In this powerful episode of the Matriarch Movement Podcast, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild sits down with Santee Siouxx (she/her), a jingle dress dancer and advocate from the Dakota Tipi First Nation.

Santee shares her personal story of growing up on the reserve, including the challenges her community faced like the nearby mushroom plant that caused health issues within the community and surrounding areas.

But beyond the hardships, Santee speaks to the deep importance of reconnecting with spirituality, ceremonies, and cultural practices. She describes how sundancing has been transformative for her healing and spiritual development. “Those four years really taught me how to be grounded spiritually, within my dreams, within myself and finding out who I am,” Santee explains.

Santee emphasizes that many Indigenous youth and even elders struggle to feel worthy of participating in these sacred ceremonies due to the trauma inflicted by colonization. However, she encourages everyone to overcome that fear and self-doubt, reminding them “you have every right to be in your ceremonies.” Santee shares how the medicines, rituals, and connection to Creator have been essential for her own journey of self-discovery and wholeness.

Equally important to Santee is the need for greater representation and inclusion of Indigenous voices, histories, and perspectives. She discusses the lack of Indigenous content in school curriculums and the media, and calls on non-Indigenous people to take responsibility for learning the true story of this land. “When we know our true history, it allows us to have better leadership. Allows us to have good structure in our school systems,” Santee asserts.

Through her powerful words and lived experience, Santee Siouxx inspires listeners to reconnect with their Indigenous roots, reclaim their narratives, and work towards a more just, equitable society. Her message is one of resilience, spirituality, and the transformative potential that lies in embracing your culture and ancestral teachings. As Santee says, “We have our medicines, we have our ceremonies, we have those things, we have those tools, and those tools were given to us by Creator to keep us strong.”

Matriarch Movement is created and hosted by Shayla Oulette Stonechild and produced by Kattie Laur. Video production by Sara Cornthwaite, headshot and behind the scenes photography by Kikki Guerard, on set assistance by Echo Mcleod. This was shot on Treaty 13 territory in Tkaronto (Toronto).

• Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube
• Follow Santee on instagram @santeesiouxx
• Follow Shayla Oulette Stonechild on Instagram @shayla0h
• Follow Matriarch Movement on Instagram @matriarch.movement