St. Joseph’s Indian School Launches Hóčhoka Podcast Season 2

On Thursday, September 1, St. Joseph’s Indian School launched Season 2 of the school’s video podcast. The podcast, named Hóčhoka, aims to showcase the people and ideas that make the school a leader in Native American education and to discuss issues central to Native American education today.

 The season begins with a three-part series on residential education today. The first episode describes the insights and wisdom of the 1970s and 1980s that propelled the shift from dormitory life to family-focused living. A team of houseparents sharing their roles’ joys and passion rounds out the series.

On significant dates throughout the season, Dr. Damian Costello, a Catholic theologian specializing in Indigenous spiritual traditions and serving as Director of Post Graduate Studies at NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, provides fresh perspectives on Catholicism through an Indigenous lens.

Sičháŋǧu Lakota author Joseph Marshall III speaks in a two-part series on Lakota Leadership. The series is capped by the school’s Native American Studies Lead and Sičháŋǧu Lakota LaRayne Woster on the Seventh Grade Cultural Trip that forms students into leaders at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Executive Director of Truth and Healing at Red Cloud Indian School Makȟa Black Elk and Fr. Mike Carson of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops speak in a three-part series on Native American Boarding School Truth and Healing.

Also in the series, former Superintendent of St. Joseph’s Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, Makȟa Black Elk and Mission Integration Director Joe Tyrell explore the Lakota and Catholic spirit that inspires the school’s mission.

President Mike Tyrell said, “We do some wonderful things here, and we are blessed with talented and unique guests who support our efforts. The podcast allows us to reach out and share what we have with others and, in turn, to learn from the best that others have to offer.”

The Lakota word Hóčhoka (emphasis on the first syllable) means the center of the camp circle. The name speaks to the actual location of the recording studio at the heart of campus, the centrality of the mission of St. Joseph’s Indian School to all that it does, and the role of the podcast to be at the center of the Native American educational conversation and gather others around that conversation.

Family Service Counselor Scott Woster, whose family is well-known in journalism circles around the state, hosts the podcast sharing insights from his 28 years on staff at the school.

The season runs with weekly releases through December 12, when you can tune in to learn about the secret Indigenous life of the Christmas tree.     

Why tune in to a podcast from St. Joseph’s Indian School? Learn more about what the school has to offer. Listen to the wisdom of thought-leaders on Native American education today. Laugh, hope, warm your heart and sharpen your mind at the center of the school’s camp circle.

Find Hóčhoka Podcast at https://hochokapodcast.com