Native America Calling

Bull and bareback riding, team roping, and barrel racing are among the highly anticipated competitions to watch at this year’s National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. We’ll talk with rodeo announcer Randy Taylor and some of the Native athletes working to make their names known in the arena.

GUESTS

Randy Taylor (Cherokee), professional rodeo announcer

Jacob Lees (Tlingit). professional bareback rider

JC Yeahquo (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), team roping header

Danielle Lowman (Navajo), breakaway roper

Break 1 Music: Hooked on an 8 Second Ride (song) Chris LeDoux (artist) Chris LeDoux and The Saddle Boogie Band (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

A bill to formally provide federal protections to the Ocmulgee Mounds in Georgia is making progress in Congress. If approved, it would establish the state’s first National Park and Preserve overseen by the National Park Service. The land is the ancestral home of the Muscogee Creek Nation and other tribes. The preservation momentum comes as several other locations look to better document and protect mounds. In Wisconsin, officials identified two mounds in Milwaukee’s oldest cemetery. We’ll get updates on recent efforts to recognize and preserve mounds.

GUESTS

Raelynn Butler (Muscogee), secretary of culture and humanities for the Muscogee Creek Nation

Tracie Revis (Muscogee/Euchee), director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative

Sunshine Thomas-Bear (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska), cultural preservation director, NAGPRA representative, and tribal historic preservation officer for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska — and director for the Angel De Cora Museum and Research Center

Break 1 Music: Rainbow Gratitude (song) Joy Harjo (artist) Red Dreams, A Trail Beyond Tears (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

Tribally run business owners and individual Native American entrepreneurs are preparing for tariffs and other international trade shifts if Donald Trump delivers on his promise to enact tariffs on good from certain countries. Trump initiated a trade war during his first term that hampered tribes and business that trade directly with foreign countries or that readily use foreign products. We’ll find out how Native companies with foreign ties are preparing.

GUESTS

Wayne Garnons-Williams (Plains Cree from Moosomin First Nation), chair of the International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization

Larry Chavis (Lumbee), economist and business school professor

Tyler Tawahongva (Hopi), owner of Cloud 9 Recycling

James Collard, director of planning and economic development for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation

Break 1 Music: Mr. Businessman’s Blues (song) DM Lafortune (artist) Beauty and Hard Times (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

Donald Trump targeted trans issues during his presidential campaign. He promised to take aim at gender-affirming care early in his upcoming term in office, including restricting federal funds for trans medical support. That could have a major effect on such care within the Indian Health Service. In addition, at least half of all states now ban gender affirming care for minors. A pending U.S. Supreme Court decision will determine the future of such care in those states. We’ll gauge the direction for trans issues and find out how trans advocates are preparing both politically and personally for the next few years.

GUESTS

Shelby Chestnut (Assiniboine), executive director of the Transgender Law Center

Dr. Itai Jeffries (Occaneechi), program director for the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s Paths (Re)Membered Project

Dr. Hannah Wenger, clinical consultant and contractor at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s Trans and Gender Affirming Care ECHO Program and Paths (Re)Membered Project

Break 1 Music: This Love (song) Edzi’u (artist) Tunnel Vision (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

The disproportionately high number of unsolved cases for missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) inspired Haley Omeasoo to launch a research lab on the Blackfeet Nation’s Montana reservation. Ohkomi Forensics offers tribal police and other law enforcement agencies scientific data in an attempt to make connections with current and past investigations. It’s one of the ways Native advocates all over the country are working to fill gaps to improve the troubling statistics for Native crime victims.

GUESTS

Haley Omeasoo (Hopi/Blackfeet), executive director and president of Ohkomi Forensics

Eleanore Sunchild (Thunderchild First Nation), Indigenous human rights attorney with Sunchild Law

Bree R Black Horse (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma), MMIP Assistant United States Attorney for the Northwest Regions

Melissa Skeet (Diné), endurance roller skater

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

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

Tribal leaders are heading to Washington, D.C. for President Joe Biden’s last White House Tribal Nations Summit. The gathering is touted as a chance for tribal representatives to interact with Administration officials and gauge progress and hurdles when it comes to the federal government’s trust responsibility. The future of the regular meetings with the executive branch is uncertain. In his previous term, President Donald Trump chose not to convene regular meetings with tribes. We’ll get a preview of the upcoming summit and assess the potential for future interactions with the White House.

