Native America Calling

As you and the young people in your life settle down for a long winter's nap, a number of new Native children's books would make great bedtime stories, especially for those hungry little book worms. "Forever Cousins" by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa and Tsimshian) has been getting good reviews since its October release. It focuses on a pair of young cousins and how their relationship changes when one of them moves away. "Look, Grandma! Ni Elisi!" by Art Coulson (Cherokee) weaves math and the Cherokee language with a story about a boy on a quest for the perfect container to show off his artwork. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks with authors Laurel Goodluck and Art Coulson and gets more book ideas, just in time for the holiday shopping season, from Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo), founder of the American Indians in Children’s Literature blog.

Each side presented their oral arguments Wednesday to the U.S. Supreme Court for the most serious challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act in recent memory. The decision in Haaland v. Brackeen will be a major force in the future of ICWA and the scope of tribal sovereignty. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce analyzes the legal debate from a Native perspective with Matthew Fletcher (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians), law professor at the University of Michigan Law School and author of the “Turtle Talk” blog; independent journalist Suzette Brewer (citizen of the Cherokee Nation); and Dr. Sarah Kastelic (Alutiiq), director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association.

The stakes were high for Native voters and election night delivered with some big surprises, a few lingering mysteries, and no indication of which party will dominate Capitol Hill. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce analyzes the races across the country where Native candidates are on the ballot and issues important to Native people are on the line with Jourdan Bennett-Begaye (Diné), editor at ICT; Angela Willeford (member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community), intergovernmental relations project manager for the tribe; Allen Wright (Choctaw), president and founder of the Hustings Group; Michelle Sparck (Qissunamuit/Tribe of Chevak), director of strategic initiatives at Get Out the Native Vote; and Rhonda McBride, the new news director of our flagship station in Anchorage - KNBA.

This Veterans Day, officials are formally dedicating the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. It’s been years in the making and the design is like no other veterans monument, welcoming members of the public since 2020. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce learns about the progress in awareness and recognition for the population that has the highest per capita participation in military service with artist and veteran Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho); Alexandra Harris, senior editor at the National Museum of the American Indian and co-author of Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces; and Candy Grimes, Adjudication Services Section Chief for the Bureau of Land Management.

Many Native hunters have mastered big game hunting, providing for themselves and their families. Some go on to guide other hunters. But there remain a number of ongoing barriers, ranging from climate change to sovereign rights challenges. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce gets a snapshot of what this year’s elk, caribou, and moose season is like in selected places and how tribes are working to solve hurdles to traditional practices with Bobby Mercier (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde member), cultural advisor for CTGR and artist; Ricko DeWilde (Athabascan), hunter and fisherman; and Gary Roybal (San Ildefonso Pueblo), outdoorsman, avid hunter, and fishing and hunting guide for the Santa Fe Guiding Company.

Stickball is the older, rougher cousin of lacrosse, developed many centuries ago as both a game and a training exercise. The U.S. government once deemed stickball one of the cultural connections they needed to eliminate in the effort to assimilate Native children through missionary-run boarding schools. The game survived that assault and keeps gaining momentum, played by local clubs and in competitive national tournaments. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce learns about the origins and growing future for the nation’s oldest team sport with Mike Slee (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), stickball player for the Walelu Cherokee Indian Ball team and the director of operations for the Museum of the Cherokee Indian; Miranda Long Stamper (Creek and a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee), teacher, coach and stickball player; announcer and player Jeremy Bell (Mississippi Band of Choctaw member); and Casey Bigpond (Mississippi Band of Choctaw member), cultural revitalization specialist for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Tribes in Oklahoma are actively working to unseat the incumbent governor—who is a Cherokee citizen—because they say he is the most anti-Native American state leader in recent memory. A judge recently dissolved the Osage Nation reservation, saying Congress probably would have gotten around to disestablishment at some point anyway. And tribes are fighting the state’s new anti-Critical Race Theory law, saying it hampers students learning about the state’s long history of Native American oppression. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce checks in on the unique relationship between tribes and the state of Oklahoma with Allison Herrera (Xolon Salinan), Indigenous Affairs reporter at KOSU; Sarah Gray (Cherokee, Muscogee, Kiowa), partner at the Muscogee Nation-based PR firm ST. Comms Shop; Reese Gorman, political reporter for The Frontier; and Allen Wright (Choctaw), president and founder of the Hustings Group.

Citizenship is one of the keystones of sovereignty for every tribe. And it’s absolute: you’re either a tribal citizen through lineal descendancy, blood quantum, or another agreed-up measurement, or you’re not. But Native identity sometimes extends beyond citizenship and there’s little agreement about those boundaries. Today on Native America Calling, at a time of increasing scrutiny of those who claim—and build careers on—Native identity, Shawn Spruce gets the perspectives from tribal leaders on what makes identity and why it’s so important to get it right with Cathy Chavers, chairwoman of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians and the president of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; Dr. Aaron Payment, former chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians; Nathan McCowan (Tlingit and Haida), president and CEO of St. George Tanaq Corporation; Patt Iron Cloud AKA “GrandmaPatt”, councilwoman for the Fort Peck Tribes; and Harold “Buster” Hatcher, chief of the Waccamaw Indian People.

Indigenous people in Mexico are much more likely to face poverty, human rights abuses, and discrimination than the rest of the country’s population. The UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples Rights has repeatedly called out Mexico’s government for a "serious pattern" of abuses against Indigenous people that includes the murder or disappearance of Indigenous environmental or human rights activists. Unlike in the United States, Mexico’s government does not official recognize or support the country’s Indigenous populations. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce meets those fighting for Indigenous rights in Mexico with Odilia Romero (Zapotec), co-founder and executive director of Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO); Alan Dillingham (Choctaw), assistant professor of history at Arizona State University and author of Oaxaca Resurgent; Arcenio Lopez (Ñuu Savi), executive director of the Mixteco Indígena Community Organizing Project; and Dr. Shannon Speed (Chickasaw), director of the American Indian Studies Center (AISC) and professor of gender Studies and anthropology at UCLA.

Halloween cries out like a banshee for scary stories and there are many traditional and modern Native narratives that fit the bill. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce hears some favorite stories for the season and checks in on folks whose experiences will give you goosebumps with storyteller Leeora White (Seneca); Lopaka Kapanui (Kanaka Maoli), storyteller, author, and founder of the ghost tour “Mysteries of Hawaii"; Nancy Fields (Lumbee), director and curator at The Museum of the Southeast American Indian; and Ishmael Hope (Tlingit and Inupiaq), poet, storyteller, and Indigenous scholar.