In this special episode of Native Circles, Dr. Farina King brings together Oklahoma-based contributors to COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, co-edited by King and Dr. Wade Davies and published by Palgrave Macmillan. Their conversation reflects on the devastating effects of COVID-19 across Indigenous communities while centering stories of resilience, survivance, sovereignty, healing, humor, and the determination to carry culture and community forward.

King begins by remembering her Aunt Florence, a beloved Diné elder and bearer of language and culture who passed away during the pandemic. The episode then features contributors Dr. Kelly Berry, Midge Dellinger, and Jennifer Frazee, along with the voices and perspectives of RaeLynn Butler, Linda Dellinger, and Kiana Hamilton.

Kelly Berry reflects on working with Native elders and educators at Riverside Indian School during the pandemic, where teaching new technologies developed into opportunities for sharing food, humor, stories, and cultural knowledge. Midge Dellinger discusses her COVID-19 oral history work with Muscogee citizens and the importance of documenting the pandemic in Muscogee voices for healing and future generations. Jennifer Frazee, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, considers the effects of colonialism and intergenerational disruption on Native families while sharing how Indigenous “aunties,” language learning, and digital communities became sources of connection and resilience.

The episode also includes the reflections of Mvskoke elder Linda Dellinger and RaeLynn Butler, Secretary of Culture and Humanities for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and co-author of one of the book’s chapters with Dellinger, whose oral histories emphasize the importance of protecting elders, documenting Indigenous experiences, and caring for one another. Kiana Hamilton, an Osage and Cherokee graduate student in Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma, reflects on how the pandemic exposed longstanding inequities while also demonstrating tribal sovereignty, innovation, and the enduring strength of Native governance and community.

Together, these voices ask us to remember COVID-19 not only as a period of extraordinary grief and loss but also as a story of Indigenous presence and continuance. The conversation highlights the ways Native peoples continued to adapt, teach, remember, laugh, govern, preserve language, care for one another, and move forward during one of the most difficult times of the twenty-first century.

Resources:

COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, edited by Farina King and Wade Davies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)

"COVID Recollections: 'Documenting COVID-19: A Panel Discussion on Community-Based Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic,' Now Available Online," Library of Congress Blogs (March 2025)

"A Twenty-First Century Pandemic in Indian Country: The Resilience of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Against Covid 19," Mvskoke National Library Archive

Riverside Indian School

School of Choctaw Language, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Diné Doctor History Syllabus by Farina King

In this episode, Dr. Farina King and Eva Bighorse sit down with Joseph Perez (who is of Nooksack descent), an actor, U.S. Army veteran, Bronze Star recipient, and law student, to discuss his inspiring journey of resilience, service, and purpose. Joseph reflects on his recent acting roles, including appearing alongside Emma Stone in The Curse, and his commitment to increasing Indigenous representation in the entertainment industry. He also shares how his studies in Native American Law and Entertainment Law, along with his new YouTube channel, JD Ready, are helping him advocate for Indigenous communities and mentor aspiring law students. Together, they discuss the power of pursuing dreams, overcoming adversity, and inspiring Indigenous youth and people from all backgrounds to embrace their potential and create positive change through storytelling, education, and perseverance.

Resources:

JD Ready on YouTube

@realjosephperez on Instagram

Joseph Perez on IMDb

Cupertino (TV Series 2026) on IMDb

"Q&A with Nooksack Actor Joseph Perez" by Kaili Berg

"Rising Star Joseph Perez On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry"

In this episode, Dr. Farina King and guest co-host Dr. Kiara Vigil talk with the editors and contributors of the new book Lyda Conley and the Fight to Preserve Huron Indian Cemetery, which tells the story of a trailblazing Wyandot lawyer and activist who defended the burial grounds of her family and ancestors in Kansas City. This work focuses on the life and legacy of Eliza ("Lyda") Burton Conley, a Wyandot woman whose fight to protect her people’s burial ground continues to shape how we think about federal Indian law, sovereignty, and memory in the United States. Lyda is widely recognized as the first Indigenous woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, but as our guests remind us, she never stood alone. Her sisters Ida and Helena, and generations of Wyandot women, shared in the labor of defending their cemetery and their community, both in the courts and on the ground.

Our guests—historian and educator Dr. Tai Edwards, Wyandot Nation of Kansas member and editor Stephanie Bennett, researcher and writer Samantha (Sam) Gill, and Wyandotte playwright Madeline (Maddie) Easley—discuss how their collaborative book brings together biography, archival documents, oral histories, and theater. They talk about reading newspapers and treaties against the grain, navigating access to scattered archives, and recording oral histories with living relatives and tribal leaders. The book offers not just a narrative of Lyda’s life but a source reader and teaching tool that invites more research and classroom conversation.

Together, the editors and contributors frame Lyda’s story as a refusal to accept erasure—what they call “fighting for memory, fighting for honor.” Their work reminds us why this story matters now, in a moment when Indigenous lands, ancestors, and rights are still contested, and when community-based scholarship and art can help chart more just futures.

The University Press of Kansas launched the Lyda Conley Series on Trailblazing Indigenous Futures several years ago named in honor of Lyda Conley. Kiara Vigil, Tai Edwards, and Farina King serve as co-editors of the series, and they have hoped for a book to acknowledge and highlight the life and work of Lyda Conley. Finally, that hope is realized with this new book.

Resources:

Order the book Lyda Conley and the Fight to Preserve Huron Indian Cemetery

Samantha Gill, blog piece titled, “Lyda Conley: Women’s History Everyone Should Know” (March 2026)

“As a thank you for reading the UPK blog, enjoy 20% off this new book when you order directly from the University Press of Kansas website. Use code: 24BLOG2026 at checkout. Because protecting scholarship and empowering informed citizens starts with readers like you. Good through the end of 2026.”

Madeline Easley website

Native Circles Episode 20: The Lyda Conley Series on Trailblazing Indigenous Futures