Native America Calling

The government is falling short on consultation with tribes on major infrastructure projects. That’s according to a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report. Some complaints from tribes include dismissing tribal input, a lack of respect for government-to-government relationships and consultation invitations coming too late in the process. Federal agencies have complaints of their own, including a lack of accurate tribal contact information and poor coordination when multiple federal agencies are involved. We’ll get a run-down of what’s in the report and talk about recommendations for improvement.

Compassion, empathy, and what practitioners call ‘assertive communication’ are among the ways young people connect with each other through peer counseling. It involves learning a set of skills to recognize when people around you might need emotional help. The practice is producing results in Pine Ridge’s Little Wound School in South Dakota. We’ll hear from guidance counselors and others about what peer counseling is and how Native youth are using it to help each other.

Compassion, empathy, and what practitioners call ‘assertive communication’ are among the ways young people connect with each other through peer counseling. It involves learning a set of skills to recognize when people around you might need emotional help. The practice is producing results in Pine Ridge’s Little Wound School in South Dakota. We’ll hear from guidance counselors and others about what peer counseling is and how Native youth are using it to help each other.

Tommy Orange is giving readers a view into contemporary Native life in his book “There There.” This enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma is being hailed for his storytelling abilities. The novel was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. His book takes readers into the lives of several characters in Oakland, California. They both find and lose themselves in the urban setting, wrangling the tangles of life and defining their Native American identity. We visit with Tommy Orange and our May Book of the Month.

Tommy Orange is giving readers a view into contemporary Native life in his book “There There.” This enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma is being hailed for his storytelling abilities. The novel was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. His book takes readers into the lives of several characters in Oakland, California. They both find and lose themselves in the urban setting, wrangling the tangles of life and defining their Native American identity. We visit with Tommy Orange and our May Book of the Month.

Becoming a mother means sacrificing time, money and personal comfort to care for another human being. Moms also help pass on cultural knowledge and language to future generations. They also share a special kind of never-ending love that might eventually extend to grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As we head into Mother’s Day we’ll hear from moms about what they think their job description entails and how that’s sometimes different than what they expected.

Becoming a mother means sacrificing time, money and personal comfort to care for another human being. Moms also help pass on cultural knowledge and language to future generations. They also share a special kind of never-ending love that might eventually extend to grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As we head into Mother’s Day we’ll hear from moms about what they think their job description entails and how that’s sometimes different than what they expected.

Taking on the task of changing a tribal constitution can be long and sometimes contentious. The Oglala Sioux Tribe is currently struggling to determine how best to include member input in their constitutional reform effort which includes 50 proposed amendments. The White Earth Nation worked on constitutional reform for years with little progress. The process divided the tribe and prompted the tribal chairwoman to resign. We’ll get updates on some current reform efforts and hear about what to expect if your tribe decides to update its constitution.

Taking on the task of changing a tribal constitution can be long and sometimes contentious. The Oglala Sioux Tribe is currently struggling to determine how best to include member input in their constitutional reform effort which includes 50 proposed amendments. The White Earth Nation worked on constitutional reform for years with little progress. The process divided the tribe and prompted the tribal chairwoman to resign. We’ll get updates on some current reform efforts and hear about what to expect if your tribe decides to update its constitution.

The U.S. Department of Justice is in the process of distributing about $100 million to tribal victim support programs. The money comes from federal criminal fines, fees and special assessments and goes toward victim advocacy, crisis intervention, staff training and individual counseling. The idea is to help reduce suffering and build stronger communities for a population that, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, suffers violent crime at higher rates than others. We’ll get a glimpse of what tribal victims support programs offer and what difference they aim to make in their communities.