Native America Calling

The PBS program “Frontline” examines the financial, cultural, and human toll of climate change on the western Alaska coastline and the Native people that have always called it home. Hopi producer Patty Talahongva takes a fresh look at the warming temperatures, increasingly destructive storms, and retreating wildlife that are forcing a drastic change in how some Alaska Native live. We’ll hear about the issue from those involved in the documentary.

GUESTS

Patty Talahongva (Hopi), correspondent, writer, director, and producer of “Alaska’s Vanishing Native Villages”

Agatha Napoleon (Paimiut), climate change program coordinator

Edgar Tall Sr. (Yup’ik), Chief of the Native Village of Hooper Bay

Break 1 Music: Take U Places (song) Pamyua (artist) Side A Side B (album)

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

Tribes that rely on Colorado River water — and the complex set of rules that govern it — are worried about how President Donald Trump’s executive orders and the ongoing legal questions about them will affect their water access. President Trump froze federal funds for the Inflation Reduction Act. Even after a judge reinstated those funds, tribes are concerned about the viability of some water conservation efforts going forward. Those water access issues are becoming increasingly important because of long-term trends showing significantly less water available in the basin.

GUESTS

Heather Whiteman Runs Him (Apsáalooke), associate clinical professor at the James E. Rogers College of Law and director of the Tribal Justice Clinic at the University of Arizona

Jenny Dumas, water attorney for the Jicarilla Apache Nation

Daryl Vigil (Jicarilla Apache Nation), co-director of the Water & Tribes Initiative

Edward Wemytewa (Zuni), Pueblo of Zuni tribal councilman

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expediting permits for the Line 5 oil pipeline project. It’s the first project to be put on a fast track under President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring a national energy emergency. The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is among a number of tribes in at least three states that oppose the project by Canadian energy company Enbridge, saying it posing significant risk to the environment, most notably the Great Lakes. The existing pipeline runs across Bad River land, but the company’s new route bypasses the reservation. We’ll get a perspective on the new status of the project and the near-term possibilities.

GUESTS

David Gover (Pawnee and Choctaw), senior staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund

Jennifer Smith, director of U.S. tribal engagement at Enbridge

Stefanie Tsosie (Navajo), senior attorney in the Tribal Partnerships Program at Earthjustice

Break 1 Music: Buffalo (song) Algin Scabby Robe (artist) Along the Way: Round Dance Songs (album)

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

Disclosure: Enbridge provides financial underwriting for Native America Calling and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation

Elise Paschen’s (Osage) new book of poetry, “Blood Wolf Moon”, weaves Osage stories from the Reign of Terror with her experience as the daughter of famous major prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief. m.s. RedCherries’ (Northern Cheyenne) first poetry book, “mother”, was a 2024 National Book Award for Poetry finalist. It follows the Cheyenne protagonist who is exploring Indian identity as a former boarding school student reconnecting to her roots and larger Native community through the backdrop of the American Indian Movement. “Indigenous Poetics” is a collection of essays illustrating how Native poets use their craft as a critical tool to help readers understand, question, and realize deeper layers of Indigenous life and community. Aligning with National Poetry Month, we’ll dive into these new and recent publications by Indigenous poets.

GUESTS

Dr. Elise Paschen (Osage), poet and author of “Blood Wolf Moon”

Inés Hernández-Ávila (Nez Perce), co-editor of “Indigenous Poetics” with Molly McGlennen

m.s. RedCherries (Northern Cheyenne Tribe), poet and author of “mother”

Break 1 Music: Our Mother the Earth [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Break 2 Music: Learned from the Late Ralph Kotay (song) Kenneth Cozad & Group (artist) Songs of Our Old People – Old-Time Round Dance Songs of Oklahoma (album)

The state of Alaska is actively working to shut down a gaming hall just opened by the Native Village of Eklutna. The Chin’an Gaming Hall is doing a brisk business with pull-tabs and 85 bingo machines in an unassuming building just outside of Anchorage. But state officials maintain the operation is illegal because the tribe does not control the land it is on. Elsewhere, in Maine, tribes are also working against state resistance to expand gaming. They face a regulatory reality that is different from tribes in other states because of legislation in 1980 limiting Maine’s tribes’ gaming enterprise ability.

Note: since this show aired, the Alaska Department of Law sent a written statement about their position on the Chin’an Gaming Hall: “This case is about jurisdiction over lands. We are asking a court to reaffirm what it has already said—the State maintains primary jurisdiction over Alaska Native Allotments. A solicitor’s opinion cannot convert them into Indian reservations,” said Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills. “We are asking for the court to make sure the issues can be resolved before further development occurs—we believe keeping the status quo best protects all parties involved. Once the litigation is completed, then everyone will know where their lane is.”

GUESTS

Aaron Leggett (Dena’ina Athabascan), president of the Native Village of Eklutna

Aaron Dana (Passamaquoddy), Passamaquoddy Tribal Representative

Chez Oxendine (Lumbee), staff writer for Tribal Business News

Break 1 Music: Thick as Thieves (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Break 2 Music: Learned from the Late Ralph Kotay (song) Kenneth Cozad & Group (artist) Songs of Our Old People – Old-Time Round Dance Songs of Oklahoma (album)

The Trump administration scrapped a civil rights agreement 14 years in the making with the Rapid City, S.D. school system. The agreement was aimed at correcting inequities for Native American students. Data show Native students in the district are given harsher punishments than their white counterparts. The students also are less likely to be in higher level classes. The decision comes as President Donald Trump has terminated nearly half of the federal Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights staff.

