Rematriated Voices with Michelle Schenandoah is a 5-episode talk show and companion podcast series that features powerful, intergenerational conversations rooted in Indigenous matrilineal knowledge.
The project centers Haudenosaunee leadership while welcoming Indigenous and allied voices, exploring themes of governance, storytelling, and relationship to Mother Earth.
Grounded in history and community, it serves as a living archive of stories and wisdom often missing from the mainstream.
When I founded Rematriation in 2016, one of my primary goals was to create a talk show that would bring Haudenosaunee wisdom to a larger audience. It took nearly 10 years to build the foundation that would make that possible.
A critical step to producing the show started with my work as a Soros Equality Fellow, which I dedicated to developing what would become Rematriated Voices. That work led to a partnership with Jim O'Connor at Syracuse University Libraries. Through that relationship, Syracuse University committed further support, including funding from the chancellor's office to bring 50 people to our filming location in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, the ancestral and traditional homeland of the Mohawk, members of the Six-Nation Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
We also partnered with Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications to build out the video production. Eleven students, including two Indigenous students, took on roles to record the audio and video components. Newhouse faculty supervised their work, and the students were able to earn academic credit.
Alongside the university partnerships, I worked with consultants to shape the themes for each episode, and with Haudenosaunee storytelling consultants to make sure the content was culturally accurate. The result is 50 people recording five hour-long episodes, all filmed on location over a single weekend.
The biggest challenge was persistence. Bringing a vision like this to life meant securing resources, money, and relationships over years, and holding onto the vision through all of it.
Once the series was complete, I approached our local PBS affiliate, WCNY, and offered the content for free streaming. That decision extended the series' reach to more viewers and helped WCNY meet its own broadcasting goals.
Rematriated Voices premiered on WCNY on Indigenous Peoples' Day, October 13, 2025, and features Robin Wall Kimmerer, Dr. Beverley Jacobs, Mohawk Bear Clan Mother Louise McDonald Herne, and the late Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, among other Indigenous leaders and knowledge keepers. It was produced in partnership with Syracuse University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center and is available as a companion podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, and other major platforms.
The model behind this project is what distinguishes it. We are a Haudenosaunee women-led nonprofit that built an academic partnership that helped train the next generation of student producers, while keeping Indigenous cultural accuracy at the center of every decision.
Rematriated Voices has reached audiences across broadcast, streaming, and community settings since its 2025 premiere.
Broadcast & Streaming
From July 2024 through April 2026, the series drew 1,164 local streams and 2,771 national streams on WCNY, a combined 3,935 viewers. It has also logged 135 views on YouTube.
Podcast
The companion podcast has 229 plays on Spotify (48 distinct listeners) and 291 plays on Apple Podcasts (52 followers).
Screenings
Three high-visibility screenings have taken place: at WCNY's studios, at NYC's American Indian Community House, and in a talking circle at Gloria Steinem's home that resulted in a Fast Company article (https://www.fastcompany.com/91563725/gloria-steinem-talks-parental-leave-women-in-leadership-and-saving-democracy)
Educational Use
The series is being incorporated into classrooms, including a Women & Gender Studies course at a New Jersey university and amongst high schools in Ithaca, NY.
