indigenous

First Scientist: Exploring the Harmonics of Abundance with Rose Imai

Speaker: Rose Imai | Air Date: October 12, 2022 | Run Time: 45 mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 3

First Scientist: Exploring the Harmonics of Abundance with Rose Imai

In this final episode of the season, we honor the voice and wisdom of Rose Imai, a beloved Tuscarora elder who passed into the spirit world on April 22nd, 2022.  We recorded this episode in Rose’s home studio in the summer of 2021 and worked with her on shaping it along with her visual art series “The Children Series,” and the “Four Horses of Healing.” Stay tuned for a special video release featuring those teachings soon. 

In this free-flowing conversation, Rose shares her inspiration for the “first scientist” vision, a pregnant woman planting seeds in the Earth.  With that story and image as a springboard, Rose and host Melissa K Nelson traverse many topics, from the song of corn to the harmonics of abundance. At 83, with an illness, Rose shares profound philosophical and spiritual insights as someone preparing to face death. Embodying the first scientist herself, Rose uncovers the many layers of human experience as one reflects and prepares for that powerful journey, in her own words, “within the whole,” while being fully alive with humor, wit, and love. 

Melissa’s work with Rose inspired her to write a love song to “first scientist,” which is recited at the beginning of the episode.  The beautiful song at the beginning and end of the episode is a special traveling song sung by Leroy Little Bear, one of Rose’s closest friends and a mentor and inspiration to many of us.

The Horse of the West - The Place of Transformation - Where Answers Live - The Children Series - by Rose Imai

“I was born at the foot of Twin Peaks in San Francisco.
Up the hill from our flat below street level was a large vacant lot
filled with wild anise and blackberries,
poppies, yarrow, morning glories, nasturtiums…
I would climb down from the street, to range around and disappear into the sounds and smells,
the spirits of the place.
As a child it was natural to get lost in my senses, and to learn what the Earth feels like.
Later, I lived in the redwoods and began traveling;
the Southwest’s high deserts, the lakes of Minnesota, the Dakota Badlands,
Chaco Canyon where just before dawn, the stars come to dance on the Earth,
on Brazilian beaches, a humid summer day in Russia,
or drunk on the graciousness of Polynesia
I learned these places through how they feel, what they sound like,
how they smell and taste.
I go to the Earth for inspiration, solace, to play, learn, hide, grieve or find courage.
I live her rhythms.
My paintings reflect kinship with the natural world and its consciousness.
The richest vein of creativity for me and what I explore in my work,
is this sense of belonging. ”
— Nato Inn Ni Maki - Rose Imai, 2020

Rose Thater Braan-Imai (Tuscarora)

ABOUT Rose Imai

Rose Thater Braan-Imai (Tuscarora) is a self-taught artist. Her surrealist figurations explore the exquisiteness of our connections to the Earth expressing the sensuality and intimacy of the natural world as experienced through the human body. She works primarily in oils enjoying the depth and range of feeling she finds in their texture and in the way they carry light. She is the Founding Director of The Native American Academy, leading creative projects (Sculpture Garden of Native Science and Learning) and transcultural dialogues between Indigenous and Western worldviews to forward the potential for new knowledge using the lens of the Native paradigm, indigenous learning processes and Native science.

From 1989 to 2000 she served as the Director of Education at University of California (UC) Berkeley's Center for Particle Astrophysics, presenting at national and international forums, including the National Academy of Sciences, the Banff Centre, Goddard Space Flight Center and The National Science Foundation. Prior to 1989, Rose worked in theater (the American Conservatory Theater), television (KQED-TV), and as Liason and Assistant to writer/critic/producer Ralph J. Gleason, co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine before heading her own production company.  

Rose Thater Braan-Imai with Kaylena Bray at Indian Valley Organic Farm harvesting onëö corn.

