Two climate tracking agencies say the Earth just reached its hottest average temperature on record and scientists predict it will only get hotter. That has implications for the health and comfort of Native people coping with the heat, and for those whose livelihoods depend on specific climate conditions and access to water. We’ll get perspectives from environmental health experts, farmers, and others about the risks of rising heat and what a hotter future might hold.

Two states and several cities have decriminalized the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Many more states are considering legislation to provide more widespread public access to hallucinogens. That has some Indigenous people worried about maintaining an adequate supply of natural psychoactive plants for ceremonies. We’ll hear about the evolving demand for hallucinogenic plants and what practitioners say needs to be done to protect them as the push for legalization continues.

After decades of pressure by animal rights groups and tribes, the Miami Seaquarium announced it will release the captive orca, Lolita, also known as Tokitae. The marine mammal has spent more than a half century in captivity and no one is sure how she will adapt to the wild. The Lummi Tribe considers orca to be relatives and have been pushing for Tokitae’s release to what biologists believe is her home pod in the Pacific Northwest.

In his concurrence with the U.S. Supreme Court majority, Justice Clarence Thomas writes that “the color of a person’s skin is irrelevant to that individual’s equal status as a citizen of this nation.” The 6-3 decision does away with more than a half century of giving students of color an advantage in college recruiting in order to diversity the educational and professional population. Proponents of affirmative action say the numbers are clear: doing away with the practice of giving priority to Black, Latino, and Native students means there will be fewer of them in college.

(Encore show) At a time when Australian bands like Men At Work, Midnight Oil, and INXS were reaching worldwide recognition, a number of Aboriginal rock and reggae bands were making their own waves in the music world. Names like Coloured Stone, No Fixed Address, and others were getting broader interest from audiences and notched impressive record sales globally. All the while they faced considerable racism and their peoples’ land rights battles, themes that their songs often invoke. We’ll hear from some of those musicians about how they now look back on this important decade of music. This is an encore show so we won’t be taking live calls from listeners.

Jacob Weasel (Cheyenne River Sioux) goes down in history as the first Native American to summit Mount Everest. It’s a big step in his goal to climb the highest peak on every continent. The rest of the time, he's an emergency and trauma surgeon at Monument Health Facility in Rapid City, S.D. He also works to mentor young Native Americans, drawing from his own accomplishments to inspire others to follow their dreams.

Wampanoag chef Sherry Pocknett made history this month when she was named the Best Chef of the Northeast by the James Beard Foundation. She’s the first Native woman to be given such an award. Meanwhile, Miijim, a new Native-owned restaurant in La Pointe, Wis. is making waves with an Indigenous menu by Red Cliff Band chef Bryce Stevenson. And the new book Our Precious Corn: Yukwanénste by Rebecca Webster (Oneida) recounts the history and travels of her tribe’s traditional corn. It's all on The Menu with Andi Murphy.

Whether it’s the frozen Alaska tundra or the hot, arid expanse of the Navajo Nation, tribal law enforcement officials, helped out by dedicated volunteers, make up search and rescue systems ready to deploy in a moment’s notice. They have an array of tools, ranging from trained dogs to drones to try and find people reported missing and bring them home safe. We’ll hear from search and rescue professionals about how the methods and technology they use.

GUESTS

Dan Martinez (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs), tribal emergency manager

Alanna Wright (Yurok and Hupa), senior paralegal and special tribal criminal jurisdiction coordinator for the Yurok Tribe

Caleb Landers, deployment manager and K9 handler at Quapaw Nation Emergency Management 

Hugh Murray, K9 handler

This year marks 150 years since President Ulysses S. Grant signed the executive order establishing the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Although a fraction of the wide territory the Mescalero originally occupied, the establishment of the New Mexico reservation marked a stable place where the tribe could call home and practice their ceremonies and traditions after decades of conflict with the U.S. Government. It’s now also a center of economic development and natural resource management.

GUESTS

Pascal Enjady (Mescalero Apache), language and culture assistant  

Jacob Daukei (Mescalero Apache), councilman for the Mescalero Apache Tribe

Duane Duffy (Mescalero Apache), councilman for the Mescalero Apache Tribe

Tribes in southeast Alaska are sounding the alarm over low salmon numbers. They’re hoping to work with Canadian First Nations to craft a plan to help revive populations. The state of Alaska moved to halt commercial fishing of chinook salmon to protect orcas that feed on the fish, but a federal appeals court sided with opponents of the ban. The state is restricting sport fishing in Cook Inlet and some other locations. We’ll hear from Native fishers in the region about their concerns over salmon and the cultural and economic toll it is having this year.

GUESTS

Guy Archibald, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission

Louie Wagner (member of the Metlakatla Indian Community), lifelong fisherman from Metlakatla, Alaska and tribal rights representative