American Indian Airwaves

Part 1

Native Americans of all ages continue experiencing some of the highest SARS-CoV-19 rates compared to non-Indigenous peoples. In Los Angeles County, California Indigenous peoples are spread out, decentralized, and find it difficult to maintain community and cultural connections. Consequentially, after just over two years, the urban Indigenous Los Angeles communities are still recovering. Moreover, compounded with contracting COVID-19 or suffering other diseases, Native Americans continue to experience disproportionately high diabetes rates that result from various forms of settler colonial violence. Our guests for the first segment provide us an update on how the COVID-19 pandemic/endemic continues impacting the urban Indigenous Los Angeles County communities along with some of the frustrations and successes as well as provides important information for Indigenous Los Angeles peoples on how to participate in the Native American Diabetes Project, the first project ever to focus on diabetes for all Indigenous peoples living in Los Angeles County, California. For more information about the Native American Diabetes Project, email: [email protected] or call: 213-764-4550.

Guests:

Dr. Andrea Garcia, M.D. (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara Nations) is an appointed commissioner with the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, works with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health/American Indian Counseling Center, and is a board member for the United American Indian Involvement, Inc. (UAII).

Runningbear Ramirez (Yuhaaviatam nation) works with Indian Health Services, is a well-respected activist, philanthropist, and creative consultant for luxury fashion brands. Fueled by his humanitarian passion, Runningbear divides his days between his philanthropic work and other business endeavors, joining the Project Angel Food Board of Directors in 2018.

Part 2:

Native Americans have been and are veterans of settle colonialism for more than five hundred years. In addition, over the generations Native Americans have served in the various military branches of the United States. Our guest for today is a long-time urban Indigenous Los Angeles community member, a veteran of U.S. (Vietnam) wars, and provides listeners a critique of what it means to serve in settler-colonial wars, draws parallels to what is happening in Ukraine presently, and offers a message of peace, plus more. Part 1 of a two-part interview.

Guest: Jose Jesus “Joe” Anzaldua (Yaqui Nation), member of the Native American Veterans Association.

Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.

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Part 1

This past March 13th, 2022, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) issued a statement calling for the global mobilization against all capitalist wars. Three days later, on March 16th, 2022, over 20,000 members of the EZLN demonstrated in six Chiapas cities in Mexico, to protest all wars, and to show their solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of Crimea, Ukraine, Russia, and the people of Ukraine, who currently resist a Russian invasion. The March 16th, 2022, action marks first massive appearance that the EZLN has made since 2012, when they appeared in different cities in silent marches, within the framework of the change of era according to the Maya calendar. Part of the demonstration is not only a call against all wars, including capitalism and militarism, as they have stated in the past, but also an urgent call to stop wars against Mother Earth. Our guest for today highlights the significance of this action, militarism, settler colonial violence, capitalism, as well as the EZLN Water is Life caravan focusing that focuses on stopping violence and protecting Mother Earth.

Guest:

Richard Stahler-Sholk, a retired Professor of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University, and community activist involved with the School of Chiapas which is an organization of grassroots activists and communities working to support the autonomous, indigenous Zapatista communities of Chiapas, Mexico. Schools for Chiapas was created the mid-1990’s by individuals searching for ways to make the world a better place and working to create a world where all worlds fit.

Part 2:

Native Americans have been and are veterans of settle colonialism for more than five hundred years. In addition, over the generations Native Americans have served in the various military branches of the United States. Our guest for today is a long-time urban Indigenous Los Angeles community member, a veteran of U.S. (Vietnam) wars, and provides listeners a critique of what it means to serve in settler-colonial wars, draws parallels to what is happening in Ukraine presently, and offers a message of peace, plus more. Part 1 of a two-part interview.

Guest: Jose Jesus “Joe” Anzaldua (Yaqui Nation), member of the Native American Veterans Association.

Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.

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Part 1

Marking the 150th Anniversary of the Yellowstone National Park, the National Park Service (NPS) is reaching out to include Indigenous peoples cultural and historical relationship to Yellowstone National Park’s boundaries; however, simultaneously Yellowstone National Park just closed its public comments section on the possibilities of implementing a new Bison Population Management program, which could lead to the additional killings of some of the last remaining genetically pure bison. Meanwhile, the Montana cattle industry is ramping up its methods for kill even more buffalo. In fact, more than 90 buffalo relations were taken in 2021; 859 buffalo were killed between 2019-2020; and 12,575 buffalo have been killed since 1985. The buffalo are cultural significant to numerous Native American nations throughout the region and beyond.

