Native America Calling

Before their relocation along the Trail of Tears, southeast tribes found a need to curb cattle rustling and other violations of tribal laws. The Five Tribes organized tribal law enforcement units that came to be known as Lighthorse. They would respond to crimes such as stagecoach robberies, bootlegging and murder. For several years, the Lighthorse acted as judge, jury, even executioner. The Cherokee Lighthorsemen have their origins in Georgia, but were official formed in November 1844. The tribes continue to use the term “Lighthorse” to refer to their community policing units. We’ll hear about the history of “Lighthorse” and how they paved the way for tribal law enforcement.

GUESTS

Scott Ketchum (Choctaw Nation), Chickasaw Nation Endowed Chair in Native American Studies for East Central University

Julie Reed (Cherokee Nation), associate professor in history at Penn State University

Michelle Cooke (Chickasaw Nation), senior staff writer for the Chickasaw Press and author of Protecting Our People: Chickasaw Law Enforcement in Indian Territory

Break 1 Music: Two-Sidedness (song) Samantha Crain (artist) You (Understood) (album)

Break 2 Music: Ksm Xaayda (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’nsk (album)

Halloween is the right time to dive into new spooky books by Native authors. Ramona Emerson’s new sequel, Exposure, checks back in with her character Rita Todacheene, a Navajo forensic photographer introduced in Emerson’s debut novel, Shutter, who continues to be haunted by crime victims. Dark and menacing supernatural entities follow Choctaws along the infamous Trail of Tears to Oklahoma in Devon Mihesuah’s The Bone Picker, a collection of fictional stories set in real-life histories. Nathan Adler co-edited a collection of scary stories along with Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm (Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and Saugeen First Nation) called Zegaajimo: Indigenous Horror Fiction. Hunkpapa Lakota humorist and author Tiffany Midge’s newest collection of poetry, Horns, weaves horror through her creative use of language and satire. These authors join us for a conversation about horror in Native literature.

GUESTS

Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler (Anishinaabe and member of Lac de Mille Lacs First Nation), writer, author, and editor

Devon Mihesuah (Choctaw), writer, historian, and the Cora Lee Beers Price Teaching Professor at the University of Kansas

Ramona Emerson (Diné), writer and filmmaker

Tiffany Midge (Hunkpapa Lakota), poet, humorist, and author

Break 1 Music: Halloween (song) Blood Dance (artist) Halloween (album)

Break 2 Music: Ksm Xaayda (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’nsk (album)

Four Native Americans just received the nation’s highest honor recognizing work and dedication to enriching the community. President Joe Biden awarded the 2022-2023 National Humanities Medals to Muscogee poet Joy Harjo, long-time Cherokee educator Dr. Robert Martin, Potawatomi author and scientist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Tlingit cultural advocate Dr. Rosita Worl. The awards, in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Humanities, honors individuals and organizations that deepen “the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.” Native America Calling was the first Native organization to receive a National Humanities Medal in 2021.

GUESTS

Dr. Rosita Worl (Tlingit), anthropologist, cultural leader, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, and a 2023 National Humanities Medalist

Joy Harjo (Muscogee), poet and 2022 National Humanities Medalist

Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee), president of the Institute of American Indian Arts and a 2022 National Humanities Medalist

Shelly C. Lowe (Diné), chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities

Break 1 Music: I Saw the Witch Cry (song) Anasazi (artist)

Break 2 Music: Ksm Xaayda (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’nsk (album)

Global business connections are a way to build economic development. But it’s also a way to promote cross-cultural relationships and understanding across borders. The World Indigenous Business Forum aims to strengthen those bonds. The annual forum returns to the U.S. for the first time in nine years with at least 1,000 Indigenous business leaders meeting in Albuquerque to talk about success stories and barriers when it comes to trade across global boundaries. We’ll hear about what they hope to accomplish.

GUESTS

Andrew Carrier (Red River Métis)  vice president of the Manitoba Métis Federation and co-founder of the World Indigenous Business Forum

Wayne Garnons-Williams (Plains Cree from Treaty 6, Moosomin First Nation). chair of International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization

Ron Solimon (Laguna Pueblo) vice chair of Laguna Development Corporation

Break 1 Music: How It Came to Be This Way (song) Autumn (artist) The Hating Tree (album)

Break 2 Music: Ksm Xaayda (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’nsk (album)

Indian boarding schools notoriously worked to stamp out Native languages, religions, and cultures. And part of that was an effort to cut ties between Native children and their traditional means of sustenance. In light of President Joe Biden’s apology, we’ll review another legacy of the shameful federal policy. And Alana Yazzie, who goes by The Fancy Navajo, just launched a new cookbook, which blends old and new Native food traditions. It’s all today in our latest edition of our regular feature The Menu with host Andi Murphy.

