Native America Calling

By Koahnic

Interactive, daily program featuring Native and Indigenous voices, insights, and stories from across the U.S. and around the world.... more

4.8

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The podcast currently has 3,722 episodes available.

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Number 1: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 — Life after a wrongful murder conviction for Santiago Ventura Morales
Thirty-five years after he walked free from prison when his murder conviction was overturned, Santiago Ventura Morales (Mixtec) is receiving monetary compensation from the state and an official document declaring his innocence. Morales spent five years behind bars before witnesses in the case admitted to submitting false testimony and other forensic evidence proved faulty. During his initial trial, Morales was afforded only a Spanish translator even though he mainly spoke Indigenous Mixtec and only limited Spanish. We’ll talk with Morales about his life since his conviction. We’ll also hear from Luis Marcos (Mayan) whose organization works to support Mayan immigrants in the United States. GUESTS Santiago Ventura Morales (Mixtec), social worker and exoneree Luis Marcos (Q’anjob’al Maya), co-founder and executive director of Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim Break 1 Music: Canción mixteca [Mixtec Song] canción ranchera (song) Los Texmaniacs (artist) Borders y Bailes (album) Break 2 Music: With My Son (song) Vincent Craig (artist)
September 08, 202657min
Number 2: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 — Persistent heat puts strain on people, the environment, and the economy
After record-setting temperatures across the country, dangerous summer heat continues to spill into September. The number of heat-related deaths in the Phoenix area are on track to triple last year’s numbers. Schools, businesses, and events are shutting down across the Midwest from Iowa to Michigan. Institutions are also forced to close down in Pennsylvania and other states along parts of the Eastern Seaboard. Tribal officials are busy reacting to the current threat while also preparing for the likelihood that adapting to such conditions is a permanent concern. We’ll look at the affect on people and the environment as the heat moves in. GUESTS Caine Palone (Quechan), Tribal Employment Rights Office director and emergency manager for the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe David Simeral, associate research climatologist for the Desert Research Institute and Western Regional Climate Center Dr. Paul Charlton, emergency medicine physician and emergency department director for the Gallup Indian Medical Center Break 1 Music: Bird Song (song) Joe Guachino, JR Holmes, & Wally Antone (artist) Bird Songs of the Colorado River (album) Break 2 Music: Mountain by the Sea (song) Various Artists (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)
September 02, 202657min
Number 3: Friday, August 28, 2026 — Two states make progress in Native-focused education
Efforts to improve representation of Native American perspectives in historical and cultural lessons just made considerable progress in two states. A curriculum developed by the Suquamish Tribe over the past decade is now available for Washington States schools. Organizers say it fleshes out the details of past events that previous history lessons portrayed as favorable to colonizing forces and people at the expense of the area’s tribes. And in Montana, state officials settled a lawsuit demanding public schools show accountability in how they adhere to constitutionally mandated instruction on the history of the state’s tribes. We’ll also zoom out to get a broader view of how Native students fit in across the country with the evolving efforts to connect with them amid persistently low test scores and educational attainment.
August 28, 202657min
Number 4: Wednesday, August 26, 2026 — Arizona’s dramatic SNAP ordeal may be a bellwether for other states
A potential food crisis is brewing in Arizona that could be a warning to other states as changes to the Supplemental Food Assistance Program start to take effect. Federal funding cuts and major changes to state administration of SNAP have caused enrollment in that state to drop by half. As many as 200,000 children who once received SNAP benefits now go without. Many of those who were dropped are eligible, even with new work requirements, but they can’t get through the state’s restructured system. State officials estimate one in three Navajo Nation residents receive SNAP benefits. Native Americans in general are much more likely to rely on SNAP than the general population. Arizona has been aggressive in initiating SNAP changes. Those same changes in other states are expected to start rolling out after the midterm elections. We’ll find out what’s different — and what’s the same — in Arizona when it comes to the looming SNAP changes.
August 26, 202657min
Number 5: Friday, August 21, 2026 — Native Hawaiians keeping cultural connections to surfing
The wooden boards made by lifelong surfer and cultural practitioner Tom “Pōhaku” Stone (Kanaka Maoli) are heavy and cumbersome compared to the space-age composite boards most modern surfers prefer, but they are a connection to his father, a master board maker, and the generations of Kanaka Maoli surfers before him. Stone is among a growing number of Native Hawaiians nurturing the cultural significance of the sport at a time when many others are focused on technique, expensive gear, and image. Surfing’s rise in popularity means pressure away from the spiritual and healing elements that are so important to Hawaiian culture. We’ll talk with Native surfers about the origins of surfing and how that can map a more meaningful path for the sport’s future.
August 21, 202657min