Native in the Spotlight Archives » Native America Calling

As recorder of Pima County in Arizona, Gabriella Cázares-Kelly (Tohono O’odham) is responsible for administering early voting and keeping track of more than 600,000 voter registrations. While in office during the past six years, she’s helped make voting more accessible to tribal members and rural communities, including recently installing eight new drop-off ballot boxes across the county. Even before she ran for office, she was helping people with understanding the voting process and advocating for voting access on the Tohono O’odham reservation. Cázares-Kelly is an educator-turned-politician and our October Native in the Spotlight.

Break 1 Music: Indigenous Life (song) Fiji (artist) Indigenous Life (album)

Break 2 Music: Ponca War Dance Song 1 (song) Albert Waters, Alice Cook, Harry Buffalohead, Joe H. Rush, Lamont Brown, Louis Yellow Horse, Lucy C. F. Ribs, Russell Rush (2), Stella Yellow Horse, Sylvester Warrior (artist) War Dance Songs Of The Ponca – Vol. I (album)

Even after learning her clinical skills at Stanford School of Medicine and becoming a practicing surgeon, Lori Arviso Alvord (Diné) realized she had more to learn about being a healer. She sought out the wisdom of her tribe’s cultural healers to help her understand how to treat the whole person. That guidance remains one of the driving factors in her current surgical practice near the Yakama Nation in Washington. Her groundbreaking story as the first female Navajo surgeon is recounted in her memoir, “The Scalpel and the Silver Bear“, and is an inspiration for the generations of prospective Native American medical practitioners.

Break 1 Music: Classical Moment (song) Jay Begaye (artist) Horses Are Our Journey (album)

Break 2 Music: Indian Rock N Roll (song) Marc Brown & the Blues Crew (artist) The Blues Crew Compilation (album)

Acclaimed Diné writer and Arizona’s current poet laureate, Dr. Laura Tohe, is working to share her poetry across the state’s rural communities. That includes public readings and uplifting young, emerging poets in the state. Growing up in a remote community on the Navajo Nation, Tohe demonstrated a firm grasp of both Diné bizaad and English at an early age. She attributes that to growing up in a family of storytellers, including her father who was a Navajo Code Talker in World War II. She’s been recognized by some of the top literary organizations and her writing has been translated to multiple languages for an international audience. Tohe joins us for our special feature, Native in the Spotlight, to discuss her career and her work to make poetry more accessible for everyone.

Break 1 Music: Chief Manuelito (song) Vincent Craig (artist) Self-titled Release (album)

Break 2 Music: I Know [feat. Sebastian Gaskin] (song) Shub (artist) Heritage [Pt. 2] (album)

Raquel Montoya-Lewis (Isleta and Laguna Pueblos) built an impressive legal career that includes a foundation at tribal court systems in the Pacific Northwest. That career led her to become the first Native American to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court. She is only the second Native jurist in the country to hold a supreme court seat. That position is also a platform to educate others about her unique family lineage, offering a personal account of the history and policies that make up Native Americans’ shared experience.

Break 1 Music: Chant (song) Robert Mirabal + Ethel (artist) The River (album)

Break 2 Music: Fearless I Live (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

The work of Margaret Pearce (Citizen Potawatomi) as a cartographer does not separate Indigenous people, stories, culture, and memory from a place that she is mapping. She works with tribes, Native scientists, and culture keepers to bring forth map layers often overlooked by the mainstream. One of her recent projects, “The Cold at Inuit Nunangat”, maps the ways Inuit protect their homelands in northern Canada and how colonization interferes with that connection. Her current mapping project, “Mississippi Dialogues”, depicts the Mississippi River through the perspective of Indigenous people and their stewardship. Pearce was named a National Geographic 33 in March and is a recipient of a 2025 MacArthur Fellowship and genius grant. She is our April Native in the Spotlight.

We’ll also visit with photographer and National Geographic Explorer Kiliii Yüyan (Nanai Hèzhé) about his photography book, “Guardians of Life: Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring the Planet“. The book, which launched in April, is a culmination of photos from his travels to Indigenous communities throughout the globe with a focus on Indigenous connections and stewardship of land.

