In this episode of Native Opinion: HOUR 1: Tara Houska, co-founder of "Not Your Mascots" is our guest. Established in 2014, not Your Mascots is an organization dedicated to addressing the misappropriation of Indigenous identity, imagery and culture. Through educational and advocacy efforts, not your mascots provide a more comprehensive understanding of Native people and the damage done to youth and communities through the misrepresentation and mockery of indigenous identities and culture through mascots, stereotypes, and cultural appropriation. Tara is a citizen of Couchiching First Nation. She is a tribal rights attorney based in Washington, D.C. She has lobbied Capitol Hill and worked on a wide range of issues affecting Indian Country, including Indian child welfare, representation and identity, land acquisition, language revitalization, and environmental advocacy while at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Tara raises awareness through grassroots organizing and contributing to many media outlets, including the Daily Show, Washington Post, CBC, RT America, The Guardian, Huffington Post, and Indian Country Today. She is the National Campaigns Director of Honor the Earth, a founding member of NotYourMascots.org, and an advisor on Native American affairs to the Bernie Sanders campaign. HOUR 2: We take a closer look at the flint water crisis, and ask some central questions relevant to American Indian consistent challenges is getting help from individual states as well as the federal government for water problems on many of our reservations. How can Indian country ever expect to trust that state and federal agencies can address our on-going problems. We view the situation in Flint as just another example of what many tribes have ben experiencing for a very long time. This Episode References: http://www.honorearth.org [From Official Website] Our mission is to create awareness and support for Native environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native communities. Honor the Earth develops these resources by using music, the arts, the media, and Indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth and be a voice for those not heard. http://www.notyourmascots.org/ [From Official Website] Established in 2014, Not Your Mascots is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the misappropriation of Indigenous identity, imagery and culture. We are dedicated to using our educational and advocacy efforts to provide a more comprehensive understanding of Native people and the damage done to our youth and communities through the misrepresentation and mockery of our identities and culture through mascots, stereotypes, and cultural appropriation. We are committed to promoting and establishing a common understanding of what it is to truly honor and respect Indigenous people and their culture. Through our efforts, we hope to stress the need for cooperation and unity between native communities, schools, advocacy groups, individuals and the media in helping to create a future in which we can all respect and view each other as human beings. Reach out show: E-Mail: hosts@nativeopinion.com Twitter: @nativeopinion Facebook.com/nativeopinion