Native America Calling

A blend of funk, jazz and Indigenous hip-hop soul is what happens when DDAT steps on the stage. In their self-titled album DDAT is showing what happens when music genres dance together. The group is comprised of Navajo MC Def-I and the Delbert Anderson Trio, whose members have ties to the Navajo Nation. The rapid pace of rhyme and lyrics is what the group calls a pure fusion fire of tracks. We'll hear about the process of making the DDAT sound.

Art for the sake of art is great, but for many artists, at some point bills need to be paid. That moment when real cash money is exchanged for hard work can be exhilarating. But there are a lot of questions about getting to that point and how to keep it going. What is a fair price to ask for your art work? Do you charge by the hour or by the inch? And what do you do when customers think you are asking too much? We’ll talk with artists and experts about the business side of art.

Art for the sake of art is great, but for many artists, at some point bills need to be paid. That moment when real cash money is exchanged for hard work can be exhilarating. But there are a lot of questions about getting to that point and how to keep it going. What is a fair price to ask for your art work? Do you charge by the hour or by the inch? And what do you do when customers think you are asking too much? We’ll talk with artists and experts about the business side of art.

Warming shelters for the homeless in Rapid City are well-intentioned but ultimately “do more harm than good” says Police Chief Karl Jegeris. He says the shelters are partly to blame for the recent deaths of Connie Red Nest and Ernie Evans. Officials believe they died of exposure in sub-zero temperatures. Rapid City is just one place working against the odds to try and help people—many of them Native Americans—who don’t have a safe harbor from weather, violence, and their own addictions. Shelters struggle with the balance between keeping people alive while not enabling drug and alcohol abuse. We’ll catch up on the latest strategies for keeping our unsheltered relatives safe?

Warming shelters for the homeless in Rapid City are well-intentioned but ultimately “do more harm than good” says Police Chief Karl Jegeris. He says the shelters are partly to blame for the recent deaths of Connie Red Nest and Ernie Evans. Officials believe they died of exposure in sub-zero temperatures. Rapid City is just one place working against the odds to try and help people—many of them Native Americans—who don’t have a safe harbor from weather, violence, and their own addictions. Shelters struggle with the balance between keeping people alive while not enabling drug and alcohol abuse. We’ll catch up on the latest strategies for keeping our unsheltered relatives safe?

The shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school sparked a new level of discussion about school safety and gun policy. It culminated most recently with a nationwide walkout by thousands of students protesting the inability to effectively address gun violence. The discussion rarely gets much past arming teachers on one side and banning certain guns on the other. Native school administrators and teachers are continually looking for ways to protect their students. We’ll talk about some of the realities and concerns about safety for Native students.

The shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school sparked a new level of discussion about school safety and gun policy. It culminated most recently with a nationwide walkout by thousands of students protesting the inability to effectively address gun violence. The discussion rarely gets much past arming teachers on one side and banning certain guns on the other. Native school administrators and teachers are continually looking for ways to protect their students. We’ll talk about some of the realities and concerns about safety for Native students.

The Transportation Security Administration is requiring cultural sensitivity training for agents at selected airports. That comes after the TSA settled a lawsuit with the Native American Church over agents mishandling sacred items. The lawsuit articulates the persistent problem of non-Native people undermining Native culture and belief by reaching out to touch Native regalia, eagle feathers, hair or sacred items without permission. In this case the traveler asked the agent to avoid desecrating the items. We’ll hear from people about how they protect sacred and sensitive items.

The Transportation Security Administration is requiring cultural sensitivity training for agents at selected airports. That comes after the TSA settled a lawsuit with the Native American Church over agents mishandling sacred items. The lawsuit articulates the persistent problem of non-Native people undermining Native culture and belief by reaching out to touch Native regalia, eagle feathers, hair or sacred items without permission. In this case the traveler asked the agent to avoid desecrating the items. We’ll hear from people about how they protect sacred and sensitive items.

A group of Indigenous 20-somethings gathered last summer to answer two questions: What does healing mean to your generation? How does your generation heal? Organizers scheduled a two hours conversation. It ended spanning seven hours and left the participants with a mission to create change. They issued themselves a momentous challenge to end intergenerational trauma with their generation. We talk with members of the Indigenous 20-Something Project about how they plan to achieve this task.