Native America Calling

Native Americans have a lower risk of developing skin cancer than their white counterparts. But a more comprehensive look at the disease over ten years’ time shows gaps in how skin cancer among Native people is counted. It also signals problems in awareness, diagnosis, and treatment among people who live in poverty or in rural areas. We’ll look at the links between Native Americans and skin cancer, and get a reminder about what to look for. GUESTS Dr. Anna Chacon (Maya), board certified dermatologist Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis (Plains Cree and Saulteaux First Nations), dermatologist and clinician researcher Melissa Buffalo (Meskwaki Nation), Chief Executive Officer at American Indian Cancer Foundation   Break 1 Music: Intertribal (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Pakosiyimitan (album) Break 2 Music: Old Alberta (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Tribal and state public health efforts in New Mexico are credited with cutting the Native American suicide rate in that state by 43% over a year’s time. It’s even more notable in that the percent reduction is more than five times that of the rest of the population. There are still troubling statistics, including a study that shows Native American young people at most risk. We’ll hear from suicide prevention experts about where problems persist and what is being done to offset them. GUESTS Shelby Rowe (Chickasaw), executive director of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center Dr. Deidre Yellowhair (Diné), research assistant professor in the division of community behavioral health for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of New Mexico Lynette Hepa (Iñupiaq), director of the department of health and social services for the North Slope Borough Amanda WhiteCrane (Northern Cheyenne), director of the Native & Strong Lifeline with the Volunteers of America Western Washington   Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album) Break 2 Music: Nîmihito (Dance) [Feat. Northern Cree] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

A play in Burbank, Calif. exposes the frustrations Native Americans often express about the ongoing tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). The largely Native production, Four Women In Red, portrays a group of women who learn they’re largely alone in finding out information about missing loved ones. The play comes at a time of job cuts for Department of Interior officials and federal law enforcement officers. At the same time, the Trump Administration announced new efforts to identify remains of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and reunite them with their families. Some states, including New Mexico, are making moves to reinforce their efforts to solve MMIP crimes. GUESTS Sen. Angel Charley (Acoma Pueblo and Navajo)(D-Acoma, NM) Laura Shamas (Chickasaw) playwright LaRenda Morgan (Cheyenne and Arapaho) MMIP chapter chair and government affairs officer for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes William J. Horton (Choctaw) Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit regional agent in charge Darlene Gomez, attorney and activist for MMIP   Break 1 music: Red Dress [feat. Chantal Kreviazuk] (song) Amanda Rheaume (artist) Red Dress (feat. Chantal Kreviazuk) (single) Break 2 Music: Nîmihito (Dance) [Feat. Northern Cree] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Iowa is testing new legal limits as the first state to remove gender identity as a protected class in the state’s civil rights code. The Trump administration is also removing transgender service personnel from the military. And the State Department is using existing law against fraud to bar foreign transgender athletes from entering the country, something critics worry could be used to ban any trans traveler. After years of progress, Native American trans residents are facing a major rollback of favorable laws and policies. We’ll hear about the current public climate and what might be in store for the future. GUESTS Shelby Chestnut (Assiniboine), executive director of the Transgender Law Center Stephanie Byers (Chickasaw), former Kansas state representative Vernon Gonzales (Houma), trans advocate Shuína Skó (Klamath Tribes), Two-Spirit poet, author, & cultural consultant   Break 1 Music: This Love (song) Edzi’u (artist) Tunnel Vision (album) Break 2 Music: Nîmihito (Dance) [Feat. Northern Cree] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Among the shows and films touching on Native American themes is the start of season three of the suspenseful Dark Winds crime saga on AMC. The well-received show has new mysteries with Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), and Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) among many other Native characters. The show just got confirmed for a fourth season. The Netflix limited series American Primeval is a violent retelling of the American West with several significant Native storylines and characters. And fresh off its Academy Award nomination, Sugarcane is a hard-hitting documentary about the Canadian residential school system. GUESTS Julie O’Keefe (Osage Nation), Indigenous cultural consultant for American Primeval Vincent Schilling (Akwesasne Mohawk), editor and founder of NativeViewpoint. com and a certified Rotten Tomatoes critic Dezbaa’ (Diné), SAG-AFTRA union actor, WGA union writer, independent filmmaker, and Helen Atcitty in Dark Winds   Break 1 Music: Conduit of Anguish (song) Geneviève Gros-Louis (artist) Break 2 Music: Nîmihito (Dance) [Feat. Northern Cree] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