Our guest, Mike Mease, for today is the co-founder of the Buffalo Field Campaign. He joins to discuss the recent events on the ground, at the state and national levels, as well as Yellowstone National Parks problematic and hypocritical positioning of including Indigenous peoples cultural histories into the “parks” reopening while simultaneously complicit in creating and supporting the conditions for the taking of buffalo relations, which are import for all living relations.

Guest: Mike Mease, Co-founder of the Buffalo Field Campaign.

Part 2:

Education for Native American and Indigenous children in the public school system in the Los Angeles County area has always been problematic, fraught with forms of structural racism and discrimination, and antagonistic for a healthy and constructive learning environment that includes Indigeneity or culturally, educational based content. In addition, many Native American children are lost in the colonial system and often struggle to attend college and learn culturally-based Indigenous content.

Our guest for today, Shannon Rivers (Akimel O'otham Nation), is the Director of Programming for NDGNSLA., American Indian Resurgence Initiative/Native Ways to College (AIR/NW2C), NDGNSLA, a new gateway program launching in early 2022. Shannon Rivers discusses the state of education not only across the United States, but also in the Los Angeles County region and how the launching of the new gateway educational program reflects Indigenous self-determination and creates opportunities for Indigenous children and families to participate in a program assisting them to reach college and learn-Indigenous based content so children who become have the cultural and settler colonial tools for decolonization and helping Native American/Indigenous communities and nations.

Guest: Shannon Rivers (Akimel O'otham Nation), is the Director of Programming for NDGNSLA., American Indian Resurgence Initiative/Native Ways to College (AIR/NW2C), NDGNSLA.

Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.

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Liko Martin and Laulani Teale (Hawaiian Nation). Liko Martin, Haku Mele, is one of Hawai’i’s renowned songwriters and activist; founder and co-founder of many Indigenous organizations; a farmer, fisherman, cultural practitioner, peacemaker and veteran; a Kupuna Advisor for Ho’opae Pono Peace Project, plus more. Laulani Teale is a musician, artist, cultural practitioner, public health practitioner, web/social media developer, and coordinator for the Ho’opae Pono Peace Project, plus more.

Liko Martin and Laulani Teale join us for today’s program to discuss their travels through the state of California as part of broader strategy of coalition and solidarity development is exerting pressure on two controlling parties, the University of California and the California Institute of Technology, from withdrawing from the Thirty Meter Telescope Project.

Mauna Kea, an Indigenous Hawaiian sacred site, is presently under threat from the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Project – twenty stories high (below and above ground), which if constructed would be the largest telescope in the world adversely impacting the Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, land and waters.

The University of California along with the California Institute of Technology (Cal-Tech), the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Science and Technology of India, and the National Research Council (Canada); the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy are members of The TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO), the non-profit organization responsible for the TMT Project threatening Mauna Kea.

Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.

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Actions in cities throughout the United States took place on February 7th, 2022, calling for the immediate release of international Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier. February 7th, 2022, marks the 46th year of Peltier’s incarceration and January 28, 2022, he tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid 19) virus at the United States Penitentiary at Coleman, FL (USP Coleman 1). Leonard Peltier, from the Anishnaabe and Lakota Nations, was unjustly convicted in the deaths of two FBI agents in a June 26, 1975, shootout in Oglala, SD between members of the American Indian Movement, defending the Oglala community and the FBI. Peltier’s two co-defendants were acquitted by reason of self-defense. Peltier, who was later extradited from Canada under questionable circumstances was tried separate. Peltier’s trial was replete with prosecutorial misconduct, falsified testimony, fabricated evidence, even the autopsy presented to the jury was done by an examiner who had never seen the bodies of the two agents.

The former US Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, James Reynolds, who supervised the post-trial sentencing and appeals admitted they “shaved a few corners” and “we could not prove Leonard Peltier personally committed any crime on the Pine Ridge Reservation” in his letter to US President Joe Biden calling for Peltier’s release. Today, Peltier is a 77-year-old inmate with a host of co-morbidities that should, according to CDC Guidelines, have prioritized him for a Covid Booster Shot. CDC guidelines call for booster shots at seven months, yet 11 months after Peltier received his Covid 19 vaccine, he had not received a booster shot. Visitors to USP Coleman 1 have noted the facility is not mandating vaccines for its guards or staff, Guards and staff were seen both without masks and improperly wearing masks, social distancing was neither encouraged nor enforced and booster shots had not, until recently, been available to any inmate at USP Coleman 1. Both the ILPDC and mutual aid organizations offered to donate N-95 masks for every inmate at Coleman were denied.