CREDITS

Host/Writer/Director: Melissa Nelson
Producers: Mateo Hinojosa, Sara Moncada
Audio Editor and Engineer: Colin Farish
Audio Recording: Mateo Hinojosa, Sara Moncada
Photography: Mateo Hinojosa, Melissa K. Nelson
Transcript correction and additional editing: Alexandru Salceanu

Original Soundscapes and Songs

Soundscapes and Music Composed and Produced by Colin Farish
except: Traveling Song by Leroy Little Bear
and “Native Insight” by Ella Rose, produced by Colin Farish
©2022 Winds of the Muse
Colin Farish: piano, guitar, drums, and flutes
Jasnam Daya Singh: piano
Max Dyer: cello
Robin Bonnel: cello
Savanah Jo Lack: violin, viola
Ava Nichol Francis: voice
Kai Eckhardt: electric bass
Glen Velez: frame drums
Dierdre McCarthy: drums
Paul McCandless: oboe, soprano sax, English horn
Tina Malia: voice
Ayapishlo: voiceLeroy Little Bear – voice
Paul Hankinson: French horn
Ella Rose - piano and voice (on Native Insight)
Recorded, mixed, edited, and mastered by Colin Farish 
at Forest Flower Recording, Mill Valley CA 2022
Also recorded by: Sudhananda Paul Greaver, Max Dyer, and Andre Zweers

A vision of the Sculpture Garden of Native Science and Learning including First Scientist.

Indigenous Food Warriors with Chef Crystal Wahpepah

Speaker: Crystal Wahpepah | Air Date: June 20, 2022 | Run Time: 48mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 3

Indigenous Food Warriors with Chef Crystal Wahpepah

Guest Host Sara Moncada sits down with Chef Crystal Wahpepah in Wahpepah’s Kitchen, her newly opened Native-owned restaurant in Oakland, California. In a wide-ranging and intimate conversation, they discuss Crystal’s vision of what it means to be an Indigenous Food Warrior: nourishing community through cooking and serving Native foods and educating the next generation on the power and beauty of traditional Indigenous food systems. From her work as a traveling caterer to opening her first restaurant in the heart of the Bay Area Native community, Crystal shares her journey of exploring the deep connection with our foods and food traditions through knowing our ingredients’ origins, through revitalizing traditional trade networks, and by sourcing seeds and foods grown from trusted community rooted in land. Join us as Crystal and Sara talk story about the path of Wahpepah’s Kitchen, the healthy responsibility of traditional lands and foods tending, and what it means to be able to offer these kinds of connections to the next generation.

This conversation was recorded on March 15, 2022 at Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland, California.

Mural in Wahpepah’s Kitchen restaurant - art by NSRGNTS

“I see a big ol’ plate of healing, flavor, something that’s from this land, and that connection. Even though I’m Kickapoo, we all have that connection.”
— Crystal Wahpepah

Crystal Wahpepah (Kickapoo)

ABOUT CRYSTAL WAHPEPAH

Crystal Wahpepah is an enrolled member of the Kickapoo nation of Oklahoma. She was born and raised in Oakland, California, on Ohlone land, surrounded by a multi-tribal, tight-knit, urban Native community. Crystal’s objectives for Wahpepah’s Kitchen are threefold: (1) to acknowledge that we live on stolen land; and (2) how that acknowledgement connects to the reclamation of Native food ways (food sovereignty); as well as (3) to educate communities and organizations on the health benefits of Native Foodways using the knowledge passed onto her.

Crystal does not merely cater events and go—she speaks on where her food comes from and honors its roots, its Indigenous cultivators and stewards and its place within the seasons. This is why you will always see diversity in her food, because Wahpepah’s Kitchen honors the seasons with changing menus and product availability.  Crystal’s creations through food and community shine with joy, lightness of heart, and are led by a solid internal compass. 

Crystal has catered and done educational talks in many forums that span local community settings, the tech world, non-profit organizations and educational institutions.  Crystal has worked with the American Indian film festival, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Salesforce, WeWork, UC Berkeley, Cal Poly, UCSF and the National Indian Health Board.  This is a small sample that illustrates the diversity of Crystal’s reach.  She has traveled all over the country attending food summits and building networks with other Native American and Indigenous farmers, land stewards and chefs. 

Crystal was recently nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award for Emerging Chefs.

The open pantry in the eating area of Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Fruitvale, Oakland, California.

Chef Crystal Wahpepah caters an event at The Cultural Conservancy’s land project, Heron Shadow, with traditional salmon, buffalo and more.

