Native America Calling

Marc Meriläinen (Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation) helps bring Nadjiwan’s new album The Great Sea to life through his First Nation lens; Saltwater Hank (Ts'msyen)'s vocals in his Native language soar over a brooding country mix on Gal’uunx wil lu Holtga Liimi; and Brock Stonefish (Lenape/Delaware) puts a roots/blues beat behind stories of MMIP, boarding school trauma, and even a jungle dress song on Turtle Island. We'll hear from all three musicians this Friday with host Shawn Spruce.

Native American food sovereignty experts will soon have more say into how the U.S. Department of Agriculture approaches everything from crop subsidies to low-income nutrition programs. The agency’s new tribal advisory committee is the latest in a series of steps to add more muscle into its Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative. Plus, a new Lumbee-owned bakery in North Carolina’s capital city is both a spot to pick up tasty macrons and an incubator for other bakers - and the Yurok Tribe’s annual salmon festival goes ahead without any salmon because of declining fish stocks. That and more on The Menu with our resident foodie Andi Murphy.

The Seminole Tribe is poised to have exclusive control of mobile sports betting in Florida just as the NFL season gets started. Their potential windfall is part of a $5 billion compact with the state that — for now — is holding up against court challenges. It’s just one place where tribes are jockeying for better field position in the lucrative and evolving world of sports gaming.

Threats to water and culturally important land propels a dozen tribes to call for a new National Monument designation near the Grand Canyon. The proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument would encompass more than a million acres. Among other things it would place a permanent ban on uranium mining in a place where tribes say such development contaminates the air and water and permanently scars the land.

As much as Native Americans are associated with tribal lands in the U.S., the vast majority of tribal citizens live in urban areas off their reservations. In a few selected cities, Native Americans are among the largest minority groups. Still, cities often lag in design considerations that reflect and respond to cultural and socioeconomic touch points that attract and reinforce Native urban residents. A number of Native planners, designers, and architects are pushing to create new buildings and spaces with Native residents’ needs in mind.

If they haven’t already, it’s only a matter of time before your favorite TV shows and movies in production go dark because of the ongoing actors and screenwriters strike. You might think of the it as a fight between A-list celebrities and movie moguls who all get paid many millions of dollars. But the SAG-AFTRA union says not even one in six actors clears the $27,460 annual minimum to qualify for the health insurance plan. The strike has put a hold on several Native acting jobs and Native-led productions, not to mention any promotional appearances by union members. We’ll hear from some acting pros about what the issues are and what they’re doing in the meantime.

Fifty years after his untimely death, actor and martial arts master Bruce Lee’s legacy resonates with fans across the globe. But Lee has a unique and enduring connection with Native audiences who relate to his philosophical drive, the sense of justice he portrayed on the screen, and how he propelled positive representations of his race in popular media. His films have been translated into at least two Indigenous languages. In this web exclusive audiogram, Shannon Lee, CEO and owner of the Bruce Lee Family Companies, president of the Bruce Lee Foundation, author of Be Water, My Friend, and daughter of Bruce Lee, reflects on his life and legacy.

Fifty years after his untimely death, actor and martial arts master Bruce Lee’s legacy resonates with fans across the globe. But Lee has a unique and enduring connection with Native audiences who relate to his philosophical drive, the sense of justice he portrayed on the screen, and how he propelled positive representations of his race in popular media. His films have been translated into at least two Indigenous languages. We’ll reflect on what Bruce Lee means to Native fans.

GUESTS

Fritz Bitsoie (Diné), film director 

Sifu JoAnn Wabisca (Métis-Cree), co-founder of Ekata Training Center and instructor

Simon Bird (Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation), educator and Cree language advocate 

Shannon Lee, CEO and owner of the Bruce Lee Family Companies, president of the Bruce Lee Foundation, author of Be Water, My Friend, and daughter of Bruce Lee

Structural racism is a contributing factor to the ongoing disparity for Native people when it comes to oral health. That’s the conclusion of a report published this year by a collection of non-profit oral health organizations. The report’s authors say poor oral health has far-reaching, life-long implications. We’ll hear about the need for recruiting and retaining more Native dentists and what else can be done to improve the oral health divide.

The Lake Traverse Reservation is easy to find on most maps put out by the federal government and apps like MapQuest. But the home of the federally recognized Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate is nowhere to be seen on the state’s Department of Transportation map. It’s one of three reservations the agency chooses to leave off. The reasons are complicated and come down to interpretations of the legal definitions of each reservation. We’ll talk about what’s behind the omission and what Native scholars and others are doing to change it.

GUESTS

Angelique EagleWoman (member of Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), law professor and director of the Native American Law and Sovereignty Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and chief justice of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Supreme Court

State Rep. Tamara St. John (member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate/R-SD 1), tribal archivist

Chairman J. Garret Renville (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), tribal chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate