Native America Calling

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)

After decades of attempts by some political leaders to curtail or end federal funding for broadcasting, public media faces what PBS CEO Paula Kerger says is the most serious threat in its history. President Donald Trump’s order to end funding for NPR and PBS potentially has profound implications for everything from the existence of some rural Alaska stations to Native-language programs on tribal stations (and the continuation of Native America Calling). We’ll get another update on how the fight for public funding for Native American broadcasting is playing out.

GUESTS

Loris Taylor (Hopi and Acoma Pueblo), President and CEO of Native Public Media

Jaclyn Sallee (Iñupiaq), President and CEO of Koahnic Broadcast Corporation

Frank Blanquet (Yucatec Maya), producer and director of television for First Nations Experience (FNX)

George Strong (Chippewa), general manager of KBFT 89.9FM Bois Forte Tribal Community Radio and host of Rez Rockin’ Radio

Break 1 Music:  Get Up Stand Up (song) Bailey Wiley, Che Fu, King Kapisi, Laughton Kora, Maisey Rika & Tiki Taane (artist)

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

After the initial grief of losing her daughter to a hit-and-run driver on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Carissa HeavyRunner faced months of inaction by local law enforcement to adequately investigate and charge the person responsible. Her frustration grew into a personal mission to see justice served. HeavyRunner’s story is one of the chief complaints by Native Americans who have lost a loved one and wake up every day without any progress toward getting any answers. We’ll learn about some outstanding Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) cases and the effort to improve the statistics in spite of law enforcement foot-dragging.

GUESTS

Adrian Jackson (Yakama). eldest son of Mona Vallo

Carissa HeavyRunner (Blackfeet and Diné), founder of Mika Matters, MMIP advocate

Ahli-sha Stephens (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), co-host of “We Are Resilient: A MMIW True Crime Podcast”

Sheyahshe Littledave (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), co-host of “We Are Resilient: A MMIW True Crime Podcast”

Darlene Gomez, attorney and activist for MMIP

Break 1 Music: Remember Me (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Kikāwiynaw (album)

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

An exhibition at The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Alberta celebrates the work of the Indigenous Group of Seven, influential Indigenous artists who, over a period of decades, pushed a new definition of Native art in Canada. We’ll also highlight exhibitions honoring contemporary and up-and-coming Native American artists including the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture exhibition, “Homelands: Connecting to Mounds through Native Art“, and the Institute of American Indian Art’s annual showcase of work by the visual arts graduating class.

GUESTS

Joseph Sánchez, artist, former curator for IAIA’s Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, member of the Indigenous Group of Seven, and co-curator of “The Ancestors Are Talking” exhibit at The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies

Kayla Wanatee (Meskwaki Tribe), multi-disciplinary artist and a spring 2025 IAIA Bachelor’s of Fine Arts graduate

Kassidy Plyler (Catawba), artist and cultural public programs specialist for the Catawba Nation

Break 1 Music: Indigenous Life (song) Fiji (artist) Indigenous Life (album)

Break 2 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

Among the 168 people killed in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City was Raymond Lee Johnson (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma). He was volunteering with the Older Native American Program at the time and was heavily involved in education and other issues important to Native people. Cherokee Ballard was a television news anchor and reporter who covered the aftermath and the subsequent trials. And FBI special agent Walter Lamar was on the scene that day helping rescue survivors. He was also part of the FBI’s investigation into the bombing. We’ll hear stories about how the bombing affected the city with one of the highest percentages of Native citizens in the nation.

GUESTS

Walter Lamar (Blackfeet and Wichita), founder of Lamar Associates and former FBI special agent

Anne Marshall (Muscogee), council representative for the Muscogee Creek Nation

Cherokee Ballard (Cherokee), communications director for the Oklahoma County Clerk and former news anchor and reporter

Break 1 Music: 500 Years O’ Blues (song) Digging Roots (artist) Seeds (album)

Break 2 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

Greg Biskakone Johnson (Lac du Flambeau), an experienced spearfisher and his tribe’s culture and language instructor, was helping an elder stock up on walleye when four gunshots rang out through the dark night last week. That and other incidents prompted Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) to issue a statement about the state’s responsibility to uphold treaty fishing rights. The incidents come 30 years after the violent confrontations in the state known as ‘The Walleye Wars.”

