Shakara Liddelow-Hunt — “The Ancestors Are Reflected in Them.”

Shakara Liddelow-Hunt — “The Ancestors Are Reflected in Them.”

Our guest this week is Shakara (Shak) Liddelow-Hunt, a researcher, advocate, and community builder centering the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIA+ young people.   Shak is Wajarri Yamatji and grew up on Noongar Country. Their work challenges Western research norms, making space for Indigenous methods that honor community and story. Our conversation was a reminder that research environments can — and must — be crafted with care, humility, and cultural safety. Shak’s work uplifts youth voices, showing that the ancestors are reflected in them and that their brilliance shapes the futures we’re all moving toward.  Interested in learning more after our conversation? You can explore Shak’s project, Walkern Katatdjin (Rainbow Knowledge) here [https://www.rainbowknowledge.org/].     Tending Our Roots is co-hosted by Drs. Miigis Gonzalez [https://cih.jhu.edu/team/miigis-gonzalez/] (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) and Jill Fish [https://www.fishpsychotherapy.com/] (lineal descendent of the Tuscarora Nation).   This podcast was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [https://www.rwjf.org/] and supported by the CIRCLE P50 Center of Excellence [https://cih.jhu.edu/circle/] funded through the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (Award Number P50DA058619). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.  Production was completed by Solar Powered Studios in St. Paul, MN.  Podcast artwork was completed by Marlena Myles [https://marlenamyl.es/], a Spirit Lake Dakota, Mohegan, Muscogee artist.   The song, “The Best of Me” is used with the permission of Anishinaabe and First Nations singer-songwriter, Leonard Sumner [https://www.leonardsumner.com/].

Shawn Wilson — “It’s a Way of Life”

Listen as we visit with Shawn Wilson, a researcher, teacher, and storyteller from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Canada.  Shawn reminds us that research itself can be ceremony. Now based on Syilx territory in British Columbia, Shawn’s work spans continents — from Turtle Island to Australia — grounded always in relationships and respect for Indigenous knowledge systems. In this conversation, he reflects on what it means to live a life of ceremony, to see the universe as a web of relationships, and to change the world by changing how we relate to one another. We also laugh about “big words” like epistemology and ontology and celebrate his joyful self-proclaimed title: IndigiNerd. For Shawn, research is not just a method — it’s a way of life.  Interested in learning more after our conversation? Check out more of Shawn’s work, [https://drshawnwilson.com/] and grab copies of Research is Ceremony [https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/research-is-ceremony-shawn-wilson] and Research and Reconciliation [https://canadianscholars.ca/book/research-and-reconciliation/].     Tending Our Roots is co-hosted by Drs. Miigis Gonzalez [https://cih.jhu.edu/team/miigis-gonzalez/] (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) and Jill Fish [https://www.fishpsychotherapy.com/] (lineal descendent of the Tuscarora Nation).   This podcast was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [https://www.rwjf.org/] and supported by the CIRCLE P50 Center of Excellence [https://cih.jhu.edu/circle/] funded through the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (Award Number P50DA058619). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.  Production was completed by Solar Powered Studios in St. Paul, MN.  Podcast artwork was completed by Marlena Myles [https://marlenamyl.es/], a Spirit Lake Dakota, Mohegan, Muscogee artist.   The song, “The Best of Me” is used with the permission of Anishinaabe and First Nations singer-songwriter, Leonard Sumner [https://www.leonardsumner.com/].

Susan Beaulieu — “Re-membering: The Pathway to Healing”

