Indigenous Identity, Jewish Peoplehood, and the Language of Rights

In this powerful episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Josh Fixler sits down with indigenous rights advocate Lani Anpo for a wide‑ranging conversation about her life as a multi‑tribal Native American Jew and the urgent questions of peoplehood, land, and identity in our complicated moment.​

Lani explores how the language of indigeneity is being used and misused in public discourse about Jews, Israel, Palestinians, immigration, and Native communities, and why it matters to ground these conversations in history rather than slogans.​

She shares her own journey of reconnection — from childhood in Texas and deep ties to Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Lakota heritage, to discovering her Jewish ancestry and embracing a fully Native and fully Jewish self, even while wrestling with imposter syndrome.​

Together, Lani and Rabbi Fixler reflect on what it really means to belong to a tribe, how Jews might understand themselves as an indigenous people of Judea, and how all of us can show up as responsible, hopeful members of our communities in a time of rising antisemitism, disinformation, and overlapping crises.​

This episode is part of the Emanu El Endowment Speaker Series, made possible by the Nathan Berg Lecture Series Fund, the Caplovitz Lectureship Fund, the Eleanor & Frank Freed Fund, and the Helen & Harry Reichek Fund.