Native America Calling

The good news is overdose deaths dropped significantly in the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bad news is Native Americans and other people of color are not enjoying the same statistical headway against the persistent scourge of fentanyl, heroin, and other dangerous drugs. We’ll look at the efforts that are showing promise in saving people’s lives and explore ways to eliminate disparities for populations that are losing ground.

GUESTS

Philomena Kebec (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians), economic development coordinator for the Bad River Tribe

Adam Fairbanks (White Earth Nation), executive director of Anishinaabe Endaad

Harold Peralto (Navajo), certified peer support worker for New Mexico Behavior Health Services Division’s Office of Peer Recovery and Engagement

George Green (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska), certified peer recovery specialist for the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis

Break 1 Music: Take Your Troubles to the River (song) Vincent Craig (artist) Self-titled Release (album)

Break 2 Music: Water by Jim Pepper [Arranged by Jhoely Garay] (song) Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Live at Joe’s Pub, NYC on January 13th, 2024 (performance)

Haskell Indian Nations University lost nearly a quarter of its staff in the Trump administration’s mass terminations. It’s one of two higher education institutions that rely on federal funds through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education that are scrambling after the sudden and unprecedented job cuts. The reduction of more than a thousand National Park Service employees prompted worries over certain sacred and important Native treasures protected by federal workers. We’ll check on how the fast-paced federal job restructurings are affecting issues Native people are following.

GUESTS

Chuck Sams (Cayuse and Walla Walla), former National Park Service director

Pearl Yellowman (Diné), former vice president of college operations at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute

Paige Willett (Citizen Potawatomi), former communications specialist at the Bureau of Indian Education

Angel Ahtone Elizarraras (Wichita), Student Government Association president at Haskell Indian Nations University

Break 1 Music: Long Black Train (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Break 2 Music: Water by Jim Pepper [Arranged by Jhoely Garay] (song) Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Live at Joe’s Pub, NYC on January 13th, 2024 (performance)

Repatriation advocates have had some recent progress in both policy and practice when it comes to getting important items returned to tribes. But the ongoing effort to educate the elected officials, institutional leaders and the public requires time and resources. We’ll get an update on the eve of the biggest annual conference for people working in the repatriation field. We’ll also get an update on a Florida repatriation dispute.

GUESTS

Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw), Chief Executive and attorney for the Association on American Indian Affairs

Samuel Kohn (Apsáalooke), attorney

Kim Mettler (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), Next Generations Director at the Association on American Indian Affairs and life coach

Betty Osceola (Miccosukee), environmental educator

Break 1 Music: Intertribal 7 (song) Tha Tribe (artist) Woodland Groove (album)

Break 2 Music: Water by Jim Pepper [Arranged by Jhoely Garay] (song) Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Live at Joe’s Pub, NYC on January 13th, 2024 (performance)

Drums, rattles, and other percussion instruments are well-known sources of musical accompaniment connected to Native American music. Flutes were one of the first melodic instruments developed by North American Indigenous peoples. In addition, there are a variety of other traditional instruments, including fiddles and harps, that certain tribes perfected over generations. We’ll hear about some of the ways Native Americans have been making music over the years, and some of the ways they’re being incorporated in contemporary compositions.

GUESTS

Andrew Weaver (Yup’ik), program coordinator for the Alaska Native Heritage Center

Bennett Wakayuta (Hualapai and Hopi), artist

William Rodriguez (Taino), owner of Archaic Roots and Indigenous instruments specialist

Shawn Yacavone, owner of Ukulele Friend and co-chair of the Hawaiian Music Archives at Hawaii State Archives

Break 1 Music: Anasazi Sun (song) Injunuity (artist) Fight For Survival (album)

Break 2 Music: Burn A Smudge (song) Trent Agecoutay (artist) Uncle Trent and Friends (album)

Public and tribal radio and television stations are fortifying their defenses ahead of what could be the biggest funding threat they’ve ever faced. President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly called for an end to federal funding for public broadcasters. Bills proposed in Congress would go as far as eliminating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nearly 60-year-old entity created by Congress to facilitate federal support for non-commercial media. We’ll hear from broadcasters about what changes might be in store.

GUESTS

Peggy Berryhill (Muscogee Creek Nation), co-founder of KGUA, president of the Native Media Resource Center and an independent producer

Lenora Ward (Iñupiaq), general manager of KOTZ, Kotzebue Broadcasting

Brian Wadsworth (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe), chief operating officer for Native Public Media

Oi Zephier (Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota and Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho), station manager of KILI

Break 1 Music: Navajo Radio (song) Arigon Starr (artist) Meet the Diva (album)

Break 2 Music: Burn A Smudge (song) Trent Agecoutay (artist) Uncle Trent and Friends (album)

The current flu season is the worst in 15 years in terms of doctor’s visits. Tuberculosis cases are rising. On the horizon is a possible bird flu outbreak that is already affecting millions of livestock birds and it’s starting to make the jump to humans. This is all happening with the backdrop of lapsed information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, confirmation of a federal health secretary who openly expressed skepticism about vaccines, and unprecedented cuts in the works for the Indian Health Service. We’ll get a gauge of the current threats to the health of Native Americans.

