Producer Kate Davidson's ?Saints and Indians? is an incredibly powerful , distinctly American tale of faith, race, and the struggle for
cutural identity. A question lingers in the background: "who am I?.."
or more precisely, who gets to determine one's identity.

For 50 years the Mormon church sponsored "The Placement" : Navajo children were sent to live in white families homes, following mormon scripture belief that the Navajo were a lost tribe, who fell from the gospel, and were cursed with misery and dark skin.

Through the voices of some of the white families, mormon clergy, and the some of the now grown Navajo placement subjects, a complex story of self-identity plays out on the backdrop of the American west.

Were the now mormon Navajo brainwashed and taught self hatred? Was the Mormon church practicing cultural chauvinism ?

Questions that may seem to have easy answers are explored in this captivating 16 minutes which won the Edward R. Murrow Award for best radio documentary.

Indigenous Peoples Day / Columbus Day / Thanksgiving Day
or anytime in August on a Sunday after noon would be a great time to air this part of the American Tapestry. It's an important story to recall, and to remember that while "The Placement" sound like something from the distant past, it ended in the late 1990's, and still has a profound effect on the lives of all involved