Native America Calling

Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. calls the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEA) “one of the singular accomplishments of this country”. The legislation championed by President Richard Nixon opened the doors to tribal control over their own health care, law enforcement, natural resources management and economic development. We’ll look at the progress since ISDEA, and what tribes intend to strengthen self-governance in the future. GUESTS W. Ron Allen (Jamestown S’klallam), tribal chairman for the Jamestown S’klallam Tribe Jay Spaan (Cherokee), executive director of the Self-Governance Communication and Education Tribal Consortium Laura Harris (Comanche), executive director for Americans for Indian Opportunity   Break 1 Music: Traveling Song (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album) Break 2 Music: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)

In Larissa FastHorse’s (Sičháŋǧu Lakota) new play, a nonprofit works to accommodate “race shifters”, people who are compelled to change the ethnicity they’re born with. “Fake it Until You Make It” is a satirical look at the serious topic of Native identity, helped out by a talented cast and Indigenous-grounded writing. The new children’s TV puppet series, Navajo Highways, is making the rounds on screens across the Southwest. Written and directed by Pete Sands (Diné), the show follows young Sadie from her urban home to her introduction to Navajo land, culture, language and food. With a nod to the popular PBS show, Sesame Street, it’s filled with characters Native audiences will find familiar. It’s slated for public distribution on FNX. GUESTS Larissa FastHorse (Sičháŋǧu Lakota), playwright Pete Sands (Diné), writer and director of “Navajo Highways” Kimberly Kee (Diné), tribal early childhood specialist and she plays Ms. Pete   Break 1 Music:  New Orleans Rag (song) Lakota John (artist) The Winds of Time: Ragtime,Piedmont Blues, Folk and Native Americana  (album) Break 2 Music: Scream, Holler, and Howl (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Indigenous business leaders in the U.S. and all over the world will now have to adjust to the uncertain effects of President Donald Trump’s aggressive new series of tariffs. Economic experts predict some measure of chaos in the short term. It’s impossible to predict how the tariffs will play out in the long run, but it will certainly affect everything from the beads used in regalia to groceries to auto sales. Trump insists the new tariffs will put American businesses on a more level playing field and boost the federal government’s coffers. We’ll hear how Native business experts are responding to the new economic reality. GUESTS Tabatha Bull (Nipissing First Nation), president and CEO of Canadian Council for Indigenous Business John Desjarlais (Cree-Métis), executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network Dante Biss-Grayson (Osage), founder of Sky-Eagle Collection Tally Monteau (Hunkpati Dakota and Chippewa-Cree), program manager for the Native American Development Corporation (NADC) Triia program and beadwork artist Benjamin Haile (Shinnecock), owner of Thunder Island Coffee Roasters   Break 1 Music: Mr. Businessman’s Blues (song) DM Lafortune (artist) Beauty and Hard Times (album) Break 2 Music: Scream, Holler, and Howl (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Indigenous people in Canada suffered a noticeably disproportionate number of fatal interactions with law enforcement in 2024. In one three-month period, 15 Indigenous people died either in custody or from direct interactions with police. It prompted the Assembly of First Nations and other Indigenous leaders to call for a national inquiry. It also inspired the news program, APTN Investigates, to pry into the factors that contribute to such an imbalance in the justice system. Their new three-part series looks into the strained relationship between Indigenous people and law enforcement. We’ll talk with APTN Investigates team members about their findings. We’ll also hear from Marvin Roberts, the Athabascan man who just settled a wrongful conviction lawsuit against the city of Fairbanks, Alaska for $11.5 million. Roberts is one of the men – all Native – deemed the “Fairbanks Four”. They were all convicted and imprisoned for the 1997 murder of a teenager. They were released in 2015 after another man confessed to the crime. GUESTS Cullen Crozier (Gwich’in, Dene, and Métis), producer with APTN Investigates Tamara Pimental (Métis), video journalist with APTN Investigates Tom Fennario, video journalist with APTN Investigates Marvin Roberts (Athabascan), one of the “Fairbanks Four” Reilly Cosgrove, partner at Kramer and Cosgrove law firm   Break 1 Music: Unity (song) Native Roots (artist) Most High (album) Break 2 Music: Scream, Holler, and Howl (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Punk rock’s rebellious anger aimed at the forces of economic and political oppression and its low-fi, DIY aesthetic are among the reasons the genre took hold with some Indigenous musicians. It’s a connection that continues to resonate with both players and audiences. Kristen Martinez (Yaqui and Mexican) is both a punk performer and a graduate student researching the history of the Indigenous contributions to the legacy of punk, one short, loud, and angry song at a time. She is building an archive of Indigenous punk musicians, posters, and performances on social media. We’ll hear from Martinez about her growing archive of Indigenous punk history and what the art form has to offer to today’s listeners. GUESTS Kristen Martinez (Yaqui and Mexican), archivist for the Indigenous Punk Archive and graduate student in musicology at UCLA Gregg Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe), visual artist and lead vocalist of the Dead Pioneers Toni Heartless (Diné, Choctaw, Filipino), artist and front man for Heart Museum   Break 1 Music: Prisoners of Existence (song) Iconoclast (artist) Domination or Destruction (album) Break 2 Music: Scream, Holler, and Howl (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in western Oregon signed away their subsistence hunting and fishing rights in exchange for federal recognition in 1980. Now, after years of work, those rights are fully restored, opening up a rich store of traditional food for tribal members. Author Brook Thompson was inspired to write her children’s book, I Love Salmon and Lampreys, after witnessing a salmon kill in the Klamath River in 2002. Her book, illustrated by Anastasia Khmelevska, is an approachable story about environmental stewardship. Indigenous chef and restaurateur Bleu Adams reimagines American cuisine at her new eatery, The Continental, in Provo, Utah, “celebrating the land, the seasons, and the stories that shape us.” GUESTS Brook Thompson (Yurok and Karuk), author, civil engineer, activist, artist, and full-time Ph.D. student at the University of California, Santa Cruz in environmental studies Bleu Adams (Diné, Mandan and Hidatsa), owner and chef of The Continental and served as an emissary for the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership Robert Kentta (Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians), Siletz Tribal Council member   Break 1 Music: In My Lawn (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album) Break 2 Music: Scream, Holler, and Howl (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

