2023 NSW students at Haskell Indian Nations University.

Learn about our Native Storytelling Workshop producers!

Alexandra Blye

Alexandra Blye, a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, is from Tennessee. She is a senior in high school who spends most of her time on the stage, volleyball court or listening to music.

Allera Roberts

My name is Allera Roberts and I am from the Ioway Tribe of Nebraska and Kansas. I am from Hiawatha, Kansas, where I attend high school as a junior. I am a journalist for my school newspaper and a photographer. I plan to go into journalism after high school and apply to the William Allen White School of Journalism [at the University of Kansas].

Blaise Boyd Hensley

I am Blaise Boyd Hensley, I am both Menominee and Comanche. I live in Lawrence, Kansas, and I go to Lawrence High School. I like collecting multiple things such as video games, DVDs and music CDs. I like watching television and movies with my family, drawing and art and going to the Lawrence Art Center.

Braelynn Gilliland

My name is Braelynn, I’m 14 and I live in Hiawatha, Kansas. I am a part of the Ioway Tribe and my mom is the CEO of the White Cloud Boys and Girls Club, so I learn a lot from her. I love volleyball, softball, dance and hanging out with friends and family. I think this program is an amazing experience, not only to learn but to meet new people and make new friends.

Emeri Caldwell

Hán mitákuyepi, Wígmunke Changléškan Wín (Emeri Caldwell) emaćiyapi kštó. Wazí ahanhan emátanhan waniyetu akemasakowin. Hello all my relatives. My name is Sacred Rainbow Woman. I am from Pine Ridge. I am 17 years old. I like to learn the truth about Indigenous cultures and communities. I also like to write.

Emileigh Caldwell

Hán mitákuyapi anpo mahpiya win. Wasichu Emileigh Caldwell emáčiyapi kštó. Wazi anhanhan emátanhan. Oglala Lakota Oyate hematahan. Hello my relatives, my name is Emileigh Caldwell. My Lakota name means Dawning of the Clouds Woman. I am from Pine Ridge and Oglala Lakota Tribe. I like taking advantage of these opportunities [like the Native Storytelling Workshop] because they teach me skills and knowledge I didn’t know I needed.

Estelle Campbell

I’m Estelle Campbell. I’m sixteen and I’m enrolled as Oglala Lakota but I have Pomo, Ho-Chunk Round Valley Indian Tribes (Pomo) and Meskwaki in me. I enjoy spending time creating my own content and I’m excited to see the opportunity and different experiences that I’ll have at the Native Storytelling Program at KU.

Jillian Burk

My name is Jillian Burk. I live in Lincoln, Nebraska. I’m in the Ioway Tribe. I enjoy listening to music and talking to my friends. The Native Storytelling Workshop is really fun. I went here last year [in 2022] and I really hope I make more friends and memories [this year]!

Karen Middleton

My name is Karen Middleton. I am from Lawrence, Kansas, and I am a part of the Kickapoo Tribe. I am a videographer and producer for my school’s news broadcast. This program will help me improve my video and journalism skills.

Kingston Pacheco

My name is Kingston Pacheco. I’m from Crownpoint, New Mexico. I am Navajo/Dine. I am an amateur writer and poet, and this program (Native Storytelling Workshop) is helping with all forms of writing.

Kiyannabah Parrish

My name is Kiyannabah Parrish, I live in Arizona. I am Navajo, Hopi and Jemez Pueblo. I enjoy being around my friends and hanging out with my dad. The Native Storytelling Workshop is an amazing program that brings opportunities to Native kids who want to have a career in journalism.

Lucius Ridge

Lucius is from Oklahoma. He enjoys karaoke and hanging out with his family and friends. He believes that the Native Storytelling Workshop is a wonderful program that offers great opportunities to young Natives in the world of Native media and journalism.

Mat Trump-Torres

My name is Mat Trump-Torres and I am a teenager from Norman, Oklahoma. My relationship with the tribe is quite close as my great grandfather was the tribal leader. My tribe is named The Five Grand Tribes of Ronde, the Umpqua. As for the things that interest me, those are writing and reading as well as watching random comedy movies, not to mention my horror addiction. I enjoy all forms of horror: games, movies and even books, causing me to enjoy writing and filming.

