Indigenous by design: 'Native America' highlights the strides to make the community better

Daniel Golding found himself jumping into the machine that is “Native America” – a series that airs on PBS.

“I wasn’t involved in season one,” he says. “I came on in season two to increase the number of Native directors in the series. Then I also got bumped up to the series producer after we got started. Overall, the goal for this season was to focus on the contemporary stories and what’s happening in our communities.”

Golding (Quechan) spent time in New Mexico as well for a few episodes for the new season.

The second episode airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. The remaining two episodes will air at 8 p.m. Nov. 7 and Nov. 14. The series will also be available to stream on the PBS app.

Golding says a series like “Native America” is important because it showcases how Native Peoples are adapting their lives – all while remaining connected to nature and the past.

“So many events have happened to our people for so many years,” Golding says. “The series is an opportunity to show the world where we are today. We show people who are making important changes in this world and telling the stories of positivity in our communities.”

Season two of “Native America” follows the brilliant engineers, bold politicians and cutting-edge artists who draw upon Native tradition to build a better 21st century.

Each hour reveals a core tenet of Native heritage: the power of Indigenous design, how language and artistry fuel the soul, the diverse ways that Native women lead, and the resilience of the warrior spirit.

Golding says the series is brought to life with dynamic stories of the here and now, the series launches an active dialogue between past and present, revealing how foundational beliefs and traditions are shaping and transforming modern Native life.

The series was created with active input from Native American participants and communities.

“ ‘Native America’ built on trust — trust that comes from the unspoken understanding of shared experiences between Native producers and the people in tribal communities whose stories we are telling,” Golding says. “What follows is the freedom to express ourselves in a way that is truly representative. As a Passamaquoddy Elder says in the series, ‘Language is who I am.’ As a producer/director on this series, I can say ‘Native America’ is who we are!”

Indigenous by design: 'Native America' highlights the strides to make the community better

In the second episode called “Warrior Spirit” – which airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31 – traditions inspire incredible athletes and connect people to combat, games and glory.

The show focuses on the Native men and women who live this legacy today.

The athletes spotlighted in the episode are teen boxer Mariah Bahe (Navajo), ultrarunner and Santa Fe resident Christian Gering (Katishtya), and Indian Horse Relay riders from the Flathead National Reservation in Montana.

“This tradition of reaching within oneself to serve has deep roots in Native American communities,” Golding says. “It is told in the proud history of horsemen on the plains fighting to protect their homelands and the Navajo Code Talkers, who transmitted secret messages in World War II. And it lives on across Native America today, where nearly one in five serves in the American armed forces — the highest rate of any group.”

The episode also features artist George Rivera, who speaks about his bronze sculpture of Catua and Omtua — two young Tesuque men who ran from pueblo to pueblo carrying the message of an uprising against the Spanish in 1680.

The statue was gifted to the city of Santa Fe by Tesuque Pueblo to be installed near City Hall in Santa Fe. The process stalled in 2020.

“Native people share their wisdom and knowledge by the telling and retelling of stories,” says Francene Blythe-Lewis, Vision Maker Media executive director. “The stories mark histories, express relationships to climates and environments, and instill humanity, as well as lessons learned and joys. (The series) portrays this generation’s Native stories to further reveal who and where we are in this world.”

Indigenous by design: 'Native America' highlights the strides to make the community better

On Nov. 7, “Women Rule” tells the stories of Native women continuing their traditional roles as leaders to make a better future.

The episode follows political trailblazer Ruth Buffalo (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation), as she fights to protect vulnerable people across North Dakota as a state representative.

Arigon Starr (Kickapoo) employs music, theater and comic books to revolutionize how Native people are portrayed in the media.

Betty Osceola (Miccosukee Nation) is saving the Everglades through headline-grabbing activism.

And Jamie Okuma (Luiseño) designs award-winning works of wearable art that are rewriting the story of Native fashion.

On Nov. 14, “Language is Life” takes a look at how Native people are fighting to keep their languages and ways of life alive.

Though many of the approximately 170 Native languages spoken across the United States remain at risk today, it is a time of hope.

Manuelito Wheeler (Navajo), director of the Navajo Nation Museum, is helping to lead the effort in revitalizing traditional languages.

Wheeler works to not only tell the stories of Native peoples, but also a push to preserve the stories.

In “Language is Life,” Wheeler was interviewed about the process behind dubbing a few feature films into the Navajo language.

“That was my role,” he says. “There’s always a degree of difficulty and it takes skill. Fortunately, the team I work with evolves with me. They happen to be the right people to take on these tasks.”

Wheeler says while working on the Navajo translations of “Star Wars,” “Finding Nemo” and “A Fistful of Dollars,” the importance was understood about having the projects happen.

“What I hope for people to get out of this work is to bring awareness to our languages because they are on the tipping points,” Wheeler says. “For the Navajo language, it can go either way. We run the risk of losing our language and with the loss of a language, there is the loss of culture. I want to bring awareness to this important matter. Native peoples are the original inhabitants of this country. We can’t lose our culture.”

The episode explores the recovery of Passamaquoddy songs recorded over a century ago using a laser-assisted needle, and digital scans of Cherokee writing hidden under graffiti in a Georgia cave.

The episode “New Worlds,” which is streaming on the PBS app and will rebroadcast, looks at Native innovators including NASA engineer Aaron Yazzie (Navajo), sustainable builder Henry Red Cloud (Lakota), and First Nations electronic music group The Halluci Nation are leading a revolution in space exploration, architecture and music.

“There’s so much amazing material,” Golding says. “Each of these are showcasing important themes, and a lot of people don’t realize that we are in these dire straits. The loss of language means the loss of culture, and we can’t let that happen. There’s a seriousness to it. As a Native person, it’s in the back of your mind and thinking of ways to make a difference. Hopefully, this series encourages people to lend a hand and preserve the Native culture.”