Native America Calling

President Joe Biden’s apology for the federal government’s role in Indian Boarding School abuses was among the top news stories for Native Americans this year. It was an unprecedented event, but received a mixed reaction from Native policy watchers. Other notable news includes a survey showing significant Native voter support for Donald Trump in the presidential election. We’ll get additional insights into the stories important to Native Americans, plus a few you may have missed.

A focus on reducing chronic absenteeism for Native American students is paying off in a Cheyenne-Arapaho school system. It’s a hands-on initiative with an intensive interest in reaching students in the Oklahoma tribe. It comes as absenteeism remains at high levels for all students since the COVID-19 pandemic, but especially so for Native students. We’ll hear about promising methods to help keep kids on the track for learning.

After a period of colonial suppression, traditional kapa making is enjoying a sustained resurgence. In recent decades, a growing number of Native Hawaiian artists have mastered the labor-intensive process of harvesting, scraping, and soaking the bark of the wauke plant and embellishing the resulting fabric with colorful traditional designs. A new generation of artists is benefiting from this reclaimed expertise.

Bull and bareback riding, team roping, and barrel racing are among the highly anticipated competitions to watch at this year’s National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. We’ll talk with rodeo announcer Randy Taylor and some of the Native athletes working to make their names known in the arena.

A bill to formally provide federal protections to the Ocmulgee Mounds in Georgia is making progress in Congress. If approved, it would establish the state’s first National Park and Preserve overseen by the National Park Service. The land is the ancestral home of the Muscogee Creek Nation and other tribes. The preservation momentum comes as several other locations look to better document and protect mounds. In Wisconsin, officials identified two mounds in Milwaukee’s oldest cemetery. We’ll get updates on recent efforts to recognize and preserve mounds.

Tribally run business owners and individual Native American entrepreneurs are preparing for tariffs and other international trade shifts if Donald Trump delivers on his promise to enact tariffs on good from certain countries. Trump initiated a trade war during his first term that hampered tribes and business that trade directly with foreign countries or that readily use foreign products. We’ll find out how Native companies with foreign ties are preparing.

Donald Trump targeted trans issues during his presidential campaign. He promised to take aim at gender-affirming care early in his upcoming term in office, including restricting federal funds for trans medical support. That could have a major effect on such care within the Indian Health Service. In addition, at least half of all states now ban gender affirming care for minors. A pending U.S. Supreme Court decision will determine the future of such care in those states. We’ll gauge the direction for trans issues and find out how trans advocates are preparing both politically and personally for the next few years.

The disproportionately high number of unsolved cases for missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) inspired Haley Omeasoo to launch a research lab on the Blackfeet Nation’s Montana reservation. Ohkomi Forensics offers tribal police and other law enforcement agencies scientific data in an attempt to make connections with current and past investigations. It’s one of the ways Native advocates all over the country are working to fill gaps to improve the troubling statistics for Native crime victims.

Tribal leaders are heading to Washington, D.C. for President Joe Biden’s last White House Tribal Nations Summit. The gathering is touted as a chance for tribal representatives to interact with Administration officials and gauge progress and hurdles when it comes to the federal government’s trust responsibility. The future of the regular meetings with the executive branch is uncertain. In his previous term, President Donald Trump chose not to convene regular meetings with tribes. We’ll get a preview of the upcoming summit and assess the potential for future interactions with the White House.

It’s getting harder to stay ahead of cyber criminals. Tribes and tribal businesses are among the entities facing growing security threats. Some have had to pay large sums and shut down their network operations in response to cyber attacks. The newest report from Experian notes an increasing number of attacks and foresees a rise in younger hackers equipped with sophisticated AI technology. Organized foreign criminals are constantly hunting for security weaknesses to steal people’s personal information. The threat requires a response in know-how and financial resources. We’ll find out what’s happening behind the scenes as cyber security experts work to protect your data.