Native America Calling

The title of Pulitzer Prize-winning Ojibwe writer Louise Erdrich‘s latest book refers to the north-flowing river along the North Dakota-Minnesota border. It’s the geography of The Mighty Red that stretches in all directions from the small-town loves and losses that Erdrich’s characters inhabit. Readers follow the teenage Ojibwe protagonist Kismet Poe as she navigates race, class, and an uncertain economy. Along the way, we learn how bison bones were once used to turn beets into sugar. It’s all woven together with Erdrich’s uniquely exquisite prose. We talk with Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) about her newest novel.   Break 1 Music: Little Sunflower (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album) Break 2 Music: Burn Your Village to The Ground (single) The Halluci-Nation (artist)

The stories she heard as a young girl from her own elder relatives inspired Holly Miowak Guise to research and document the experience of Alaska Native veterans of World War II. Her work is compiled in the book, Alaska Native Resilience: Voices from World War II. Her work encompasses the U.S. Government’s occupation of the Aleutian Islands, the trauma of religious boarding schools, and the historic Alaska Native fight to overcome institutionalized discrimination. We’ll talk with Guise about her work and the people she encountered. GUEST Dr. Holly Miowak Guise (Iñupiaq), assistant professor of History at the University of New Mexico and the author of Alaska Native Resilience: Voices from WWII   Break 1 Music: Veteran’s Honoring Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album) Break 2 Music: Burn Your Village to The Ground (single) The Halluci-Nation (artist)

In Navajo origin stories, the turkey is a hero. He gathers up all the seeds from the third world and brings them to the fourth world we live in today. Many other tribes revere turkeys and make use of their feathers. Anishinaabe journalist Leah Lemm documents her own cultural reconnection by gathering wild rice, or manoomin, in her home reservation in Minnesota for the first time. Salmon are returning to the undammed Klamath River (Photo: by Matt Mais, Yurok Tribe) Salmon are coming back to the tributaries of the Klamath River in California for the first time in a century after tribes helped bring about the largest dam removal project in history. And a Diné entrepreneur creates an unlikely fusion of traditional flavors and the increasingly popular boba drink craze. Those are the topics all on The Menu, our regular feature on Indigenous food stories and news. GUESTS Kenneth Brink (Karuk), vice chairman of the Karuk Tribe Sheldon Blackhorse (Diné), cultural advisor, actor, and math tutor Kevin Wilson (Diné), owner of Native Boba Tea Co. Leah Lemm (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), senior editor for the Native News Initiative at Minnesota Public Radio and host of the Native Lights radio program   Break 1 Music: Ridin’ Out the Storm (song) Samantha Crain (artist) Break 2 Music: Burn Your Village to The Ground (single) The Halluci-Nation (artist)

When Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke (Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Te Āti Awa, and Ngāi Tahu) performed a haka on the floor of New Zealand’s Parliament, she brought global awareness of the constant colonial pressure to dismantle established rights for Indigenous people. In the viral video, she dramatically tears apart a proposed bill that would weaken Māori political standing established in a nearly 200 year-old treaty between the Crown and 500 Māori chiefs. She was suspended … for a bill that may never become law. The fight in New Zealand exemplifies a resurgence in efforts to backtrack on the gains in recognition and respect for established Indigenous rights. Plus, we’ll get Indigenous perspectives on the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Azerbaijan that just wrapped up. There is growing concern and dissatisfaction that the concerns of Indigenous people about their vulnerabilities to the effects of climate change are going unheard. GUESTS Professor Margaret Mutu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, and Ngāti Whātua), Ngāti Kahu leader and professor of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine, and Ngā Rauru), Member of Parliament and co-leader of Te Pāti Māori Professor Janine Hayward, professor of politics at the University of Otago Tom Goldtooth (Diné and Mdewakanton Dakota), executive director of the  Indigenous Environmental Network   Break 1 Music: Haka (song) Te Runga Rawa (artist) Chants Maoris (album) Break 2 Music: Burn Your Village to The Ground (single) The Halluci-Nation (artist) Here’s an extended interview with MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. She begins by talking about the likelihood of the Treaty Principles Bill becoming law. https://nativeamericacalling-offload-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/112624-Debbie-Ngarewa-Packer-web-audio.mp3

The challenge for teachers this time of year is to approach the history of Thanksgiving without stereotypes and outdated myths about interactions between Native Americans and early settlers. The National Museum of the American Indian’s Native Knowledge 360 education initiative has developed a new curriculum on the First Thanksgiving, to provide teachers with a way to tell a more accurate and respectful story that includes perspectives from the Wampanoag, the tribe that first came in contact with European settlers. We’ll talk with Native educators about the work they’re doing to bring accuracy and balance to classrooms. GUESTS Nichelle Garcia (Winnemem Wintu), educational specialist for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian Dr. Alexis Bunten (Yup’ik and Unangax), co-director of the Bioneers’ Indigeneity Program and co-author of Keepunumuk with Danielle Hill and Tony Perry Chris Newell (Passamaquoddy), director of Native American Cultural Program at the University of Connecticut Break 1 Music: A Turtle’s Honour Song [NDN Jazz] (song) Mwalim (artist) Break 2 Music: Burn Your Village to The Ground (single) The Halluci-Nation (artist)