Break 1 Music: Someone Drew a Line (song) Vincent Craig (artist) Vol. 1 (album)

Break 2 Music: Me & You (song) Manitou Mkwa Singers (artist) Me & You (single)

Born in Greenland, Aaju Peter did not begin to explore the breadth of her own Inuit culture until she moved to Nunavut, Canada. It was there that she got in touch with an internal drive to learn about and strengthen language, education, policy, and the arts toward improving Inuit representation on an international scale. That has resulted in a varied career as an activist, lawyer, clothing designer, and musician. Among her many accolades is the Order of Canada, awarded for her preservation and promotion of Inuit culture. Aaju Peter joins us as our Native in the Spotlight.

Break 1 Music: The Great Angakkuq [feat. Kevin Qamaniq-Mason] (song) Silla (artist) Sila Is Boss (album)

Break 2 Music: Hard Times Will Be Coming (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

Keeya Wiki (Yurok and Maori) is not yet old enough to vote, but she is making waves in official discussions about climate policy and environmental sustainability. She was among a group of young people who made a historic kayak journey down the Klamath River from its source in the Cascade Mountains to its confluence with the Pacific Ocean after the largest dam removal project in history. It was both a celebration of her tribe’s accomplishments and a statement about what she sees as the future of successful, tribally-driven environmental policy. Since then she has also served as a delegate to the U.N.’s recent climate summit in Brazil. We’ll hear about her determined and creative intersection of cultural knowledge and modern climate activism.

GUESTS

Keeya Wiki (Yurok and Māori descent), Indigenous advocate

Ruby Williams (Karuk), Native water activist and kayaker

Break 1 Music: BALDH3AD! (song) Theia (artist)

Break 2 Music: Digital Winter (song) Ya Tseen (artist) Stand On My Shoulders (album)

Elaine Miles (Cayuse and Nez Perce) didn’t seek out her breakout role as the humorously deadpan Lingít office manager Marilyn Whirlwind in the hit TV show, “Northern Exposure“, but after she was cast and became a beloved addition to the show, acting was her vocation from then on. She had a hilarious presence in the classic movie, “Smoke Signals“, and just appeared on the acclaimed HBO series, “The Last of Us“. Behind the scenes, Miles is an advocate for Indigenous rights and a steady voice of support for Native veterans. She is our January Native In The Spotlight.

Break 1 Music: Mama (song) LOV (artist) Mama (single)

Break 2 Music: Put Your Feathers On (song) Blue Moon Marquee & Northern Cree (artist) Get Your Feathers Ready (Album)

Rodeo announcer Randy Taylor (Cherokee) knows what he’s talking about. He was a bareback rider for nearly 20 years. Forty years ago, the Oklahoma native was the first rider out of the chute at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nev. After a stint in college and then as a chiropractor, Taylor turned to announcing. His voice is now recognizable all over and on his nationally syndicated show, “Word With A Champ“. He just received the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. He is also a dedicated advocate for Native American youth. Taylor is our December Native in the Spotlight.

Break 1 Music: Hooked on an 8 Second Ride (song) Chris LeDoux (artist) Chris LeDoux and The Saddle Boogie Band (album)

Break 2 Music: Hug Room (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Mel Tonasket (Colville Tribes) is one of the key reasons the Colville Tribes remain thriving today. As a newly elected tribal council member in 1971, he cast the deciding vote against a deal with the federal government that traded cash payouts to individual tribal members for the tribe’s permanent termination. Tonasket credits the mentorship of tribal activist Lucy Covington for guiding his insights and energy to protect the sovereignty of the 12-tribe coalition under the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. He since went on to an ongoing vigilance for hunting, fishing, and other treaty rights. He still serves on the tribal business council after decades of service in many capacities. We’ll speak with Tonasket about the history of his tribe, his own call to leadership, and what’s next for his people.

Break 1 Music: Country Man (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Break 2 Music: Stomp Dance (song) George Hunter (artist) Haven (album)