Native America Calling

Business experts are mostly optimistic about the retail business outlook for the last part of this year. It all depends on the bite that things like inflation, gas prices, and other factors will take out of the time that is traditionally the busiest of the year. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce takes the holiday season temperature with Native retailers Angelo McHorse (Taos Pueblo), owner and co-founder of Bison Star Naturals; Tudor Montague (member of the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe), owner of Spirit Mountain Roasting Company; and Megan Schnitker (Sicangu Lakota), owner and founder of Lakota Made LLC, about how they’re planning for the coming weeks.

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s singing career began at a time when the country’s knowledge and awareness of Indigenous people was limited. Growing up as an adoptee, she admits limited knowledge of her own heritage. But by educating herself, connecting with like-minded people, and honing her talent, Sainte-Marie became a trailblazer and an artist whose gift remains current and laudable. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks with her about the early years of singing, the foundation it provided for her current work, and the PBS documentary that paints a portrait of her many talents.

The Native American Music Awards are back. The event is live from original territory of the Seneca Nation. Lifetime Achievement Recipient Rodney Grant hosts the live event to celebrate the best among veteran and up-and-coming Indigenous artists. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with Edward Koban (Mohawk), NAMA music director; Strong Buffalo (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota), NAMA winner of the Best Duo/Group award for Buffalo Weavers; Jacob Faithful (Frog Lake Cree First Nation), head singer of the Young Spirit; Rex Lyons (member of the Onondaga Nation), founding member of the Ripcords; and Brett Maybee (Seneca Nation), producer and host of Gaënö’.

Federal law enforcement officials in New Mexico developed a list of roughly 200 names to help track and raise awareness of Indigenous people who go missing. Since it started in July, they have both added and taken off names using information from the public, partner law enforcement agencies, and community advocates. Agency officials say it’s one tool in helping battle the disproportionate, pervasive issue of missing Indigenous people. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with Amber Kanazbah Crotty (Diné), Navajo Nation Council Delegate and a member of the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives Task Force; Beata Tsosie Pena (citizen of Santa Clara Pueblo), organizational director for Breath of My Heart Birthplace and task force member; Lynn Trujillo (Sandia Pueblo), secretary for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department; and Frank Fisher, public affairs specialist for the FBI in New Mexico.

Competitive weight lifting is about more than just strength. Stepping away from the rack with a weight you know you’ve never managed before also takes mental preparedness and technique. It’s a spot dominated by men, but the number of female lifters is growing. A First Nations woman just became the first Indigenous female lifter in Canada to earn a pro card. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks with Indigenous female powerlifters Angela Houle (member of the Whitefish Lake First Nation), Aboriginal artist Zoe Raymond (Yindjibarndi and Pinikura), and Monica Chaffin (Diné), hospice nurse and TikTok extraordinaire, about what draws them to the sport and what keeps them going.

Everything changed for hip-hop artist Tall Paul (enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe tribe and Oneida) when he first heard about iconic Sac and Fox athlete Jim Thorpe. The more he learned the more strength he drew from the story of Thorpe’s against-the-odds achievements. Paul took that story and embarked on a journey—both literally and artistically. That journey culminates in the album, “The Story of Jim Thorpe”. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce hears from Paul about the touchstones and inspirations for the new album.

Whitney Rencountre (CrowCreek Hunkpati Dakota) is the new head of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. He takes over from the heirs of the sculptor of the rock carving of Tasunka Witko that was started before World War Two. The carving has grown to include the Indian Museum of North America, the Native American Educational and Cultural Center, and the Indian University of North America, the latter of which Rencountre served as associate director since 2021. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks to Rencountre about the goals for the iconic monument as well as enrollment manager Dianne Amiotte-Seidel (Oglala Lakota), and Andrew Dunehoo, director of museums and cultural affairs, from The Indian Museum of North America of the Crazy Horse Memorial.

At a time when some holdout sports teams ignore calls to end problematic mascots and imagery, some teams are turning to Native American designers for appropriate designs. The NBA’s Phoenix Suns are debuting new uniforms, jersey logos and center court design created in collaboration with a Navajo artist that honors the state’s tribes and cultural references to tribes elsewhere. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce meets the Native artists behind the team’s graphics with Shawn Martinez (Navajo), senior director of live presentation for the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury; artist and designer Jeremy Donavan Arviso (Diné, Hopi, Pima and Tohono O’odham); and Patrick Hunter (Ojibwe), two-spirit woodland artist and graphic designer.

Among the deluge of podcasts, Native producers are tackling subjects ranging from mental health and sobriety, issues within their own tribes, and language revitalization. Tuesday on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce sampled some podcasts that are reaching their audiences through the spoken word with Paige Willett (Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member), host and producer of the Hownikan Podcast; Majerle Lister (Diné ), PhD student at the University of Arizona and host of the Wósdéé Podcast; Ralph Sara (Yup’ik and Sami), host of The Anonymous Eskimo Podcast; Dr. X̱’unei Lance Twitchell (Lingít, Haida, Yup’ik, and Sami), host of the podcast Tongue Unbroken.

A new study by North Carolina State University finds the number of acres destroyed by wildfire in the United States in the past two years is double the number just 30 years ago.  Their researchers point to warmer-than-average surface temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns, which they predict will only get worse. Those trends mean forestry officials have to work both to prevent the most destructive fires and restore areas that burned. Traditional tribal ecological knowledge can inform that work and some non-tribal officials are taking notice. Monday on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce spoke with Daniel Denipah (Ohkay Owingeh), forestry director for Santa Clara Pueblo; Tommy Cabe (Eastern Band of Cherokee), forest resource specialist for Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and ShiNaasha Pete (Navajo and Eastern Shawnee), reforestation forester with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.