In Alaska, songs from Oklahoma

The weekly show of community deejay Lisa Ellanna Strickling – Thursdays at 1pm – has quickly become a favorite for KNOM listeners, and with good reason.

Lisa pours her heart and her extensive knowledge of music into each of her shows, which focus on the Native musical traditions of Alaska and the United States in general.

Playing Native music – that of Alaska Native cultures, in particular – is one of KNOM’s oldest and most essential traditions. Earlier this year (on Halloween), Lisa’s show brought a new, and very welcome, addition to our Native music, as she featured the live singing of Fawn White and her brother, Woody White, who shared with Lisa and our listeners the musical traditions of the Native American tribes in which they were raised: the Cherokee and Ponca (PONK-uh) tribes of Oklahoma.

Fawn and Woody, pictured with Lisa at right, also sang songs from the Kiowa (KIGH-oh-wuh) and Choctaw traditions, and we know that their songs made a special moment for many of our listeners. Thank you for making shows like this possible.


Hear this show! In this longer edit (41 minutes – download), Fawn and Woody talk with Lisa about their personal and family histories, growing up within the cultural and faith traditions of the Cherokee and Ponca tribes of Oklahoma:

This shorter edit (17 minutes – download) contains just the songs Fawn and Woody sang on Lisa’s show, with brief introductions and/or short stories for each:


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