universities Near You, Pro Publica, February 2023.

UC Riverside slow to return Native American artifacts to tribes audit

This podcast is produced with support from California State Parks Foundation.

s02e04: "You Have Disturbed Our Ancestors" (NAGPRA p.I)

Wed, 17 May 2023 01:35:44 GMT

Part 1 in this 3-episode series focuses on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). As always, thank you to the guests who gave their time and shared their stories. This episode includes significant discussion of how ancestral remains, funerary objects, sacred items, and objects of cultural patrimony have been collected in the past, continue to be disturbed in the present, as well as the process of repatriation and reburial. This is an extremely sensitive topic, but a very important one that deals with basic human rights and respect, or the lack thereof, and we want to make this clear up front. This topic understandably may be triggering for some. You will hear people discussing in detail the ways in which their ancestors’ bodies have been and continue to be mistreated. Please take care while listening.

Speakers:

Sabine Talaugon

Dr. Brittani Orona

Cindi Alvitre

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Dr. Anthony Burris

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy

Dr. Desireé Martinez

Alexii Sigona

Additional Reading:

"Continued Disembodiment: NAGPRA, CAL NAGPRA, and Recognition” by Brittani Orona and Vanessa Esquivido

Propublica database for institutions holding human remains or burial artifacts

Our Story Lives Forever [documentary short by Sacred Lands Films]

Carrying Our Ancestors Home website: https://www.coah-repat.com/

“Returning the tataayiyam honuuka' (Ancestors) to the Correct Home: The Importance of Background Investigations for NAGPRA Claims,” by Desireé R. Martinez, Wendy G. Teeter, Karimah Kennedy-Richardson

“The Politics of Archaeology: Diverse Concerns and Interests at the West Bluffs Project, Los Angeles, California,” by John G. Douglass, Cindi Alvitre, and, Jeffrey H. Altschul

This podcast is produced with support from California State Parks Foundation.

s02e03: The Legacy of Kroeber, Ishi, & UC Berkeley

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 01:57:49 GMT

Episode 3 continues and deepens our critique of academia's extractive and complex relationship with Native California by examining the history of one of California’s most renowned and celebrated anthropologists, Alfred L. Kroeber. Kroeber helped establish the school of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, and, up until 2021, his name adorned UC Berkeley’s Kroeber Hall. This episode examines Kroeber & his legacy, the life of a Native man known as Ishi, and the renaming of Kroeber hall, from the perspectives of Indigenous Californians.

Speakers:

Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy (Hupa, Yurok, Karuk)

Dr. Brittani Orona (Hoopa Valley Tribe)

Mark Hylkema

Dr. Samuel J. Redman

Cindi Alvitre (Tongva, co-founder of the Ti'at Society)

Alexii Sigona (Amah Mutsun Tribal Band)

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido (Nor Rel Muk Wintu, also Hupa and Xicana)

Additional reading:

We are Dancing for You, by Cutcha Risling Baldy

Ishi's Brain: In Search of Americas Last "Wild" Indian, by Orin Starn

“Alfred Kroeber’s Handbook and Land Claims: Anthros, Agents, and Federal (Un)Acknowledgment in Native California,” by Nicholas Barron

A Top UC Berkeley Professor Taught With Remains That May Include Dozens of Native Americans, ProPublica article, March 5th, 2023.

Alfred Kroeber and his Relations with California Indians, by Dr. Nancy Scheper-Hughes, July 24, 2020.

Grave robbing at UC Berkeley: A history of failed repatriation, Sage Alexander, December 5, 2020.

L.A. Times Editorial: The real way UC Berkeley can make up for disrespect toward Native Americans, January 31, 2021.

Challenging Colonialism is produced by Daniel Stonebloom & Martin Rizzo-Martinez. All interviews by Martin, all audio engineering and editing by Daniel. All music by G. Gonzales.

This podcast is produced with support from California State Parks Foundation.

s02e02: Salvage Anthropology "A Nasty Business"

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 16:18:16 GMT

Episode 2 follows the introductory episode with a deeper dive into Salvage Anthropology and its origins. Academic study of Indigenous cultures in California trace back to scholars such as Franz Boas and Aleš Hrdlička. They were both proponents of what was called ‘Salvage Anthropology’ - the belief that Indigenous communities were dying and making way for modern society. These beliefs were built upon problematic eurocentric ideas of culture and value. And, at the same time, the recordings and interviews of these early scholars are today helping some Indigenous communities reconnect with ancestral knowledge and insights. This episode delves into this complicated history.