Memphis Ridge

Memphis is very excited to be back for the second time at the Native Storytelling Workshop. He enjoys humor and music so he combined them to create the greatest show of all time: “Terrible Taste.” He hopes to relive his massive success and make a part two to his masterpiece: “Terrible Taste Part 2: The Tastening.” This time: even more terrible and even more tasty.

Zoey Four Bear

My name is Zoey Four Bear and I am from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and am Lakota Sioux. I am a 17-year-old forthcoming senior at Cheyenne-Eagle Butte High School and plan to pursue a career in finance. I will use this program to gain a better understanding of journalism and its impact on my field of study.

Gallery

Studio Visit

Students had the opportunity to learn all aspects of studio production. They practiced anchoring, operating the camera, and running prompter. 

Workshop Instructors

Our workshop instructors were instrumental to this program and allowed the students to learn a wide skill set in journalism.  We were privileged to have such amazing instructors, here you can learn about them.

Melissa Greene-Blye

University of Kansas

Melissa Greene-Blye, Ph.D., Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, examines journalistic representations and negotiations of American Indian identity past and present. Most recently, her work has been published in Journalism History. She has presented research at the American Journalism Historians Association annual conference as well as the Joint Journalism Conference held in New York City each year. Greene-Blye worked as an anchor and reporter during 20 years in the news business covering local news in television markets big and small. She enjoys using her knowledge and experience to educate the newest generation of journalists.


Rebekka Schlichting

University of Kansas

An enrolled member of the loway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Rebekka Schlichting is a documentary filmmaker for public television and owner of Native Storytelling Nation, LLC. She is also an assistant professor of the practice at the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications and an adjunct for Nebraska Indian Community College. Rebekka served as the assistant director and interim director at Vision Maker Media. Before her professional documentary work, she was an adjunct professor and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Nebraska’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications. She also taught Native leadership workshops and skills at the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, SNYL Academy. She is the chair of the powwow committee and member of the Language and Culture committee for the loway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. She is a member of the City of Lawrence Arts and Culture Committee and serves on the Lawrence Free State Film Festival board.


Kevin Abourezk

Indianz.com

Kevin Abourezk is an award-winning journalist who spent 18 years as a reporter and editor for the Lincoln Journal Star, where he wrote thousands of stories and produced numerous news videos. He is the winner of the Associated Press’s Best Enterprise Story Award in 2006 and the prestigious Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism from the Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families for his reporting on the impact of alcohol sales in Whiteclay, Nebraska to residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. A member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Abourezk has spent his career documenting the lives, accomplishments and tragedies of Native American people and in 2017 joined Indianz.com, a Native American news website owned and operated by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. He hosts a bi-weekly podcast for Indianz.com called “Indian Times” that focuses on Native American news. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of South Dakota and a Master of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.


Valerie Vande Panne

Valerie Vande Panne is the Mentor and Editor of the Ilíiaitchik: Indigenous Correspondents program at Planet Forward – George Washington University. She is a mixed-race woman and a descendant of several Southwest tribes. She is the former Managing Editor for Native News Online and the former editor-in-chief of Detroit’s alt-weekly, the Metro Times. A longtime journalist, Vande Panne also worked as a reporter at WGCU, an NPR member station in Southwest Florida, where she contributed environmental stories to Florida Public Radio Network and the Florida Climate Change Reporting Network. She has been a stringer for The New York Times and Reuters. During her career, she has contributed to Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Politico and Salon.


Sheena Roetman

Native Education Manager, Native 

Sheena Roetman, Lakota, is the education manager for the Native American Journalists Association. Previously, Roetman spent six years as director of membership and programs at the Atlanta Press Club, as well as nearly 10 years as a freelance journalist. Her work can be found at Indian Country Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Native Peoples Magazine, Vice Sports and more. Roetman holds a degree in Journalism with a research specialty in American Indian Media from Georgia State University. She is currently based in Atlanta, Ga.