Past Shows Archives » Native America Calling

A new report by the Native American Rights Fund finds rejections increased for both ballots and voter registration forms sent by mail from places with high Native populations from 2020 to 2024. NARF’s analysis also documents generations of efforts to suppress or hinder Native voters. The report comes as both Congress and the courts are turning back several President Donald Trump’s most significant attempts to alter how people vote or how their votes should be counted. But Native voting advocates remain vigilant for ways the federal government may seek to interfere with the midterm elections in November.

GUESTS

Dr. Megan Gall, principal at Blockwell Consulting

Jaynie Parrish (Diné), executive director of Arizona Native Vote

Michelle Sparck (Qissunamiut Tribe of Chevak), director of Get Out The Native Vote

Calvin Hedrick (Mountain Maidu), director of policy, training and tribal relations for the California Native Vote Project

Break 1 Music: Buc Wild Intertribal (song) Buc Wild (artist) Oneida Powwow: 40th Anniversary (album)

Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

A diverse team of mainly Alaska Native talent spent nearly nine years building the operatic version of a historic battle in the early 1800s. “Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”, a combination of music, writing, anthropology, and culture, is now on stage in Juneau, offering audiences a Tlingit perspective that is frequently dismissed in historical accounts. The presentation in the high art of opera adds a uniquely dramatic setting to a conflict that forever defined commerce, colonization and Tlingit autonomy in Alaska. We’ll hear from some of the talent behind the opera as well as the events from more than 200 years ago that inspired it.

GUESTS

Madeline Sayet (Mohegan), stage director for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”

Vera Starbard (Tlingit and Dena’ina), writer and librettist for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”

Shaakindustoow Ed Littlefield (Lingit), composer and musical director for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”

Dr. X̱’unei Lance Twitchell (Lingít, Haida, Yup’ik, and Sámi), professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska-Southeast, translator and cultural consultant

Break 1 Music: First Battle (song) Ed Littlefield (artist) Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles (album)

Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

A proposed overhaul of the federal process that protects cultural heritage sites and resources is fueling considerable pushback from tribes. They are concerned about how recommended changes to the National Historic Preservation Act might diminish tribal input on matters such as development projects in known sensitive areas. Critics say the changes have the potential to permanently destroy any remaining cultural treasures in the path of commercial development. At the same time, historians and others are worried about the pending closure of two federal archive facilities containing documents from the Indian Boarding School Era. Archivists worry there is no clear answer about what happens to these records if the facilities shut down.

And we’ll discuss the possible damage from border wall construction at Big Bend National Park in Texas. The Mescalero Apache Tribe is among those that spent years developing a framework to avoid irreparable damage to important spiritual and cultural sites. Current construction efforts are not following that framework.

GUESTS

Ira Matt (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), executive director for the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers

Heather Hostler (Hupa), executive director at California Indian Legal Services

Fallon Carey (Cherokee), digital archives director at the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

Holly Houghten, tribal historic preservation officer for the Mescalero Apache Tribe

Break 1 Music: Wake Up Song (song) Voices of Salish & Ped d’Oreille Women (artist) Heart of the Bitterroot (album)

Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

For those who witnessed the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., the terrorist attacks remain a vivid memory 25 years later. It’s even burned into the minds of those who watched the tragedy unfold on television. At the same time, up to 30% of Americans were born after the historic event and have no first-hand knowledge. We’ll remember 9/11 though the eyes of those who were close enough to see it, or were among those who put their lives on the line to help clean up the damage to help the nation heal.

GUESTS

John Haworth (Cherokee), Senior Executive Emeritus for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

Leslie Logan (Seneca), widow of Brad Bonaparte

Mike Swamp (St. Regis Mohawk), retired ironworker and owner of Mohawk Plumbing and Heating

Tokala Two Elk (Sicangu Lakota), elder

J.J. Lind (Cherokee and Shawnee), artist and filmmaker

Break 1 Music: Memorial Song (song) Porcupine Singers (artist) Alowanpi – Songs Of Honoring – Lakota Classics: Past & Present, Vol. 1 (album)

Break 2 Music: With My Son (song) Vincent Craig (artist)

The risks of fighting wildfires hit home this summer as 13 firefighters, including two Native Americans, died on the job. The profession is facing burnout, overwork, and higher risk as the number of wildfires steadily increases and the number of federal firefighters drops following budget cuts by the Trump administration. We’ll hear about what wildland firefighters are currently up against and what the hopes are for more staff and training as the threat of wildfires across the country shows no signs to slowing down. We’ll also hear from friends and family members of fallen firefighters, including those from a historically tragic fire 40 years ago.

GUESTS

Bodie Shaw (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs), Northwest Incident Management Team 7 liaison officer, former deputy regional director for the Northwest Region of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and former national wildland fire director for BIA

Al Waquie (Jemez Pueblo), former wildland firefighter

Elsa Coffin (Iñupiaq), parent of Leslie R. Washington

Franklin Coffin (Iñupiaq), parent of Leslie R. Washington

Break 1 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

Break 2 Music: With My Son (song) Vincent Craig (artist)

The Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and its leader Juan Mancias have established themselves as leaders in environmental causes including the DAPL pipeline protests and another oil and gas pipeline in Texas. Mancias is recognized by the U.N. and has worked hand-in-hand with several established environmental organizations. Along the way, the tribe has brought in more than $5 million in philanthropic and other funds. But an investigation by the online outlet Grist finds the tribe’s status, including what its leaders point to as founding documents are suspect. Publicly available geneological documents contradict Mancias’ own tribal lineage claims. Along the way, Grist exposes a flawed system in which funders and government entities eager to support Indigenous organizers have no way to adequately discern between legitimate tribes and those with questionable origins. We’ll find out about the growth of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe and some of the concerns that have surfaced.

