At the age of three, Ella was placed under the guardianship of non-Native caretakers who took control of her family’s land. Despite the challenges she faced, Ella grew into a strong matriarch who nurtured her family while keeping much of her painful past private.

“My great-grandmother was like most grandmothers. Sweet, always cooking for us. She would crochet. But she was so quiet about the things that happened in her lifetime,” Rachael recalled.

After Ella’s passing, Rachael uncovered more of her great-grandmother’s story through a paper written by her sister, who had interviewed Ella for a college project. Reading her great-grandmother’s words brought Rachael to tears and ignited a deep desire to preserve not only Ella’s legacy but also the untold histories of other Native families.

“I was lying in bed one night and crying, and I remembered that my sister had given me that paper. I thought, ‘Oh, those are her words.’ And I sat there and cried even more, just learning about her life,” said Rachael. “Knowing that she was always such a positive, kind person, you would never know the things that she had gone through, which was a lot.”

In 2020, Rachael launched Native ChocTalk as a means to document and celebrate these invaluable narratives. She invites guests to share their family histories, cultural practices, and personal insights, offering a platform where Native voices are the authority. For Rachael, the podcast is both a labor of love and a mission to combat historical erasure.

Through Native ChocTalk, Rachael has preserved a wealth of knowledge about Native traditions, from ribbon skirts to frybread, as well as oral histories that rarely make it into textbooks. She has interviewed a diverse range of guests, from tribal leaders and artisans to everyday individuals whose ancestral stories reveal profound connections to history. Her episodes touch on themes of resilience, identity, and community, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that future generations have access to these treasures of cultural memory.

“I remember growing up hearing [stories]. I’ve got my great-grandmother’s stories. I’ve got stories from my hometown, and I’d love to hear more of that for selfish reasons,” Rachael said. “But I’d also like to preserve it with people, and especially with our Choctaw tribe. I really want to hear from other Choctaws.”

Rachael’s commitment extends beyond storytelling. She uses her platform to promote Native-owned businesses and artists, shining a spotlight on beadwork, paintings, and other traditional crafts. She also emphasizes the importance of recording family stories, encouraging others to capture the voices and faces of their elders before it’s too late. Rachael has experienced the bittersweet pain of losing a cherished recording of her great-grandmother, a youthful mistake that only strengthened her resolve to help others preserve their legacies.

One of the podcast’s most rewarding aspects for Rachael has been connecting with listeners who have rediscovered their Native roots or found empowerment in their identities. She recalls the story of a woman who, through Choctaw Nation’s genealogy department, confirmed her Native ancestry and became an active advocate for adoption within Native communities. Such stories, Rachael believes, exemplify the transformative power of embracing one’s heritage.

Rachael’s belief in the interconnectedness of humanity extends beyond tribal and national boundaries. She often reflects on shared histories, like the Choctaw Nation’s remarkable act of compassion during the Irish Potato Famine, when tribal members donated money to aid starving Irish families despite facing their own struggles. These stories of solidarity inspire her to build bridges across cultures, fostering a sense of unity and mutual respect.

“We have more in common than you think. We all have aunties. They tell us what to do and put us back in shape when we need it. We have a respect for elders, and we’re learning to do even more of that,” she said. She also pointed to things like food and clothing traditions that have crossed tribal boundaries to become part of other Native cultures.

Balancing a full-time job with her podcasting endeavors, Rachael tries her best to document as many stories as possible.

“I feel like I have a big responsibility that I put on myself. I feel a sense of urgency literally every single day,” she said. “I can’t do enough. I want to do even more.”

She has a particular passion for honoring Native veterans and hopes to dedicate more time to preserving their histories. For Rachael, Native ChocTalk is more than a podcast—it is a legacy project aimed at uplifting her community and celebrating its contributions to the world.