Native America Calling

Renowned ballet dancer Jock Soto (Diné/Puerto Rican) is being celebrated by the International Museum of Dance for his career that started when he was hand-selected at age 16 by New York City Ballet founder George Balanchine as a principal dancer. He went on to an acclaimed career on stage and as a mentor to up-and-coming dancers. We’ll talk with Soto about his dancing and choreography career. Composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s (Chickasaw) new compositions are based on his tribe’s clan animals, including woodpeckers, deer, and racoons. They’re included on a new album, “Woodland Songs,” by the Dover Quartet. The album also includes songs by singer-songwriter Pura Fé (Tuscarora and Taino) that Tate arranged for the ensemble. We’ll talk with Tate about his interpreting the mix of traditional Native ideas in a classical music setting.   Break 1 Music: V. Shawi’ [Raccoon] (song) Dover Quartet (artist) Woodland Songs (album) Break 2 Music: Real Things (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

A relatively new program with proven results in improving the health of expecting and new mothers may be in jeopardy. Efforts to renew the Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE MM) program by the September 30 deadline have so far been unsuccessful. ERASE MM panels review and document social and legal factors that go into providing maternal health care. Absent or inconsistent approaches state-by-state could make it harder to spot gaps for Native mothers. Federal funding cuts also threaten access to birth control for more than 800,000 women. The Trump administration is signaling a shift in the Nixon-era program known as Title X, promoting fertility programs for low-income women rather than providing them contraception. In addition, pending cuts to Medicaid could reduce family planning services to millions more. We’ll take a look at the current trend in family planning services for Native Americans. GUESTS Camie Goldhammer (Sisseton Wahpeton), founding executive director of Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services MichaeLynn Kanichy (member of the Makah Tribe), co-founder of The Hi•dubał Baʔas Julia Wall (Pueblo and Anishinaabe), health administrator for the Changing Woman Initiative Shireen Ghorbani, president and CEO for the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah   Break 1 Music: Women’s Honoring Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album) Break 2 Music: Real Things (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

Since the technology was first made publicly available in the U.S. more than a century ago, radio has endured repeated predictions of its demise. Even with the explosion of digital streaming and on-demand podcasts, the nation’s top ratings firm finds at least 82% of Americans listen to traditional, terrestrial radio each week. We’ll mark National Radio Day by talking to Native people who have a passion for the medium, including the host of the longest-running Native radio show in Texas, a radio reporter who covers Indigenous affairs in Oklahoma, and an Alaska teenager who built his own internet radio station in his bedroom. GUESTS Sarah Liese (Turtle Mountain Chippewa and Diné), Indigenous Affairs reporter at KOSU Albert Old Crow (Southern Cheyenne), Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal council coordinator and host of “Beyond Bows and Arrows”  Colton Prince (Athabascan and Iñupiaq), owner of 98.5 Music Alaska Bob Petersen (Yup’ik), network manager for Native Voice One (NV1) U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) Listen to an extended interview NAC producer Sol Traverso did with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) about securing funding for 35 tribal radio stations before the passing of the recent rescission package: https://nativeamericacalling-offload-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/082025-Sen-Rounds-web.mp3   Break 1 Music: Trick Song (song) Battle River (artist) Hard Times (album) Break 2 Music: Real Things (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album) Full disclosure: Native Voice One is the distribution division of Koahnic Broadcasting Corporation, Native America Calling’s parent organization.

Incoming Tishomingo High School senior golfer Carli Upton. (Photo: Christiana Alford) Among the big wins in athletic competition this summer is the victory by the Haudenosaunee Nationals at the Pan-American Women’s Lacrosse Championship. They are first time medalists at the senior level and their win over Puerto Rico has far-reaching implications. We’ll hear from a player and a coach for the team and take the opportunity to catch up with some other notable Native athletes, from a Comanche professional boxer to the Diné college swimmer. GUESTS Carli Upton (Chickasaw and Choctaw), student and golfer at Tishomingo High School Bean Minerd (Onondaga Nation), Haudenosaunee Nationals women’s lacrosse team member and head women’s lacrosse coach of Buffalo State University George “Comanche Boy” Tahdooahnippah (Comanche), former professional boxer, North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, and CEO of Numunu Kaylah Yazzie (Navajo, Comanche, and Sac and Fox), swimmer for the University of New Mexico Claudia Jimerson (Cayuga Nation), director of lacrosse operations and board member for the Haudenosaunee Nationals   Break 1 Music: Different Build (song) Nige B (artist) Reshape – Refashion (album) Break 2 Music: Real Things (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

