Native America Calling

Thirty-five years after he walked free from prison when his murder conviction was overturned, Santiago Ventura Morales (Mixtec) is receiving monetary compensation from the state and an official document declaring his innocence. Morales spent five years behind bars before witnesses in the case admitted to submitting false testimony and other forensic evidence proved faulty. During his initial trial, Morales was afforded only a Spanish translator even though he mainly spoke Indigenous Mixtec and only limited Spanish. We’ll talk with Morales about his life since his conviction. We’ll also hear from Luis Marcos (Mayan) whose organization works to support Mayan immigrants in the United States.

Courtney Jordan (Cherokee) is an attorney who built her expertise of federal Indian Law and tribal law serving in some of the highest levels of her profession. She is a former Assistant United States Attorney. She was also an Assistant Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation, and a Tribal Liaison for the State of Oklahoma. Her career was turned upside down after she was convicted of criminal charges and had her law license suspended following a hit-and-run and police chase in 2022. Her dogged advocacy for her own case exposed an undiagnosed medical condition even she was not aware of. After pleading guilty and serving her sentence, she was successful in having her license to practice reinstated. She founded her own law firm and has built a significant social media community breaking down complex legal cases into common-sense concepts. In this encore show, Jordan joins us for a conversation about her rise and fall and rise again in a demanding profession.

Eliza "Lyda" Conley was a strong, independent Wyandot woman who is credited with preserving the cemetery where her family and other tribal members were buried in the face of mounting commercial development pressure. Conley defended the Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas in the courts as well as from a makeshift shack where she and her sister took up residence with their father’s Civil War shotgun around the turn of the last century. In the process, she became the first Native woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Her story, and that of Wyandot removal, is told in the book, "Lyda Conley and the Fight to Preserve Huron Indian Cemetery", and in a new art installation at the Wyandotte County Historical Museum.

Also in Kansas, a 10-foot tall, 28-ton sacred boulder is now on Kaw Nation land after a multi-year struggle. Kaw citizens revered the rock for centuries. Then Lawrence officials commandeered it 1929 for a monument to the non-Native city founders. That started the fight by the Kaw Nation — the state’s namesake tribe — to repatriate it to tribal control. The history of Iⁿ'zhúje'waxóbe is documented in a book, "Shokhí: A Kanza Relative, a Monument, and Rematriation", and gives readers a glimpse into the politics and human influences along the way.

The Osage Nation's Daposka Ahnkodapi language immersion school in Pawhuska, Oklahoma announced it is closing one week before the start of the new school year. Tribal leadership closed the school citing dire budgetary problems. Teachers and parents were left scrambling to find a place for the nearly 100 students. For some, Daposka Ahnkodapi was the only school they’d known. We’ll speak with parents about their next steps.

We’ll also speak with Richard Zane Smith, a Wyandot artist and language teacher who has spent years working to revitalize his tribe’s language. He has been actively working to bring back traditional songs preserved on wax cylinders dating to the 1910s. Now, he’s seeing renewed interest among younger people in his community who want to learn and study the language. We’ll discuss Wyandot language revitalization efforts, as well as his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.

After record-setting temperatures across the country, dangerous summer heat continues to spill into September. The number of heat-related deaths in the Phoenix area are on track to triple last year’s numbers. Schools, businesses, and events are shutting down across the Midwest from Iowa to Michigan. Institutions are also forced to close down in Pennsylvania and other states along parts of the Eastern Seaboard. Tribal officials are busy reacting to the current threat while also preparing for the likelihood that adapting to such conditions is a permanent concern. We’ll look at the affect on people and the environment as the heat moves in.

The eye-opening findings by researchers in Boston that 1 in 4 NFL players who died over a five-year span showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy is the latest in the growing understanding about the need to protect athletes at all levels. CTE is connected to repeated head injuries. The new study of hundreds of test subjects shines a light on the extent of the issue that is difficult to track. It’s an additional warning for high school, college, and recreational sports operations about the need for heightened vigilance to keep athletes safe and healthy. We’ll talk with Native athletes and sports medicine experts about how awareness around CTE is changing.

Native American ranchers and beef producers are among those pushing back against President Donald Trump’s initiative to import cheap foreign beef to lower consumer prices. Critics of the plan say it will do little reduce prices and undercuts producers in this country who are already facing major industry headwinds including drought, unpredictable policies, and high operating costs. The American cattle herd numbers are slowly recovering after reaching a historic low. We’ll hear from industry experts about what would truly help them and consumers alike.

Beef producers aren't the only agriculture industry having trouble getting traction. Staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are blamed for complications and delays in how existing and prospective producers get basic federal support in the form of low-interest loans, grants, and technical assistance that was once widely available. We’ll talk with one Native farmer who was forced to bypass USDA support after years of delay.

Efforts to improve representation of Native American perspectives in historical and cultural lessons just made considerable progress in two states. A curriculum developed by the Suquamish Tribe over the past decade is now available for Washington States schools. Organizers say it fleshes out the details of past events that previous history lessons portrayed as favorable to colonizing forces and people at the expense of the area’s tribes. And in Montana, state officials settled a lawsuit demanding public schools show accountability in how they adhere to constitutionally mandated instruction on the history of the state’s tribes.

We’ll also zoom out to get a broader view of how Native students fit in across the country with the evolving efforts to connect with them amid persistently low test scores and educational attainment.

Set against the backdrop of a historic time in Métis history, a young boy’s disappearance begins a tense story of justice and defiance in Métis author Blair Palmer Yoxall’s debut novel, "Treat Them as Buffalo". It all takes place during the 1885 Northwest Resistance — a conflict between Métis and the Canadian federal government. When those entrusted to enforce the law turn a blind eye to a disturbing trend of disappearing Indigenous boys, the community members must take things in their own hands. The account is told from the perspective of young Niko, who comes to realize the difficult world of injustice his people are forced to endure. Dubbed an "anti-Western" by the author, it is both triumphant and tragic in its depiction of a time when the conquest of Indigenous peoples were celebrated as progress. Blair Palmer Yoxall joins us for our next Native Bookshelf discussion.

A potential food crisis is brewing in Arizona that could be a warning to other states as changes to the Supplemental Food Assistance Program start to take effect. Federal funding cuts and major changes to state administration of SNAP have caused enrollment in that state to drop by half. As many as 200,000 children who once received SNAP benefits now go without. Many of those who were dropped are eligible, even with new work requirements, but they can’t get through the state’s restructured system. State officials estimate one in three Navajo Nation residents receive SNAP benefits. Native Americans in general are much more likely to rely on SNAP than the general population. Arizona has been aggressive in initiating SNAP changes. Those same changes in other states are expected to start rolling out after the midterm elections. We’ll find out what’s different — and what’s the same — in Arizona when it comes to the looming SNAP changes.