Bikes have always been an affordable and healthy option for getting around, especially for urban Native Americans. You just need to build in a little extra time and effort in order to get where you’re going. There’s more incentive now than ever to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. The Navajo Nation has a reservation-wide program to encourage bike riding. They’re just one tribe capitalizing on the environmental, health, and tourism benefits of bikes. Today on Native America Calling, we catch up with Rezduro co-founder Adrian Herder (Diné); LaJuanda Stands And Looks Back (enrolled Rosebud Sioux Tribe member), tribal transportation planner; and Vanessa Bowen (Diné), product designer and cyclist.

The recent death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis, TN police officers has sparked a nationwide conversation about reforming police culture. Solid statistics about interactions between police and Native Americans are hard to come by, because the numbers are relatively small, but at least one recent study finds Native people are disproportionately killed by police. Today on Native America Calling, we get Native perspectives on what is needed to improve those statistics and whether there are any promising advances in bridging the trust gap between police and our communities with Stephanie Lumsden (Hupa), PhD candidate in gender studies at UCLA; Dave Rogers (Nez Perce/Winnebago/Lakota), CEO of Tribal Public Safety; criminal justice advisor Martin “Marty” Antone (enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin); and Mike Forcia (member of the Bad River Tribe), chairman of the American Indian Movement in Minneapolis.

It’s the time of year to start calculating your taxable income and looking over any receipts you have collected in a shoebox. The IRS deadline isn’t until April, but the earlier you start the better prepared you are. Today on Native America Calling, we’ve got expert tax advice with Luella Brien (Apsáalooke), volunteer tax preparer since 2016 through the Chief Dull Knife Extension Office’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program; Phyllis George (Nez Perce), VITA tax preparer; and Sunny Guillory (Standing Rock Sioux), financial literacy coordinator at Northwest Indian College and VITA site coordinator.

Sturgeon survive from the time dinosaurs roamed the earth, but some species are having a tough time weathering human-made encroachment. While some lake sturgeon live to be 100 years old, the species is on track to be designated endangered next year, threatening traditional Native fishing methods. Today on Native America Calling, as the brief sturgeon spearfishing seasons are getting underway, we look at the ecological status of sturgeons, the traditional harvest methods, and tribal efforts to protect them with elder Marvin DeFoe (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians), tribal historic preservation officer for the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Indians, and Biskakone Johnson (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe), language and art teacher for the Lac du Flambeau Tribe.

The fatal polar bear attack in western Alaska in January is an anomaly. There hasn’t been one in the state for more than 30 years. Alaska Natives have always coexisted with the large predator, but polar bears are in a fight for survival as climate change robs them of the sea ice that serves as their primary hunting habitat. Today on Native America Calling, we explore what living in the proximity of polar bears is like and what the trends are for their immediate future with whaling captain Herman Ahsoak (Inupiaq); Kiliii Yuyan (Nanai/Hèzhé and Chinese), National Geographic photographer; Mary Patkotak (Inupiaq); and Allison Warden (Inupiaq).

Organizers say this year’s Sundance Film Festival line-up is among the strongest in terms of number and scope of Indigenous films. They include a powerful documentary and a dramatic take on the MMIP issue, a review of a tribal media’s fight for editorial control, and a collection of shorts about Native history. Today on Native America Calling, we sample some of the eleven films by Indigenous producers presented to audiences at the seminal Park City, UT event with Razelle Benally (Diné and Oglala Lakota) and Matthew Galkin, directors and producers of “Murder in Big Horn”; Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk and Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians); and Kymon Greyhorse (Diné and Tongan), film director and writer.

For Native people in the service industry, tips are a sizable part of their income. But there’s a lot of gray area and confusion when it comes to how much—and who—to tip. Food servers is an easy one. But what about tattoo artists? FedEx drivers? Roofing contractors? Today on Native America Calling, we get the latest recommendations on gratuity and explore the stereotype that Native customers are bad tippers with Kimberly Tilsen-Brave Heart (Oglala Lakota), owner and executive chef of Chef Brave Heart; taxi driver Lynette Hinz (Tlingit); housekeeper Katalina Kellywood (Diné); and Professor Courtney Lewis (citizen of Cherokee Nation).

A city lot in Juneau recently became the first land ever put into trust for the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. It’s only the second tribal land put into trust in the country’s largest state. The trouble is, the state believes the trust designation by the U.S. Department of Interior undermines the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, that specifically prohibits the federal government from considering land-into-trust applications in Alaska. Today on Native America Calling, we get the back story on the Alaska trust land process and what it means for Alaska Natives with Richard Peterson (Tlingit from the Kaagwaantaan clan), president of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska; Joe Nelson (Tlingit), board chair of Sealaska; and Lloyd Miller, partner of Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller, and Monkman.

By now you might be wondering if you can follow through on your New Year’s resolution to get in shape and go to the gym more. Even the most dedicated fitness enthusiasts are tempted to skip a workout to accommodate busy schedules and those days they just aren’t up for lifting. Today on Native America Calling, we get some tips from Native exercise experts about making the most of your regimen and for keeping the motivation going with Orien Fiander (enrolled member of the Grand Ronde Tribe), founder of Native Fitness; powerlifter Ray Fougnier (member of the Oneida Indian Nation): and community warrior Loren Anthony (Diné).

Indigenous chefs Nephi Craig (White Mountain Apache), Justin Pioche (Diné), Jaren Bates (Navajo), and Sherry Pocknett (Wampanoag) are semi-finalists for the James Beard Foundation award for best regional chef. ɁálɁal Café opened up at the urban housing complex recently opened by the Chief Seattle Club and it’s turning out a fresh line of healthy Indigenous menu items. And, as the much of the country grapples with an egg supply problem, some Native egg farmers are sitting pretty. Friday on Native America Calling, Andi Murphy serves up a new helping of our regular feature The Menu with ɁálɁal Café manager Anthony Johnson (Anishinaabe and a citizen of Red Lake Nation), chef Justin Pioche, and Katherine Minthorn (Umatilla), Intertribal Agriculture Council technical assistance specialist (Idaho region) and an owner of Rez Chicks Co-Op.