Ep 108 - Yasmine Austin Sapulpa, citizen of the Choctaw Nation

In this episode of "Red Hoop Talk," host Jennifer Robin welcomes Yasmine Austin Sapulpa, citizen of the Choctaw Nation, an artist, basket maker, educator and stickball player whose work centers on keeping Choctaw culture active and connected to everyday life. Yasmine shares how growing up Black and Native shaped her understanding of identity and belonging.

The conversation explores the importance of recognizing Native Peoples as authorities of their own histories and cultures. Yasmine discusses Choctaw oral knowledge and challenges the idea that knowledge carried through generations requires outside academic validation before it is taken seriously.

Yasmine also shares her work with Choctaw basketry and river cane, including learning to harvest, process and weave cane and recreating an unusual triangular basket form. Her experience highlights the relationships between cultural practices, the land, and the materials that make those practices possible.

Jennifer and Yasmine also discuss Native art, cultural appropriation, and the ways traditions continue to grow and adapt. The episode closes with Choctaw stickball; a traditional, full-contact sport Yasmine continues to play today. Through basketry, art, education and stickball, Yasmine shows how culture continues through Native Peoples who live, practice, create and carry it forward.

Each episode of "Red Hoop Talk" creates space for Native voices, knowledge, and experiences. By supporting the Association on American Indian Affairs, you help us continue sharing these conversations and keeping Native voices close to culture!