Native America Calling

Mohawk DJ and music producer Shub (formerly DJ Shub) is part of the innovative force behind the "Powwow-Step" genre, a fusion of electronic styles like dance, dubstep, hip-hop, and traditional Indigenous music. Shub further explores his signature sound and pushes its potential to new heights on his latest album, “Heritage (Part Two)”. Listeners can expect party-ready tracks, chopped powwow samples, ambient soundscapes, and collaborations with Juno Award-winning Oji-Cree artist Aysanabee and legendary Three 6 Mafia member DJ Paul. 

Heavy electronic musician Aaron Wallace, also known as Darksiderz, blends hard dance and industrial music to create a chaotic soundtrack fit for a vampire nightclub. The Nisenan and Washoe musician grew up in Reno, Nev. where he started playing music in local punk and metal bands. Today, Darksiderz is a popular name in the electronic music scene and he's performed on some of the biggest EDM stages in the world. He brings a unique, dark, yet danceable sound to his recently released collaborative singles.

Both artists join us to talk about their latest works.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act expanded the Federal Pell Grant, a subsidy for undergraduate students, to cover short-term workforce training programs for the first time. Native education advocates view the new Workforce Pell Grant program as a positive initiative that could help more low-income adults get into high-demand jobs while boosting enrollment at tribal colleges and universities. The program went into effect this month so it’s still too early to tell how tribal institutions will benefit. We’ll discuss the viability of vocational school and training and how the Workforce Pell Grant will take effect at tribal post-secondary institutions.

Tribal officials and renewable energy advocates are celebrating a major legal victory after a Minnesota administrative judge ruled in favor of the Upper Sioux Community’s solar-powered casino. The dispute centers on the tribe’s right to supplement its power with on-site solar energy, while also highlighting the friction between tribal sovereignty and local utility monopolies. In federal court, a separate legal battle is underway to reclaim frozen funding from the $7 billion "Solar for All" program. Despite the federal standstill, Minnesota tribes like the Red Lake and White Earth Nations are forging ahead, successfully building their own solar infrastructure to secure energy independence.

A new report by the New Mexico Department of Justice says Native students are disciplined more harshly and miss more school days from suspensions than other students at Gallup-McKinley County Schools. The school district has a majority Navajo student population and was the focus of a 2023 news investigation that prompted calls for further investigations.

In South Dakota, education leaders are looking into the state's licensing exams after research shows a disproportionately low number of Native teacher candidates pass the costly exam. Native teachers are in short supply in the state and Native education advocates say that streamlining licensing requirements could be barrier.

Tlingit and Haida Tribes, the Ketchikan Indian Community, and other communities in Southeast Alaska are urging tourists to stop disrespecting unique cultural symbols such as totem poles. Nearly two million tourists visit the region annually and tribal members are reporting an uptick in incidents of tourists mocking Native culture. The message from the tribes remains: all are welcome and respect is not optional. While promoting responsible tourism, the Ketchikan Indian Community is also launching a new initiative for visitors to purchase care packages for the community's unhoused population. The initiative is also aimed at supporting the tribe's year-round housing services for unhoused residents. In the Lower 48 states, a Navajo app developer has created Tribal Trailz. It aims to help visitors navigate Diné and Pueblo lands across Arizona and New Mexico and includes historical information and other resources designed to better educate tourists about traveling in ancestral homelands.

A new 162-page report just released by the White House flags a museum exhibition for what it says is “radical, activist ideology” that “seeks to teach disdain and inspire disgust of our great country.” The report faults Native land acknowledgements, mentions of stolen land, and the use of the term “genocide” connected to an ongoing exhibition by the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). The report by the White House Domestic Policy Council argues leaders at the Smithsonian Institution have pushed an agenda of social justice advocacy instead of objective historical research. We’ll talk with Native historians and curators about this new escalation of the Trump administration’s drive to change existing narratives about Native history.

Named a “legendary Lakota horseman” by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Fred Ecoffey (Oglala Lakota) has enjoyed a celebrated 68-year career as a jockey. After winning his debut race in 1957, Ecoffey went on to compete in more than 17,500 races, earning inductions into both the Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame and the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame. Ecoffey, 88, has retired from professional racing, though he still helps one of his daughters with her barrel racing from time to time. Today, a new generation of young Native jockeys is taking up the mantle and finding success on the racetrack. Among them is Talliyah Timentwa (Colville Tribes), a two-time national Indian Relay champion who made her debut at Washington state's Emerald Downs racecourse last year. We’ll speak with Native horse riders about cultivating the art of horsemanship across disciplines, from relay races and jockeying to the sport of dressage.

A piece by artist Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Band of Choctaw and Cherokee) titled “Yet With a Steady Beat” is part of an exhibit in the brand new Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, which opened to the public in June. The large, colorful canvas is dotted with political buttons that would’ve been seen in movements for Native rights, farmers’ rights, and civil rights. Being handpicked by the Obamas for the exhibit is just one of several prestigious honors and awards garnered by Gibson in recent years. Meanwhile, up-and-coming artist and influencer Tyler Free-LaMere (Winnebago) is being recognized for her music composition work. Her music combines the Ho-Chunk language, which caught the attention of the National Endowment for the Arts. With the organization’s partnership, Tyler is now a published musician and her work was made available for music lessons and curriculums as an example of contemporary Native music. These are two of many Native artists making waves in the arts world.

As the country commemorates 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, several galleries are exploring the enduring strengths of Native Americans through both traditional and contemporary works. “Paper Trails: Unfolding Indigenous Narratives” at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art in Santa Fe, N.M. aims to stretch the boundaries of the paper medium while also examining Native cultural survival in the face of colonization. “Constellations of Place” at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College is centered on a visual history of Native people in Colorado. And Seattle’s Tidelands Gallery compiles a narrative inspired by “Lushootseed Creation Stories”. We’ll talk with artists and curators about how art inserts itself into the narratives being told about the origin of America.

We’ll also hear about the year-long streaming Native film festival, “Everything is Connected”, developed by Vision Maker Media.

Carol Juneau (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation) helped build and shape the foundation of what is now the Blackfeet Community College in the late 1970s. Her educational work led her to advocacy and elected office as she served 12 years in the Montana legislature. Juneau is one of six Native leaders in this year’s class of National Native American Hall of Fame inductees.

In this program, we’ll learn more about Juneau and other Native legends including Dwight Birdwell (Cherokee), an honored marine veteran who’s about to mark his 50th year practicing law.