Arikara Summer Home. Photo by Edward S. Curtis. Courtesy of a2zcds. www.a2zcds.com
Historical Intro
Program Host Arlie Neskahi discusses the Expedition’s 1804 encounter with the Arikara, or Sahnish people, who were regarded as important Missouri River traders and agriculturists.
Elder Wisdom
Brian Bull introduces us to Arikara elders, Virgil Chase and Rodney Howling Wolf who grew up together, learning oral history, attending ceremonies of their people and watching their home town swallowed up as a result of Missouri River dam construction.
Sacred Landscape
Judy Bluehorse Skelton offers insights into Corn Mother, the significance of this sacred plant, and its cultivation by native peoples along the Missouri riverbanks.
Tribal Rhythms
Nico Wind takes us to meet the Arikara elder, Yvonne Fox, who tells of Mother Corn at the center of Arikara traditional life, and the late Terry Howling Wolf who represented one of the oldest drum groups of the Arikara, the Dead Grass Society.
Contemporary Rhythms
Milt Lee interviews Arikara musician, Leo Lockwood, who picked up his first set of drum sticks at Flandreau Indian Boarding School and tells how the influence of music changed his life.
Turtle Island Storytellers
Journalist Dorreen Yellow Bird tells the story of Corn Maiden and how she is honored in Sahnish households to this day.