GUESTS

Arlen Washines (Yakama), member of the Washington State Truth and Reconciliation Tribal Advisory Committee

Alana Yazzie (Totsohni/Ta’neeszahnii), author of The Modern Navajo Kitchen: Homestyle Recipes that Celebrate the Flavors and Traditions of the Diné

Jim LaBelle (Iñupiaq), member of National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition board of directors

Break 1 Music: Toxic Masculinity (song) Mystic Priestess (artist) Mystic Priestess (album)

Break 2 Music: Ksm Xaayda (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’nsk (album)

President Joe Biden is taking the historic step to formally apologize for the federal government’s role in the failed Indian Board School era. The first-of-its-kind acknowledgement comes after Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland released the final report from a three-year investigation that included formal listening sessions from boarding school survivors and their relatives. The report documented at least 18,000 Native children who were sent to distant live-in schools where they were forced to abandon their languages and cultures. They were subjected to extensive physical and sexual abuse. Nearly 1,000 children died while attending the institutions far from their families. We’ll hear from Sec. Haaland and others who have been working on building the infrastructure of healing from the Boarding School Era.

Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) – Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior

Denise Lajimodiere (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) – co-founder and oral historian with the National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition first Native American poet laureate of North Dakota

Jim LaBelle (Iñupiaq) – board member for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

President Joe Biden’s remarks from the Gila River Indian Community, Arizona:

Remarks from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland before Pres. Biden’s boarding schools apology:

Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Break 2 Music: Grateful Sun (song) Mike Bern (artist)

Every year, thousands of Native Americans are going without the health care they’re entitled to or are risking costly medical bills for treatment that should be covered. A new report by KFF Health News focuses on the Purchased/Referred Care program in which patients seek outside treatment that IHS doesn’t offer. The report says the PRC program denied more than $550 million in payment requests from outside medical facilities in 2022, putting patients on the hook financially. Some tribes with resources are able to establish tribally-run care. Others are working on tribal health insurance programs. We’ll get a look at the problem facing those relying on IHS, and what can be done to solve it.

GUESTS

Misty Heiden (enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and a descendent of the Red Lake Nation, Leech Lake Tribe, White Earth Nation, Ponca, and Omaha)

Brian Gunn (member of the Colville Tribe), represents Indian tribes as principal at Powers Law Firm

Arielle  Zionts, rural health reporter with KFF Health News

Captain Joe Bryant (Cherokee Nation), chief executive officer of the Clinton Indian Health Center and lead for PRC agency priorities

Mentioned on the show: IHS Purchased/Referred Care online resources

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

Break 2 Music: Grateful Sun (song) Mike Bern (artist)

Nevada is the first state to extend electronic ballots to tribal members. It allows them to register and vote from their own homes, giving rural Native voters an alternative to traveling miles to their nearest polling or ballot drop-off site. It’s an idea that other states remain wary of. In Alaska, efforts to improve voting among Native voters remain elusive. Opposition from Republican state lawmakers killed a bill eliminating witness signatures on absentee ballots. On a conservative talk show, the Alaska House Speaker admitted she opposed it because it would have favored U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat and the only Alaska Native in Congress. Rep. Peltola calls it “a concerted effort to silence” Native votes. We’ll discuss progress and continuing hurdles for Native voters.

GUESTS

Mathilda Guerrero Miller (Kanaka Maoli), government relations director for Native Voters Alliance Nevada

Elveda Martinez (Walker River Paiute Tribe), voter rights activist

Michelle Sparck (Qissunamiut Tribe of Chevak), director of Get Out the Native Vote

Gabriel Di Chiara, Chief Deputy Secretary of State for Nevada

Break 1 Music: Keep Rising (song) House of Shem (artist) Keep Rising (album)

Break 2 Music: Grateful Sun (song) Mike Bern (artist)

Some colleges and universities say Native American admissions for the class of 2028 have suffered after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious recruitment. Harvard University reports a drop in enrollment for Native students and other students of color. Other colleges say it’s still too early to say. We’ll get an update on the trends for Native enrollment in post-secondary education and how Native students can adjust to the new admissions reality.

GUESTS

Mikaela Crank (Navajo Nation), scholars program director for College Horizons

Sam Ritter, director of the Davis New Mexico Scholarship

Dr. Corey Still (citizen of the United Keetoowah band of Cherokee Indians), senior research director at One Fire Associates, LLC

Break 1 Music: Dee Zee (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album)

Break 2 Music: Grateful Sun (song) Mike Bern (artist)

Claudia Sheinbaum has already made history as Mexico’s first female president. She also comes into office with a promise to bolster the rights and recognition for the country’s many Indigenous peoples. Her inauguration included a traditional Indigenous blessing ceremony, something that at least one church leader criticized as “witchcraft”. We’ll explore what the Sheinbaum presidency means for Mexico’s Indigenous peoples and what obstacles stand in the way.

GUESTS

Gaspar Rivera-Salgado (Mixteco), director for the UCLA Center for Mexican Studies

Mariano Machain, coordinator for the international advocacy non-profit group Service and Advice for Peace (Serapaz)

Nicole Yanes (Opata), director of institutional philanthropy at NDN Collective

Break 1 Music: Copal Offering to the Four Directions (song) Xavier Quijas Yxayotl (artist) Aztec Dances (album)

Break 2 Music: Grateful Sun (song) Mike Bern (artist)