1
00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:06,720
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and SMITHA.

2
00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:08,480
Speaker 2: I'm welcome to stuff. I never told your production of

3
00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:09,080
Speaker 2: iHeart Radio.

4
00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:23,160
Speaker 1: And today is October fourteenth, twenty twenty five. I think

5
00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:27,040
Speaker 1: we're just gonna just timestamp as many relevant current affair

6
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,000
Speaker 1: things as possible, so you know what's happening at the

7
00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:31,960
Speaker 1: very top. Because I've discovered when people don't do this

8
00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,280
Speaker 1: like in articles, yeah, or social media videos, I get

9
00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,120
Speaker 1: very confused. And that feels really mean because I'm like,

10
00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,840
Speaker 1: did this just happen or it's just old news that's

11
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:46,720
Speaker 1: rehappening because it just feels that way. Anny, it just

12
00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,280
Speaker 1: feels that way. But anyway, and yesterday, just in case

13
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:52,879
Speaker 1: you need to know, what's Indigenous People's Day, So we

14
00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,280
Speaker 1: wanted to take a minute to celebrate another Indigenous activist

15
00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,600
Speaker 1: because there are many out there. I feel like when

16
00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,120
Speaker 1: it comes to activism, indigenous in itself is activism, so

17
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,720
Speaker 1: you know, just as a reminder of what Indigenous people

18
00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,440
Speaker 1: do for us. But it was so we wanted again

19
00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:13,760
Speaker 1: to celebrate another one, and this time we are celebrating

20
00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,240
Speaker 1: Brittany woods Orson. So woods Orson is a part of

21
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,960
Speaker 1: the Koya Khan Denay from the Delectune Alaska, which is

22
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,560
Speaker 1: a small village on the Yukon River. And just in

23
00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:26,760
Speaker 1: case y'all that't know what's going on, there's a lot

24
00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,200
Speaker 1: of things happening in Alaska. Several people have died or

25
00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:34,800
Speaker 1: are missing because of the storms and recently due to

26
00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,360
Speaker 1: a typhoon I believe typhoon Howlong, which has happened in

27
00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:43,040
Speaker 1: Alaska and people are in chaos. We haven't heard much

28
00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,640
Speaker 1: about it because there's so many bad things happening, but

29
00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:48,000
Speaker 1: I feel like it's something that we do need to

30
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,880
Speaker 1: pay attention to, obviously, because there are many people who

31
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:53,880
Speaker 1: are talking about the fact that they are not getting help.

32
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,000
Speaker 1: They're not getting attention, they're not getting aid or services

33
00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,800
Speaker 1: of any sorts because our administry she is decided to

34
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:06,280
Speaker 1: focus on fake wars in other places. But with all

35
00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,360
Speaker 1: of that, yes, things are happening there, and so we

36
00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,839
Speaker 1: wanted to bring attention to some of the activists there

37
00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:13,920
Speaker 1: so we can know what's going on, because you know,

38
00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:15,200
Speaker 1: they're going to be the people who are probably at

39
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,720
Speaker 1: the forefront telling us the truth of what is happening

40
00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:20,280
Speaker 1: and what's Orison is someone that I would also pay

41
00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,880
Speaker 1: attention to. So she has many titles under her belt

42
00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:29,160
Speaker 1: including activists, digital equity advocate, filmmaker, athlete, and model like

43
00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:31,880
Speaker 1: she is out there, she's also a culinary chef like

44
00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,400
Speaker 1: studied in the Bay Area as well. I'm like, how

45
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,120
Speaker 1: do you have time for all of this, because, like

46
00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,520
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about the many times I'm just tired and

47
00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:49,560
Speaker 1: researching people like her like, Wow, you're amazing. I love you. Also,

48
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 1: are you not tired? You do you? You do you?

49
00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,960
Speaker 1: You do amazing an amazing amount of things. But in

50
00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:56,960
Speaker 1: her own words that she talks about her life as

51
00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,960
Speaker 1: a part of a small village with her community, then

52
00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,519
Speaker 1: a transitioning or adjusting to the transition of being a

53
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,880
Speaker 1: part of the sea life, but holding onto her heritage.

