Native America Calling

The National Congress of American Indians annual winter conference comes as the federal government is actively dismantling the diversity initiatives that help establish Native representation in the workplace and in the public sphere. The nation’s oldest and largest Native advocacy group is shaping its strategy for carrying a unified voice to a fractured government and public on issues that matter most: sovereignty, consultation, environmental sustainability, the Trust Responsibility, and economic development. We’ll hear NCAI President Mark Macarro’s 2025 State of Indian Nations address and get perspectives on the organization’s coming year.

GUESTS

Tadd Johnson (Bois Forte Band of Chippewa), Regent at the University of Minnesota, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and attorney

Break 1 Music: Intertribal (song) High Noon (artist) Generations (album)

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

Tatanka Means (Lakota/Diné) maintains a busy schedule as a stand-up comedian, all while portraying serious on-screen roles in Killers of the Flower Moon, Echo, and Reservation Dogs. He carries the name of his notable Lakota father, has close ties to his Navajo roots in Chinle, Ariz., and is fully embracing his role as a basketball dad. We’ll hear about his life and creative drive as our February Native in the Spotlight.

Break 1 Music: Drowning (song) Nataanii Means (artist) Growth (album)

Break 2 Music: Heartbroken (song) Janet Panic (artist) A Mighty Rip Through the Page of My Life (album)

One possible change to Medicaid being floated in Congress right now includes a $2.3 trillion cut over the next 10 years. Other potential changes include adding certain work requirements and shifting costs and distribution of Medicaid funds to states, which have no trust obligations to tribes. As it is, Medicaid provides direct support to at least one million Native Americans. It’s also one of the secondary sources that help provide health care through the Indian Health Service. Advocates are bracing for changes as they continue to make the case for the program’s life-and-death importance in Indian Country.

GUESTS

Dr. Damian Chase-Begay (Mandan and Arikara), associate research professor of public health at the University of Montana

Kristen Bitsuie (Navajo), tribal health care outreach and education policy manager for the National Indian Health Board

Nanette Star (Choctaw descendant), director of policy and planning at the California Consortium of Urban Indian Health

Winn Davis, congressional relations director at the National Indian Health Board

Break 1 Music: Condemn (song) Mike Bern (artist) Ancestors (album)

Break 2 Music: Heartbroken (song) Janet Panic (artist) A Mighty Rip Through the Page of My Life (album)

Even before the recent wildfires in California, soaring home insurance rates were pushing homeowners to go without. Now State Farm, the country’s largest home insurer, is asking for a 22% rate hike in California. That’s on top of a 30% increase request last summer. Increasing natural disasters, rising home values, and the high cost of rebuilding are putting insurance out of reach for more homeowners nationwide. Native Americans already have the highest uninsured rate for homeowners. We’ll discuss alternatives to a future without coverage for people’s biggest financial asset.

GUESTS

Leah Cristobal (Santa Ana Pueblo, Tlingit, and Tsimshian), business development specialist at Amerind

Jerri Killer (Cherokee), senior deputy executive director of the Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation

Michael Vanderwerker, licensed insurance broker with HUB International Insurance

Break 1 Music: Ridin’ Out the Storm (song) Samantha Crain (artist)

Break 2 Music: Heartbroken (song) Janet Panic (artist) A Mighty Rip Through the Page of My Life (album)

Samí journalist and author Ann-Helén Laestadius offers readers a glimpse into the government-backed school system for the Indigenous children of Sweden that has parallels with the U.S. Indian Boarding School Era. Her novel, Punished, follows five Sami children forced to attend a nomad school in the 1950s. The story stays with them into adulthood, where each copes with the physical, mental, and cultural abuse scars just below the surface. Originally published in Swedish, the English translation of Punished is now available. Laestadius joins us for this month’s Native Bookshelf discussion.

Break 1 Music: Ancient Forces (song) Berit Margrethe Oskal (artist) Fargga (album)

Break 2 Music: Heartbroken (song) Janet Panic (artist) A Mighty Rip Through the Page of My Life (album)

A Wisconsin tribe agreed to stop operating an online high-interest loan operation in neighboring Minnesota in a lawsuit settlement just announced. But the Lac du Flambeau tribe and several others still insist on their sovereign ability to operate the businesses, despite laws in several states working to prevent consumers from falling victim to interest rates that reach up to 800% in some cases. We’ll talk about the struggle between tribes’ ability to operate unrestricted payday loan business – and the ongoing efforts to regulate damaging loan businesses.