Speakers:

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy (Hupa, Yurok, Karuk)

Dr. Samuel J Redman

Cindi Alvitre (Tongva)

Dr. Robin R. R. Gray (Ts’msyen/Cree)

Mark Hylkema

Interviews conducted by Martin Rizzo-Martinez; music by G.Gonzales; audio production by Daniel Stonebloom

This podcast is supported by California State Parks Foundation

Resources for more information:

Prophets and Ghosts: The Story of Salvage Anthropology

Samuel J. Redman

Archaeologies of Indigenous Presence

Edited by Tsim D. Schneider and Lee M. Panich

Community-Based Archaeology: Research with, by, and for Indigenous and Local Communities

by Sonya Atalay

“Towards an Analytic of Survivance in California Archaeology”

Nate Acebo and Desireé Reneé Martinez

Collaborating at the Trowel's Edge: Teaching and Learning in Indigenous Archaeology

Stephen W. Silliman

Overcoming Hindrances to Our Enduring Responsibility to the Ancestors Protecting Traditional Cultural Places

Desireé Reneé Martinez (Tongva)

Yanomami: The Fierce Controversy and What We Can Learn from It

by Rob Borofsky

s02e01: Illicit Acquisitions (Season Two Overview)

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 09:00:13 GMT

There is a long legacy of extractive and exploitative relationships in academic study of Indigenous California, seen clearly in the origins of the fields of anthropology, ethnography, & archaeology. These unethical relationships have resulted in colonial collections of Indigenous ancestral remains, funerary objects, songs and ceremonies, and Indigenous knowledge and wisdom, much which still has not been returned to Indigenous communities. This opening episode of Season 2 of Challenging Colonialism offers an overview of this history, helping shed light on why many Native Californians have understandable concerns about working with academics.

Speakers:

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy (Hupa, Yurok, Karuk), The Honorable Ron W. Goode (Tribal Chairman of the North Fork Mono Tribe), Dr. Robin R. R. Gray (Ts’msyen/Cree), Cindi Alvitre (Tongva, co-founder of the Ti'at Society), Kanyon Sayers-Roods (Costanoan Ohlone-Mutsun and Chumash), Gregg Castro (t'rowt'raahl Salinan / Rumsien & Ramaytush Ohlone), Mark Hylkema, Maia Posten

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

The title for this episode, Illicit Acquisitions, comes from our interview with Cindi Alvitre.

Links & Further Reading:

“Where Have All the Anthros Gone? The Shift in California Indian Studies from Research ‘on’ to Research ‘with, for, and by’ Indigenous Peoples” By Peter Nelson

“Archaeology and Social Justice in Native America” By Nicholas C. Laluk , Lindsay M. Montgomery, Rebecca Tsosie, Christine McCleave, Rose Miron, Stephanie Russo Carroll, Joseph Aguilar, Ashleigh Big Wolf Thompson, Peter Nelson, Jun Sunseri, Isabel Trujillo, Georgeann M. Deantoni, Gregg Castro, and Tsim Schneider

We Are Dancing for You: Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women’s Coming-of-Age Ceremonies By Cutcha Risling Baldy

Skull Wars: Kennewick Man, Archaeology, And The Battle For Native American Identity by David Hurst Thomas, Foreword by Vine Deloria Jr.

Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums Samuel J. Redman

Supported by California State Parks Foundation

Special Episode: We Will Protect Juristac Event (Amah Mustun Speaker Series)

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 14:00:52 GMT

Audio from the "We will protect Juristac" event at UC Santa Cruz, hosted by the American Indian Resource Center (AIRC) held on 11/9/24.

SPEAKERS:

• Valentin Lopez - Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band

• Athena Hernandez, Esq. - Tribal Member & Attorney for the Amah Mutsun Land Trust

• Alexii Sigona - Tribal Member & Chair of the Lands Committee of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, PhD Candidate @ UC Berkeley

• Julisa Lopez, PhD - Tribal Member & UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow @ UCSC

Links & Resources:

https://www.protectjuristac.org/

https://www.protectjuristac.org/petition/

https://www.protectjuristac.org/resources/

Special: Our Stories Converge Because the Perpetrators are the Same (p. 3 of 3)

Wed, 01 May 2024 14:56:32 GMT

The final episode of our 3 part special series explores a variety of ways to show solidarity with Palestine, with a focus on the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering at Alcatraz last Fall. We are publishing during escalating police and institutional repression against Palestine solidarity encampments which are spreading rapidly on college and university campuses.