This week we’re Tending Our Roots with Susan Beaulieu, an Anishinaabe woman and citizen of the Red Lake Nation who has spent two decades working with Indigenous communities and the last decade supporting healing from collective, ancestral, and individual trauma.  A facilitator, teacher, and student of Life, Susan reminds us that healing begins within, where we hold the most power and responsibility. In this episode, Susan offers tools for reconnecting body, mind, heart, and spirit, guiding us toward re-membering — bringing ourselves and our communities back into balance. Her teachings call us to the ongoing, courageous work of healing, not only for ourselves, but for the generations yet to come.  Interested in hearing more from Susan? Hear more from her here [https://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/podcast/s6e8-susan-beaulieu/].   Tending Our Roots is co-hosted by Drs. Miigis Gonzalez [https://cih.jhu.edu/team/miigis-gonzalez/] (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) and Jill Fish [https://www.fishpsychotherapy.com/] (lineal descendent of the Tuscarora Nation).   This podcast was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [https://www.rwjf.org/] and supported by the CIRCLE P50 Center of Excellence [https://cih.jhu.edu/circle/] funded through the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (Award Number P50DA058619). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.  Production was completed by Solar Powered Studios in St. Paul, MN.  Podcast artwork was completed by Marlena Myles [https://marlenamyl.es/], a Spirit Lake Dakota, Mohegan, Muscogee artist.   The song, “The Best of Me” is used with the permission of Anishinaabe and First Nations singer-songwriter, Leonard Sumner [https://www.leonardsumner.com/].

Melinda Adams — “We Burn the Things We Want Back”

Join us as we sit down with Melinda Adams, a cultural fire practitioner and scholar from the N’dee San Carlos Apache Tribe and the Tohono O’odham Nation.  Melinda brings together ecology, ceremony, and Indigenous science in her work. As an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas, she studies and practices the revitalization of cultural fire — working alongside Tribal nations in California, the Great Plains, and beyond. When we recorded this conversation, wildfires burned across the region — a reminder of both the urgency and the wisdom in Melinda’s work. In this episode, she helps us understand solastalgia — the grief we feel for lands in distress — and reminds us that fire is not only renewal but relational. She teaches that we must burn the things we want back, doing so slowly, intentionally, and together.  Interested in learning more after the conversation? Check out more of Melinda’s work [https://scholarmelinda.com/].  Tending Our Roots is co-hosted by Drs. Miigis Gonzalez [https://cih.jhu.edu/team/miigis-gonzalez/] (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) and Jill Fish [https://www.fishpsychotherapy.com/] (lineal descendent of the Tuscarora Nation).   This podcast was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [https://www.rwjf.org/] and supported by the CIRCLE P50 Center of Excellence [https://cih.jhu.edu/circle/] funded through the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (Award Number P50DA058619). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.  Production was completed by Solar Powered Studios in St. Paul, MN.  Podcast artwork was completed by Marlena Myles [https://marlenamyl.es/], a Spirit Lake Dakota, Mohegan, Muscogee artist.   The song, “The Best of Me” is used with the permission of Anishinaabe and First Nations singer-songwriter, Leonard Sumner [https://www.leonardsumner.com/].

Linda Tuhiwai Smith — “Family, Community, and Land”

On this week’s episode of Tending Our Roots, we sit down with Māori scholar, Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou) — the grandmother of Indigenous research.   Linda’s guided generations through her groundbreaking book Decolonizing Methodologies. In conversation, she speaks with warmth, humility, and humor — reminding us that revolution begins in how we live our everyday lives. Rather than chasing grand gestures, she teaches us to nurture our relationships with family, land, and community, and to let our Indigeneity breathe through daily practice. Looking ahead, she imagines the next twenty-six years of Indigenous research shaped by care, balance, and joy.  Interested in learning more from Linda? Purchase Decolonizing Methodologies [https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/decolonizing-methodologies].   Tending Our Roots is co-hosted by Drs. Miigis Gonzalez [https://cih.jhu.edu/team/miigis-gonzalez/] (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) and Jill Fish [https://www.fishpsychotherapy.com/] (lineal descendent of the Tuscarora Nation).   This podcast was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [https://www.rwjf.org/] and supported by the CIRCLE P50 Center of Excellence [https://cih.jhu.edu/circle/] funded through the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (Award Number P50DA058619). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.  Production was completed by Solar Powered Studios in St. Paul, MN.  Podcast artwork was completed by Marlena Myles [https://marlenamyl.es/], a Spirit Lake Dakota, Mohegan, Muscogee artist.   The song, “The Best of Me” is used with the permission of Anishinaabe and First Nations singer-songwriter, Leonard Sumner [https://www.leonardsumner.com/].