GUESTS

Larry Wright Jr. (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), executive director for National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)

Kevin Washburn (Chickasaw), dean at the University of Iowa College of Law

Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi), publisher and editor of Native News Online and Tribal Business News

Break 1 Music: Nothing Simple (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Break 2 Music: Ts’ma’antut ‘Nüün (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’Nsk (album)

It’s getting harder to stay ahead of cyber criminals. Tribes and tribal businesses are among the entities facing growing security threats. Some have had to pay large sums and shut down their network operations in response to cyber attacks. The newest report from Experian notes an increasing number of attacks and foresees a rise in younger hackers equipped with sophisticated AI technology. Organized foreign criminals are constantly hunting for security weaknesses to steal people’s personal information. The threat requires a response in know-how and financial resources. We’ll find out what’s happening behind the scenes as cyber security experts work to protect your data.

GUESTS

Renita DiStefano (Seneca Nation), president and CEO of Second Derivative, LLC

Brandon Benallie (Diné), cybersecurity expert

Shane Hill (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), manager of cybersecurity for the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin

Mentioned in the show: Tribal ISAC (Information Sharing & Analysis Center)

Break 1 Music: Obsidian (song) Red-209 (artist)

Break 2 Music: Ts’ma’antut ‘Nüün (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’Nsk (album)

Holiday shoppers are busy nailing down deals on smart TVs, cookware sets, and leather handbags at big-name online and retail stores. Native business owners and individual entrepreneurs offer an alternative during the holiday buying rush with gift ideas that make both an impression for the receivers and a difference for the sellers. We have some experts on gifts made by Native Americans that you might not have thought of.

GUESTS

Rico Worl (Tlingit and Athabascan), social designer and founder of Trickster Company

Major Robinson (Northern Cheyenne), owner of Sage & Oats Trading Post

Tally Monteau (Hunkpati Dakota), project manager for Triia with NADC

Calvin Crosby (Cherokee), owner of King’s English Bookshop and executive director of Brain Food Books

Break 1 Music: I Walk with You (song) Joseph Fire Crow (artist) Face the Music (album)

Break 2 Music: Ts’ma’antut ‘Nüün (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’Nsk (album)

Representatives from the Canadian government just traveled to northern Quebec to apologize to the Inuit people of Nunavik for the mass killing of sled dogs some six decades ago. The apology comes with $45 million in compensation. The actions are acknowledgement of the government’s callous regard for the wishes, much less the livelihoods, of the Inuit as it carried out the slaughter of more than 1,000 dogs. The money will go toward revitalizing sled dog culture through training and operational support. We’ll hear about what brought on the action and how Nunavik Inuit worked to secure accountability.

GUESTS

Jennifer Probert Erhart (Upper Tanana Athabascan), dog musher and tribal court support specialist in the tribal government and justice division at Tanana Chiefs Conference

Carl Erhart (Koyukon Athabascan), dog musher

Lucy Grey (Inuk), Makivvik Corporation coordinator for the dog slaughter file

Charlie Arngak (Inuk), deputy mayor of Kangiqsujuaq

MP Iqwinder Gaheer, Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Malton in Ontario, Canada

Break 1 Music: Ikitaa (song) PIQSIQ (artist)

Break 2 Music: Ts’ma’antut ‘Nüün (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’Nsk (album)

If you ever buy or sell a parcel of land or build a home or business, you’ll likely need a land surveyor. They are the first professionals on the scene when people need to find and document property lines, reservation boundaries, utilities, and topography. On a bigger scale, much of the American west was originally mapped and named by explorers like Lewis and Clark and John Wesley Powell in the 1800s. It’s now up to Native American surveyors to include their unique understanding of the land going forward. We’ll hear from Native land surveyors about their work and the need to recruit more Native people to their ranks.

GUESTS

Halbert Goldtooth (Diné), professional land surveyor and owner of Goldtooth Surveying

Jake Stephens (Eastern Band of Cherokee), manager of the Tribal Surveying Office for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Jamie Hansen, survey manager for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes

Break 1 Music: Edge of The Rez, Part 2 (song) The Blue Stone Project (artist) Blue Stone (album)

Break 2 Music: Ts’ma’antut ‘Nüün (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’Nsk (album)