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Sounds recorded at Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony, Nov 2023, by Lloyd Molina IV

Speakers:

Dr. Lila Sharif

Corrina Gould

Morning Star Gali

Dr. Randa May Wahbe

Dr. Stephanie Lumsden

Dr. Mark Minch-de Leon

Dr. Nour Joudah

Rana Sharif

Dr. Brittani Orona

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Dr. Jennifer Mogannam

Links:

Indigenous Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz, 2024

Indigenous People for a Free Palestine

Anti-Zionism as Decolonisation

National Students for Justice in Palestine

To Palestine with Love - A Message of Peace from Turtle Island

The Red Lake Nation & Its Solidarity with Palestine

Palestinian Feminist Collective

Palestinian Youth Movement

“All Out For Palestine“

American Muslims for Palestine

Palestinian American Cultural Center

Arab Resource and Organizing Center

US Palestinian Community Network

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

BDS site

The Palestine Project

SWANA Region Radio Podcast

Special: LandBack & Right of Return: Sister Movements (p. 2 of 3)

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 13:01:00 GMT

Part 2 of 3 part series. As a podcast focused on illuminating ongoing colonialism and genocide, we recognize the need to address genocide happening right now in occupied Palestine and to stand in solidarity. Our podcast is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Indigenous communities who are left out of official discourse. As such, it is important to amplify the voices of Palestinians right now, as the mainstream media fails to do so. Part 2 explores LandBack and Right of Return as well as the ways in which alternative media is helping illuminate what is happening right now. We are grateful for the time and knowledge shared by our interviewees, and hope that this series can contribute to greater understanding, solidarity, and activism in the movement towards a free Palestine.

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Sounds recorded at Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony, Nov 2023, by Lloyd Molina IV

Interviewees:

Dr. Lila Sharif

Corrina Gould

Dr. Stephanie Lumsden

Dr. Mark Minch-de Leon

Dr. Nour Joudah

Rana Sharif

Dr. Brittani Orona

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Dr. Jennifer Mogannam

Links:

The Right of Return is Landback

The Right of Return is Land Back: A Statement of Solidarity with Palestine

Decolonize Palestine

Brownwashing and Indigenous Normalization of Zionism

The Liberation of Palestine Represents an Alternative Path for Native Nations

‘This Is a Colonial War’: Historian Rashid Khalidi on Israel, Gaza & the Future of Palestine

“More than Genocide: The law occludes the abhorrent violence routinely perpetrated by states in the name of self-defense"

Palestinian Support for Indigenous Peoples’ Day Commemorations and Historical Justice from Palestine to Turtle Island

Indigenous and Arab organizers stand in solidarity with Water Protectors Resisting Line 3 Pipeline

Land Back from Turtle Island to Palestine

When Settler Becomes Native Examining the claim of Jewish indigeneity in the land of Israel

Leaked NYT Memo Tells Journalists to Avoid Words “Genocide,” Ethnic Cleansing,” and “Occupied Territory.”

Special: Solidarity from Turtle Island to Palestine (p. 1 of 3)

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 01:09:47 GMT

This three part series was inspired by the outpouring of solidarity statements and gatherings by Indigenous Californian communities. As a podcast focused on illuminating ongoing colonialism and genocide, we recognize that it is crucial to address the genocide happening right now in occupied Palestine and to stand in solidarity. Our podcast is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Indigenous communities who are frequently left out of official discourse. As such, it is important to amplify the voices of Palestinians right now, as the mainstream media fails to do so. This 3 part series is intended to amplify the voices of Palestinians and Indigenous Californians as they identify parallels between experiences of settler colonialism in both Palestine and California. We are grateful for the time and knowledge shared by our interviewees, and hope that this series can contribute to greater understanding, solidarity, and activism in the movement towards a free Palestine.

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Sounds recorded at Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony, Nov 2023, by Lloyd Molina IV

Interviewees:

Dr. Lila Sharif

Corrina Gould

Dr. Stephanie Lumsden

Dr. Mark Minch-de Leon

Morning Star Gali

Dr. Nour Joudah

Rana Sharif

Dr. Brittani Orona

Dr. Randa May Wahbe

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Dr. Jennifer Mogannam

Links:

CISSA’s Statement on Palestine

Red Nation: Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine

Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine Letter (to sign)

Palestinian olive farmers hold tight to their roots amid surge in settler attacks, by Vidal

The Destruction of Palestine Is the Destruction of the Earth, Malm

“Ethnic cleansing and the formation of settler colonial geographies,” Gordon & Ram

Vanishing Palestine, Lila Sharif

Savory Politics: Land, Memory, and the Ecological Occupation of Palestine, Sharif

From the US to Palestine: Indigenous resistance to transnational settler colonialism, Koutteineh

Settler Moves to Indigeneity: From Canada to Israel, Scribe

False Messiahs: How Zionism’s dreams of liberation became entangled with colonialism, Rubin

Season 2 Release Date: January 17th, 2023

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 17:19:06 GMT

Episode 1 will provide an overview of the themes we’ll cover in Season 2. We’re excited to share what we’ve been learning about anthropology, museum collections, archeology, intellectual property, rematriation, and more. You’ll hear about extractive colonial collections from Native Californians who are Challenging Colonialism in California and beyond.