CREDITS

Host/Writer/Director: Sara Moncada
Producers: Mateo Hinojosa, Sara Moncada, Melissa Nelson
Audio Editor and Engineer: Colin Farish
Audio Recordist: Mateo Hinojosa
Photography: Mateo Hinojosa, Alexandru Salceanu
Transcript correction and additional editing: Alexandru Salceanu

ORIGINAL Songs

Opening Theme Music - Colin Farish featuring Airto Moreira
Soundscapes and Music Composition - Colin Farish
Piano, Guitar & Flute - Colin Farish, Sudhananda Paul Greaver
Flute - Enrique Salmón
Voice: L Frank Manriquez
Frame Drums - Glen Velez
Bass - Terry Miller
Drums - Bob Blankenship

Songs Used by Permission

Origins sung by Michael Bercier, courtesy of Sewam Dance
Crow Hop sung by Michael Bercier, courtesy of Sewam Dance

Hawaiian Cartography and 'Aina Sovereignty

Speakers: Renee Pualani Louis | Air Date: February 1, 2020 | Run Time: 52mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 2

Speakers: Renee Pualani Louis | Air Date: February 1, 2020 | Run Time: 52mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 2

Hawaiian Cartography and ‘Aina Sovereignty

Cover of Kanaka Hawai’i Cartography: Hula, Navigation, and Oratory

Cover of Kanaka Hawai’i Cartography: Hula, Navigation, and Oratory

Rooting us further into the Indigenous cosmologies of the Pacific (Moana), podcast host Melissa Nelson catches up with Hawaiian Cartographer Renee Pualani Louis during a writers’ retreat at the Mesa Refuge in Point Reyes, California.

Renee shares her experience of being changed while writing her book Kanaka Hawaiʻi Cartography: Hula, Navigation, and Oratory (2017),  which explores Kanaka Hawai’i place-name and spatial knowledge systems. We are met with the breadth of Hawaiian, place-based language and knowledge of ‘Aina – the land-food matrix. Deep in intimate conversation, together we traverse stars and seasons, plants and mountains, and how to embody food sovereignty, self-determination, and nourish relationships of food and community.

“ . . . . you can see how the bones of our ancestors are really what’s feeding the generations to come, and again, this is how we become invested in the landscape.”
— Renee Pualani Louis

About Renee Pualani Louis

Renee Pualani Louis is a Hawaiian cartographer passionate about Hawaiian storied place names, spatial knowledge systems, and an advocate for the integration of indigenous knowledge systems into Western Geosciences.

A leader of her field, Louis is a graduate of The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, a Co-Chair of the Indigenous Peoples Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers, the 2014 co-recipient of the American Association of Geographers Enhancing Diversity Award, and a member of CHIRP3 Working Group, whose goal is to develop new guidelines for building collaborations between Native and non-Native researchers working with Native communities.

Additional Resources

CREDITS

Host/Writer/Director: Melissa K. Nelson
Producer: Sara Moncada
Co-producer and photographer: Mateo Hinojosa
Audio Editor and Engineer: Colin Farish
Production Assistant: Teo Montoya
Additional Photography: Melissa Nelson

Songs (in order of appearance):

“Plants of the Sea, Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai” by Del Medina, Linda Low, and Colin Farish

Food Is Medicine: Native Health and Cultural Foodscapes - Part 2

Speakers: Dr. Lois Ellen Frank and Walter Whitewater | Air Date: December 28, 2019 | Run Time: 28mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 2

Speakers: Dr. Lois Ellen Frank and Walter Whitewater | Air Date: December 28, 2019 | Run Time: 28mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 2

Food Is Medicine: Native Health and Cultural Foodscapes - Part 2

Join us for Part 2 of Food Is Medicine with Native chefs Lois Ellen Frank and Walter Whitewater as we continue exploring their work on My Native American Power Plate, tribal-specific food cultures, decolonizing our diets, and handing off traditional food knowledge to the next generation. If you missed the first part listen to it here.

Walter and Lois, 2016

Walter and Lois, 2016

My Native American Power Plate - Diné Nation.

