New Season of St. Joseph’s Hóčhoka Podcast Includes More Alumni Guests

Interested in learning more about Indigenous evaluation? What about a conversation with two Lakota Elders? Find out about these topics and much more during St. Joseph’s Indian School’s sixth season of Hóčhoka podcast beginning on Monday, August 26.

The endeavor 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 runs with weekly releases through December 16, 2024. It is available on Podbean, Apple, iTunes and Spotify in audio and vlog formats.

The season begins with alum Danielle Two Two, who recently received her LPN degree, speaking with Indigenous Evaluation expert Melanie Nadeau, PhD, MPH, Graduate Program Director of Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota. Dr. Nadeau visited the school this past May and spoke to staff members about how to develop culturally appropriate evaluation methods. She shares insights on several podcasts during the season.

Two other alumni join the podcast later in the season: Trinity Sazue, who is now employed as a carpenter at the school, and Danielle Arpan, BSN. Arpan, this year’s St. Joseph’s Indian School Distinguished Alum, currently works at Phoenix Indian Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz.

Dr. Damian Costello, a Catholic theologian specializing in indigenous spiritual traditions, returns this season to provide fresh perspectives on Catholicism through an indigenous lens. Topics range from the Red Heifer prophecy and the Church season of Advent to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

South Dakota Living Treasure Award recipient Lydia Whirlwind Soldier shares from two volumes of her poetry, Memory Songs and Survival Songs. She explores memories of growing up Lakota during the Native American Boarding School era. Joseph Marshall III joins her for a two-part discussion on being a Lakota Elder.

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.

 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.