Celebrating Native American Heritage Month 🎉
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Season 2: Episode 34 Description
In today’s episode: 🎉 Celebrate Native American Heritage Month! 🎧 Hear about 5 Indigenous Americans making an impact right now. ❄️ Correspondent Nathalie Alonso shares the impact of climate change on the Alaskan Native community. 💡 And learn about 10 inventions in 10 seconds! 🗞️ In the news: 💖 A warm welcome to the first Asian-American muppet and a candy-colored lobster? 🦞 And test your map knowledge in today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources for the episode
A Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month, 2021 | The White House
Stripped of identity: Powerful music video depicts lasting impacts of Sixties Scoop | CBC Radio
6 Indigenous artists you need to know in 2021 | CBC Music
2020 Census: Native population increased by 86.5 percent - Indian Country Today
10 Native American Inventions - HISTORY
Biden to announce agency partnerships with Native American leaders at tribal summit | TheHill
'Sesame Street' debuts Ji-Young, first Asian American muppet (apnews.com)
Haddie, a rare 'cotton candy' lobster caught in Maine - CNN
Jim Thorpe - Children, Facts & Career - Biography
Links
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:04
November is Native American Heritage Month. It is a great time to learn more about, celebrate, and amplify the original inhabitants of this land that we call America. Cayuga, Iroquois. Today, we're highlighting just a few of the amazing achievements of native people throughout history, and some are being made right now. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's November 18th. And this is The Ten News
Various Voices 0:36
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:44
Native American Heritage Month was first designated in 1990 as a celebration of the cultures and contributions past and present of Indigenous Americans. Here are five indigenous people making an impact right now you should definitely know about. Number one, a Space Force first. Remember the Space Force, the newest branch of the military? Captain Haida StarEagle is its first female Native American Intelligence Officer. A member of the Matinecock Tribe, she served in the Air Force for 17 years before transferring to the Space Force. To infinity and beyond! Number two, a Hollywood changemaker, Sterlin Harjo is a filmmaker and member of the Seminole Nation. He created the TV show Reservation Dogs, which features an all-native cast and writing and production team and is not for kids, by the way. Harjo said it's not up to Hollywood to change native representation in the media. It's up to us artists, filmmakers, storytellers, and activists that power is ours alone. Number three, a musician with a purpose. Saulteau First Nation singer, Jayli Wolf has used her music to bring attention to the survivors of the residential school system in Canada and the United States, where 1,000s of Indigenous children were taken away from their families. She's documented her journey toward reclaiming our heritage on Tiktok excellence. Number four, Tia Wood is a Cree and Salish dancer and musician who is also using Tik Tok to bring her culture to a global audience. Nice. The 21-year-old was surrounded by music as she grew up, and she brings her love of her heritage to her over 2 million followers. Wow. Number five, a Climate Champion. Ruth Miller a 24-year-old Dena’ina is the Climate Justice Director for Native Movement, a matriarchal, that means run by women, a grassroots Alaskan group that fights for climate justice and justice for indigenous people, snaps to all of these amazing folks ready to go. Alaska is the US state with the highest percentage of indigenous people known as Alaska Natives. The state is also one of the places most affected by climate change. Here to tell us more is Ten News correspondent Nathalie Alonso.
Nathalie Alonso 3:26
We often think of climate change as something that's going to affect us in the future. But many communities around the world are already dealing with the effects of warming temperatures and rising sea levels. One of those communities is the Village of new talk on the western coast of Alaska. Until recently, between 304 100 People lived in Newtok. Most of the residents of Newtok are members of the Yupik tribe. The site where Newtok was built was chosen by the US government in 1949. Even though they were forced to settle there, the Yupik make Newtok their home. All of the buildings in Newtok were constructed on top of permafrost. This is a layer of frozen soil. Permafrost is supposed to be frozen all the time. Because the Earth is getting warmer. The permafrost in Alaska and other Arctic regions is melting. Okay, that's bad. Because of this, some structures in Utah have begun to sink into the ground and are no longer stable. Light poles are falling over and boardwalks have broken apart. And there's another problem Newtok stands next to a river that is rising because of climate change. As a result, homes have been flooded. Some houses have even fallen into the river. Since their homes are no longer safe, the residents of Newtok have had little choice but to move to a new location on higher ground. Their new village is a few miles away and is called Motivic. The residents of Newtok actually voted to relocate back in 1996. But it has taken the US government many years to build their new village. Are you kidding me? Some people have already made the move. Others are waiting for more homes to be built, which could take a few years. The Covid 19 pandemic has slowed the process even more. People of Newtok are believed to be the first community in the United States that has had to relocate because of climate change. And unless countries take action to keep climate change from getting any worse, many other communities will eventually need to do the same.
Bethany Van Delft 5:38
Did you know that many, many of the things we use every day were invented by Native Americans awesomely? Want to know what some of them are? Here are 10 indigenous inventions in 10 seconds. On your marks, get set... Rubber kayaks, snow goggles, cable suspension bridges, raised-bed farming techniques, baby bottles, anesthetics, syringes, hammocks, and mouthwash. So many things that have made such a big difference in our lives. Think about it the next time you're using any one of those. Now let's see what else is going on. For the first time since 2016, the White House held a meeting with leaders from hundreds of Native American tribes in the United States. There were really important issues on the agenda like the protection of sacred indigenous lands and the creation of new advisory panels to better communicate between the United States government and the tribal nations. That's incredible. An Asian American Muppet is joining the cast, so Sesame Street, her name is Ji-Young and she is Korean-American. She loves to play the electric guitar and skateboard. Ji-Yong is the first Asian American Muppet in the 52-year history of the show. It's about time. You are going to love this. When you think lobster you probably think red. But recently, a lobsterman in Maine caught an extremely rare “cotton candy lobster,”, which is blue and pink because of a genetic mutation. And this lucky lobster will not be ending up on a dinner plate. It's been adopted by the Seacoast Science Center in New Hampshire. Lucky lobster. Up next, it's time for...
Various Voices 7:33
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 7:37
Trivia on The Ten. Jim Thorpe was an American athlete and member of the SEC and Fox Nation who played professional football, baseball, and basketball, triple threat. He competed in events in the 1912 Olympics and won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon. Two competitions made up of five in 10 different sporting events. Ah-mazing. He's considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. Today, there's a town named after Jim Thorpe. In what state is the town of Jim Thorpe located? Is it a) Oklahoma b) Pennsylvania or c) California?
Bethany Van Delft 8:29
Did you guess it? The answer is B. The town of Mauch Chunk in Pennsylvania changed its name to Jim Thorpe in 1954. In honor of one of America's greatest athletes. I want to go there. Google Maps takes me to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. That works. Time's up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is listening to Tia Woods music right now. And includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Adam Barnard, and Nathalie Alonso. Nathalie Alonso contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft. And thanks for listening to The Ten News and Ten'ers, remember, heritage months are just the tip of the iceberg. There's so much to learn and so much to celebrate that you should be learning and celebrating about all people every month. Bye!
