Native America Calling

Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings of the northern New Mexico landscape are among the most recognizable and beloved works of art in history. So much so that the distinctive mesas, bluffs, and plateaus are sometimes referred to as O’Keeffe Country. But the land has always been home to Pueblo people that have deep cultural ties to those same iconic landscapes. A new exhibition at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe turns to a handful of Tewa Pueblo artists to offer their interpretations of the landscape and O’Keeffe’s inescapable connection to it. We’ll hear from the curators and artists behind the Tewa Nangeh/Tewa Country exhibition. GUESTS Jason Garcia Okuu Pín (Kha’p’o Owingeh, Santa Clara Pueblo), co-curator and artist in the Tewa Nangeh/Tewa Country exhibit at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh and Hopi), conceptual multimedia artist Charine Pilar Gonzales (San Ildefonso Pueblo), writer, director, and filmmaker Bess Murphy, Luce curator of art and social practice at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum   Break 1 Music: On the Road Missing Home (Corn Dance) (song) Sheldon Sundown (artist) Hand Drum/Smoke N’ Round Dance (album) Break 2 Music: Only A Whisper (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

A relentless offensive against minority student recruiting and retention threatens more than Native American participation in school. Advocates for such outreach say it affects community well-being and even the health of Native citizens. We’ll hear from proponents for Native student achievement about President Donald Trump’s “Compact for Higher Education” and the latest trends in Native enrollment. L. John Lufkins (Bay Mills Ojibwe) led a daring rescue of fellow fishermen the same night as the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Photo: by Ellie Katz/Points North) Also in our discussion today is a harrowing story of survival. As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the storied wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior, there is another remarkable account of a group of Native fishermen caught in the same storm that day. We’ll hear from Interlochen Public Radio reporter Ellie Katz who talked to some of the men for the Points North podcast. GUESTS Emma Grellinger (Stockbridge Munsee and descendent of the Oneida Nation), current president of the Association and medical student at UCSF Andrew Curley (Diné), associate professor at the School of Geography, Development, & Environment at the University of Arizona Regis Pecos (Cochiti Pueblo), co-founder and co-director of the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute and former Governor of Cochiti Pueblo Ellie Katz, reporter for Points North and Interlochen Public Radio   Break 1 Music: A Turtle’s Honour Song [NDN Jazz] (song) Mwalim (artist) Break 2 Music: Only A Whisper (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

The storm that ravaged villages along Alaska’s west coast may have washed away thousands of artifacts that promised to provide valuable insights into early Yup’ik settlements. The storm destroyed nearly 60 feet of shoreline near the village of Quinhagak. Along with it was a site that was the source of early masks, tools and other items that make up the world’s largest collection of Yup’ik artifacts housed at the local museum. Researchers, who were already racing to recover the items threatened by thawing permafrost, say as many as 10,000 artifacts could be lost. In another blow, thieves made off with more than a thousand artifacts from the Oakland Museum of California‘s off-site storage facility. Oakland police and the FBI are working to find the culprits and recover the items. The early assessment by authorities suggest the heist may have been more of a crime of opportunity than a targeted operation. GUESTS Cody Groat (Kanyen’kehaka’), assistant professor at the Department of History and the Indigenous Studies Program at the University of Western Ontario  Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw), chief executive and attorney at the Association on American Indian Affairs Lynn Marie Church (Yup’ik), CEO of Nalaquq, LLC Rick Knecht, emeritus senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Aberdeen   Break 1 Music: Drum I Carry (song) Pamyua (artist) Side A Side B (Side A)(album) Break 2 Music: Only A Whisper (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

Filmmaker and U.S. Air Force veteran Ryan Begay (Diné) set out to bring some of the stories of others Native American veterans to a broader audience. In the process, he brings those stories, especially those of Native women who serve in the military to life, in the documentary, “Honor Song“. We’ll hear about the film and from some of those featured in it. Another Air Force veteran, Steven Sibley (Cherokee), also saw a need to connect with fellow military veterans and to provide a better source of information about the resources and benefits available to veterans and their family members. He now is co-publisher of the free Oklahoma Veterans News Magazine. We’ll talk with him about his service in the military and ways veterans can connect with the benefits available to them. GUESTS Ryan Begay (Diné), producer, director, actor, and Air Force veteran Cassie Velarde Neher (Jicarilla Apache), Navy veteran and doctoral student at the University of New Mexico Darrell Charlee (Diné), Air Force Master Sgt. Steven Sibley (Delaware and Cherokee), retired, disabled veteran and co-publisher of Oklahoma Veterans New Magazine   Break 1 Music: Veteran’s Honoring Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album) Break 2 Music: Only A Whisper (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

Vermont’s four Abenaki bands face ongoing pushback as they work to assert their Native American identity. With state recognition, the tribes enjoy certain hunting and fishing rights and the ability to list artwork as Native made. The Odanak First Nation in Canada is speaking out on social media and at press conferences, public events, and even at the United Nations, saying the people in Vermont claiming Abenaki blood have no connection to the Abenaki name and are only exploiting a legitimate and respected culture. It’s one of the remaining battlegrounds in the often-contentious discussions over identity. GUESTS Chief Rick O’Bomsawin (Odanak First Nation), Chief of the Abenaki Council of Odanak Chief Don Stevens (Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation) Margaret Bruchac (Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation), professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania   Break 1 Music: Seeing Two (song) Deerlady (band) Greatest Hits (album) Break 2 Music: Only A Whisper (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