54
00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:08,760
Speaker 1: So if you read through her story, she talks about

55
00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,799
Speaker 1: being from that village with her grandparents and her people,

56
00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,240
Speaker 1: learning to fish and learning about their own culture and

57
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,079
Speaker 1: not knowing anything different, and then schools being closed down

58
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,320
Speaker 1: or funding happening, and so she having to move into

59
00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,720
Speaker 1: other areas, going to different boarding schools, trying different areas,

60
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,000
Speaker 1: moving to California, and things like that. So she knows

61
00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,240
Speaker 1: a lot about this type of displacement. A part of

62
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 1: this is allowing also for her to her passion and

63
00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,440
Speaker 1: hard to grow and gain equity to continue to share

64
00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,760
Speaker 1: for her people and the stories as well as preserving

65
00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,920
Speaker 1: their culture. One of her important work is getting digital

66
00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,920
Speaker 1: accessibility for areas around Alaska. So here's a bit from

67
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,320
Speaker 1: her Vokee interview. She was just featured in twenty twenty

68
00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,480
Speaker 1: four I Believe with her cousin, which was really a

69
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,720
Speaker 1: sweet The article says, it's a matter of pressing importance

70
00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,800
Speaker 1: to Woods Orson, who works as a broadband specialist bringing

71
00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,440
Speaker 1: digital equity to Alaska natives. More specifically, her advocacy focuses

72
00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:06,360
Speaker 1: on affordable internet access for all, including those in the

73
00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,400
Speaker 1: most isolated rural areas. And I know, any you lived

74
00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,680
Speaker 1: in Alaska for a while, so I'm sure you could

75
00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:14,240
Speaker 1: kind of talk about some of the things that you

76
00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,679
Speaker 1: had witnessed in the importance of equity as well.

77
00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I was very very young, so most

78
00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:25,000
Speaker 2: of my stuff is like secondhand that my parents told me.

79
00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,160
Speaker 2: But it was a big deal. My dad was a

80
00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,719
Speaker 2: professor there. I don't remember those, but according to my parents,

81
00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:36,120
Speaker 2: they would send home VHS's of classes because you couldn't

82
00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:40,480
Speaker 2: always get to the school. And so I can only imagine,

83
00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,640
Speaker 2: you know, who's to say back then, who had a

84
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,599
Speaker 2: VCR and who didn't, who had working TV and who didn't.

85
00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,320
Speaker 2: And I can only imagine that when you add in

86
00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,200
Speaker 2: the Internet and the technology required for that, because we've

87
00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:02,840
Speaker 2: done an episode on the internet. Gender gap means yeah,

88
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,520
Speaker 2: but it was definitely a thing that my dad, as

89
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,960
Speaker 2: a professor, talked about, was how to get information out

90
00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:09,359
Speaker 2: to people.

91
00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, we haven't, Like we had that one episode

92
00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,159
Speaker 1: and then I know, we did an interview with a

93
00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,640
Speaker 1: running in activist who talked about accessibility as well. And

94
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,799
Speaker 1: when we talk about activism, when we talk about protests,

95
00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:25,680
Speaker 1: when we talk about keeping governments accountable, how important digital

96
00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,160
Speaker 1: access is. And then again we talk about medicine, we've

97
00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,600
Speaker 1: been talking about telehealth all of that and how that

98
00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:33,919
Speaker 1: slow goes away. We just had an interview with doctor

99
00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,440
Speaker 1: Sharon Malone who talked about that as well, and how

100
00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:38,840
Speaker 1: we really need to learn to embrace some of these

101
00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,000
Speaker 1: things because it can be life saving. Accessibility and broadband

102
00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,239
Speaker 1: is one of those. And I've seen that term coming

103
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,880
Speaker 1: more and more. I feel like I'm still behind and

104
00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,479
Speaker 1: knowing that it's been there, but it's not given the

105
00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,440
Speaker 1: name and the credit that it deserves today, including her,

106
00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,520
Speaker 1: and she's been working with Alaska Public Interest Research Groups

