Allison Herrera and Mary Bishop, both Salinan Indians, look out at the Indian Cemetery at the San Antonio Mission in Lockwood, California. 
The cemetery was laid out in 1804 at the height of the mission building period in California. Missions were built by California Indians through force. The total number of California Indians laid out in this cemetery is unknown, although Mary said it was in the thousands. Image by Isaac Kestenbaum. California, 2017.
Allison Herrera and Mary Bishop, both Salinan Indians, look out at the Indian Cemetery at the San Antonio Mission in Lockwood, California.The cemetery was laid out in 1804 at the height of the mission building period in California. Missions were built by California Indians through force. The total number of California Indians laid out in this cemetery is unknown, although Mary said it was in the thousands. Image by Isaac Kestenbaum. California, 2017.

Inter(Nation)al is a pilot podcast and radio project that shows the hidden history behind current events through the lens of treaties signed between the U.S. Government and Native Nations. To this day, these treaties bind all of us—both legally and culturally.

Treaties are behind a current legal conflict over jurisdiction of the Penobscot River in Maine, which hinges in part on promises made shortly after the Revolutionary War. California's long-hidden and unratified treaties made during the Gold Rush are still affecting cultural identity today. The story of the Treaty of Fort Laramie can help explain the conflict at Standing Rock.

Inter(Nation)al was developed by independent producers Isaac Kestenbaum, Allison Herrera (Salinan) and Josephine Holtzman at NPR's highly selective StoryLab program, and one of only two projects to receive funding from StoryLab this year. Journalist Mark Trahant (Shoshone-Baddock) is serving in an advisory role, along with Colin Woodard, Joaqlin Estus (Tlingit), Art Hughes and Bryan Pollard (Cherokee).

The Inter(Nation)al team is working directly with NPR editorial staff to create a series of broadcasts that will air on NPR's news magazine programming, as well as a pilot podcast episode and a short video in partnership with NPR's video team.

This is not just history for Native People, nor only for a non-native audience. This is a shared history that is foundational to this entire country.

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