Native America Calling

Americans spend more than 2,000 hours a year at work on average. With that much time on the job, accidents are bound to happen. In fact, nearly 3-million non-fatal injuries happen at work each year. The injury rate for Native Americans is higher than the general population, because they statistically take on more dangerous jobs. Office jobs have their own risks. We’ll get a rundown of the riskiest jobs and discuss tips for taking your own job safety more seriously.

Picking wild berries and harvesting nuts is an important part of Native food culture. There’s still value in using one’s hands to gather food but it's a lot easier to buy an overflowing plastic container full at a grocery store. We’ll talk about the importance of harvesting nuts and berries to our tribal communities. Is it berry season in your Native community? Are you gathering acorns right now?

It’s President Barack Obama’s 8th—and last—conference with tribal leaders. We will go over the important moments from the conference. We’ll also discuss the importance of the past White House gatherings and the future of tribal relations with the next president. What is the president’s legacy with Native America?

Shining Soul, with Tohono O'odham, Diné and Chicano roots, has a new album, “Politics Aside.” Once deemed "Arizona's Public Enemy" the Hip Hop trio takes their musical inspiration inward, but don't hold back on substance. And you can still dance to it. The album contains over a dozen tracks that wrangle in urban styles with lyrics that resonate in their Indigenous communities. For them, the music is so meta, and that comes straight from one of the songs on the album. Join us to find out more about their musical statement on the world.

This presidential election promises to bring a lot of people to the polls; will you be one of them? Historically, Native Americans are less likely to be registered to vote, and even less likely to show up at the voting booth. The people behind Native Vote Action Week hope to improve those troubling statistics. Are you registered to vote? Do you run into obstacles every time you go to vote? We’ll speak with experts about voting in Native America.

The Gwich’in community is among the Alaska Natives that traditionally hunted and lived on what is now the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It remains a significant area for them. Petroleum resources within ANWR, though, put pressure on how best to use the land. In our periodic exploration of sacred places, we’ll check in on the promises for and threats to ANWR and other culturally significant areas in Alaska. We’ll talk about efforts to identify and protect Sealaska Corporation sacred sites.

This show is one of several we devote to sacred places. We’re interested in hearing what you think about our attention to this topic. Please take one minute to fill out this short survey to help us with our decisions on how we approach issues.

One journalism instructor took his students to the camps at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to observe first hand the news about the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. We'll ask what they learned and what other people should know about it. Also, how closely does a Native American candidate have to adhere to Native issues in order to get elected? Those are some of the topics we take a look at as we consider what's making news in Native America.

Murder, justice and tribal politics in rural Wyoming. That’s the basic story summary of the television show, “Longmire.” It’s one of the very few TV shows that feature Native actors and storylines in nearly every episode. The new season is set to premiere on Netflix. Fans are excited to find out what happens to Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Philips), who left us with a cliffhanger. In this program, we celebrate “Longmire” and we take a look at how Native and Native issues are covered in it.

Northern Cheyenne flute player Joseph FireCrow made his first flute by hand almost 40 years ago. Playing it offered deep inspiration and connection. But he says ego and vanity caused him to eventually lose sight of his own talent. He lost that first flute and his passion to play. Years later he started making and playing them again, and this time he was mature enough to live up to what he calls “the standards of what a Flute Man is.” To commemorate his performance at the Native American Music Awards, we’ll talk with him about his music, career and the instrument he loves.

It’s the age-old dilemma for young people starting out in the workforce: To get a job, you need work experience. But to get experience, you need to do the job. Internships offer the opportunity to get some experience, often along with college credit. We’ll speak with experts about internships available to Native students as well as the value they provide.