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Wisdom of the Elders Radio Program: Series Three

Wisdom of the Elders Radio Program: Series Three includes eight one-hour American Indian cultural magazine radio programs with the theme "Native Nations along the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Trail." Programs feature thirteen native nations living along the western side of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail from the Bitterroot Mountains to the Columbia River. A rich mixture of oral history and cultural arts from tribal elders, historians, storytellers, artists, song carriers and environmentalists from the following nations: Lemhi Shoshone; Nez Perce or Nimi’ipuu; Salish, Kootenai, Flathead; Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla; Yakama; Wasco, Warm Springs, Northern Paiute; Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde; and Chinook tribes. The radio series is hosted by Arlie Neskahi (Dine, or Navajo). Programs continue to air on native radio stations nationwide via Native Voice One at www.nv1.org.

Each program contains:

Historical Introduction shares expedition and tribal history to provide context for the features, and six cultural arts features.

Elder Wisdom, produced by Brian Bull (Nez Perce), features oral accounts from tribal elders who reveal stories about the lives and character of exemplary grandparents and ancestors.

Speaking Native with Don Addison (Choctaw), gives listeners an opportunity to learn a new word or phrase in the language of the featured tribe.

Sacred Landscape, produced by Judy BlueHorse-Skelton (Nez Perce/Cherokee), highlights tribes’ "sacred geography."

Tribal Rhythms, written by Don Addison (Choctaw), produced by Clark Salisbury and Larry Johnson and narrated by Nico Wind (Assiniboine), relates the history of tribal music and features selections of music.

Health and Healing, produced by Rose High Bear in partnership with KCUW community radio at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon, informs native communities about the growing epidemic of Type Two Diabetes and inspire them to develop habits that will prevent the disease.

Artist’s Circle, produced by the late Bruce Crespin (Juaneno Band of California Mission Indians) focuses on tribal artists and their gifts of art, both traditional and contemporary.

Turtle Island Storytellers spotlights tribal storytellers who share traditional or contemporary stories that illuminate the roots of their cultural identity.

Funding has been provided by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail System, National Parks Service, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This series will be distributed to American Indian radio stations through the AIROS satellite system, to public radio stations via MP3 files from our website, and on CD.

Wisdom of the Elders Radio Program: Series Two

Wisdom of the Elders Radio, the cultural and educational public radio series from Native America, launched its second series of eight one-hour radio programs nationwide in April 2005. Titled Native Nations along the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Trail, the series includes indigenous elders, historians, storytellers, and song carriers from thirteen nations along the eastern portion of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Trail system. Program segments feature oral history and cultural arts of: Shawnee, Otoe, Omaha, Yankton, Sioux, Arikara, Mandan, Hidatsa, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Blackfeet and Shoshone tribes. The series is hosted by Arlie Neskahi (Dine). Contact us at info@wisdomoftheelders.org to receive a CD of one of our programs.

Our second series of eight one-hour public radio programs includes oral history and cultural arts of thirteen nations along the eastern side of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail:

•  Historical Introduction, four minutes in length, which shares expedition and tribal history to provide context for the features. The six cultural arts features are:

•  Elder Wisdom, eight minutes in length and produced by Brian Bull (Nez Perce), features oral accounts from tribal elders who reveal stories about the lives and character of exemplary grandparents and ancestors.

•  Sacred Landscape, five minutes in length and produced by Judy Bluehorse Skelton (Nez Perce/Cherokee), highlights tribe's "sacred geography."

•  Tribal Rhythms, eight minutes in length, written by Milt and Jamie Lee (Lakota), produced by Clark Salisbury and Larry Johnson, and narrated by Nico Wind (Assiniboine), relates the history of tribal music and features music selections.

•  Contemporary Rhythms, eight minutes in length and produced by Milt and Jamie Lee, highlights the work of contemporary tribal musicians.

•  Turtle Island Storytellers, eight minutes in length, spotlights tribal storytellers who share traditional or contemporary stories that illuminate the roots of their cultural identity.

Contact us at info@wisdomoftheelders.org to receive a CD of one of our programs. Funding has been provided by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail System, National Parks Service, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

This series will be distributed to American Indian radio stations through the AIROS satellite system. Community, college and other public radio stations may request downloads of our programs via MP3 files from our website, and on CD. You can request a loink and password to download Series Two programs by writing to info@wisdomoftheelders.org.

Wisdom of the Elders Radio Program: Series One

Wisdom of the Elders Radio: Series One is already available on this website. The program's cultural arts and education magazine format features rich stories from gifted indigenous elders, combined with special segments on health and healing, storytelling, culture, as well as traditional and contemporary Native American music. You can listen to audio of the features and review transcripts in that program: Elder Wisdom, Health and Healing with Judy Bluehorse Skelton, Tribal Rhythms, Taheebvu Chadi, and Turtle Island Storytellers. Stations requesting downloads of one of our programs, or the entire series, can request Series One here. (Clark is you can make a link to the application available here, it will allow stations to follow up to get the downloads.)

Highlights of Program Four in our first series: Honoring Women in Native Culture are summarized below:

Elder Wisdom: Barbara Roberts features Zona Loans Arrow telling the story of the courage and bravery shown by her Dakotah great grandmother who escaped captivity by an enemy band of Blackfeet in the late 19th century. She tells the story as her great grandmother shared with her about her escape, walking over 1000 miles through dangerous country from the Canadian Rockies to reunite with her family in North Dakota.

Health and Healing: Judy Bluehorse Skelton acknowledges healing as a traditional role for native women. "Knowing anywhere from fifty to a hundred or more plants, so plant knowledge was just part of daily life. A native healer brought in another dimension beyond just the herbs being used. That's where the songs, the prayers and the other therapies or practices would be brought in and still are today."

Tribal Rhythms: Nico Wind spotlights a number of Women's Honor Songs from Standing Rock Indian Reservation and other parts of the country. She explains the background and importance of honoring women of all ages, including babies, girls, and young women, as well as adults and elders.

Taheebvu Chadi: The late Judy Trejo tells the story of her great grandmother, Phoebe Winnamucca, who was a healer and tells how she received instructions to gather rocks, golden eagle tail feathers and songs needed to doctor others. She also sings a woman's healing song taught her by her Gramma Phoebe

Turtle Island Storytellers: Tewa Pueblo sculptor and traditional storyteller, Nora Naranjo Morse tells the traditional story of Turkey Girl, the Pueblo orphan girl who was honored by the wild turkeys she watched over and dressed by them for village ceremony.

Our Host Arlie Neskahi weaves his narrative around the honoring of women, who are regarded as the backbone of their culture among American Indian tribes. Arlie shares the importance of traditions within his nation acknowledging Dine mothers, grandmothers, wives and sisters.