Trailer: Challenging Colonialism Season 2

Tue, 27 Dec 2022 08:00:51 GMT

Challenging Colonialism returns with Season 2 in January 2023. Stay tuned for the release date.

This preview includes the voices of:

Dr. Brittani Orona (Hupa, Hoopa Valley Tribe)

Steven Pratt (Amah Mutsun)

Annie Danis

Corrina Gould (Lisjan Ohlone)

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy (Hupa, Yurok, Karuk)

Gregg Castro (t’rowt’raahl Salinan/Rusein-Ramaytush Ohlone)

Alexii Sigona (Amah Mutsun)

Kanyon Sayers-Roods (Mutsun Ohlone)

Dr. Robin Gray (Ts’msyen)

Produced by Martin Rizzo-Martinez & Daniel Stonebloom

Music by G. Gonzales, Supported by California State Parks Foundation

s01e05 Nichelle Garcia on Run4Salmon

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 13:00:50 GMT

Nichelle Garcia (Winnemem Wintu) talks about the Run 4 Salmon, the 2022 run, its goals and its history. She also discussed inter-tribal solidarity in water and salmon protection, as well as the curriculum and mini-lessons she's contributed to and taught in schools to raise awareness of what's at stake.

Challenging Colonialism is produced by Daniel Stonebloom & Martin Rizzo-Martinez. This interview was conducted by Martin, with all audio engineering and editing by Daniel. Introductory framing by Brittini Orona.

All music by G. Gonzales.

For more information & to get involved: http://run4salmon.org/

https://youtu.be/nW3Tdn4gIPg

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ6YB-25CqmC1dF-nLR3ZKg

http://run4salmon.org/run4salmon-curriculum/

http://run4salmon.org/2020-mini-lessons/

Please share and promote this podcast on any of the platforms you might use.

This podcast is produced with support from the CA State Parks Foundation https://www.calparks.org/

s01e04 Indian Boarding Schools: Colonialism Through Education

Mon, 09 May 2022 15:00:21 GMT

Beginning in the 1880s, Indian Boarding Schools across the country operated with the stated goal to “kill the Indian and save the man.” These institutions were key to U.S. policies that aimed to assimilate native children by removing ties to their own cultures. This episode examines the history of the Boarding Schools that impacted thousands of Indigenous Californian children, specifically focusing on Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, Stewart Indian School in Reno, and Saint Boniface Indian School in Banning.

Speakers:

Tara Baugas (Diné), Dr. Kevin Whalen, Amanda Wixon (Chickasaw/Choctaw), Dr. Daisy Ocampo (Caz’ Ahmo Nation of Zacatecas, Mexico), Dr. Jean Keller, Dr. Samantha Williams, Dr. Katie Keliiaa (Yerington Paiute and Washoe), & Kelly Leah Stewart (Luiseño & Gabrieliño-Tongva).

Audio editing by Daniel Stonebloom / Interviews by Martin Rizzo-Martinez

The title of this episode, Colonialism Through Education, comes from our interview with Kelly Leah Stewart.

Music by G. Gonzales

Supported by the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

Links & Further Reading:

Brave Hearts: A Visual History of Sherman Indian Boarding School

Recording of virtual launch of “Brave Hearts”

Salt Song Trail (Film about the Salt Songs of the Southern NUWUVI (Paiute People), who gathered at the Sherman Institute to sing for children who never returned home

National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

Sherman Indian Museum

Stewart Indian School

St. Boniface Indian School & Cemetery

Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories

University of Manotoba - National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

Kevin Whalen, Native Students at Work: American Indian Labor and Sherman Institute’s Outing Program, 1900-1945

Jean Keller, Empty Beds: Indian Student Health at Sherman Institute, 1902-1922

Samantha M. Williams: Assimilation, Resilience, and Survival: A History of the Stewart Indian School, 1890-2020

Kelly Leah Stewart (Re)writing and (Re)righting California Indian Histories: Legacies of Saint Boniface Indian Industrial School, 1890-1935

s01e03 Weapons of Mass Destruction p.IV: The Salmon Return

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 08:00:17 GMT

In the final part of a four-part episode, we continue to examine the negative environmental and cultural impact of dams, and the Indigenous-led movement to remove them. These dams, deemed as Weapons of Mass Destruction by Chief Caleen Sisk, have devastated Salmon populations and the communities whose histories have been in relationship with Salmon since time immemorial.

