A new digital series on New Mexico PBS explores creative solutions by Indigenous communities in architecture, food, engineering and design. "Indigi-Genius" covers a wide range of topics, including the nutritional science behind blue corn mush, cartography, water management and how cradleboards became the basis for modern child carriers. KUNM’s Megan Kamerick caught up with Lee Francis, a writer and producer for the series and also the host. He's from Laguna Pueblo.
LEE FRANCIS: As I've always said, the work that I like to do is to spark the Indigenous imagination. And hopefully this is something that Native young people see and Native communities see and see themselves reflected in this very positive way, and they continue to build on that positivity, continue to show the world that Native folks are bright, brave, bold, brilliant, dynamic thinkers, intellectuals, innovators. That's where I think this is going to go. And for my non-Native relatives, this gives us a chance to showcase all of that incredible technologies and innovations and thought, pure engineering, or science or understandings that are often dismissed in our history books, and many of our pop culture conversations.
KUNM: What kind of stereotypes or narratives about Indigenous people do you hope to disrupt with this series and “Indigi-Genius”?
FRANCIS: Really the historicization of Native identity that Native people were relics of the past, then the stereotype sort of boils down to food, feathers, and fun. Well, we do talk about food, so that's great. And we hope the show is fun, but – and I think there are some feathers in there -- but it's not the only focus of the show, the focus is on the communities that created these amazing things to take care of their children, to take care of their elders to take care of themselves. And always coming back to that is the most essential part of how we break the stereotypes, is that we focus on the humanity, we focus on the people, we focus on their brilliance.
KUNM: You know, one of my favorite panels at the Indigenous Comic Con, which you created was “Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse on the Rez.” And the two women who hosted it were actually using some really fun, nerdy tips from zombie movies to illustrate the resilience of Indigenous communities. Basically, “we've been here, we've already survived genocide, we got this,” which could apply to all kinds of scenarios, climate change, pandemics, food shortages. I sense the same spirit in the show.
FRANCIS: There is! There's a bit of humor for it, there's a bit of that understanding that these are things that we've passed on generationally that have helped our community survive, and that are low-cost. You know, they're not fancy bells and whistles. And a lot of technology has been built on this. But this is still stuff that you can see, we still have blue corn mush the way it was probably when my ancestors 1000 years ago did it. We have baby carriers, cradle boards, that are pretty much the same and not fancy straps, and all the rest of that. So a lot of this technology is still utilitarian, useful, and it's stuff that you can find right in your backyard. And I think that's also the brilliance of all of this is that it's sustainable. All of the things that we talk about within “Indigi-Genius” are sustainable technologies. They're sustainable strategies. And I think that's going to be it continued to be important as we move forward into this kind of uncertain climate chaos.
KUNM: It's so ironic that now, today, if you want to buy an adobe house, it's incredibly expensive,
FRANCIS: Right? I'm like, that's just mud from the backyard what you're doing. That's mud, and hey, yeah, but you think about it, that building technology hasn't changed, but it's warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And there are scientific and engineering reasons for that, because of the way that things absorb and the way that the mud absorbs and native folks that already figured that out are like “Oh, yeah, no, we got that y'all relax.”
KUNM: What do you want people to take away from the series.
FRANCIS: I want them to take away a sense of joy, and celebration, around Indigenous identity. This is a celebration of those innovations. This is fun. This is dynamic. It's a good spirit and a good heart, to the best of my ability. I'm sure folks will say we didn't include that or you mispronounced it. I was like, “I absolutely know. But this was out of a good spirit want you to take it in a good spirit. And we want you to make something that you get to make something better.”
KUNM: Well Lee Francis, thank you so much. Looking forward to the watch party and the series “Indigi-Genius.”
FRANCIS: It's going to be great. Thank you so much for having me again.
“Indigi-Genius” premieres February 15 at 6 p.m. with a watch party on the NMPBS YouTube channel, the NMPBS Facebook page, and on the PBS Video App.