The United States Department of Justice, through the Attorney General issued guidelines for Covid Release to Home Confinement for inmates who were elderly and or had compromised immune system or Co-morbidities on March 26th and April 3rd, 2020. Leonard Peltier at 77 years old with a host of comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, heart condition, and an aortic aneurysm undeniably meets those conditions. Furthermore, his home community on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota continues to request his return to his home community.

Today on American Indian Airwaves, Marcus Lopez and myself speak with Carol Gokee and Jean Roach (Cheyenne/Lakota Nations) co-directors from the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (ILPDC) who, along with friends, families, human rights organizations, and allies are calling for Peltiers immediate release. Both of our guest has and continue to maintain contact with Peltier and we start part one of this two-part interview with Jean Roach providing listeners with a brief history leading up to the wrongful incarceration of international political prisoner Leonard Peltier.

Los Angeles County is home to the largest urban Native American population, second to New York City. With the COVID-19 Pandemic encroaching upon three years, and Native Americans disproportionately impacted both in COVID-19 case and mortality rates and rising depression and more people struggling to maintain cultural traditional practices away from their traditional homelands, we spend the entire hour on Indigenous wellness, healing, and the many complications in providing the necessary services to the larger urban Los Angeles Indigenous community.

Guests:

Monique Castro (Diné/Xicana), CEO and Clinical Director of Indigenous Circle of Wellness and Denise Copeland, Therapist and Wellness Provider of Indigenous Circle of Wellness (www.icowellness.com).

Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.

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Part 1

On January 22nd, 2022, the Karankawa Kadla and approximately 400 allies held an action against the Enbridge terminal expansion in Corpus Christi, TX outside of Bank of America on 2501 S Congress Ave in Austin, Texas. As part of an active lawsuit against Enbridge, the largest transporter of crude oil and tar sands in the nation, the Karankawa Kadla and allies are organizing protests across Texas to stop the development of the Enbridge terminal. Construction of the Enbridge oil terminal and pier is over the eastern portion of a Karankawa village site off Corpus Christi Bay in Ingleside, Texas. The pier will destroy Karankawa forms of cultural patrimony, sacred items, and the environmentally rich marshlands. In addition, there are plans to build a seawall pipeline that will transport tar sands from Houston to Corpus Christi pier for export. Tune in for an update and what future actions are planned for protecting the remaining lands of the Karandawa Kadla traditional homelands and stopping Enbridge. For more information, visit www.stopenbridge.com.

Guest:

Chiara L. Enriquez (Karankawa Kadla Nation), https://karankawas.com, organizer, activist, and community member.

Part 2

Sacred Stage: Talks with Native Playwrights and Artists is part of ongoing series with special host Albert “Abby” Ibarra who interviews Madeline Sayet (Mohegan Nation). For her work as a stage director of new plays, classics, and opera - Madeline has been named: A FORBES 30 UNDER 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, A TED FELLOW, a MIT MEDIA LAB DIRECTORS FELLOW, a NCAIED NATIVE AMERICAN 40 UNDER 40, a recipient of THE WHITE HOUSE CHAMPION OF CHANGE AWARD from President Obama, received the NATIONAL DIRECTORS FELLOWSHIP, and is a National Arts Strategies' CREATIVE COMMUNITY FELLOW.

Guest:

Madeline Sayet is an Assistant Professor in the English Dept at Arizona State University, and Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP). Her directing work has been praised by the Wall Street Journal as "enchanting," and the New York Times admired the "transparent and almost weightless" fluidity of the worlds she builds. Her work promoting Native voices onstage has been featured in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, GOOD Magazine, and MENTAL FLOSS.

Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.

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Sacred Stage: Talks with Native Playwrights and Artists is part of ongoing series with special host Albert “Abby” Ibarra who interviews Mary Kathryn Nagle. Nagle is currently a partner at Pipestem Law, where she specializes in federal Indian law and appellate litigation. Nagle filed an amicus brief in Dollar General v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians on behalf of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) in pursuit of ending domestic violence and sexual assault. Nagle is a leading voice among indigenous theatre artists. She served as Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program, a program designed to support and develop the work of Native artists. Nagle is an alum of the 2013 Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater, and an alum of the Civilians 2014 Research & Development Group. Her plays have been produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian.