Part IV ends this extended episode with a story of hope, sharing a ceremony for the return of salmon to Amah Mutsun waters after the removal of a small dam in Northern Santa Cruz County.

Speakers: Carolyn Rodriguez (Amah Mutsun), Steven Pratt (Amah Mutsun), Elijah Catalan, Mike Grone, & Josh Thunder Little (Lakota).

Credits:

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

All interviews conducted and recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Sounds of Mill Creek flowing after the dam removal recorded and shared by Carolyn Rodriguez

Music written, performed, and recorded by G. Gonzales

This podcast is supported by the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

Follow us on Twitter: @ChalColonialPod

To see Sempervirens Fund videos showing the dam removal, visit:

https://vimeo.com/611886521 The Mill Creek Dam Comes Down

https://vimeo.com/657201537 Removing a Dam, Restoring a Watershed

For further reading and to get involved, see the following:

Bring the Salmon Home www.bringthesalmonhome.org

Save California Salmon https://www.californiasalmon.org/

Reconnect Klamath https://reconnectklamath.org/

Klamath River Renewal Corporation https://klamathrenewal.org/

Run4Salmon - A prayerful journey led by Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to restore our salmon runs, protect our waters, and our indigenous lifeways. http://run4salmon.org/

West Coast Water Justice - Podcast focused on Indigenous centered water justice movement https://www.westcoastwaterjustice.org/

“Salmon and Acorns Feed our People: Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action,” by Dr. Kari Norgaard https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/salmon-and-acorns-feed-our-people/9780813584195

“Upstream: Trust Lands and Power on the Feather River,” by Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/upstream

As we publish this episode, you can find us on additional podcast and streaming platforms

s01e03 Weapons of Mass Destruction p.III: Indigenous Self-Determination

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 13:00:19 GMT

Part III gives context to the larger California water system--and its boosters, defenders, and profiteers.

Interviewees for Part III:

Brittani Orona (Hoopa Valley Tribe)

Ron Reed (Karuk)

Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

Sheridan Enomoto

Tina Calderon (Gabrieliño-Tongva and Chumash)

Joe Calderon (Tongva/Chumash

Credits: Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom; All interviews conducted and recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez; Music written, performed, and recorded by G. Gonzales & Hilson Parker. Water flow audio recorded by Ariel Stonebloom.

As we publish this episode, you can find us on additional podcast and streaming platforms

This podcast is supported by the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

For further reading and to get involved, see the following:

Bring the Salmon Home

www.bringthesalmonhome.org

Save California Salmon

https://www.californiasalmon.org/

Reconnect Klamath

https://reconnectklamath.org/

Klamath River Renewal Corporation

https://klamathrenewal.org/

Run4Salmon - A prayerful journey led by Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to restore our salmon runs, protect our waters, and our indigenous lifeways.

http://run4salmon.org/

West Coast Water Justice - Podcast focused on Indigenous centered water justice movement

https://www.westcoastwaterjustice.org/

“Salmon and Acorns Feed our People: Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action,” by Dr. Kari Norgaard

https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/salmon-and-acorns-feed-our-people/9780813584195

“Upstream: Trust Lands and Power on the Feather River,” by Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/upstream

s01e03 Weapons of Mass Destruction p.II: A History of Resistance

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 18:52:00 GMT

Part two of a four-part episode outlines dams as a colonial project, and centers Indigenous science in the historical and ongoing indigenous resistance to eco-genocide.