For the first time in decades, tribes in the Pacific Northwest will be able to forage for wild huckleberries in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest without competition from commercial companies. The development comes after decades of work by the Yakama Nation and other tribes in a contentious dispute, all while the culturally important wild berry abundance has dwindled. Foraging is also important to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southern Colorado. A collaboration between the tribe and a conservation nonprofit to facilitate foraging on nearby private land just got a significant boost. GUESTS Elaine Harvey (Ḱamíłpa Band of the Yakama Nation), watershed department manager for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Bronsco Jim Jr., chief of the Ḱamíłpa Band of the Yakama Nation Josephine Woolington, journalist in Portland Treston Chee (Diné), Indigenous lands program field coordinator with Trees, Water & People MENTIONED: “The true cost of the huckleberry industry” by Josephine Woolington for High Country News Break 1 Music: Honoring The Homeland (song) Radmilla & Herman Cody (artist) Shi Kéyah (album) Break 2 Music: Beautiful Flower (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Kihtawasoh Wapakwani (album)

The Trump Administration is backtracking on some of the looming changes at the Social Security Administration (SSA) after widespread complaints from the public, advocates, and elected leaders. But staffing and budget cuts are already creating backlogs and delays for recipients. SSA is delaying for two weeks a new requirement for in-person identity checks, but significant changes are still on the way. We’ll talk about what those changes are for Native American elders and how they can prepare for them. GUESTS Rosalind Asetamy (Comanche), chairperson for the elder council of the Comanche Nation Larry Curley (Navajo), grant writer and consultant Judith Kozlowski, elder justice consultant and is a consultant with the International Association for Indian Aging Michael Bird (Santo Domingo Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh), past president of the American Public Health Association and past national consultant for AARP   Break 1 Music: 500 Years O’ Blues (song) Digging Roots (artist) Seeds (album) Break 2 Music: Beautiful Flower (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Kihtawasoh Wapakwani (album)

Vaccines for the coronavirus have reduced the scope and severity of COVID-19 infections, but for as many as a third of the people who contract COVID, symptoms of the disease persist and cause potentially disabling affects day after day. Long COVID affects as many as 23 million Americans. Symptoms include persistent headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, and memory and concentration problems. In addition to the personal and medical burdens, several studies indicate the global financial drain from long COVID is anywhere from $1 trillion to $6 trillion. The Trump administration just announced it is closing the federal office that facilitates research and information-sharing among medical institutions on long COVID. GUESTS Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee), writer, advocate, host of the podcast This Land, and author of By the Fire We Carry Rita Bilagody (Navajo), activist and grandma Troy Montserrat-Gonzales (Lumbee and Chicana), mental health therapist and health care consultant Dr. Ivy Hurowitz, associate professor Division of Infectious Diseases at University of New Mexico Department of Internal Medicine Dr. Douglas Perkins, professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Global Health in the University of New Mexico Department of Internal Medicine   Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album) Break 2 Music: Beautiful Flower (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Kihtawasoh Wapakwani (album)

The unpredictable availability of salmon and other fish in Alaska is putting additional pressure on the practice of subsistence fishing for Alaska Native residents. A federal board just opened up subsistence fishing and hunting — something reserved only for rural residents — to all 14,000 residents of Ketchikan. The State of Alaska is fighting a federal panel’s approval of a COVID-era emergency subsistence hunt for citizens in Kake. Meanwhile, stakeholders are closely watching a legal conflict over fishing on the Kuskokwim River that has implications for decades of legal precedents over subsistence fishing access. GUESTS Ilsxílee Stáng / Gloria Burns (Haida), president of the Ketchikan Indian Community Nathaniel Amdur-Clark (Citizen Potawatomi), partner at Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller, and Monkman, LLP   Break 1 Music: They Sing to Each Other (song) Pamyua (artist) Side A Side B (album) Break 2 Music: Beautiful Flower (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Kihtawasoh Wapakwani (album)