GUESTS

Tristan Ahtone (Kiowa), editor-at-large for Grist

Dr. Kyle Whyte (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan

Andrea Carmen (Yaqui), executive director of the International Indian Treaty Council

Dr. Kim Tallbear (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota

Break 1 Music: Sewa Ania (song) Gabriel Ayala (artist) Shades of Blue (album)

Break 2 Music: With My Son (song) Vincent Craig (artist)

Thirty-five years after he walked free from prison when his murder conviction was overturned, Santiago Ventura Morales (Mixtec) is receiving monetary compensation from the state and an official document declaring his innocence. Morales spent five years behind bars before witnesses in the case admitted to submitting false testimony and other forensic evidence proved faulty. During his initial trial, Morales was afforded only a Spanish translator even though he mainly spoke Indigenous Mixtec and only limited Spanish. We’ll talk with Morales about his life since his conviction. We’ll also hear from Luis Marcos (Mayan) whose organization works to support Mayan immigrants in the United States.

GUESTS

Santiago Ventura Morales (Mixtec), social worker and exoneree

Luis Marcos (Q’anjob’al Maya), co-founder and executive director of Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim

Break 1 Music: Canci​ó​n mixteca [Mixtec Song] canci​ó​n ranchera (song) Los Texmaniacs (artist) Borders y Bailes (album)

Break 2 Music: With My Son (song) Vincent Craig (artist)

Courtney Jordan (Cherokee) is an attorney who built her expertise of federal Indian Law and tribal law serving in some of the highest levels of her profession. She is a former Assistant United States Attorney. She was also an Assistant Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation, and a Tribal Liaison for the State of Oklahoma. Her career was turned upside down after she was convicted of criminal charges and had her law license suspended following a hit-and-run and police chase in 2022. Her dogged advocacy for her own case exposed an undiagnosed medical condition even she was not aware of. After pleading guilty and serving her sentence, she was successful in having her license to practice reinstated. She founded her own law firm and has built a significant social media community breaking down complex legal cases into common-sense concepts. In this encore show, Jordan joins us for a conversation about her rise and fall and rise again in a demanding profession.

Break 1 Music: Cherokee County (song) Kalyn Fey (artist) Garden (album)

Break 2 Music: Mountain by the Sea (song) Various Artists (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)

Eliza “Lyda” Conley was a strong, independent Wyandot woman who is credited with preserving the cemetery where her family and other tribal members were buried in the face of mounting commercial development pressure. Conley defended the Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas in the courts as well as from a makeshift shack where she and her sister took up residence with their father’s Civil War shotgun around the turn of the last century. In the process, she became the first Native woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Her story, and that of Wyandot removal, is told in the book, “Lyda Conley and the Fight to Preserve Huron Indian Cemetery”, and in a new art installation at the Wyandotte County Historical Museum.

Also in Kansas, a 10-foot tall, 28-ton sacred boulder is now on Kaw Nation land after a multi-year struggle. Kaw citizens revered the rock for centuries. Then Lawrence officials commandeered it 1929 for a monument to the non-Native city founders. That started the fight by the Kaw Nation — the state’s namesake tribe — to repatriate it to tribal control. The history of Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe is documented in a book, “Shokhí: A Kanza Relative, a Monument, and Rematriation”, and gives readers a glimpse into the politics and human influences along the way.

GUESTS

c. huffman (Kaw), dis/abled poet and theologian

Dr. Tai Edwards, director of the Kansas Studies Institute and professor of history at Johnson County Community College

Justine Smith (Wyandotte), film and multimedia instillation artist and part of the Omakyehstih Collective

Madeline Easley (Wyandotte), writer, artist, and cultural organizer

Break 1 Music: Totah (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album)

Break 2 Music: Mountain by the Sea (song) Various Artists (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)

The Osage Nation’s Daposka Ahnkodapi language immersion school in Pawhuska, Oklahoma announced it is closing one week before the start of the new school year. Tribal leadership closed the school citing dire budgetary problems. Teachers and parents were left scrambling to find a place for the nearly 100 students. For some, Daposka Ahnkodapi was the only school they’d known. We’ll speak with parents about their next steps.

We’ll also speak with Richard Zane Smith, a Wyandot artist and language teacher who has spent years working to revitalize his tribe’s language. He has been actively working to bring back traditional songs preserved on wax cylinders dating to the 1910s. Now, he’s seeing renewed interest among younger people in his community who want to learn and study the language. We’ll discuss Wyandot language revitalization efforts, as well as his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.

GUESTS

Geneva Horsechief-Hamilton (Osage and Pawnee), parent of a Daposka Ahnkodapi student

Amy Shackleford (Osage and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), parent and homeschool teacher

Whitney RedCorn Hall (Osage), Osage Nation congress member

Richard Zane Smith (Wyandot), artist and language teacher

Break 1 Music: Osage Sovereignty Pow wow song (song) unknown artist (artist)

Break 2 Music: Mountain by the Sea (song) Various Artists (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)