New Mexico podcast amplifies voices of missing and murdered Indigenous women
Originally Published: 28 OCT 25 11:48 ET
By Nicholas Gallo
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NEW MEXICO (KOAT) -- Sheyashe Little Dave and Ahli-Sha "Osh" Stephens are hosts of the "We Are Resilient" podcast.
It focuses on personal stories to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous people. Little Dave and Stephens are both citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and created the podcast to bring attention to overlooked cases.
Four years ago, Little Dave and Stephens noticed that May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. They observed that awareness around this date waned afterward, prompting them to take action.
Their interest in true crime podcasts and the realization that many MMIW cases go unsolved led to the creation of their podcast.
"Fact is that the public outcry just isn't the same," said Little Dave.
"We thought out a couple of names, and I think like native people we're just resilient people we overcome so much in our history we've always been here we're always thriving and I think just representation matters," Stephens said.
The podcast focuses on the people affected by these cases, not just the information on paper.
"Anybody that we cover there, not the circumstances that happened to them, and we really want people to get an idea of who it is that was lost, somebody that matters, somebody that have family somebody that contributed to their community," Little Dave said.
Many cases they cover become personal, such as the death of 29-year-old Ashley Aldrich in Omaha, Nebraska.
"It's heartbreaking, can you imagine you know, let alone you know, having to deal with losing a family member, but being the one to find that family member in such a state," said Little Dave.
Aldrich's body was found in a field on the Omaha Reservation, covered in mud, with her death certificate attributing her death to hypothermia.
"It's just one of those cases where, up until that point, there had been, like, repeated calls and instances of domestic violence that she endured from her boyfriend at the time," Little Dave said. "As a domestic violence survivor, I really, really, hold cases like that really, really close to heart, because, you know, that could happen to anybody."
For Stephens, the recent death of 14-year-old Emily Pike is particularly poignant
"She went missing on Jan. 27 and a week after she went missing her mother received word from the case manager that Emily was missing a whole week later. A week later," said Stephens.
Pike's body was found dismembered in a trash bag off a highway in Arizona.
"That's a hard one, that's because she was just 14 she didn't deserve that," said Stephens.
The podcast serves as an outlet for making an impact and being a voice to a silent epidemic.
"I think over time we seen it grow, we've gotten a lot of feedback from people in our community from people," said Little Dave.
"We know we need to get these stories out there because if we don't, then who is?" said Stephens.
In addition to their podcast, Little Dave and Stephens also give presentations to schools, universities, and organizations, including the Atlanta Braves.
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