107
00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,320
Speaker 1: or a kpi RG as a broad and specialists. From

108
00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,400
Speaker 1: the same Vogue interview, they write wod Orson herself grew

109
00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,279
Speaker 1: up without internet access at home. The importance of the

110
00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,120
Speaker 1: initiative was clear to her. She has vivid memories starting

111
00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,960
Speaker 1: circle middle school of waiting with her cousins outside their

112
00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:17,120
Speaker 1: tribal council building hoping to get online. Quote, surrounded by mosquitoes,

113
00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,720
Speaker 1: maybe a bear was walking behind us. And still to

114
00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,600
Speaker 1: this day you'll see people outside in like negative thirty

115
00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,560
Speaker 1: degree weather trying to get on the internet. This is

116
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,040
Speaker 1: the current context. Oh oh, my gosh. And Alaska has

117
00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,800
Speaker 1: been in need of digital accessibility for a while, which

118
00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,039
Speaker 1: we've talked about again. When it comes to assets like

119
00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,680
Speaker 1: medical and educational social needs, it's a must. It's something

120
00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:44,640
Speaker 1: that we need nowadays. From Alaskamagazine dot com, they write, quote,

121
00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,680
Speaker 1: Alaska ranks last among US states for internet access. The

122
00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,200
Speaker 1: most service is the southeast and south central Alaska, and

123
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,360
Speaker 1: the least, which often means none, is in southwest in

124
00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,120
Speaker 1: interior Alaska. But even where access is high, like in

125
00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:03,120
Speaker 1: southeast Alaska. As some rural communities go without, urban residents

126
00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,800
Speaker 1: can lack affordable access too. Statewide, Alaska Native people are

127
00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:10,440
Speaker 1: twice as likely as Caucasians to lack access and according

128
00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:17,320
Speaker 1: to Broadband Now research, and that is unbelievable. Don't remember correctly.

129
00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,600
Speaker 1: I believe the current one of the current representatives from

130
00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,000
Speaker 1: there had all of this as a part of her

131
00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,280
Speaker 1: agreeing yes to the big beautiful bill, and that got

132
00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:43,840
Speaker 1: shut down. Just pause in that respect, and of course,

133
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:45,920
Speaker 1: with access to the Internet, it helps bring a bit

134
00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:47,800
Speaker 1: of equal footing when it comes to the arts and

135
00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,800
Speaker 1: film industry. Woods Orlsen is a filmmaker herself and knows

136
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,280
Speaker 1: the importance of internet access with her experience in her background.

137
00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:57,880
Speaker 1: She's been busy working to achieve as much as possible

138
00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:00,840
Speaker 1: and get connected with as many others as well. Again

139
00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,440
Speaker 1: back to her Vogue feature quote. Seeing what she needs

140
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,520
Speaker 1: so achieve, she dove in connecting with as many organizations

141
00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,120
Speaker 1: and people as possible. Her approach was straightforward. She told them,

142
00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,800
Speaker 1: this is who I work for. These are the goals.

143
00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,640
Speaker 1: I'm an Alaska Native. I grew up without the Internet.

144
00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,360
Speaker 1: I have this vision for the Internet in Alaska. The

145
00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,440
Speaker 1: vision that woods Orison shared was of Alaska Natives being

146
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:23,840
Speaker 1: able to live in their homeland, to move back from

147
00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,440
Speaker 1: the places they've had to relocate to for work and schooling,

148
00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,400
Speaker 1: and to reconnect with their cultures in old ways and

149
00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,840
Speaker 1: new because a lot of us we move out of

150
00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,840
Speaker 1: state and we get completely cut off. The first time

151
00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,319
Speaker 1: I heard my language spoken fluently was on zoom at

152
00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:43,080
Speaker 1: a class when I was in California. Affordable fast internet

153
00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:46,640
Speaker 1: is also central for climate crisis related economic reasons. Not

154
00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:49,640
Speaker 1: only does it expand across to opportunities, but it can

155
00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,560
Speaker 1: fundamentally change what those opportunities are. And they quote woods

156
00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:58,640
Speaker 1: Orson saying I dream of diversifying our economy, and she

157
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,520
Speaker 1: goes on to talk about the industry and so much more,

158
00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,360
Speaker 1: and how this is kind of really taken away obviously

159
00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,280
Speaker 1: from her community and from many of the natives of Alaska.

