Native America Calling

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.

The post Roe vs. Wade landscape changes some reproductive health choices, but informed planning about starting and building families remains the best chance for health outcomes for everyone concerned. The federal government recently distributed $350 million to states to help address health disparities for mothers and babies who are most at risk. Today on Native America Calling, we get updates from Captain Stacey Dawson, Senior Women's Health Nurse Consultant for IHS Division of Nursing Services; Sarah Adams (citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), co-founder of Matriarch; Charon Asetoyer (Comanche), executive director and CEO of the Native American Community board, parent organization to the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center; and Nicole Martin (Navajo, Laguna, Chiricahua Apache, Zuni), co-founder and sex educator with Indigenous Women Rising.

Increasing demand for electric vehicles and other electric storage devices makes lithium an important and valuable commodity. The metal is used in batteries. Today on Native America Calling, we learn about plans to expand the only lithium mine in the United States to meet the demand and why it's considered an environmental and cultural affront to tribes in Nevada with Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Chairman Arlan Melendez; Ft. McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone tribal member Arlo Crutcher; and Gary McKinney (Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley), spokesperson for the People of Red Mountain and American Indian Movement Northern Nevada chapter member.

The research on the overrepresentation of Native Americans behind bars is long and vast. But a new report shows numbers that exceed what we’ve seen in the past: Native people are incarcerated at a rate 38% higher than the national average and are held in proportions higher than any other ethnic group in at least 19 states. Today on Native America Calling, we'll look at how, according to the report, tribes and tribal courts are part of the problem and could be part of the solution with Nikcole Whipple (Round Valley Indian Tribe member), Justice Fellow at the Education Trust; Amber Miller, reentry staff attorney for the Yurok Tribal Court; and attorney Nikki Borchardt Campbell (Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah and Ute Indian Tribe), executive director of the National American Indian Court Judges Association.

You already interact with artificial intelligence when you ask Siri for directions or create an algorithmic path by thumbing through TikTok videos. But AI is fast becoming a place for individual—and corporate—creativity and technology. That brings up a lot of questions about copyright protections for Native creatives and worries about appropriation. Today on Native America Calling, we look at how it all works with Michael Running Wolf (Lakota and Cheyenne), a Ph.D student studying computer science and a language advocate using AI; Amelia Winger-Bearskin (Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma), artist, technologist, and the Banks endowed chair and associate professor of artificial intelligence and the arts at the Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida; Dr. Jason Edward Lewis (Hawaiian, Samoan), university research chair in Computational Media and the Indigenous Future Imaginary at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada; and Suzanne Kite (Oglala Lakota), artist and organizer of the group Indigenous AI.

Alligators are known as large and fearsome reptiles. But they are also traditional touchstones and an important source of food for Southern and Southeastern tribes. Overhunting and human encroachment nearly drove the animal to extinction, but protections and habitat improvement helped them make a dramatic recovery. Today on Native America Calling, we'll hear about ongoing tribal efforts to manage populations of the animal that continues to have an important and enduring connection with Everett Osceola (Seminole Tribe of Florida), cultural ambassador for the Seminole Tribe of Florida; Principal Chief Lora Ann Chaisson (United Houma Nation); and RJ Molinere (United Houma Nation), alligator hunter, arm wrestling champion, and star on the History Channel reality series “Swamp People”.