On this edition of “First Voices Radio” Host TIOKASIN GHOSTHORSE welcomes back Tonia Stands and Gregg Deal. In the first half-hour: TONIA STANDS is Founder of “No Uranium in Treaty Territory (NUITT)." She is a water protector, land defender and Witko Oglala Winyan. Tonia has stood in Camp Zero Tolerance in White Clay, Nebraska, to shut down alcohol sales to Pine Ridge Reservation, a dry reservation. Tonia has also stood in opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline; Dakota Access Pipeline; Leith, North Dakota, a small that made international news when White supremacists unsuccessfully targeted it as a one of the bases for their movement; zeolite mining on the Pine Ridge Reservation; Crow Butte uranium; Dewey Burdock Uranium; and any exploitation of the sacred Black Hills and now seismic testing for oil and gas drilling around the sacred Black Hills. Tonia also makes medicine symbols.

In the second half-hour, returning guest GREGG DEAL is a husband, father, artist and a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. As a provocative contemporary artist-activist much of Gregg’s work deals with Indigenous identity and pop culture, touching on issues of race relations, historical consideration and stereotype. With this work—including paintings, mural work, performance art, filmmaking and spoken word—Gregg critically examines issues within Indian country such as decolonization, the Native mascot issue, appropriation and the representation of Indigenous people, likeness and voices in the context of Western culture. Gregg, who resides in Colorado, was recently showcased on PBS Arts District and has been Native Arts Artist-in-Residence at the Denver Art Museum in 2015-2016. His art has been exhibited nationally since 2002. Gregg has lectured widely at prominent educational institutions and museums, including: Denver Art Museum, Denver, C.O.; Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.; Columbia University, New York City, N.Y., Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.; and University of Colorado Boulder. His television appearances have included PBS, “The Daily Show” and W. Kamau Bell’s “Totally Biased” as well as appearances on Aljazeera, ESPN, FoxNews and ABC News.

 

 

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