I am so pleased, and I am so ready to welcome Simon and Julie back to the show because

it has been a week, and I know I say that every time it gets to be Thursday night. Simon Moia

Smith is an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist. He is a contributing writer at NBC News and

The Nation.com. Simon's also the author of the forthcoming book, Your Spirit Animal is a jackass, and he's an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist. He is a contributing writer at NBC News and The Nation.com.

Simon's also the author of the forthcoming book, Your Spirit Animal is a jackass, and he's an adjunct professor of indigenous studies at the University of Colorado, Denver. Simon, welcome back. Love to be here, man. It's nice to have you. Good to see you. Julie Franchella is a mental health professional with over 30 years of experience and handling complex trauma with indigenous youth and families,

Julie's, an enrolled member of the Ajibway, a Batchewana First Nation Reserve. She teaches indigenous studies at Durham College focusing on the impacts of colonization and media culture on First Nations people. Julie, it's so great to have you back. Thank you so much for having us.

Thank you for being had. And I just want to say one of the highlights of a very sad week was reading

your beautiful piece about Robert Redford, Julie, on Substack. I've really been looking forward to

talking about his legacy of storytelling and activism. And at a time when there are so few

artists willing to put their names on the line for any cause, Redford was pretty consistent

for indigenous peoples. And I mean, I'm even including the Malago Beanfield War, the kind of

films he produced, the kind of organizations he lent

his name to, and giving us movies like Thunder Art and Incident at Oglala, one of the best

documentaries ever made. In your piece, you call him a lifelong ally to indigenous people,

and I want to ask you both, just a little bit about Redford. And Julie, what do you think it was

that motivated this man to

stick with indigenous storytelling for decades, even when Hollywood executives told him the biggest

star in the world, no one would watch? You know, for me, when I think about Robert Redford,

the word that comes to mind is integrity. You know, I think he had a relationship with the land.

I think he was connected to the land in a way that, you know, a lot of non-Indigenous people, you don't see that very often.

And so I think he recognized that in the indigenous people.

That's just my opinion, but I think that he really

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