Native America Calling

Hubert Logan, Wampum Baggs, Blud Kwan’Tum and the other characters created by Arigon Starr (Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma) are coming back to life in an audio podcast. It’s full circle for the Super Indian cast that started as radio theater in 2006 distributed by Native Voice One. Starr then developed the idea into a graphic novel. Now the enterprising writer, artist and musician revives the Super Indian story with three installments of a streaming audio podcast. We’ll catch up with Starr as she re-introduces the “Super Indian” team.

Hubert Logan, Wampum Baggs, Blud Kwan’Tum and the other characters created by Arigon Starr (Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma) are coming back to life in an audio podcast. It’s full circle for the Super Indian cast that started as radio theater in 2006 distributed by Native Voice One. Starr then developed the idea into a graphic […]

White Earth Ojibwe poet Kimberly Blaeser is helping us celebrate National Poetry Month by sharing her book “Copper Yearning.” It’s full of poems that speak about Native people’s place in the world. That includes the connection to sacred places and lands and waterways that are challenged. Other poetic gems give the details of Native life center stage, down to the ribbon and jingles on a dancer’s dress. Join us for our April Book of the Month and our visit with Kimberly Blaeser.

White Earth Ojibwe poet Kimberly Blaeser is helping us celebrate National Poetry Month by sharing her book “Copper Yearning.” It’s full of poems that speak about Native people’s place in the world. That includes the connection to sacred places and lands and waterways that are challenged. Other poetic gems give the details of Native life […]

The pandemic is a serious threat to people of all Native nations. But it posed an added danger when Yuchi elder Maxine Wildcat Barnett got sick with COVID-19. She is the last fluent speaker of the Yuchi language. Fortunately she recovered. But it puts into perspective the importance of Native language revitalization programs. Some language instruction turned to online classes and social media to keep up momentum during the pandemic. The Cherokee Nation is among those that prioritized fluent language speakers for the vaccine. We’ll check in with Native language program organizers about how they refuse to let the global pandemic slow the progress of language revitalization.

The pandemic is a serious threat to people of all Native nations. But it posed an added danger when Yuchi elder Maxine Wildcat Barnett got sick with COVID-19. She is the last fluent speaker of the Yuchi language. Fortunately she recovered. But it puts into perspective the importance of Native language revitalization programs. Some language […]

A new comedy on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock TV, proves border towns can be funny. The setting is a town near the fictional Minishonka reservation. The two main characters, Nathan Rutherford, played by Ed Helms, and Regan Wells played by Jana Schmieding (Mniconjou and Sicangu Lakota) are best friends who are trying to get their communities excited about history and culture. Half of the writers are Native, as are the showrunner and main character. Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo) is the first Native American to run a TV comedy. We’ll talk with Teller Ornelas, Schmieding and writer/actor Bobby Wilson (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota) about this history-making TV series.

A new comedy on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock TV, proves border towns can be funny. The setting is a town near the fictional Minishonka reservation. The two main characters, Nathan Rutherford, played by Ed Helms, and Regan Wells played by Jana Schmieding (Mniconjou and Sicangu Lakota) are best friends who are trying to get their […]

Ojibwe fishermen launch their boats in shallow water in the Great Lakes at dusk. They shine flashlights into the water looking for the iridescent shimmer of walleye eyes. In an age-old tradition, they take their catch with a spear. The tradition and tribes’ right to spearfish is affirmed in past treaties and legal decisions. Still, Native fishers face occasional confrontations by uninformed non-Native fishermen.  We’ll hear about the cultural significance of spearfishing as well as some history of past political tensions of subsistence fishing.

Ojibwe fishermen launch their boats in shallow water in the Great Lakes at dusk. They shine flashlights into the water looking for the iridescent shimmer of walleye eyes. In an age-old tradition, they take their catch with a spear. The tradition and tribes’ right to spearfish is affirmed in past treaties and legal decisions. Still, […]