Native America Calling

The San Carlos Apache Tribe is fighting to stop the planned June 16, 2025 transfer to the sacred Oak Flat land in Arizona to the companies that intend to turn it into a copper mine. There’s a flurry of activity around the ongoing fight over the land, known to the Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel. The Trump Administration announced its intention to rush the land swap involving 2,400 acres of land to hasten the two mile wide open pit mine. A federal judge this month halted the transfer, saying the tribes have a prevailing interest. San Carlos Apache just requested an injunction to stop any movement until the legal issues are settled.

We’ll also get perspectives on what needs to be considered if, as President Donald Trump suggests, the federal government moves ahead with re-opening the prison on Alcatraz Island in California.

GUESTS

Naelyn Pike (enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache), spokesperson of the Apache Stronghold

Su:k Chu:vak Fulwilder (Onk Akimel O’odham, Xalchidom Piipaash, Tlingit, Aleut and Little Lake Pomo), council member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community

Morning Star Gali (Pit River Tribe), executive director of Indigenous Justice

Break 1 Music: In the River: A Protest Song (song) Raye Zaragoza (artist)

Break 2 Music: BALDH3AD! (song) Theia (artist)

Natalie Benally (Diné) knew early on she was a performer. She has channeled her determined creative spirit in any number of disciplines for the stage and screen. She has performed and taught dance after honing her craft at Fort Lewis College in Colorado. Along the way, she has embodied enduring characters in film and television, including Natalie Bluehouse on the AMC series, Dark Winds, and was the delightful voice of Dory, in the Navajo version of “Finding Nemo”. She is also the driving force behind her own production company, Tse’Nato’. Natalie Benally is the May Native in the Spotlight.

Break 1 Music: Opener (song) DDAT (artist) DDAT (album)

Break 2 Music: BALDH3AD! (song) Theia (artist)

Two musicians with Diné roots give audiences distinctly different takes on their desert Southwest origins. The Phoenix-based band Mogley and the Zoniez have built their sound playing for years in the Southwest café and bar circuit. The melodic and energetic indie-alt sound and distinctive vocals have become a favorite for a growing number of fans. They have a new EP to add to their set list, Better Late Than Never. We’ll hear from lead singer Quenton Oney about how they reach their audience and what’s next.

Hataałii’s new album, “I’ll Be Around“, is an affirming and beautifully dark low-fi project. He ditched the professional studio route for a DIY production in a shed in Albuquerque. The result is a personal and intimate set of songs sure to find far-reaching resonance.

GUESTS

Quenton Oney aka Mogley from Mogley and The Zoniez (Diné and Inuit), lead singer and guitar player for Mogley and The Zoniez

Hitaałiinez Wheeler (Diné), singer and songwriter

Break 1 Music: Love Is Over (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album)

Break 2 Music: Crow Push Dance Song (song) Authentic Native American Music (artist) Authentic Native American Music (album)

More than 42,000 Native Americans served in the military during the Vietnam War, the vast majority as volunteers. They faced racist and stereotypical taunts from fellow service members. After their service, veterans suffered psychological and emotional trauma at a higher rate than other populations. As the nation marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the war, we’ll hear from Native Vietnam veterans about what the conflict means to them now.

GUESTS

Frank Sewell (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and Creek), Vietnam War veteran

Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes), artist and Vietnam War Marine veteran

Rachelle Pablo (Diné), museum specialist for the National Native American Veterans Memorial at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

Francis Whitebird (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), Army Vietnam War veteran

Allen Hoe (Native Hawaiian), attorney and Vietnam veteran

Break 1 Music: Flag Song (song) Black Lodge (artist) Veteran’s Honor Song (album)

Break 2 Music: Crow Push Dance Song (song) Authentic Native American Music (artist) Authentic Native American Music (album)

Tribal wildlife officials are trying to get a handle on the seemingly unstoppable increase in chronic wasting disease among large game animals. Now in at least three dozen states, the disease is always fatal for the deer, elk, and moose that contract it. Some public health officials are also cautioning about the potential for it to make the jump to humans. At the same time, measles cases have jumped over 1,000 in the United States. Decades after the highly contagious and easily preventable disease was all but eradicated, measles comes at at time when skepticism of scientifically proven vaccines is at an all time high. We’ll find out what wildlife managers and public health officials say about the threats from these two illnesses.

GUESTS

Dean Seneca (Seneca), CEO of Seneca Scientific Solutions+ and adjunct professor at the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University of Buffalo and Adjunct Instructor at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Kari Kingery (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), tribal wildlife program manager for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Tiffany Wolf, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine and co-director of Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach at the University of Minnesota

Erin Larson, deer herd specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Break 1 Music: Prayer Song (song) Salish Spirit Canoe Family (artist) Keep Singing, Keep Dancing (album)

Break 2 Music: Crow Push Dance Song (song) Authentic Native American Music (artist) Authentic Native American Music (album)

A tool to help finance housing, business, and other community development projects on tribal land is in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs. President Trump’s executive order eliminates funding for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). It’s unclear what the order means in practicality. His budget reduces federal funding for CDFIs by almost $300 million. If the cuts to CDFIs are realized, it could significantly curtail progress on affordable housing, small businesses, green energy, and other projects.

