In honor of Native American Heritage Month, Effie Hernandez comes on the pod to inform and inspire. Effie is a member of the Shoshone Tribe and works as a multi-cultural coordinator for a community college in Idaho Falls. Though Effie provides great resources and insight for planning your future (especially for Indigenous youth), this isn’t just for teenagers contemplating college. In true Nativist fashion, we go deep. We talk about living your own life and how fulfilling your unique potential can be different, daunting, challenging, and empowering, and how it allows you to elevate and enrich others’ lives as well (the more skills and knowledge you have, the more value you can contribute!). We emphasize the importance of defining: your life, your terms, your success. We explore how diversity and inclusion can have different meanings for different people, and we invite awareness and reflection on this. We highlight the power of continuing education - formal and informal - and how humility and curiosity are crucial components. Know your options. Define your terms. Leverage your potential.

Contact Effie:

• Effie Hernandez Multicultural Coordinator, 208-535-5338, effie.hernandez@cei.edu

Scholarships for Indigenous youth (as referenced in the episode, via Dr. Amanda Cheromiah’s TikTok video on how she graduated debt free):

• Cobell Scholarship

• American Indian Science and Engineering Society Scholarships

• American Indian Education Fund

• American Indian College Fund

• American Indian Graduate Center Scholarship

• Theresa A. Mike Scholarship

• Native Graduate Health Fellowship

• Catching the Dream Scholarship

• Indian Health Services Scholarship Program

• American Indian Services Scholarship

*Look into the specific scholarships of your own tribe(s)/institution

Find Dr. Amanda Cheromiah on TikTok/Instagram @drcheromiah

In this second part of my Indigenous Voices series, I spotlight Sequoia Dance-Leighton, an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, a descendant of the Assiniboine Red Bottom clan, and a resident of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) land. With a bachelor's degree in human development and a master's degree in social and cultural pedagogy, she is now pursuing a PhD in cultural studies and social thought in education. 

It's a longer episode than most, simply because it was such a fun, easy, stimulating conversation and I didn't want to stop! This conversation is packed with subtle yet profound life truths.

Sequoia describes how being of mixed descent impacts how she perceives and how she feels perceived, all while she works to fuse those two worlds. She shares her story of connecting with her native heritage and cultural identity. She outlines her approach to balancing: ancient wisdom with newer perspectives; older generations with younger cohorts; professional ambition with self care; and social activism with personal boundaries.

Sequoia tells us about working with the youth and striving to amplify voices that are usually silenced. She gives tips on avoiding micro aggressions and complacency. She explains settler colonialism, and offers a fresh take on viewing the earth and those who call it home. We emphasize the enduring wisdom of indigenous people, and the importance of seeking it out, no matter your ethnicity or location.

This may seem like a niche episode, but its relevance and applications are anything but. If you enjoy it half as much as I did, you'll really dig it. 

You can find Sequoia on:

• Instagram: @therealrezwife

• Twitter: @SequoiaDance

• TikTok: @realrezwife

Resources mentioned in the show:

• native-land.ca : to find native land on which you live

• Chelsey Luger: a trainer/facilitator for the Native Wellness Institute, and the cofounder and editor of Well for Culture.