Throat-singing Inuit sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay released their sixth album, offering a soundtrack to the traditional stories they grew up with. “Legends” blends PIQSIQ’s cultural improvisational technique with sophisticated studio production. First Nations Cree singer LOV is on tour, propelled by the success of the video releases for the singles, “Matriarch” and “Mama“. Her upbeat soulful, rhythmic style invokes Amy Winehouse, but LOV has a message all her own drawn from her roots on her Treaty Six Reserve. Country crooner Blaine Bailey barely blinked after getting eliminated from the musical competition reality show, “The Road“. He hit the road with his own tour singing songs from his album, “Indian Country“, with a classic sound built around lyrics full of Native pride. GUESTS Blaine Bailey (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), singer and songwriter LOV (Poundmaker Cree Nation), singer and songwriter Tiffany Ayalik (Inuit), singer and songwriter for the duo PIQSIQ Inuksuk Mackay (Inuit), singer and songwriter for the duo PIQSIQ   Break 1 Music: Good Buddy (song) Fontine (artist) Good Buddy (album) Break 2 Music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)

The Aboriginal people of Australia are on the precipice of cementing a historic agreement with the state of Victoria, one that could provide a blueprint for recognizing Indigenous peoples and incorporating their voices and cultures into the political process going forward. The treaty is a first for Australia and comes after years of research, negotiation, and a failed political referendum in 2023. Among other things, those crafting the treaty look to avoid the pitfalls of federal treaties with Native Americans and First Nations peoples of Canada. We’ll hear from those who worked to make the treaty happen and what about their hopes and concerns following this historic action. GUESTS Dr. Julian Rawiri Kusabs (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Maru [Hauraki], and Tainui), research fellow at the University of Melbourne Dr. Nikki Moodie (Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, and Gamilaraay), professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Melbourne Travis Lovett (Kerrupmara Gunditjmara, Boandik), inaugural executive director of the Centre for Truth Telling and Dialogue at the University of Melbourne Lidia Thorpe (Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung), Independent Senator for Victoria and represents the Blak Sovereign Movement   Break 1 Music: Talkin’ Treaty (song) Blackfire [Australia] (artist) Regeneration (album) Break 2 Music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)

A team of researchers are actively sifting through archival documents, artifacts, even artwork to expand the story of Indigenous slavery. The Native Bound Unbound project includes interactive maps, digitized documents and recent interviews with descendants whose ancestors endured enslavement. The publicly available digital archive aims to document every instance of Indigenous slavery in the Western Hemisphere to illuminate where and when slavery took place, and the lasting effects for Indigenous communities and their descendants. GUESTS Philip J. Deloria (Yankton Dakota), professor of history at Harvard University Theresa Pasqual (Acoma Pueblo), executive vice president of Indigenous Affairs at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and the former tribal historic preservation officer for the Pueblo of Acoma Estevan Rael-Galvez, executive director of Native Bound Unbound: Archive of Indigenous Slavery   Break 1 Music: Crossroad Blues (song) Lakota John (artist) Lakota John and Kin (album) Break 2 Music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)

As the federal government shutdown drags on, tribes are feeling the brunt more than the general population. That’s among the conclusions in a new report from the Brookings Institution that examines how the government distributes the funds it is obligated to. The report finds that a large portion of the money for tribal necessities like health care, education, and economic well-being required under the Trust and Treaty Responsibility is dependent on annual action by Congress rather than being baked into the automatic allocations that other federal funding recipients enjoy. The report calls on a more reliable funding system for tribes. The shutdown has prompted several tribes, including the Spirit Lake Nation, Standing Rock Tribe, and Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, to declare states of emergency, mainly because of the lack of food and winter heating assistance. We’ll hear more about how the shutdown is grinding away at tribes’ ability to help their citizens. GUESTS Chairman  Joseph James (Yurok Tribe) Nikki Stoops (Native Village of Kotzebue), vice president of engagement for the Alaska Federation of Natives Liz Malerba (Mohegan Tribe), director of policy and legislative affairs for the United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund Robert Maxim (Mashpee Wampanoag), fellow at the Brookings Institution   Break 1 Music: Hard Paddle (song) Salish Spirit Canoe Family (artist) Keep Singing, Keep Dancing (album) Break 2 Music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)

Researchers are documenting more and longer-lasting wildfires in northern Alaska and Canada. In fact, the increase of wildfires is a trend across the Arctic, as far as Norway and Siberia, driven by higher temperatures and dryer conditions. The trend has immediate threats to people’s homes and health. Some tribes in Alaska and Canada also worry about the possibility of a long-term cataclysmic cycle of fires burning through vast stores of peat, producing uncountable amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. We’ll get a look at the latest research and learn what concerned Alaska Native tribes and other Indigenous stakeholders are doing to prepare. GUESTS Edward Alexander (Gwich’in), co-chair for Gwich’in Council International and senior Arctic Lead Woodwell Climate Research Center Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson (Métis), senior fire advisor for the Indigenous Leadership Initiative and board member of the International Association of Wildland Fire Malinda Chase (Deg Hit’an), tribal liaison for the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center under the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the land manager for her village Anvik   Break 1 Music: Blueberry Hill (song) Métis Fiddler Quartet (artist) Northwest Voyage Nord Ouest (album) Break 2 Music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)