Among the $1 billion in grants for schools and food programs rescinded by the Trump administration is a $750,000 USDA grant for Day Eagle Hope Project. The non-profit runs a food pantry and food delivery service on the Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. We’ll hear from its director about the program’s future.

GUESTS

Greg Biskakone Johnson (Lac du Flambeau), tribal spearfisherman and cultural and language instructor

Jason Schlender (Lac Courte Oreilles), executive administrator for the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission

Tescha Hawley (Aaniiih), founder and CEO of the Day Eagle Hope Project

Richard Elm-Hill (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), associate director of Native Agriculture and Food Systems Investments at the First Nations Development Institute

Break 1 Music: Stomp (song) The GrayHawk Band (artist) Worth The Wait (album)

Break 2 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

This year marks 100 years since Mount Rushmore was dedicated as a national monument. The stone butte carved with the faces of four presidents has become a patriotic symbol. But the federal government’s broken treaties to take over the land is only the beginning of the famous monument’s troubled history. We’ll hear about Rushmore’s connection to the Confederate South and the ongoing insult of honoring leaders who contributed to efforts to eliminate the sacred land’s original inhabitants.

GUESTS

Nick Estes (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe), assistant professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota

Chief Arvol Looking Horse (Lakota/Dakota/Nakota), 19th Generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe

Matthew Davis, author of forthcoming book “A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore”

Break 1 Music:  Nothing for Ourselves (song) Klee Benally (artist) Appropriation (album)

Break 2 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. promises a “massive testing and research effort” to find the cause of autism. Sec. Kennedy says it will happen by September. That ambitious promise alone, and other comments by Kennedy, are met with skepticism and even backlash by autism advocates and experts. Meanwhile, groups like Diné Parents Taking Action at Northern Arizona University are putting the work in to provide support and raise awareness when it comes to autism among Native Americans and other underserved communities. We’ll go over some of the facts about autism and how the disorder is being addressed among Native people.

GUESTS

Jules Edwards (Anishinaabe), author and disability justice advocate

Dr. Davis Henderson (Diné), associate professor with Northern Arizona University

Dr. Candi Running Bear (Diné), assistant professor at Western New Mexico University

 Dr. Olivia Lindly, assistant professor at Northern Arizona University

Break 1 Music: Walking In Beauty (song) Jay Begaye (artist) The Beauty Way (album)

Break 2 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

It’s a Native America Calling tradition to invite Pueblo musician Jir Anderson and his troupe of songwriters into the studio to play live during their run in Albuquerque. Native Guitars Tour always presents a diverse set of musicians with a focus on guitars. We’ll hear about what’s new with the tour and listen to some live music.

GUESTS

Jir Anderson (Cochiti Pueblo), lead singer for the Jir Project and founder of Native Guitars

Jacob Shije (Santa Clara Pueblo), musician

Ailani (Santa Clara Pueblo), singer/songwriter

Welby June (Oglala Lakota, Muscogee, Ho-Chunk, and Cheyenne), musician

Christy Bird (Santa Domingo Pueblo), fashion coordinator

Scotti Clifford (Cheyenne/Lakota),  singer/songwriter

Break 1 Music: Bounty (song) Deerlady (band) Greatest Hits (album)

Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

As scores of talented musicians and artists assemble in Albuquerque during the Gathering of Nations Powwow, we’ll sample some of the musical offerings happening on stages around town. We begin with two established and popular shows featuring hip-hop and metal music: the Gathering of MCs and Merciless Savages. We’ll talk with organizers from each of the shows and take in some of the new music and some old favorites.

GUESTS

Franklin Yazzie (Diné), vocalist for Under Exile

Randall Hoskie (Diné), promotor of the Merciless Savages shows

Nataanii Means (Oglala Lakota, Omaha, and Diné), hip-hop artist, motivational speaker, and Indigenous advocate

Def-I (Diné), hip-hop artist, and MC and co-host of the Gathering of MCs

Break 1 Music – G.O.N. (Grand Entry Song) (song) Gathering of Nations (artist) Gathering of Nations: Spirit Rising (album)

Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)