Shannon O'Loughlin, Association on American Indian Affairs

Sitting in for Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse tonight is First Voices Radio’s Co-Host Anne Keala Kelly (Kanaka Maoli), an independent journalist, filmmaker and activist from Moku Nui (Big Island) in the illegally occupied Hawaiian Islands. Keala begins with commentary about this past week’s deadly wildfires that completely destroyed the town of Lahaina, Maui, located on the island’s west side. Lahaina is the historic seat of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Fires are still burning in other areas of Maui and also on Moku Nui. For the majority of the hour, Keala speaks with Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), CEO and attorney for the Association on American Indian Affairs, continuing a conversation about repatriation that was begun in March 2023 on this program. Shannon has been practicing law for more than 22 years and is a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. She has served Indian Country in the private sector as an attorney, leading a large national firm’s Indian law practice that worked to strengthen, maintain and protect Indian nation sovereignty, self-determination and culture. More information at: https://www.indian-affairs.org/. This episode ends with a tribute to the late Sinéad O’Connor, “… who became a warrior woman and stood up to call out the centuries of soul-devouring abuse heaped on children by the Catholic church. It happened to the Irish and we all know it happened to the First Peoples of the Americas and other colonized countries.” — Anne Keala Kelly