Native America Calling

Getting surgery to lose weight is a drastic step, but may be necessary for some people struggling with severe obesity. Native American adults are 50 percent more likely to be obese than whites according to the Office of Minority Health. There are four types of weight loss surgery, each with their own risks and benefits. In this hour we’ll talk with experts about why someone might choose to go this route and the benefits and risks.

To preserve salmon habitat, the Tulalip Tribe is relocating beavers to create wetlands with their dams. Native youth in a project with Blackfeet Tribe learn how beavers naturally restore waterways through an Indigenous scientific lens. Beavers and their dams can drastically change landscapes. They are important to many tribes who see them as architects, teachers and a valuable resource.

Many Native college freshman have their first semester behind them and are getting back in the groove for the rest of the school year. We’ll check in with some students about how their transition to college life is going and get some help from education experts about what kind of support students need to sustain their momentum.

“Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists,” an art exhibit celebrating the artistic contributions of Native women, is taking a tour across the country with upcoming stops in Washington, D.C. and Tulsa this year. The exhibit includes over 100 pieces from women of different tribes and from different times. We’ll talk with the curators and some of the artists about how women are a driving force in the art world.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (Cherokee Nation) is asking a federal court to shut down tribal gaming in the state because he says their compacts have expired. It’s the latest in an ongoing struggle between the governor and tribes on how the compacts are interpreted. That story and more are on our regular news round up.

Football fans let the team names for Kansas City and San Francisco roll off their tongues with no second thought. But both mascots for the teams playing for the championship cause many Native people to cringe. The Chiefs often face protests by Native people to change their name, mascot and the offensive imagery that arises every game they play. The 49ers refers to more than just a number; it invokes a bloody time in history when thousands of Indigenous people were killed or displaced by settlers hoping to strike it rich in California. We’ll take time to fill in some of the missing details behind this year’s Super Bowl team names.

We’re going to find out what the Levi Platero Band is packing in their new self-titled album. The band’s headman, Levi Platero, is from the Navajo Nation and is known for his exhilarating blues rhythms and soulful lyrics. What rests in this album has been building for some time and echoes the energy of the many stages and communities that this band has touched down on over the years. Get ready to let the blues do the talking on this month’s musical spotlight.

With a whirl of colorful circles, shapes and movement, hoop dancers tell vivid stories. The exact origins of hoop dancing are unclear. Traditionally, the hoops were made with willow or some other pliable wood. Today, hoops might be made out of metal or plastic. The practice incorporates colorful regalia and has grown to include energetic competitions. We’ll hear from hoop dancers about what drives their passion.

The very first person to be counted this month for the 2020 U.S. Census was 90-year-old Lizzie Chimiugak, a Yup’ik woman from Toksook Bay Alaska. The Census Bureau started the process in the country’s largest state where it’s historically difficult to get an accurate count. Language, geography and mistrust of revealing personal information to the federal government are among the reasons Alaska Natives and Native Americans are often undercounted. Census numbers are the main way officials determine election boundaries and the allocations of trillions of federal dollars for public services. We’ll talk with census experts about why they think this year’s census is the most important one yet.

Making sure our Indigenous languages are available for future generations is a charge many language warriors have taken on. Making this happen comes with ups and downs. We chronicle the peaks and valleys of this terrain with our look at Leech Lake Ojibwe author and educator Anton Treuer’s new book “The Language Warrior’s Manifesto: How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds.” He recounts his own struggles learning Ojibwe as an adult. He also shares inspiring accounts of programs that succeed in building a firm language foundation for future generations. We visit with this Native culture advocate to hear more about the relationship between language and culture and ways to keep it strong.