Interviewees for s01e03 p. II:

Chief Caleen Sisk (Winnemem Wintu)

Brittani Orona (Hoopa Valley Tribe)

Ron Reed (Karuk)

Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

Sheridan Enomoto

Marc Dadigan

& Craig Tucker

Credits:

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

All interviews conducted and recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Ambient sounds recorded by Ariel Stonebloom

Music written, performed, and performed by G. Gonzales

For further reading and to get involved, see the following:

Bring the Salmon Home

www.bringthesalmonhome.org

Save California Salmon

https://www.californiasalmon.org/

Reconnect Klamath

https://reconnectklamath.org/

Klamath River Renewal Corporation

https://klamathrenewal.org/

Run4Salmon - A prayerful journey led by Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to restore our salmon runs, protect our waters, and our indigenous lifeways.

http://run4salmon.org/

West Coast Water Justice - Podcast focused on Indigenous centered water justice movement

https://www.westcoastwaterjustice.org/

“Salmon and Acorns Feed our People: Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action,” by Dr. Kari Norgaard

https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/salmon-and-acorns-feed-our-people/9780813584195

“Upstream: Trust Lands and Power on the Feather River,” by Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/upstream

Challenging Colonialism in California is produced by Martin Rizzo-Martinez, Historian, & Daniel Stonebloom, a Public School Administrator. It is not our intention to further colonize the narrative, or to misrepresent stories that are not our own. It is our intention to create an educational resource where everyone can hear the perspectives of Indigenous peoples in their own words. Please leave your feedback, suggestions, reviews, ideas for future episodes, and more at the episode page. And please share and promote the podcast in your networks.

This podcast produced with support from the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

s01e03 Weapons of Mass Destruction p.I: Dams and Colonization

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 18:44:45 GMT

In part one of a four part episode, we examine the negative environmental and cultural impact of hydroelectric dams, and the Indigenous-led movement to remove them. This episode explores the Indigenous-led movement to restore salmon in California rivers through dam removal. These dams, deemed Weapons of Mass Destruction by Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk, have devastated salmon populations--and the communities whose histories have been in relationship with salmon since time immemorial.

Interviewees for s01e03 p.I:

Ron Reed (Karuk)

Brittani Orona (Hoopa Valley Tribe)

Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

Dr. Kari Norgaard

Craig Tucker

Credits:

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

All interviews conducted and recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music written, performed, and recorded by G. Gonzales

Ambient sounds recorded by Ariel Stonebloom

For further reading and to get involved, see the following:

Bring the Salmon Home

http://www.bringthesalmonhome.org

Save California Salmon

https://www.californiasalmon.org/

Reconnect Klamath

https://reconnectklamath.org/

Klamath River Renewal Corporation

https://klamathrenewal.org/

Run4Salmon - A prayerful journey led by Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to restore our salmon runs, protect our waters, and our indigenous lifeways.

http://run4salmon.org/

West Coast Water Justice - Podcast focused on Indigenous centered water justice movement

https://www.westcoastwaterjustice.org/

“Salmon and Acorns Feed our People: Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action,” by Dr. Kari Norgaard

https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/salmon-and-acorns-feed-our-people/9780813584195

“Upstream: Trust Lands and Power on the Feather River,” by Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/upstream

This podcast produced with support from the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

Part II will be released on February 7th.

s01e02 The Matter of Shellmounds: Preserving Sacred Sites

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 18:37:54 GMT

This episode examines the San Francisco Bay Area mounded monuments known today as the Shellmounds. These sacred sites have long histories stretching back thousands of years, but are under threat by ongoing development projects. This episode explores the history and significance of these monuments, as well as the Indigenous-led fight to protect them.

Our next episode will focus on the negative environmental and cultural impact of dams, and the Indigenous led movement to remove them.

Interviewees for s01e02:

Corrina Gould, Chair of Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone

Johnella LaRose (Shoshone Bannock and Carrizo Tribes)

Dr. Tsim Schneider (Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria)

Dr. Abel Gomez

Stephanie Manning

Perry Matlock

Mark Hylkema

Toby McLeod

Credits:

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

All interviews conducted and recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Ambient sounds recorded by Ariel Stonebloom

Music written and recorded by Hilson Parker and G. Gonzales

This podcast produced with support from the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

For further reading and to get involved, see the following:

Shellmound: Ohlone Heritage Site & Sacred Grounds organization website:

https://shellmound.org/

Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC) “Shellmound Walk” website:

http://ipocshellmoundwalk.homestead.com/

Sogorea Te Land Trust: Sogorea Te' Land Trust is an urban Indigenous women-led land trust that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people:

https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/

Sacred Land Films & Blog:

https://sacredland.org/

“Buried” - Animated short on shellmounds:

https://www.injunuity.org/#!/show/1

Tsim Schneider’s book, Archaeology of Refuge and Recourse: Coast Miwok Resilience and Indigenous Hinterlands in Colonial California:

https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/the-archaeology-of-refuge-and-recourse

Tsim Schneider’s dissertation on shell mounds, Placing Refuge: Shell Mounds and the Archaeology of Colonial Encounters in the San Francisco Bay Area, California

https://escholarship.org/content/qt605189z7/qt605189z7noSplash52b17d7207bfc76d1e4929c6151195a1.pdf

s01e01 Instruments of Colonization

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 19:30:03 GMT

Episode 1 of a new podcast amplifying indigenous voices and providing context for contemporary events in California. This episode discusses the El Camino Real bells & Mission bells, their impact and legacy, and the movement for their removal. 30 minutes.