We’ll also look at a Virginia tribe’s suit against the commonwealth for what the tribe says is withholding Medicaid reimbursements for tribal citizens’ health care.

GUESTS

Walt Swan Jr. (Miniconjou Lakota), Rapid City Area Schools board member and executive director of Friends of the Children – He Sapa

Tyresha Grey Horse (Oglala Lakota), chair of Title VI Parent Advisory Committee for Rapid City Area Schools and program director of Friends of the Children – He Sapa

Sarah White (Oglala Lakota), executive director of the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition

Thomas Badamo (Nansemond), tribal council treasurer for the Nansemond Indian Nation

 Jessie Barrington (Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians), attorney with Cultural Heritage Partners

Break 1 Music: Pocupine Singers’ Song (song) Porcupine Singers (artist) Alowanpi – Songs Of Honoring – Lakota Classics: Past & Present, Vol. 1 (album)

Break 2 Music: Learned from the Late Ralph Kotay (song) Kenneth Cozad & Group (artist) Songs of Our Old People – Old-Time Round Dance Songs of Oklahoma (album)

The recent winter proved deadly for honey bee colonies. The Washington State University’s Honey Bees and Pollinators Program reports mass die-offs for commercial beekeepers. Honey bees, butterflies, and even small vertebrates like bats and birds are important to agriculture and are indicators of a healthy ecosystem. Their populations fluctuate and are affected by pesticide use, habitat loss, and climate change. Tribes and Native groups like the Euchee Butterfly Farm are among those devoting resources to pollinator restoration work. We’ll talk with Native pollinator protectors about efforts to help turn the threat to pollinators around.

GUESTS

Nathan Moses-Gonzales (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation), entomologist and CEO of M3 Agriculture Technologies

Jane Breckinridge (Muscogee and Euchee), director of the Euchee Butterfly Farm and the Tribal Alliance for Pollinators

Melanie Kirby (Tortugas Pueblo), professional beekeeper, founder of Zia Queen Bees Farm and Field Institute, extension educator and pollinator specialist at IAIA, and a founder of Poeh Povi Flower Path Network

Pam Kingfisher (Cherokee Nation), beekeeper and water protector

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

Break 2 music: Learned from the Late Ralph Kotay (song) Kenneth Cozad & Group (artist) Songs of Our Old People – Old-Time Round Dance Songs of Oklahoma (album)

At least one tribal library in New Mexico will have to close after the Trump Administration abruptly canceled federal grants administered through the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Many more libraries and museums in the state and around the country are forced to cut hours, eliminate staff, cancel traditional programs, and curb purchases for new books and other materials. They are among the latest in the on-going efforts by the Trump Administration to drastically change federal services. Those cuts also include supplements to low-income Navajo Nation citizens and hundreds more Native Americans nationwide who rely on the funds to help them heat their homes in the winter. We’ll get the latest rundown of staff and funding reductions by the federal government.

GUESTS

Dr. April Counceller (Alutiiq tribal member of the Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak), executive director of the Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository

Cassandra Osterloh (Cherokee Nation), New Mexico State Library tribal libraries program coordinator

Alicia Allard, tribal Head Start consultant and specialist for Little Hawk Consulting

Jill Falcon Ramaker (Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe), assistant professor in food systems, nutrition and kinesiology and director of Buffalo Nations Food Sovereignty Initiative at Montana State University

Andrea Pesina (Isleta Pueblo), executive director of Isleta Head Start & Child Care and president of the National Indian Head Start Directors Association

Break 1 Music: Rise Up (song) Big Every Time (artist) Universitile (album)

Break 2 music: Learned from the Late Ralph Kotay (song) Kenneth Cozad & Group (artist) Songs of Our Old People – Old-Time Round Dance Songs of Oklahoma (album)

Early Pueblo residents are known for their complex, multi-level dwellings that date back centuries, but continue to influence architectural design today. A new exhibit at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center examines the enduring elements of ancestral architecture and how contemporary Pueblo architects are reclaiming them. Modern designs fell victim to non-Native interpretations and modern building codes. The exhibit, “Restorying Our HeartPlaces: Contemporary Pueblo Architecture”, tells the story of how Pueblos are asserting their sovereignty over their enduring architectural knowledge.

GUESTS

Dr. Ted Jojola (Isleta Pueblo), co-curator of the exhibit and founder and director of the Indigenous Design + Planning Institute at the University of New Mexico

Brian Vallo (Acoma Pueblo), former governor of Acoma Pueblo, independent consultant, and board member for the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Charelle Brown (Santa Domingo Pueblo), advisory board member for exhibit, intern architect with Woven Architecture, and grad student in the masters of architecture program at the University of New Mexico

Dr. Lynn Paxson, co-curator of the exhibit, university professor emeritus in architecture in the College of Design at Iowa State University and an affiliate of the Indigenous Design + Planning Institute at the University of New Mexico

Break 1 Music: Chant (song) Robert Mirabal + Ethel (artist) The River (album)

Break 2 Music: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)

Tens of thousands of federal job cuts, on-again, off-again tariffs on everyday goods, and policies affecting the operations of schools, businesses, and tribal governments are generating widespread uncertainty. Tribal leaders are working proactively to both influence decisions at the federal level and to prepare for inevitable changes. We’ll talk with tribal leaders about how they are adapting to the unpredictable and dramatic changes headed their way.

GUESTS

Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah)

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)

Break 1 Music: Eagle Dance REMIX (single) Jason Brown/Decontie & Brown (artist)

Break 2 Music: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)