Dr. Joshua Nelson, a Cherokee Nation citizen scholar, talks with Dr. Farina King about his experiences in Italy and work on a documentary tentatively titled, "Trail of the Thunderbirds." His documentary film project features two Native American Medal of Honor awardees, Ernest Childers and Jack Montgomery of the 45th Infantry Division, known as the "Thunderbirds," during World War II. President's Associates Presidential Professor Dr. Nelson is an associate professor of English and affiliated faculty with Film & Media Studies, Native American Studies, and Women's & Gender Studies at the University of Oklahoma, focusing on American Indian literature and film. He is the author of Progressive Traditions: Identity in Cherokee Literature and Culture, and a co-producer of the PBS documentary Searching for Sequoyah (directed by James Fortier and produced by LeAnne Howe). He is also one of the leading organizers of the Native Crossroads Film Festival and Symposium at OU. He and his wife divide their time between Norman and Park Hill, Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma.

Resources:

Dr. Joshua Nelson's OU webpage
Searching for Sequoyah website- https://searchingforsequoyah.com
Native Crossroads Film Festival- http://www.nativecrossroads.org
Demichelis's Iperstoria Interview with Dr. Nelson
Oklahoma National Guard Museum website- https://www.okngmuseum.com
OU in Arezzo

Dr. Kevin Maillard (who has a PhD and JD) shares key insights about his award-winning children's book Fry Bread with co-hosts Dr. Farina King and Dr. Davina Two Bears. Dr. Maillard is Professor of Law at Syracuse University, a contributor to the New York Times and an author of children’s literature. He has written for The Atlantic and has provided on-air commentary to ABC News and MSNBC. He is the debut author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, a picture book illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, which won the Sibert Medal and the American Indian Youth Literature Honor. An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, he is based in Manhattan, New York.

Additional Resources:
Kevin Maillard's website
Dr. Maillard's university webpage
Fry Bread book website
American Indians in Children's Literature by Dr. Debbie Reese

In this episode co-hosted by Dr. Davina Two Bears, Eva Bighorse, and Dr. Farina King, Skylar ("Sky") Begay shares insights from his life and work with Conservation, Native representation in new spaces, the Great Bend of the Gila, Save History, Archaeology Southwest, LandBack, and the Conservation Corps (specifically ancestral lands conservation corps). Sky identifies as an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and is also Mandan and Hidatsa. He grew up in the Navajo Nation and in Flagstaff, Arizona. He currently resides in Tucson, Arizona where he works as the Director of Tribal Collaboration in Outreach in Advocacy for Archaeology Southwest.

Additional Resources and Links:

-Skylar Begay biography webpage on Archaeology Southwest: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/team/skylar-begay/

- Main Respect Great Bend website: https://www.respectgreatbend.org/

- The Respect Great Bend Story Map: https://story.respectgreatbend.org/

- Respect Great Bend linktree: https://linktr.ee/GreatBendOfTheGila

- Main Save History Website: https://savehistory.org/

- cyberSW, online archaeological database: https://cybersw.org/

- Another podcast with more detail on the Great Bend of the Gila: https://bit.ly/GreatBendGilapodcast

- A recent segment on Phoenix Channel 12 news about the effort of the Great Bend of the Gila: https://bit.ly/PhoenixChannel12GBG

- Arizona Conservation Corps: https://azcorps.org/

- Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps: https://ancestrallands.org/