ABOUT THIS PODCAST: Dr. Christina M. Castro is of Taos, Jemez, and Chicana lineage. She joins the Native Hope Podcast in this episode centered around concepts of “reclamation, rematriation, and healing.” Tackling the issues surrounding decolonization, she speaks from her heart and personal experiences. Her background is very diverse, in which she shares her perspective on life spent raised in the urban environment of Los Angeles and the journey she ventured on to reclaim her roots on her Pueblo homelands in present day, New Mexico. Professionally, Castro has answered her larger callings by way of higher education, teaching, activism, and human rights advocacy. As a co-founder of the Three Sisters Collective, she brings active awareness to the Santa Fe and surrounding areas, focusing on the pressing issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). Not afraid to voice her concerns and ideas, Castro works daily to being healing to these important, but often overlooked, social ills.
It is beautiful to live a life that is centered on community building and human change, and Castro does just that by following a passion lead by her unique indigenous position. There is not an issue that Castro will not take the time to interpret, as she even provides a well-balanced stance on blood quantum, indigenous representation, and the importance of, “taking up space.” Coming to these understandings does not only have to come by way of academia; Castro expresses that academics only speaks a portion of her truth, for she is also a strong artistic spirit. As a comedian, writer, and actor, she pushes her creativity, referring to herself as a, “recovering academic.” The need for the indigenous feminine voice is of utmost necessity in these times. The vision of what life could be in the future needs to be supported by the actions those take now, and surely Dr. Castro leads by example and by way of fire and resilience.
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