Native Circles
This podcast features Native American and Indigenous voices, stories, and experiences for everyone to learn, not only in North America but also throughout the world. The founders of Native Circles are Dr. Farina King (Diné) and Sarah Newcomb (Tsimshian), who were inspired to start this podcast to educate wider publics about the interconnections and significance of Native American, Alaska Native, and Indigenous experiences and matters. The primary co-hosts of the podcast are Dr. King, Dr. Davina Two Bears, and Eva Bighorse. Dr. King is the Horizon Chair of Native American Ecology and Culture and a professor of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Two Bears (Diné) is an assistant professor in the School for Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. Bighorse (Cayuga and Diné) is an Indigenous human development advocate with expertise in tribal healthcare relations. Brian D. King is an editor for the podcast with experiences in journalism and writing. Learn more about the podcast and episodes on the official website of "Native Circles" at https://nativecirclespodcast.com/.
Native Circles
"Children Like Us": Brittany Penner on the Sixties Scoop and Walking Home
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:
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)