Please leave your feedback, suggestions, reviews, and include ideas for future episodes. Please share and promote the podcast in your networks.

For more information: https://removethebells.org/

Interviews were recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez & Alexii Sigona

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

Music in this episode was created by Bernard Gordillo & Hilson Parker

The title of today’s episode comes from the work of Grzegorz Welizarowicz, who uses the term “instruments of colonization” in his piece "California Mission Bells: Listening Against the 'Fantasy Heritage'" published in 2016 in Beyond Philology:

https://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-efdd7ee9-f3f3-4e83-bf40-3679b70d3ad9

Speakers:

Amah Mutsun Tribal Chairman Valentin Lopez, Annie Danis, Dr. Bernard Gordillo, Yve Chavez, Julissa Lopez, Alexii Sigona, Dr. Gregor Welizarowicz, and Will Parrish.

An article by Renya K. Ramirez & Valentin Lopez called "Valentin Lopez, Healing, and Decolonization: Contesting Mission Bells, El Camino Real, and California Governor Newsom" appears here: https://airc.ucsc.edu/resources/suggested-article-1

Ann E. Danis' work "Franciscans, Russians, and Indians on the International Borders of Alta California" (with Kent Lightfoot) can be found here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b678ece45776e847bf9e8c2/t/5bda2fa96d2a73d30db67ec6/1541025714281/Lightfoot+and+Danis+2018++Franciscans%2C+Russians%2C+and+Indians+on+the+International+Border+of+Alta+California+%281%29.pdf

s01 Bonus: Take Action to Protect Juristac

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 03:35:00 GMT

Amah Mutsun Tribal Band member Carolyn Rodriguez and Green Foothills Policy and Advocacy Director Alice Kaufman speak about the urgent need to protect Juristac--and how you can contribute.

Challenging Colonialism is produced by myself, Daniel Stonebloom & Martin Rizzo-Martinez. For this episode, Daniel conducted both interviews as well as the audio engineering and editing. All music by G. Gonzales. Introductory framing by Brittini Orona.

Follow us on twitter, subscribe, rate and review, and please share and promote this podcast, but this episode in particular, on any of the platforms you use. We want people to participate in this process.

For additional information & to get involved:

Homepage: http://www.protectjuristac.org/

How to take action during the EIR Comment Period: http://www.protectjuristac.org/deir/

EIR Comment Writing Workshop: http://www.protectjuristac.org/updates/comment-workshop-reportback/

Santa Clara County's Planning Dept. website with the EIR documents and additional public comment options: https://plandev.sccgov.org/policies-programs/smara/sargent

Petition: http://www.protectjuristac.org/petition/

September 10 Rally: http://www.protectjuristac.org/rally/

Additional Amah Mutsun Tribal Band youtube, including Juristac videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCURANNAvqmZszYS66k4vrzg/videos

Donate: https://donorbox.org/protectjuristac

This podcast is produced with support from the California State Parks Foundation https://www.calparks.org/

Supplement to s01e01: Telling and Teaching the Truth of the California Missions, part 2

Mon, 06 Jun 2022 07:00:17 GMT

This recording is from the second half of a panel entitled “Telling the Truth of the California Missions,” which was part of the Telling and Teaching the Truth of the California Missions event, held on August 27, 2021, preceding the Mission Bell removal.

Moderator Merri Lopez- Keifer (San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians) introduced the speakers. She is Senior Advisor to the Tribal Council San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, and introduced Dr. Lee Panich and his talk titled “Centering Ohlone Presence at Mission Santa Clara and Santa Clara University." Dr. Panich is the co-editor with Tsim Schneider of the book Archaeologies of Indigenous Presence, author of Narratives of Persistence: Indigenous Negotiations of Colonialism in Alta and Baja California, and of his recent article from which this talk is focused, "Archaeology, Indigenous erasure, and the creation of white public space at the California missions."

Dr. Panich was followed by Alexii Sigona (Amah Mutsun) and Annie Taylor, both of the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley giving a talk entitled “Revitalizing Reciprocal Relations with Land: Amah Mutsun Pathways to Reconnection.”

