Native America Calling

Native Hawaiian writer Norma Kawelokū Wong tells us our current reality is “drifting haphazardly in the riptide of collapse”. Wong is both a Zen Master and an experienced political strategist, having advised prominent figures including Hawaii’s first Native Hawaiian Governor, John D. Waiheʻe III. She also offered guidance and mediation on some of Hawaii’s most high profile and vexing conflicts, including the U.S. Navy’s $344 million clean-up of munitions on Kahoʻolawe Island, telescope construction on Mauna Kea, and recovery following the devastating wildfire in Lahaina. In her new book, When No Thing Works, she weaves poetry, politics, and spiritual wisdom together into a lesson for navigating crises.   Break 1 music: No luna i Kahalekai (Hula ‘Ala’apapa) (song) Joe Kahaulelio (artist) Ancient Hula Hawaiian Style: Vol. 1 Hula Kuahu (album) Break 2 Music: Beautiful Flower (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Kihtawasoh Wapakwani (album)

Mi’kmaq fiddler and songwriter Morgan Toney’s brand new album hopes to Heal The Divide for listeners. Shoshone poet and writer Tanaya Winder is releasing her first album of music, Call Back Your Heart, soon. And Navajo-fronted Tucson band The Reztones are bringing their high energy psychobilly sound on the road in their home state of Arizona and packing songs from their latest album, Chest Full of Arrows. We’ll add these artists to our Native Playlist and hear samples of their work. GUESTS Morgan Toney (Mi’kmaq), fiddler, singer, and songwriter Ace Begay (Diné), vocalist for The Reztones Tanaya Winder (Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Diné, and enrolled with the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe) musical artist, writer, and motivational speaker   Break 1 Music: The Calling (song) Morgan Toney (artist) Heal the Divide (album) Break 2 Music: Honor Song (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Hear the Beat (album)

Ahtna Athabascan elder Katie John’s efforts to get the state of Alaska to open up subsistence fishing in her Native Village of Batzulnetas turned into a series of legal and policy decisions that continue to protect Alaska Native fishing rights to this day. Daring Chickasaw aviator and legislator Eula Pearl Carter Scott was the youngest person in the country to fly an airplane solo. By age 14, she was working as a commercial pilot. She retired from flying to go on to work as the tribe’s Community Health Representative, and later as a tribal legislator. We’ll learn about the contributions of these and other notable Native women. GUESTS Jeannie Barbour (Chickasaw Nation), Chickasaw Nation creative development director Heather Kendall-Miller (Dena’ina Athabascan [Curyung tribe]), Native American Rights Fund attorney Liz Lovejoy Brown, executive director of the Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Center   Break 1 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album) Break 2 Music: Honor Song (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Hear the Beat (album)

The Donald Trump Administration is using the full force of the federal government to compel colleges and universities to do away with scholarships, recruiting, academic programs and any other initiatives that help Native students succeed. Schools risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding in addition to defending against investigations by the Department of Justice and other agencies. At least 50 schools are facing such investigations for what the U.S. Department of Education calls “race exclusionary” practices. We’ll get a look at the sweeping changes the Trump Administration is bringing about and how Native education advocates are responding. GUESTS Cheryl Crazy Bull (Sicangu Lakota), president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund Carrie Billy (Diné), education consultant and former president and CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Zonnie Gorman (Diné), historian and daughter of Dr. Carl Gorman, one of the original Navajo Code Talkers   Break 1 Music: Mean Things Happenin’ in This World (song) Blackfire (artist) Woody Guthrie Singles (album) Break 2 Music: Honor Song (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Hear the Beat (album)

Author Marcie Rendon (White Earth Nation) continues to put her favorite Ojibwe protagonist, Cash Blackbear, into a nail biting search for another murderer in Broken Fields. It’s the fourth in Rendon’s Cash Blackbear series about a tough independent young woman who loves working the land of the Red River Valley as a farm hand and has a special intuition for solving crime. There’s more than the usual slots and tables at the ocean-themed Hidden Atlantis Casino on the fictional Languille Lake Reservation. Something dark has the power over casino patrons and only Marion Lafournier and his cousins know what’s up. Passing Through a Prairie Country by Dennis E. Staples (Red Lake Nation) takes readers through dimensions that Marion must navigate to save the souls of his people.   Break 1 Music: Ojibwe Honor Song (song) Darren Thompson (artist) Break 2 Music: Honor Song (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Hear the Beat (album)

