About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of Indian boarding schools on indigenous culture through the experiences shared by Marnee Ryan Lehtonen's grandmother.

In this Diversity Dialogue segment of the Amici podcast program, we explore Indian boarding schools, institutions established in the U.S. and Canada with the expressed goal of eradicating indigenous culture. Our guest is Marnee Ryan Lehtonen, of Corning City Court. Marnee’s grandmother grew up in the notorious Thomas Indian School and, with some prodding by Marnee, shared her experience. Here, Marnee shares what she learned from her grandmother. Diversity Dialogue is a production of the NYS Unified Court System’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion. Transcript: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/files/2025-09/Marnee.pdf #indianboardingschools #orangeshirtday

People in this episode

Host: John Caher

Guest: Marnee Ryan Lehtonen

Topics covered

• Indian boarding schools
• indigenous culture
• diversity dialogue
• historical trauma
• cultural erasure

Keywords

• Indian boarding schools
• indigenous culture
• Marnee Ryan Lehtonen
• Thomas Indian School
• diversity dialogue

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NYS Unified Court System’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion

Places: Corning City Court, Thomas Indian School, U.S., Canada

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