160
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,480
Speaker 1: And I think there's so much to this conversation that again,

161
00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,400
Speaker 1: we need to delve into. When it comes to a

162
00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,680
Speaker 1: lot like if we did regional episodes, that would probably

163
00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:22,800
Speaker 1: take us five years any and then we would have

164
00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:24,920
Speaker 1: to come back and revisit each one because it'd be

165
00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:30,280
Speaker 1: new things every time. Oh yeah, oh yeah, anyway, Yeah,

166
00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,000
Speaker 1: all that just hit my mind. I was like, wait,

167
00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:34,839
Speaker 1: because when we talk about the accessibility for Alaska, I

168
00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,320
Speaker 1: don't think we talk enough about what they contributed, what

169
00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,080
Speaker 1: they're lacking, what they need, and how often they are ignored,

170
00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:43,920
Speaker 1: and how they are a big community that have been

171
00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,959
Speaker 1: colonized and yet left alone, much like Puerto Rico. Is

172
00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,880
Speaker 1: such an odd like dissonance in this conversation. And she's

173
00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,920
Speaker 1: been working hard to bringing as much attention and credit

174
00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,040
Speaker 1: to the practices and principles of indigenous cultures with her

175
00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,199
Speaker 1: own works with different independent filings fils, and her continued

176
00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,920
Speaker 1: work and advocacy. She has been busy. From her website,

177
00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,240
Speaker 1: she writes in twenty twenty five, I'm transitioning into full

178
00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:12,160
Speaker 1: time freelance work. I've become a Tanning High teacher. I'm

179
00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:14,880
Speaker 1: making my own films, taking on multiple different roles in

180
00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:19,239
Speaker 1: film work, writing, interviewing, teaching Native games, being an international

181
00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,520
Speaker 1: Native Games athlete, and engaging in all the cultural community

182
00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,640
Speaker 1: work that I can dream of. And she talks about

183
00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,559
Speaker 1: relearning her language, which we've talked about that importance, how

184
00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,640
Speaker 1: native languages are so important and oftentimes overlooked. Purposefully We

185
00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:36,480
Speaker 1: know that colonization wants to acclimate everyone into one specific

186
00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,040
Speaker 1: type of hierarchy of culture, and that is appalling and

187
00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,320
Speaker 1: disgusting and is genicidal. But in all of that, she

188
00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,280
Speaker 1: continues to work hard to get these attentions. She was

189
00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:52,679
Speaker 1: featured in Vogue wearing her community jewelry and necklaces and gear,

190
00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:55,920
Speaker 1: and I love that. We love all of this, and

191
00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,480
Speaker 1: we do want to see what's going on in Alaska.

192
00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,760
Speaker 1: And if anybody knows that information, has more information about

193
00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:03,040
Speaker 1: what's happening, please let us know.

194
00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,960
Speaker 2: Yes, please do. You can email us at Hello at

195
00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:09,960
Speaker 2: Stuff Onnever Told You dot com. You can find us

196
00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:12,440
Speaker 2: on Blue Sky at mom Stuff podcasts, on Instagram and

197
00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,120
Speaker 2: TikTok at stuff I Never Told You. We're also on YouTube.

198
00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,680
Speaker 2: We have some new merchandise at Cotton Bureau, and we

199
00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,760
Speaker 2: have a book you can get wherever you get your books.

200
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,160
Speaker 2: Thanks as always too, our super producer Christina, executive producer

201
00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:25,920
Speaker 2: and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you

202
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:27,920
Speaker 2: for listening Stuff Never Told You, the production of My

203
00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:29,719
Speaker 2: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you

204
00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:31,760
Speaker 2: can check out the heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or

205
00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:33,280
Speaker 2: wherever you listen. To your favorite shows,