GUESTS

Dean Seneca (Seneca), CEO and founder of Seneca Scientific Solutions+

Katherine Minthorn (Umatilla), an owner of Rez Chicks Co-Op

Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma (Samoan), director general of Samoa’s Health Ministry

Chanda Hesson, nurse consultant for the State of Alaska’s section of epidemiology and the lead nurse consultant for the Alaska Department of Health’s tuberculosis team

Dr. Robert Belknap, executive director of the Public Health Institute at Denver Health

Break 1 Music: Too Much of Anything (song) Donita Large (artist)

Break 2 Music: Burn A Smudge (song) Trent Agecoutay (artist) Uncle Trent and Friends (album)

As the notable 80-year-old American Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier walks free from Florida’s Coleman Penitentiary, Native American activists are reflecting on the nearly five-decade push to get to this point. Seven presidents passed up the opportunity to free Peltier, until President Joe Biden commuted his sentence to house arrest in the final moments of his term. We’ll explore Native direct action from its militant beginnings to its current role in changing both legal outcomes and public opinion. What does Peltier’s release mean to you?

You can watch the NDN Collective’s video of Leonard Peltier’s public appearance after his release here.

GUESTS

Dr. Robert Warrior (Osage), Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas

Lisa Bellanger (Leech Lake Ojibwe), executive director of the American Indian Movement and chair of AIM’s Grand Governing Council

Ruth Buffalo (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation and Chiricahua Apache descent), former president of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

Janene Yazzie (Navajo), director of policy and advocacy for the NDN Collective

Break 1 Music: Freedom (song) Rage Against the Machine (artist) Self-titled (album)

Break 2 Music: Burn A Smudge (song) Trent Agecoutay (artist) Uncle Trent and Friends (album)

Greenland hasn’t had this much attention from America since the William Taft Administration. Rhetoric, and even a few congressional proposals, are flying over the prospect of the United States purchasing — or perhaps invading — the autonomous territory of Denmark. Strategic positioning and untapped mineral resources are the main drivers of the argument. The likelihood of such an action appears remote. The Inuit people, who make up the vast majority of the population, are more seriously focused on independence from the colonial power of Denmark and cooperative efforts to reduce the effects of climate change. We’ll hear from elected leaders and other Greenland residents about the current political pressures.

GUESTS

Aaja Chemnitz (Inuk), Member of Danish Parliament representing Greenland

Naaja Nathanielsen (Inuk), Minister of Business, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice, and Gender Equality in the government of Greenland

Parnuna Egede Dahl (Inuk), special advisor for Oceans North Kalaallit Nunaat

Break 1 Music: Solstice Echo (song) PIQSIQ (artist)

Break 2 Music: Burn A Smudge (song) Trent Agecoutay (artist) Uncle Trent and Friends (album)

There’s more Valentine’s Day than flowers and chocolates in heart-shaped boxes. Yupik storyteller Yaari Walker is thinking about the unique account of her own wedding and how it turned into a cultural lesson. She also thinks back about her grandmother’s arranged marriage, and the message that relationship continues to convey. We’ll hear those and other selections of traditional and contemporary stories about love by experienced Native storytellers.

GUESTS

Yaari Walker (Yupik), tribal healer and traditional storyteller

Sunny Dooley (Diné), Diné Hózhǫǫjí Hane’ Teller

Perry Ground (Onondaga Nation, Turtle Clan member), Haudenosaunee storyteller and cultural educator

Break 1 Music: Love Affair (song) Pepper (artist) In with the Old (album)

Break 2 Music: Ideal Dub (song) Casper Loma Da-Wa (artist) Honor the People (album)

A traditional violin maker, a regalia maker, and basket weavers are the six artists chosen for this year’s Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award winners by the First Peoples Fund. The art they create tells only a part of their stories, as each helps revive and propel cultural knowledge that is sometimes endangered. We’ll hear from the artists and organizers about their passions for preserving culture and passing it on to future generations.

GUESTS

Julia Marden (Aquinnah Wampanoag of Gay Head), artist, knowledge keeper, and 2025 Community Spirit Award Honoree

Lisa Morehead-Hillman (Karuk, Yurok, and Shasta), basket weaver

Fox Spears (Karuk), program manager of fellowships for the First Peoples Fund

Terrill Goseyun (San Carlos Apache), artist and Apache violin maker

Break 1 Music: A Beautiful Darkness [Feat. Nadjiwen] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Break 2 Music: Ideal Dub (song) Casper Loma Da-Wa (artist) Honor the People (album)