To support the work to Protect Juristac discussed by Sigona and Taylor, see the following petition:

http://www.protectjuristac.org/petition/

Video of these talks can also be found at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxS2NYQRTNI

Telling and Teaching the Truth of the California Missions was co-sponsored by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation, the UC Santa Cruz American Indian Resource Center, the University of California Critical Mission Studies Program, & California State Parks.

Additional information on the Critical Mission Studies Program can be found here: https://criticalmissionstudies.ucsd.edu/

Music by G. Gonzales

This podcast is supported by the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

40:13

Supplement to s01e01: Telling the Truth of the California Missions

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 07:00:19 GMT

This recording is from the first half of a panel entitled “Telling the Truth of the California Missions,” which was part of the Telling and Teaching the Truth of the California Missions event, held on August 27, 2021, preceding the Mission Bell removal.

Moderator Merri Lopez- Keifer (San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians) introduced the speakers. She is Senior Advisor to the Tribal Council San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians. Dr. Stanley Rodriguez and Dr. Bernard Gordillo follow:

“Impact of Missions on Language, Culture, Land Claims, and Spirituality,” Dr. Stanley Rodriguez (Kumeyaay) Director and President Kumeyaay Community College and Councilman of the Santa Ysabel Kumeyaay Nation.

“Sounds, Silences, and Vestiges of California Mission Bells,” Dr. Bernard Gordillo, Postdoctoral Associate of the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University.

Video of this talk can also be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEkL637VDuc&t=2s

Additional information on the Critical Mission Studies Program can be found here: https://criticalmissionstudies.ucsd.edu/

Music by G. Gonzales

This podcast produced with support from the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

33:37

Weapons of Mass Destruction full episode: Removing Dams and Restoring Salmon

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 08:00:17 GMT

s01e03 Weapons of Mass Destruction: Removing Dams and Restoring Salmon

Dams, deemed Weapons of Mass Destruction by Chief Caleen Sisk, have devastated Salmon populations and the communities whose histories have been in relationship with Salmon since time immemorial. Compiled into one full episode examining the negative environmental and cultural impact of dams, Challenging Colonialism highlights the Indigenous-led movement to remove them.

Part I: Dams and Colonization explores the Indigenous-led movement to restore Salmon in California rivers through dam removal.

Part II: A History of Resistance defines dams as a colonial project, and centers Indigenous science in the historical and ongoing indigenous resistance to eco-genocide.

Part III: Indigenous Self-Determination gives context to the larger water system--and its boosters, defenders, and profiteers.

Part IV: The Salmon Return ends this extended episode with a story of hope, sharing a ceremony for the return of salmon to Amah Mutsun waters after the removal of a small dam in Northern Santa Cruz County.

Interviewees:

Ron Reed (Karuk)

Brittani Orona (Hoopa Valley Tribe)

Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

Dr. Kari Norgaard

Craig Tucker

Chief Caleen Sisk (Winnemem Wintu)

Sheridan Enomoto

Marc Dadigan

Tina Calderon (Gabrieliño-Tongva and Chumash)

Joe Calderon (Tongva/Chumash

Carolyn Rodriguez (Amah Mutsun)

Steven Pratt (Amah Mutsun)

Elijah Catalan

Mike Grone

Josh Thunder Little (Lakota)

Credits:

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

All interviews conducted and recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music written, performed, and recorded by G. Gonzales

Sounds of Mill Creek flowing after the dam removal recorded and shared by Carolyn Rodriguez

Additional water sounds recorded by Ariel Stonebloom

This podcast produced with support from the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

Supplement to s01e01: Uncovering Difficult Histories at Santa Cruz Mission

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 18:31:53 GMT

This recording is the opening conversation entitled “Uncovering Difficult Histories at Santa Cruz Mission,” which was part of the Telling and Teaching the Truth of the California Missions event, held on August 27, 2021, preceding the Mission Bell removal.

This opening conversation started with comments by Amah Mutsun Tribal Chair, Valentin Lopez, followed by Dr. Martin Rizzo-Martinez, State Park Historian for the Santa Cruz District. Martin is also the co-producer of this podcast.

Music by G. Gonzales

Video of this talk can also be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxS2NYQRTNI

Telling and Teaching the Truth of the California Missions was co-sponsored by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation, the UC Santa Cruz American Indian Resource Center & the University of California Critical Mission Studies Program.

Additional information on the Critical Mission Studies Program can be found here: https://criticalmissionstudies.ucsd.edu/

This podcast is supported by the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

This episode contains graphic descriptions of slavery, genocide, & sexual violence.

44:10