President Donald Trump has promised to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Education advocates worry about what that means for the $119 billion the federal government sends to public K-12 schools and what becomes of the programs supporting Native American students. We’ll get a sense of what the future for Native primary and secondary education along with concerns from Native educators and policy advocates. GUESTS Julia Wakeford (Muscogee and Yuchi), National Indian Education Association policy director Kimberly Daingkau-Begay (Kiowa, Caddo, and Pawnee), executive officer and president of the Arizona Indian Education Association Matt Jackson (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma), social studies teacher at Norman North High School   Break 1 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album) Break 2 Music: Nîmihito (Dance) [Feat. Northern Cree] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Federal staff layoffs, spending freezes and other executive orders by the Donald Trump administration jeopardize food pathways for tribes and federal grants and loans for Native farmers. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is helping conservation of an endangered fish called the Sicklefin Redhorse. It has a long and traditional relationship with the tribe in the southeast. The first children’s book by Squamish ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph teaches young about Indigenous plant knowledge and harvesting. This Land Knows Me: A Nature Walk Exploring Indigenous Wisdom is an engaging lesson on the plants around us and the cultural stories that go along with them. That’s all on The Menu, our regular special feature on Indigenous food hosted and produced by Andi Murphy. GUESTS Carly Griffith Hotvedt (Cherokee Nation), executive director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative Styawat / Leigh Joseph (Skwxwú7mesh). ethnobotanist, knowledge keeper, professor at Simon Fraser University, and owner of Sḵwálwen Botanicals Dr. Caleb Hickman (Cherokee Nation), supervisor fisheries and wildlife biologist for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians   Break 1 Music: Go Ahead and Try (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album)

Compensation for college athletics is changing fast. University sports programs are having to adapt to the evolving market for athletes through what is known as name, image and likeness. The issue is being debated in state legislatures and Congress. A settlement between the NCAA and current and former athletes could open the door to schools directly compensating athletes and revenue sharing among institutions. We’ll find out how some Native athletes are navigating the new N.I.L. reality and what some of the potential benefits and pitfalls could be. GUESTS Taybor Moss (Cherokee), senior softball player for Piedmont High School Xavier Guillory (Nez Perce), recent graduate of Arizona State University where he played college football for the Sun Devils Jaelyn Bates (Navajo and Sioux), junior women’s basketball player Mark Branch (Kaw Nation), head coach of the University of Wyoming wrestling team Natalia Chavez (Cochiti Pueblo), women’s basketball player at Abilene Christian University   Break 1 Music: Suplex [feat. Northern Voice] (song) The Halluci Nation (artist) Suplex – EP (album)

The good news is overdose deaths dropped significantly in the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bad news is Native Americans and other people of color are not enjoying the same statistical headway against the persistent scourge of fentanyl, heroin, and other dangerous drugs. We’ll look at the efforts that are showing promise in saving people’s lives and explore ways to eliminate disparities for populations that are losing ground. GUESTS Philomena Kebec (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians), economic development coordinator for the Bad River Tribe Adam Fairbanks (White Earth Nation), executive director of Anishinaabe Endaad Harold Peralto (Navajo), certified peer support worker for New Mexico Behavior Health Services Division’s Office of Peer Recovery and Engagement George Green (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska), certified peer recovery specialist for the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis   Break 1 Music: Take Your Troubles to the River (song) Vincent Craig (artist) Self-titled Release (album)

Haskell Indian Nations University lost nearly a quarter of its staff in the Trump administration’s mass terminations. It’s one of two higher education institutions that rely on federal funds through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education that are scrambling after the sudden and unprecedented job cuts. The reduction of more than a thousand National Park Service employees prompted worries over certain sacred and important Native treasures protected by federal workers. We’ll check on how the fast-paced federal job restructurings are affecting issues Native people are following. GUESTS Chuck Sams (Cayuse and Walla Walla), former National Park Service director Pearl Yellowman (Diné), former vice president of college operations at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Paige Willett (Citizen Potawatomi), former communications specialist at the Bureau of Indian Education Angel Ahtone Elizarraras (Wichita), Student Government Association president at Haskell Indian Nations University   Break 1 Music: Long Black Train (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)