In this episode of Native Circles, co-hosts Dr. Farina King and Eva Bighorse speak with Dr. T. Christopher (Chris) Hoklotubbe and Dr. H. Daniel (Danny) Zacharias, co-authors of Reading the Bible on Turtle Island: An Invitation to North American Indigenous Interpretation (2025). Chris Hoklotubbe, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, holds a ThD from Harvard and serves as Director of the Indigenous Theology Circle and Coordinator of the Graduate Studies Group for NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, the first accredited theological institute designed, developed, delivered, and governed by Indigenous peoples.

Danny Zacharias is a Cree-Anishinaabe/Métis and Austrian scholar from Winnipeg, Manitoba (Treaty One Territory) with ancestral ties to Treaties Two, Three, and Five. He lives in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia) and is Associate Dean and Professor of New Testament Studies at Acadia Divinity College, as well as adjunct faculty and journal editor for NAIITS.

Together, they explore what happens when the Bible is read from Turtle Island through Indigenous histories, geographies, and intellectual traditions. The conversation examines scripture’s entanglement with colonization, missionization, and boarding schools, and highlights Indigenous survivance, responsibility, and resurgence. Rather than treating the Bible as a text detached from land and power, Chris and Danny open space for Indigenous-centered approaches that honor both sacred text and sacred place.

Resources:

Reading the Bible on Turtle Island: An Invitation to North American Indigenous Interpretation by T. Christopher Hoklotubbe and H. Daniel Zacharias

Civilized Piety: The Rhetoric of Pietas in the Pastoral Epistles and the Roman Empire by T. Christopher Hoklotubbe

Stringing Rosaries: The History, the Unforgivable, the Healing of Northern Plains Boarding School Survivors by Denise K. Lajimodiere

NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community

Co-hosts Dr. Davina Two Bears and Dr. Farina King talk with Choctaw archaeologist Dr. Joe Watkins about the changing dynamics of Indigenous archaeology from AIM-era protests and NAGPRA to tribal historic preservation offices and global collaborations with the Ainu in Japan. Watkins reflects on walking between academic and tribal worlds, why archaeology is a set of techniques rather than “the truth,” and how Indigenous communities are redefining what it means to study and protect their own pasts.

A member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Dr. Joe Watkins has been involved in archaeology and heritage preservation initiatives for more than 50 years. He has published more than 100 book chapters and articles, and his books include Indigenous Archaeology: American Indian Values and Scientific Practice (2000); with Carol J. Ellick, The Anthropology Graduate’s Guide: From Student to a Career (2nd Edition, 2023); with George Nicholas, Working as Indigenous Archaeologists: Reckoning New Paths Between Past and Present Lives (2024); and Indigenizing Japan: Ainu Past, Present, and Future (2025). He has taught at multiple universities and worked for the National Park Service on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) program in Washington, D.C. He served as President of the Board of Directors of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018–2021, and in 2025 received the Society for American Archaeology’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Often described as an “archaeological elder,” Dr. Watkins has mentored generations of Indigenous students and practitioners, helping to open pathways for Native Nations and communities to define and direct research about their own lands, histories, and futures.

Resources:

"Meet Dr. Joe Watkins, PhD," Ancient Art Archive

"What does it mean to be human?"- Joe Watkins (Emeritus)

Indigenizing Japan: Ainu Past, Present, and Future (University of Arizona Press) by Joe Watkins

Working as Indigenous Archaeologists: Reckoning New Paths Between Past and Present Lives (Routledge) edited by George Nicolas and Joe Watkins

Indigenous Archaeology: American Indian Values and Scientific Practice by Joe Watkins

In this episode of Native Circles, Drs. Farina King and Davina Two Bears meet Dr. Brittany Penner to discuss her memoir, Children Like Us: A Métis Woman’s Memoir of Family, Identity, and Walking Herself Home (Regalo Press, 2025), recently named one of Indigo’s Best Books of 2025. Penner, a family physician of Anishinaabe, Cree, and European settler lineage, was adopted at birth into a white Mennonite family during what is known as the Sixties Scoop in Canada, an era of state-sanctioned Indigenous child removal that remains central to Indigenous Studies conversations about kinship disruption, settler colonialism, and cultural continuity across North America.

Together, they explore what it means to “walk home” in an Indigenous sense, not simply a return to place, but a return to story, lineage, language, community, and relational accountability. The conversation engages questions of adoption, survivance, and belonging while also considering the ethical and intellectual work of reclaiming Indigenous identity. This episode invites listeners into a powerful dialogue about home, healing, and Indigenous futurity.

Resources:

Brittany Penner's website

Learn more about Brittany Penner's new book Children Like Us: A Métis Woman's Memoir of Family, Identity, and Walking Herself Home (2025)

"The Sixties Scoop" educational resources shared by the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the University of British Columbia

"Exploring Identity: Who are the Métis and what are their rights?" (2019 CBC article)