In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we’re highlighting the voices of Native American people through a few of their conversations at StoryCorps. Listen below to the stories and lives of Indigenous people from all backgrounds across the country.

Share your story. StoryCorps Connect makes it possible to interview a loved one remotely and then upload it to the StoryCorps archive at the Library of Congress. Learn more at StoryCorpsConnect.org.

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“She stood up and said, ‘No, I have something to say.’”
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A Mother And Son Remember “Grandma Chief”

In 1985, Wilma Mankiller made history when she became the first woman to lead the Cherokee Nation. Her family remembers her as an inspiring trailblazer, and as a supportive mother and grandmother.
Read the full transcript here.

My Father, the Giant

Thompson Williams remembers his father, a larger-than-life tribal leader of the Caddo Nation and a veteran of World War II.
Read the full transcript here.

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"I remember going through family albums looking for my face in old photographs..."
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Diane Tells His Name

Diane Tells His Name’s family is from the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota — something she didn’t know until she was an adult, after she discovered she had been adopted.
Read the full transcript here.

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“This year, I'm the age she was when she disappeared.”
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Remembering Leona Kinsey

Carolyn DeFord, a Puyallup tribal member, remembers her mom, Leona Kinsey, who disappeared twenty years ago. She is part of an epidemic of Native American women who have gone missing and never been found.
Read the full transcript here.

The Bookmobile

Storm Reyes was working full-time at a migrant work camp at age 8. She remembers the day a bookmobile arrived, and the world was suddenly at her fingertips.
Read the full transcript here.

Where I Come From

Barnie Botone looks back on the beauty and the tragedies that he and his family have experienced on the railroad.
Read the full transcript here.

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