Native America Calling

The Lummi Nation is among the tribes that continue to face serious threats from the ongoing opioid epidemic, despite their best efforts. Lawmakers in Washington State are poised to allocate millions of dollars in opioid litigation settlement money to Lummi and other tribes in an effort to stem troubling statistics that show Native Americans are overwhelmingly affected by opioid abuse. All across the country, tribes are working to find the most promising opioid treatments funded by dozens of settlements with pharmaceutical giants. We’ll check in with the ongoing problem of Native opioid addiction and the best prospects for the $1.5 billion earmarked to help solve it.

Most tribes have important traditional connections to the stars and other celestial bodies in the night sky. But increasing encroachment from artificial lights is diminishing those connections. A handful of tribes are supporting a dark skies initiative to preserve what night sky visibility is left and promoting methods to limit light pollution. In the process, they’re raising awareness of their own night sky traditions.

A crime spree by two Ute youths in 1923 escalated into a mob of settlers bent on suppressing the nearby Ute and Paiute populations in what is now Utah. The conflict led to the deaths of two Paiute men, including William Posey, a leader who was vilified in the press for his resistance to oppressive settler tactics. The ‘posse’ formed to retaliate against the tribes imprisoned dozens of Ute citizens in a makeshift stockade. The action, sometimes called the “Posey War” or the “Last Indian Uprising,” forever changed the tribes’ access to their land and ushered in a time of forced attendance in boarding schools for Ute children. A new exhibition in Salt Lake City, Utah recounts the Posey War a century later.

Roberto Múkaro Borrero spent two decades surveying historical documents and piecing together fragments of written texts to create a new, comprehensive Taino language dictionary. And Alaina Tahlate is using what she learned from hours of recordings and hundreds of documents as she races to preserve the language of Oklahoma’s Caddo Nation that has only two fluent speakers remaining. We'll speak with these two passionate language scholars about the dedication it takes to make a difference.

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America struck 75 miles south of Anchorage in March 1964. More than 130 people lost their lives in the temblor and the subsequent tsunamis. The state’s largest city endured major damage to buildings, property, and infrastructure. Kodiak, Seward, Valdez, and the village of Chenega were among the places severely damaged by rising waters. The event forever changed how Alaska monitors and prepares for dangerous seismic threats.

Bestselling Blackfeet writer Stephen Graham Jones (Blackfeet), author and English professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, caps off his horror trilogy with his new novel, The Angel of Indian Lake. It’s the usual rough ride for protagonist Jade Daniels, a slasher movie buff who keeps finding herself the target of human and supernatural malevolence. Her experiences over the years have given her unique strength and wisdom, but have also taken a physical and emotional toll. Does she have what it takes to fend off the inevitable confluence of evil?

The future of Native agriculture depends on educating new generations of farmers and securing tribal water rights. Those are two of the conclusions from this year’s State of Native Agriculture Address. Federal ag agency leaders and Native non-profit ag representatives also praise new federal financial support programs and express the need make sure tribes’ interests are addressed in the overdue Farm Bill. Out on the land, it’s ramp (wild onion) season and time for cooks to share new and traditional wild onion dishes. And, for Women’s History Month, we’re focusing on the mothers, grandmothers, and ancestral matriarchs who keeping Indigenous foods alive. The Menu is our regular feature on Indigenous food sovereignty hosted and produced by Andi Murphy.

A Minneapolis Lakota man is developing an archive of music by Native American artists one record and cassette tape at a time. Justis Brokenrope (Sicangu Lakota), founder of Wathéča Records, music curator, DJ, and educator, has already amassed a sizable collection of mostly folk, rock, blues, and country music by Native musicians. Now he’s converting a lot of that music to digital formats to give the music and the artists who created it new recognition. Along the way he’s expanding the conversation about the importance of Native languages.

Minot Public Schools issued a public apology over conduct of fans at a basketball tournament this month. The action comes after reports of "potentially discriminatory conduct" targeting Native players. It’s one in a series of complaints about racially insensitive actions. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating. Native American advocates successfully pushed the state School Activities Association to adopt a zero tolerance policy for racially insensitive behavior by fans.

About one out of every six high school students report being bullied, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number goes up significantly — as much as 40% — for LGBTQ2 students. The death of non-binary Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict, ruled a suicide, is sparking widespread conversations about the consequences of bullying. The federal Government Accounting Office found in 2021 that racist bullying is also on the rise. We’ll discuss strategies that are showing promise for combatting bullying.