Netflix series “Spirit Rangers” centers Native American voices and traditions for young audiences

It’s perhaps fitting that “Spirit Rangers,” an animated series on Netflix made for preschool-aged audiences, premiered last October on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Now in its second season, the show revolves around three Cowlitz and Chumash Indian siblings - Kodi, Summer and Eddy Skycedar - who magically transform into a bear cub, red-tailed hawk and turtle. They then embark on adventures in a fictional California national park where they live and where their parents work as rangers. The creative team behind “Spirit Rangers” are all Native American, including Joey Clift, an L.A.-based comedian, television writer and enrolled member of the Cowlitz Tribe of Southwest Washington who also serves as a consulting producer on the show. Clift wrote a recent episode about salmon habitat restoration which features a maternal guardian salmon spirit voiced by Cowlitz Tribal member and musician Debora Iyall. Clift and Iyall join us to talk about their collaboration on “Spirit Rangers,” and how the show is both a source of pride and empowerment for Indigenous storytelling.