<em>The Experiment </em>Podcast: Should We Return National Parks to Native Americans?
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The national-park system has been touted as “America’s best idea.” David Treuer, an Ojibwe historian and the author of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America From 1890 to the Present, says we can make that idea even better—by giving national parks back to Native Americans.
This episode of The Experiment originally ran on April 15, 2021.
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This episode was produced by Tracie Hunte and Gabrielle Berbey, with editing by Matt Collette and Katherine Wells. Fact-check by Jack Segelstein. Sound design by David Herman. Additional engineering by Joe Plourde.
Music by Laundry (“Films”), Parish Council (“Socks Before Trousers” and “Heatherside Stores”), h hunt (“11e” and “Journeys”), and naran ratan (“Trees etc.”), provided by Tasty Morsels. Additional music by John Charles Schroeder and Ross Taggart Garren (“Mournful Blues”) and Ken Anderson and Rebecca Ruth Hall (“Calliope - Underscore”). Additional audio from National Geographic, WNYC, PBS, and C-SPAN.
A transcript of this episode is presented below:
(The sounds of geese honking, then a cacophony of other animals cooing and roaring and screeching over organ music. Suddenly, the audio winds down and back.)
Julia Longoria: So, Tracie Hunte!
Tracie Hunte: Hi!
Longoria: What are you go—[Laughs, realizing she jumped right in.] Hi! What are you going to do this summer?
Hunte: So, I’m super pumped because this summer, me and my niece and my niece’s mom, we are going to the Grand Canyon. It’s going to be a girl’s trip. And I’m super excited because this is my first time going to a national park as an adult. And, you know, it’s such a classic American road trip kind of thing.
Longoria: (Chuckles.) It is. It’s, like, the kids whining in the back, like, "Are we there yet?” and then—
Hunte: (Laughingly.) Oh, yeah! No, she is not excited about going to the Grand Canyon. She’s like, “Can’t I just come to New York?”
Longoria: Yeah!
Hunte: And I’m like, “No! We’re going to the Grand Canyon!” ()