GUESTS

Miranda Lente (Isleta Pueblo), loan officer for Tiwa Lending Services

Barry Brandon (Muscogee Creek), commissioner for The Muscogee Nation Office of Public Gaming

Nathalie Martin, professor of law at the University of New Mexico School of Law

Break 1 Music: Wim Ah I Wem, Tiwa (song) Gregg Analla Gregg Analla (single)

Break 2 Music: Heartbroken (song) Janet Panic (artist) A Mighty Rip Through the Page of My Life (album)

In the new APTN series One Dish One Spoon with chef Tawnya Brant (Mohawk), viewers follow her and her sister Dakota to local kitchens, farms, and waterways to expose the traditional foodways of the Six Nations.

Zach Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Sioux) leaves his post this month as the administrator of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency where he helped direct some of the federal government’s key agriculture and faming programs and policies.

The work of Mariah Gladstone (Cherokee and Blackfeet) teaching people about Indigenous food and cooking leads her to publish an Indigenous foods cookbook for kids, Mountains to Oceans: Kids’ Recipes from Native Land.

That’s all on The Menu, our regular feature on Indigenous food sovereignty hosted by Andi Murphy.

Break 1 Music: Maple Leaf Rag (song) Lakota John (artist) Winds of Time (album)

Break 2 Music: Rumpshaker (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

President Donald Trump’s sudden freeze on federal grants rattled tribes and Native American organizations that depend on those funds. His just-as-sudden retreat is little reassurance to those institutions, some of whom are preparing for a worst-case future for funding.

A prime target for President Trump’s directives is anything associated with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. That has implications for everything from Native pre-school students to contractors.

Organizations in Los Angeles that work with Native urban residents are assessing the damage after the recent fires and how to look ahead to future threats.

We’ll get updates on recent fast-moving news that affects Native Americans.

GUESTS

President J.C. Seneca (Seneca)

Aaron Payment (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), tribal councilman and former chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Pamela Villaseñor (Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians), executive director of Pukúu Cultural Community Services

Hope Craig-Corlew (Muscogee), board chairwoman and executive advisory chair of the United American Indian Involvement

Break 1 Music: An Act of Liberation (song) Klee Benally (artist) Respect Existence Or Expect Resistance (album)

Break 2 Music: Rumpshaker (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

A Kanaka Maoli student at Yale is working on an AI tool to help clear criminal records of fellow Native Hawaiians. A Kiowa writer and artist is developing creative pathways to address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives. And a Tohono O’odham knowledge protector is archiving recordings and pictures from her tribe. Those are among this year’s young people selected as Champions for Change by the Center for Native American Youth. We’ll hear from them and get their stories of inspiration. This is a recorded show and will not be taking calls.

GUESTS

Lily Painter Kiowa name is Brings Water (Kiowa & Winnebago), 2025 Champion for Change

Lourdes Pereira (Hia-Ced O’odham and Yoeme and a citizen of the Tohono O’odham Nation), 2025 Champion for Change and community memory protector

Katie Lynch (Citizen Band Potawatomi Nation), 2025 Champion for Change and PhD student at the University of Michigan

Joshua Ching (Native Hawaiian), 2025 Champion for Change and student at Yale University

Break 1 Music: Girl from Nanaimo (song) DDAT (artist) DDAT (album)

Break 2 Music: Rumpshaker (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians say it will keep road access open for now on tribal land. The announcement comes in a dispute with a nearby town over easements to non-Native homeowners on tribal land.

Tribes are advising members of their constitutional rights after reports that Native people are among those being questioned and detained by ICE agents in ramped up immigration raids.

GUESTS

Matthew Fletcher (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians), law professor at the University of Michigan Law School and author of the “Turtle Talk” blog

Danielle Kaeding, reporter with Wisconsin Public Radio

State Sen. Theresa Hatathlie (Diné/D-AZ-Coal Mine Mesa)

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

Break 1 Music: Zumbi (song) XOCÔ (artist) XOCÔ (album)

Break 2 Music: Rumpshaker (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)