Hóčhoka – St. Joseph’s Indian School Podcast, Season 8

Episode 1

President Ronald Regan and Vice President George W. Bush begin their second term in office. Coke releases new-and-improved New Coke, meeting so much opposition that old Coke is back on the shelves in three months. The Unabomber is on the loose. “Back to the Future” opens in theaters across America, and Mike and Kim Tyrell arrive for their first year as houseparents at St. Joseph’s Indian School. These things happened 40 years ago. Here to tell us what it’s like 40 years later, the school’s President, Mike Tyrell.

Episode 2

Leadership is a role performed uniquely by the person who holds the role. At St. Joseph’s Indian School, we are experiencing a transition in leadership that brings a new title and a new face. Let’s get to know this person!

Episode 3

How is it that a former U. S. Marine from Texas with a Poly-Sci major finds himself deeply involved in the spiritual and administrative life of St. Joseph’s Indian School? Let’s talk with Fr. Greg Schill, SCJ, and learn all about it.

Episode 4

Why are three college-age women traveling throughout the Indian Country of the Northern Plains distributing books? Let’s find out.

Episode 5

Mother Teresa is often quoted, “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” That is the great benefit of collaboration, which shapes much of the work we do at St. Joseph’s. Let’s learn more about the school’s relationship with the University of Notre Dame.

Episode 6

Lakota elder and teacher Dottie LeBeau once noted, “Losing the language means losing the culture. We need to know who we are because it makes a difference in who we are and who our children are.” If language is the carrier of culture, what does this mean for the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people, whose Native speakers now number in mere hundreds? Let’s talk about it.

Episode 7

FilmmakerGeorge Lucas of Star Wars fame addressed teachers with these words, “You have the most important job of anyone today. Our kids need you to advocate for their futures.” During our last episode, we learned how vital the Lakota language is for the future of our students. Today, we learn how two women at St. Joseph’s  are advocating for them.

Episode 8

We’ve all heard it said, “We are what we eat.” Perhaps nowhere is this truism better demonstrated than in the traditional foodways of the Lakota people. Let’s learn more.

Episode 9

Many are familiar with the declaration in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against?” This bold and rhetorical question is subject to many considerations, but for oppressed peoples seeking to interpret Christian scripture, it can be problematic. Let’s unpack the issue.

Episode 10

The late contemporary Irish poet John O’Donohue wrote in an unfinished poem, “I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” Our guest today embodies this open delight at life. Let’s meet this 2025 graduate of St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Episode 11

Is it reading, and writing, and ‘rithmatic? What about STEM? What’s your recipe for educational success? Today, we’re talking to two guys who have a dog in the fight, and they’ve got something to say about Art.

Episode 12

Fine arts, drama, music, movement, and creative writing – these programs are often the first place we look to trim the educational budget. Let’s spend some time today with two artists who can convince us that when this happens, everything else suffers. Listen up.

Episode 13

For Black Elk and the Lakota people, the tipi was a sacred dwelling place that conveyed deep truth. We don’t often make a connection to the Bible, where for much of the Old Testament God lived in a tent, and the New Testament literally says Jesus “pitched his tent among us.” Tent, tipi, tabernacle: what do these places say about where God dwells? We’re about to find out.

Episode 14

Not so long ago, the concept of synergy was “all the buzz.” Today it is worth revisitng in a conversation with two organizations that can identify how together they bring about a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate endeavors. Let’s join the conversation

Episode 15

Here at the outset of Advent 2025, one Indigenous theologian invites, “Instead of rushing toward the baby Jesus … hang back with the prophet Isaiah.” There are lessons in hope to be found here. Let’s learn.

Episode 16

“Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God,” wrote Jesuit Theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. And, Advent joy surprises us and invites us to wonder, says Hóčhoka guest Dr. Chris Hokklotubbe. Let’s talk about it..

Episode 17

What if we were to turn the clock back some 60 years and visit this soon-to-be-100-year-old school? Who might we encounter, and what might that person tell us? Here to accompany us as we travel back through time and up to the present day, none other than the 2025 Distinguished Alum, Gerald High Elk. Let’s go!

Episode 18

Black Elk prayed, “Morning Star, there at the place where the sun comes up, you who have the wisdom which we seek, help us in cleansing ourselves and all the people, that our generations to come will have light as they walk the sacred path.” In the Book of Revelation, Jesus says, I am “the bright morning star.” How might knowing more about the morning star enrich our faith? Let’s talk.