Red Hoop Talk EP 95: Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota

Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota, is a renowned educator, musician, and international speaker on peace and the global challenges facing Native Peoples. For more than three decades, he has been a steadfast voice for the preservation and protection of Mother Earth.

He is the Founder, Host, and Executive Producer of First Voices Radio, an internationally syndicated program that, for 33 years, brought forward the voices and perspectives of the original peoples of the world on issues critical to our shared future. At its height, the program aired on about 120 public, community, and commercial radio stations across the U.S., Canada, and Germany. First Voices Radio concluded with its final live broadcast on July 6, 2025, on Radio Kingston, WKNY 1490 AM and 107.9 FM in New York.

A master Lakota flute player, Tiokasin has performed at venues including the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the Apollo Theater, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the United Nations. His performances have reached audiences around the world, from major cities in the U.S. to Stockholm, Sweden, where he collaborated with acclaimed musician Ebbot Lundberg. He also serves on the boards of several organizations that bring non-Western education to Native and non-Native children.
Tiokasin’s teaching and speaking engagements span continents. He has been guest faculty at Yale University’s School of Divinity, Ecology and Forestry, and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Union Theological Seminary’s Center for Earth Ethics at Columbia University. In fall 2025, he will begin teaching there on cosmology, diversity, and international perspectives of reality.

His work has earned international recognition, including a 2016 nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize from the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy, a National Artist Fellowship in Music from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, and an inaugural nomination to the National Native American Hall of Fame in 2018.

Tiokasin is also a writer. His 2016 book Butterfly Against the Wind, co-authored with visual artist Jadina Lilien, weaves Lakota history, culture, and language into stories of life, nature, love, and deep respect for all beings. He is currently co-authoring a new work, Earth Mind, with Robert Toth and Dr. John Briggs.

Describing himself as a ��perfectly flawed human being” and a Sundancer in the Lakota tradition, Tiokasin continues to share his music, teachings, and advocacy worldwide. Learn more at akantuinstitute.org or explore past episodes of First Voices Radio at firstvoicesindigenousradio.org.

Written by Association on American Indian Affairs