GUESTS

Jonelle Yearout (Nez Perce), executive director of the Nimiipuu Community Development Fund

Pete Upton (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), CEO and chairperson of the Native CDFI Network and executive director of the Native360 Loan Fund

Roxanne Best (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation), business owner

Chrystel Cornelius (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians), president and CEO of the Oweesta Corporation

Break 1 Music: Intertribal (song) Sweetgrass (artist) Follow the Trail (album)

Break 2 Music: Crow Push Dance Song (song) Authentic Native American Music (artist) Authentic Native American Music (album)

Indigenous leaders are forcefully denouncing Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s rhetoric inviting the idea of separating from Canada. The province includes wide swaths of treaty territory established through agreements with the federal government. First Nations leaders say there is no way to even enter the conversation of separation without first consulting with the tribes. The unprecedented talk of separation comes as President Donald Trump insists on promoting the unlikely scenario of the U.S. annexing Canada. We’ll learn about First Nations authority in Alberta and the sovereignty questions the separation discussions raise.

GUESTS

Chief Sheldon Sunshine (Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation)

Matthew Wildcat (Ermineskin Cree Nation), assistant professor and director of Indigenous Governance in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta

Steve Newcomb (Shawnee and Lenape), author of “Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery” and co-founder and director of the Indigenous Law Institute

Wilton Littlechild (Cree), International Chief for Treaty Six Confederacy and former commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Break 1 Music: Cree Honor Song (song) Randy Wood (artist) The Gift of Life (album)

Break 2 Music: Crow Push Dance Song (song) Authentic Native American Music (artist) Authentic Native American Music (album)

Ojibwe (Red Cliff) journalist Mary Annette Pember puts her own family’s boarding school experiences on display in her new book, “Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools.” Pember builds from her relationship with her mother, a boarding school survivor, to offer personal insights into the origins and effects of generational trauma. She also documents her path to journalism and how one non-Native editor’s refusal to cover Native issues drove her to become one of country’s most trusted Native storytellers. We’ll hear from Pember and also get an update from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition on what changes in federal government mean for the future of addressing past boarding school abuses.

GUESTS

Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Ojibwe), national correspondent for ICT News and author of “Medicine River”

Fallon Carey (Cherokee Nation), digital archives manager for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

Break 1 Music: Oshki Manitou (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Break 2 Music: Chicken Dance (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Confederacy Style (album)

New Mexico is the latest of more than 20 states to formally recognize Native American students’ right to express their cultural heritage at graduation ceremonies. Those expressions are typically in the form of eagle feathers, beadwork, moccasins, or other traditional dress worn during the ceremony with gowns and mortarboard caps. But many Native students elsewhere continue to face resistance from school boards and administrators. One Wyoming school principal told a student if he “let one minority do it, then I’d have to let the rest.” We’ll recognize this year’s graduating seniors and get up to speed on the ongoing fight over ceremonial regalia.

GUESTS

Heather Hostler (Hupa), executive director of California Indian Legal Services

Morgan Saunders, senior staff attorney in Washington, D.C. office at Native American Rights Fund (NARF)

Tracie Yellowman Tséyíníítsó (Diné), University of Utah 2025 student commencement speaker

Break 1 Music: Intertribal 2 (song) Tha Tribe (artist) Woodland Groove (album)

Break 2 Music: Chicken Dance (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Confederacy Style (album)

As the state of New York works to eliminate school mascots with Native American names and imagery, they have run into a powerful adversary: the federal government. The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into whether the state is violating the civil rights of Long Island’s Massapequa School District by forcing them to change their “Chiefs” mascot. President Donald Trump personally weighed in, expressing his support for keeping the mascot. A lawyer for the school says the issue is “the battleground for the preservation of our history and values nationwide.” We’ll hear about the issues at play in New York and how it affects other efforts by other states and cities to end offensive Native mascots.

We’ll also hear about developments of case addressing inequities for Native students in New Mexico.

GUESTS

Ted Trujillo (Passamaquoddy), enrolled member of the Passamaquoddy tribe

John Kane (Mohawk), Host of Resistance Radio on WBAI in NYC and WPFW in Washington, D.C.

David Glass (enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe), president of the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media

Melissa Candelaria (San Felipe Pueblo), education director of the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and member of the plaintiff’s legal team for Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico

Break 1 Music: I’m Not A Mascot – I’m Not A Stereotype – I’ve Been Watching (song) Michael Bucher (artist)

Break 2 Music: Chicken Dance (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Confederacy Style (album)