My Native American Power Plate - Diné Nation.

Additional Resources 

CREDITS

Host/Writer/Director: Melissa K. Nelson
Producer: Sara Moncada
Co-Producer/Photographer: Mateo Hinojosa
Audio Editor/Engineer: Colin Farish
Production Assistant: Teo Montoya
Additional photography: Matteo Troncone

Songs (in order of appearance):

  • Opening song: “Life” composed by Colin Farish with Airto Moreira on seed pods and percussion, Peter Madlem on guitar, Eddie Madril on vocals and drum (Colin Farish sound design)

  • “Fry Bread Song” Walter Whitewater

  • “Justice Song” by Robert Woableza LaBatte (Dakota)

Food Is Medicine: Native Health and Cultural Foodscapes - Part 1

Speakers: Dr. Lois Ellen Frank and Walter Whitewater | Air Date: December 21, 2019 | Run Time: 39mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 2

Speakers: Dr. Lois Ellen Frank and Walter Whitewater | Air Date: December 21, 2019 | Run Time: 39mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 2

Food Is Medicine: Native Health and Cultural Foodscapes - Part 1

Walter and Lois, 2016

Walter and Lois, 2016

On a winter morning in Reno, Nevada, on the homelands of the Washoe nation, host Melissa Nelson has a conversation with Native chefs and health educators Dr. Lois Ellen Frank and Walter Whitewater. They all converged in this area for a “Food Sovereignty and Native Peoples Health” event at the University of Nevada, Reno, hosted by Dr. Deb Harry (Pyramid Lake Paiute), professor of Gender, Race, and Identity. 

For this first episode of season two, the Native Seed Pod dives into the topic of ‘Food is Medicine,’ learning from Lois and Walter about Native cuisine, healing through food, and the intercultural unity that can emerge through shared food traditions, or what they call “cultural foodscapes.”

Dr. Lois Ellen Frank

ABOUT LOIS

Lois Ellen Frank, Ph.D. (Kiowa) is a Santa Fe, New Mexico based Native American Chef, a Native foods historian, culinary anthropologist, educator, James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, photographer and organic gardener. She is the chef/owner of Red Mesa Cuisine, LLC a Native American catering company specializing in using Ancestral Native American ingredients all with a modern twist. Dr. Frank has spent over 25 years documenting and working with the foods and lifeways of Native Americans in the Southwest and other regions throughout the Americas. This lengthy immersion in Native American communities culminated in her book, Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations, featuring traditional and contemporary recipes, which won her the James Beard Award in the Americana category. She is also a Culinary Ambassador Diplomat with the U.S. State Department and Office of Cultural Affairs, where, with Chef Walter Whitewater (Diné), she has traveled to Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Russia, to teach about the history of Native American foodways. She also teaches locally at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Walter Whitewater

Walter Whitewater

ABOUT WALTER

Walter Whitewater (Diné/Navajo) began cooking professionally in 1992 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  He is a chef at Red Mesa Cuisine, LLC a Native American Catering company, specializing in Native American Cuisine using ancestral foods with a modern twist. Chef Whitewater has appeared on numerous food TV Network cooking shows featuring foods of the Southwest.  Chef Whitewater worked on the James Beard Award winning cookbook, Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations with Chef Lois Ellen Frank. He has traveled with Chef Frank, as part of the U.S. State Department and Consulate General’s Culinary Diplomacy Program to Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Russia, where the two chefs promoted indigenous foods of the Americas through the culinary arts.  Chef Whitewater was the first Native American chef to cook at the James Beard House in New York City. He won the James Lewis Award in 2008 from BCA Global for his work as a Native chef. He is very active on using Ancestral Native American foods for health and wellness in Native American communities.

Additional Resources 

CREDITS

Host/Writer/Director: Melissa K. Nelson
Producer: Sara Moncada
Co-Producer/Photographer: Mateo Hinojosa
Audio Editor/Engineer: Colin Farish
Production Assistant: Teo Montoya
Additional photography: Lottie Hedley

SONGS (in order of appearance):

  • Cedar flute John-Carlos Perea

  • Final song Walter Whitewater

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, here on this site