As he marks 50 years in journalism, Mark Trahant (Shoshone-Bannock) is stepping down from his leadership role at the Native news organization, ICT. Trahant revived the struggling Indian Country Today newspaper and turned it into a premier non-profit multimedia Indigenous news source. His five decades of reporting and editing news includes interviews with world leaders and having a front row seat to the major events that affect Native people. In that time he has served as a champion and mentor for Native journalists. We’ll hear from Trahant about his work and his hopes for Native journalism.   Break 1 Music: Current (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album) Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

More than a year after Arizona cracked down on fake substance abuse treatment facilities following a $2.5 billion Medicaid fraud scam, hundreds of people can’t find adequate treatment. The scam swept up thousands of Native Americans and sought reimbursement for care they never received. An investigative report by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica also discovered continued confusion over Medicaid reimbursements that threatens the viability of the legitimate facilities cleared by the state to continue. We’ll get an update on the aftermath of the Medicaid scam and the ongoing effort to help people needing behavioral health care. The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting continues to collect information about people affected by the interruption in behavioral health services. Those with information can write to info@azcir.org, or call 505-226-0626. GUESTS Reva Stewart (Navajo [Diné]), store owner of Shush Diné Native Shop, and founder of Stolen People Stolen Benefits and Turtle Island Women Warriors Raquel Moody (White Mountain Apache and Hopi), advocate for Turtle Island Women Warriors Walter Murillo (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), CEO of Native Health Hannah Bassett, investigative reporter for the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting   Break 1 Music: 1000 Mile Grin (song) Jason Benoit (artist) Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

A 1928 boarding school student attendance form shows the word “deserted”. (Courtesy National Indian Boarding School Digital Archive / NNABSHC) A Navajo family tells the story in Bad Indian: Hiding in Antelope Canyon, a new film about their relative Tadidinii, who was killed while refusing to return his daughter back to the boarding school from which she ran away. The men who killed him were acquitted. The family also gives tours of the part of Antelope Canyon on the Navajo Nation where Tadidinii hid out. Another Yerington Paiute boy repeatedly ran away and traveled the 50 miles back home until the boarding school administrators gave up. These are among the stories that descendants are uncovering about the dangers their relatives endured to resist forced attendance in boarding schools from the 1860s to the 1970s. We’ll hear some of the stories of danger, desperation, and courage. GUESTS Mitch Walking Elk (Cheyenne and Arapaho/Hopi), boarding school survivor Judi gaiashkibos (Ponca/Santee Sioux), descendent and survivor of the Genoa Indian Industrial School, executive director of the Nebraska Commission of Indian Affairs, and co-chair of the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project Gabriann Hall (Klamath), adjunct professor at Central Oregon Community College Kutoven “Ku” Stevens (Yerington Paiute), University of Oregon student Logan Tsinigine (Diné), co-producer of the film Bad Indian: Hiding in Antelope Canyon and chief financial officer of Taadidiin Tours LLC

If he lives up to his word, President-elect Donald Trump’s first day in the Oval Office will include a wave of executive actions with significant repercussions for tribes and individuals. In addition to major moves to expel immigrants, Trump promises to expand oil and other extractive development, cancel selected green energy spending, and eliminate federal diversity and equity measures. Trump also has an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days that herald sweeping changes in federal government. We’ll hear from political watchers about what could be in store. GUESTS Aaron Payment (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), tribal councilman and former chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Angela Parker (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Cree), assistant professor of history at the University of Denver Julia Wakeford (Muscogee and Yuchi), policy director for the National Indian Education Association Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, assistant professor in the Department of Black and Latino Studies at Baruch College   Break 1 Music:  Our Autonomy (song) Klee Benally (artist) Appropriation (album) Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

Ten years since a world-changing blackout, an Anishinaabe community must embark on a mission of discovery if they’re going to survive. First Nations author Waubgeshig Rice revisits the survivors from his first novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, as they search south for sustainable future in his next novel, Moon of the Turning Leaves. We’ll hear from him how he works to bring hope into a post-apocalyptic story. Plus, we’ll be joined by one of Jim Thorpe’s granddaughters about his posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is an encore show so we won’t be taking live phone calls. GUESTS Waubgeshig Rice (Wasauksing First Nation), author and journalist Anita Thorpe (Sac and Fox), Jim Thorpe’s granddaughter Break 1 Music: Near the Sea (song) Hataałii (artist) Singing into Darkness (album) Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)