Two Native students are among the recent winners of one of the most prestigious science research competitions for high school students. Logan Lee (Native Hawaiian) and Ava Grace Cummings (Lumbee and Coharie) placed in the top 10 among thousands of contestants in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. It’s the first time two Indigenous students were awarded prizes in the competition’s 83-year history. We’ll hear about their drive for science excellence. We’ll also check in with the author of Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa. It’s a children’s book by Leslie Stall Widener and illustrator Johnson Yazzie highlighting the enduring connection between the Choctaw Nation and Ireland. GUESTS Ava Grace Cummings (Lumbee and Coharie), senior at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Logan Lee (Native Hawaiian), senior at ‘Iolani School Leslie Widener (Choctaw), author of Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa   Break 1 Music: Eagle Dance REMIX (single) Jason Brown/Decontie & Brown (artist) Break 2 Music: Honor Song (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Hear the Beat (album)

At least 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19; thousands of them just since January. As the nation marks five years since the pandemic-causing virus appeared in this country, we’ll look at how Native Americans have recovered — and how they haven’t. Businesses closed down or have yet to regain their pre-pandemic levels, school enrollment remains weakened, and trust in medical science — something Native Americans already lacked — is diminished. We’ll examine what we learned from the unprecedented public health emergency five years later. GUESTS Gwendena Lee-Gatewood (White Mountain Apache), former chairwoman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Dr. Rebecca St. Germaine (Lac Courte Oreilles), director of tribal health care administration at St. Germaine Data Innovations Jonathan Nez (Diné), former Navajo Nation President Lavinia Cody (Diné), certified school Diné counselor   Break 1 Music: The Gift of Life (song) Randy Wood (artist) The Gift of Life (album) Break 2 Music: Old Alberta (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

An entire wall of one school building is buckling after a leaky roof went unattended for 19 years. Students at another school have to go home to use the bathroom during the day because the school’s water pipes burst. Exposed insulation hangs from the ceiling in another school. For more than a quarter century, the Alaska legislature has devoted only a fraction of the funds needed to keep the public school buildings that serve a predominantly Alaska Native student population functioning properly. We’ll hear about the investigation by KYUK in collaboration with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network and NPR’s Station Investigations Team that exposed a problem many years in the making. GUESTS Emily Schwing, KYUK senior reporter Jason Dropik (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), National Indian Education Association executive director   Break 1 Music: They Sing to Each Other (song) Pamyua (artist) Side A Side B (album) Break 2 Music: Old Alberta (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

The death of a 14-year-old San Carlos Apache girl is spurring questions nationally about what could have been done to prevent the tragedy. Emily Pike’s remains were found three weeks after she went missing from a Mesa, Ariz. group home. A candlelight vigil over the weekend honored her memory. At least one other community event is scheduled. Her death also comes after authorities identified the remains found at a Winnipeg landfill as one of the women suspected to be a victim of a serial killer. We’ll hear about both cases in context of pressure to improve the outcomes for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. GUESTS Mary Kim Titla (San Carlos Apache), executive director of United National Indian Tribal Youth Jolyana Begay-Kroupa (Diné), chief executive officer of the Phoenix Indian Center Kim Wheeler (Anishinaabe and Mohawk), journalist and host of The Kim Wheeler Show on Sirius XM Sandra DeLaronde (Cross Lake First Nation and Métis), MMIWG2S advocate Kyra Wilson (Long Plain First Nation), Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Break 1 Music: Women’s Honoring Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album) Break 2 Music: Old Alberta (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Military veterans make up just under a third of the thousands of federal job cuts that the White House has imposed since January. On top of that, the Trump Administration indicates it intends to cut 80,000 jobs from Veterans Affairs. We’ll explore how those cuts are being felt by the population that traditionally has the highest military participation compared to any other group. GUESTS Dean Dauphinais (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians), business owner, entrepreneur, and Marine Corps veteran Robert Hunter Sr. (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Northern Cheyenne), director of MHA Veterans Affairs and Army veteran Break 1 Music: Flag Song (song) Black Lodge (artist) Veteran’s Honor Song (album) Break 2 Music: Old Alberta (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)