Native America Calling

A new Netflix show for preschoolers features all Native writers and a storyline which centers around California’s Cowlitz tribe and culture. The voice cast is largely Native and includes heavy-hitting veterans Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with showrunner and creator Karissa Valencia (Santa Ynez Chumash) as well as “Spirit Rangers” singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza (Akimel O’odham descent) about bringing Native awareness to young viewers around the world.

Native candidates have a lot at stake coming up in the midterm elections. After redistricting, some incumbents find themselves in tight races, while others are expected to sail into office. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce zeroes in on a few Native candidates, both newcomers and veterans, and looks at how a win or loss impacts the larger picture with O.J. Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux), co-executive director for Four Directions Vote, and Jordan James Harville (Cherokee/Choctaw), National Program Director for Advance Native Political Leadership.

A new Dept. of Interior pilot program aims to put Indigenous food hubs at a handful of Bureau of Indian Education schools and BIA-operated detention centers. It follows a similar program to distribute traditional food on Indian Reservations. It's part of an effort to make sure Native people who receive help from the U.S. government have access to healthy, local food produced by tribal food vendors. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks about how this new pilot program will work and what it means for Native food sovereignty with Wizipan Garriott (Rosebud Sioux), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs; Foster Cournoyer-Hogan (Ihanktonwan Dakota/enrolled Siċaŋġu Lakota), Lakota foods coordinator for Wakanyeja Tokeyahci Wounspe Oti, the Lakota Immersion School; and Bradley Harrington (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), culture and language revitalization advocate.

A number of tribes remain on the waiting list for federal recognition. Some want to legally secure their sovereign rights and access to trust land status, while others hope to gain federal emergency assistance or the power to take on civil lawsuits against corporate polluters. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce hears from some tribes on the cusp of federal recognition about what it could mean for them with Professor Kerri Malloy (Yurok/Karuk), assistant professor at San Jose University; Rachel Cushman (Chinook Indian Nation), secretary and treasurer for the Chinook Indian Nation; and Patty Ferguson-Bohnee (Pointe-au-Chien), director of the Indian legal program and clinical professor of Law at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

The day to honor Indigenous people is catching on in schools, cities, and states. Organizers in Phoenix, AZ are putting on an all-day festival that includes food trucks, a vendor market, skateboard competitions, music, and Indigenous film screenings. New York State might be getting resistance to the idea of officially renaming the holiday, but its largest city is celebrating its eighth, two-day Indigenous festival. And Bethel, AK scheduled a march and potluck. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce checks in on Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations around the country with Martha Atmaun Glore (Cup’ik), office manager at the Kuskokwim Campus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; Jir Anderson (Cochiti Pueblo), lead singer for the Jir Project and founder of Native Guitars Tour; Candace Hamana (Hopi), owner of Badger PR and the founder of Indigenous Peoples Public Relations Association; and Ray Bacasegua (Yaqui/Yoeme), director of AIM Northern Nevada and the executive grand council for AIM.

Chelsea Hicks (Wazhazhe) includes her tribal language throughout the short stories assembled in A Calm and Normal Heart. She is winning praise for her debut collection described as both dark and humorous. The new detective novel Dance of the Returned by Devon Mihesuah (Choctaw) puts tribal tradition into a suspenseful contemporary light. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce hears from both authors as well as poet, humorist, columnist, and author Tiffany Midge (Hunkpapa Lakota) as they discuss works on our Native Bookshelf.

The COVID pandemic challenged every tribal leader to keep their citizens safe. Any plans they may have had for economic advancements or structural reforms were quickly replaced with life-and-death decisions about public health, business shut-downs, and conflicting priorities with surrounding government leaders. Today on Native America Calling, in the first of a series of discussions with tribal leaders, Shawn Spruce hears how the pandemic changed things for the foreseeable future with former White Mountain Apache Tribal chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatewood; Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez; and Donald Dardar, second chairperson for the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe.

Hurricane Ian caused catastrophic damage, but most tribal members and communities weathered the storm, although they still require federal assistance. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce gets an update on recovery efforts and looks at how other tribes are preparing for impending disasters with Jake Heflin (Osage and Cherokee), president and CEO of Tribal Emergency Management Association (iTEMA); Adam Weintraub, communications director for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency; and Monse Torres, radio producer and activist.

Practitioners in the Native American Church (or as we like to call it, the other NAC) officially won the right to use peyote as a religious right in 1994. Now they are working to secure environmental protections for the plant that is losing habitat to development, land use policies, and climate change. Among other things, NAC representatives call for setting aside land where peyote grows.

Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce looks at the practice and the politics of peyote with Jon Brady (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), president of the Native American Church of North America; Dr. Martin Terry, board member for the Cactus Conservation Institute and professor emeritus of Sul Ross University; elder Steven Benally (Diné), founding member of the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative (IPCI) and co-organizer of the Annual Spiritual Pilgrimage; and Sandor Iron Rope (Oglala Lakota Oyate from the Pine Ridge agency), founding IPCI board member.

If you haven’t been summoned back to the office after the pandemic disruption, you likely will soon. The threat from COVID-19 has receded. President Joe Biden declared the pandemic "over", even though scientists like Dr. Anthony Fauci say the reality is much more nuanced than that. Tribal offices, casinos, and businesses have a wide range of policies to address the ongoing health of their employees and patrons. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce finds out what’s changed and what still needs to when working face-to-face with Tamara Henderson (Laguna Pueblo), chief operating officer for the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA); Montoya Whiteman (Cheyenne and Arapho), senior director of marketing for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES); Rick Waters (Kiowa and Cherokee), executive director for the Denver Indian Center; and Lynnette Toya (Jemez Pueblo), senior human resources generalist for Amerind.