- Details
- By Kristen Lilya, Native StoryLab
What happens when the person who cared for you in your most vulnerable moment becomes the center of a national tragedy?
In the next episode of Native Bidaské, host Levi Rickert speaks with Sandy White Hawk (Sicangu Lakota) and Dr. Sam Torres (Nahua) in a conversation that is deeply personal—and painfully familiar to many Indigenous families.
Sandy White Hawk, Elder-in-Residence at the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and a U.S. Navy veteran, reflects on the violent death of Alex Pretti, the nurse who cared for her during a recent ICU stay at the Minneapolis VA Hospital. She remembers his quiet compassion, his patience, and the safety he created in moments of fear—reminding us that care itself is a form of medicine.
As the discussion widens, Dr. Torres, Deputy CEO of NABS, places this loss within a broader reality facing Indigenous communities in the Twin Cities: heightened fear, federal enforcement actions, and the targeting of Indigenous and undocumented relatives. The result is an atmosphere heavy with grief—and vigilance.
This episode of Native Bidaské is not a recap of headlines. It is an invitation to witness lived truth, to understand how Indigenous communities respond when harm ripples outward, and to remember that care, courage, and kinship are inseparable.
🎥 Watch the full episode of Native Bidaské and hear directly from those living this moment—because understanding begins with listening.
Watch on Facebook, YouTube, and nativenewsonline.net.
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