Guest:

Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee Nation is a playwright, lawyer, and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She works at the intersection of justice and drama to secure the rights and sovereignty of Native nations.

Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.

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Today on American Indian Airwaves, we recognize, celebrate, and reflect on the January 1st, 1994, historical event when the Zapatistas declared war on the Mexican government on behalf of the country’s indigenous people suffering from perpetual state and organized criminal violence throughout the Chiapas, Mexico region. Launched on the same day of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that went into effect, the EZLN seized government offices and occupied thousands of acres of private land and demanded democracy, liberty, and justice for all Indigenous peoples. The EZLN’s General Command issued the First Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle which called for the creation of a National Liberation Movement. A year later, the Mexican government escalated the militarization of Mayan Indigenous peoples when they suddenly launched a military offensive against the EZLN and their communities of supporters, both inside and outside of Chiapas and implemented a strategy of civilian-targeted warfare, which led to the army displacing over 20,000 campesinos, destroying the Zapatista headquarters and started constructing new military bases. The militarized incident led to the negotiating the San Andres Peace Accords in 1996. and the first Intercontinental Encuentro in which during the week of January 3-10 the first National Indigenous Forum was held in San Cristóbal de las Casas. The Forum was attended by 24 comandantes of the EZLN, as well as nearly 500 representatives of over 30 indigenous groups from throughout the country. On month late on February 16th: The Zapatistas and the Mexican government signed the first set of accords which comprises of 40 pages of national reforms to be undertaken regarding Indigenous Rights and Culture.

For the hour, our guest provides an in-depth analysis on the importance of 28th Anniversary of the EZLN resistance to systemic state violence against the Mayan, the successes the Mayan peoples exercising their rights to self-determination, sovereignty, and autonomy; and their successes over the past 28 years despite the Mexican governments, the military, and organized criminal syndicates ongoing violence against the Mayan peoples.

Guest:

Richard Stahler-Sholk, Professor of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University, joins us for this segment of the program to discuss the ongoing impacts organized crimes is having and spreading into Chiapas, Mexico.

“Sacred Stage: Talks with Native Playwrights and Artists” is an in-depth series of interviews with Indigenous activist, artist, actors/actresses, playwrights and more about their legacy work and how their activism intersects with Indigeneity and the contribution across and within Indigenous and non-Indigenous arts.

Today’s program is in remembrance and honoring of William Yellow Robe Jr. (Assiniboine and Sioux Nations located at the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana). He was a prolific writer, playwright, director, educator, activist, and more. William Yellow Robe Jr. also taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Brown University, and the University of Maine. In addition, Yellow Robe Jr. has authored over 40 plays – more than any other Indigenous playwright, including, but not limited to: Where the Pavement Ends: Five Native American Plays, Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers and Other Untold Stories, Rez Politics, The Star Quilter, plus more. Yellow Robe Jr. moved onto the spirit world in mid-July 2021. His legacy is indelible in the Native Theater movement that emerged decades ago with Yellow Robe Jr. laying the foundation, inroads, and creating the mechanism for the next and future generations of Native American playwrights. Yellow Robe Jr. is an ancestor.

Part 1, Guest:

Albert “Abby” Ybarra (Yaqui Nation) Project Indigenous member, Environmental Education Specialist, actor, musician, and more joins for us for the hour to discuss his legacy work over the fifty years as an indigenous person and activist and how they shape and from his contributions to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous arts ranging from theater, television, and more.

Part 2, Guests:

Sound from the second segment of today’s program is partial excerpts from the recent Native Theater industry William Yellow Robe. Jr. Memorial held at the Public Theater in New York. Here from colleagues, friends, and more who had the honor and pleasure to know and work with Yellow Robe Jr. as well as actors/actresses reading excerpts from some of the Yellow Robe Jr’s. plays.

American Indian Airwaves regularly broadcast Thursdays from 7pm to 8pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 in Los Angeles, CA; FM 98.7 in Santa Barbara, CA; FM 99.5 in China Lake, CA; FM 93.7 in North San Diego, CA; FM 99.1 KLBP in Long Beach, CA (Thursdays 5pm-6pm); and WCRS FM 98.3/102.1 in Columbus, OH.

Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.

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