In this episode, we talk to Basil Brave Heart and Hilary Giovale. This was an amazing conversation about forgiveness – forgiving our oppressors, how true healing and repair happen given the reality of historical harms, how white settlers need to forgive themselves as part of the work of reparation. Basil also shares deeply from his tradition in ways that Sarah and Sheri found very moving. Basil Brave Heart is an Oglala Lakota Elder who lives in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. He is a Catholic boarding school survivor, retired school administrator, addiction counselor, and Korean War combat veteran w ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Kaitlin Curtice, author, poet, storyteller, public speaker and an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation. Her most recent book is Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day. She also authored the 2020 award-winning book Native: Identity, Belonging and Rediscovering God. Katilin also has a children’s book coming out this fall called Winter’s _Gifts: An Indigenous Celebration of Nature _– just in time for the holidays! Sarah and Sheri wrote a book together! Find out more about So We and Our Children May Live: Following Jesus in Confro ..read more

In this episode, Sarah and Sheri reflect on the Richard Heinberg interview as it relates to the message of their new book So That We and Our Children May Live: Following Jesus in Confronting the Climate Crisis. We discuss why we are hopeful despite the polycrisis described in both our new book and in the interview with Richard. We also talk about why conspiracy theories like QAnon are onto something true and why it is important to be in kinship and solidarity with the working-class and poor people who believe these theories. Note: At the beginning of this episode, we refer to a segment of the ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Richard Heinberg, one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from our reliance on fossil fuels. He is the author of fourteen books, including some of the major works on society’s current energy and environmental sustainability crisis. His latest book is Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival (New Society, 2021). He is also Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute, which is one of the main places Sheri goes to for information and analysis related to the polycrisis in which we find ourselves. Sheri relied on Richard’s work and that of the Post ..read more

In anticipation of the Day of Prayer for Oak Flat on Nov. 4, we talk to Dwight Metzger, who has struggled with Apache Stronghold for decades to protect their sacred ancestral lands from destruction by a copper mine. In this interview, Dwight talks about the importance of the sacred sites of Oak Flat and Mount Graham for the San Carlos Apache and how he has been converted from the worldview of Western corporate environmentalism to one that follows the leadership of Indigenous people. For more information about the Nov. 4, 2023, Day of Prayer, please go here. Other websites: Dwight’s union print ..read more

We’re back after taking a break to write a book! (See below.) The first podcast of our new season features Patty Krawec, an Anishinaabe and Ukranian writer from Lac Seul First Nation. She is the author of the compelling book, Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining our Future, released in 2022. She is also the cohost of the Medicine for the Resistance podcast and the cofounder of the Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation. We’re also honored that Patty wrote a beautiful forward for our book, which is being published this month. Our book: So That We and Our Children May Liv ..read more

In round two of this episode, Sarah answers more listener questions, including: I was in a meeting where someone used the phrase “off the rez,” and I noticed that you (Sarah) as the only Native person in the meeting were actually less offended by this phrase than other folks were. Can you say more about your response? How do white people know which "side" to take when Indigenous communities are divided around an issue? For example, some tribes, or people within them, are supportive of a tribe seeking federal recognition and some are not. Or some are supportive of a development project, but oth ..read more

In this recurring episode, Sarah answers questions from listeners. Questions include: What is the deal about dressing up like and Indian? Why is that offensive? What do Native people think about Columbus Day, Thanksgiving Day, etc.? Many white settlers look to Indigenous People for ideas about how to connect with the land and live more sustainably. But Indigenous people have been so assimilated – what wisdom do they actually have to offer the larger culture? We want your questions, especially those you might feel too embarrassed to ask “out loud.” Please submit any questions to Sheri at fmcsf ..read more

In this episode, Sarah and Sheri talk about Sarah’s “100-year vision” for the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition. Sarah will begin as the full-time Executive Director of the Coalition on July 1. To contribute to Sarah’s salary campaign, please go here (https://dofdmenno.org/salary-campaign/). Every dollar you donate will be matched by Sheri’s congregation, First Mennonite Church of San Francisco, through Indigenous Peoples Day of this year (October 10 ..read more

It’s almost summer and many of us will be traveling to the U.S.’s national parks for vacation and recreation. In this episode, Sarah and Sheri talk about how the formation of our national parks, the conservation movement that inspired their formation, and colonization have gone hand in hand. They also talk about how conservation could be decolonized. For more information: Link to The Atlantic article, “Return the National Parks to the Tribes” by David Treuer https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/05/return-the-national-parks-to-the-tribes/618395/ Statistics from Cultural Survival c ..read more