Michael Steven Wilson (Tohono O’odham) was a lay pastor on the Tohono O’odham Nation in the early 2000s when he started putting out water for migrants crossing the U.S.- Mexico border. He considered it a religious and ethical calling, but it put him at odds with U.S. immigration officials, his church, and his own Native nation. Growing up in Tucson, Ariz. in the 1950s, Wilson endured racism and poverty. He witnessed injustice in Central America while serving in the military — and he confronted questions about his Christian faith while in seminary school in the 90s. His experiences and observations informed his decision to help relieve the suffering of the migrants risking their lives to cross the Sonoran Desert. They are also documented in the memoir, “What Side Are You On?” Wilson is our August Native in the Spotlight.   Break 1 Music: Willie’s Ghost Riders (song) Gertie & the T.O. Boyz (artist) Break 2 Music: Real Things (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

After 103 years, the Santa Fe Indian Market remains the biggest draw for Native artists, potters, and jewelry makers as well as those who appreciate and collect their work. More than 1.000 juried participants come from hundreds of Native communities, offering a hugely diverse range of inspiring work. We’ll take a small sample of that creativity and check in on the outlook for Native arts and arts education. GUESTS Lily Hope (Tlingit), Chilkat and Ravenstail weaver and artist Jamie Schulze (Northern Cheyenne / Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), executive director of Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Shelly Lowe (Diné), president of the Institute of American Indian Arts Dan Vallo (Acoma Pueblo), 2024 SWAIA Best of Show winner and multimedia artist Monica Raphael (Anishinaabe and Sicangu Lakota), quill and beadwork artist     Break 1 Music: C.R.E.A.M. [Instrumental] (song) Wu-Tang Clan (artist) Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers [Instrumentals] (album) Break 2 Music: The Gift of Life (song) Randy Wood (artist) The Gift of Life (album)

News consumers have a constant stream of information at their fingertips, but how reliable is it and how do people check the facts? Indigenous journalists are a means to bring balanced viewpoints to newsrooms that typically have limited interaction with Indigenous populations. As the annual gathering of the Indigenous Journalists Association gets underway in Albuquerque, N.M., we’ll discuss how journalism is changing and how Indigenous journalists are responding to new pressures for transparency, fact-checking, and bias. GUESTS Angel Ellis (Muscogee), director of Mvskoke Media and on board of directors for Indigenous Journalists Association and Oklahoma Media Center Shaun Griswold (Laguna, Jemez and Zuni Pueblo), correspondent at High Country News and Native News Online Nancy Marie Spears (Cherokee), Indigenous Children and Families Reporter for The Imprint Hattie Kauffman (Nez Perce), journalist and first Native American to file a report on a national news broadcast   Break 1 Music: On the Road Missing Home (Corn Dance) (song) Sheldon Sundown (artist) Hand Drum/Smoke N’ Round Dance (album) Break 2 Music: The Gift of Life (song) Randy Wood (artist) The Gift of Life (album)

The summer of 1945 saw three nuclear explosions that ushered in a new era of experimentation, development, and fear when it comes to the potential for such a powerful weapon. Native people are among those suffering the most from the consequences of that path. The first test of the atomic bomb at the Trinity site in New Mexico, and the subsequent use of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, signaled the U.S. Government’s new push to develop nuclear weapons, fueled by millions of tons of uranium ore mined near Native land in New Mexico and Arizona. And ongoing nuclear tests exposed thousands of Native people in the Southwest and in Alaska to dangerous levels of radiation. We’ll explore the ongoing effects on Native people of nuclear weapons and power development, in this encore presentation. GUESTS Marissa Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), deputy director of Sovereign Energy and board member for Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) Loretta Anderson (Laguna Pueblo), co-sponsor of the Southwest Uranium Miners Coalition Post-71 Tina Cordova, co-founder and executive director of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium   Break 1 Music: Atomic (song) Sunburnt Stone (artist) El Navaho (album) Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

Another year and another record revenue report for the tribal gaming industry. The annual report by the National Indian Gaming Commission finds slot machines, table games, sports betting, and other enterprises reaped $43.9 billion in 2024. That’s up more than $2 billion from the previous year. But there are potential setbacks on the horizon that could affect gaming, including flagging consumer confidence, confusing foreign trade policies, and federal government’s diminished regard for tribal sovereignty. We’ll get a status update and a look ahead for tribal gaming. GUESTS Ernie Stevens Jr. (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association Derrick Beetso (Navajo), professor of practice and executive director of Indian Gaming and Self-Governance at Arizona State University   Break 1 Music: Happy Sundance (song) Dallas Arcand (artist) Modern Day Warrior (album) Break 2 Music: The Gift of Life (song) Randy Wood (artist) The Gift of Life (album)

Hopes to fix the Santee Sioux Nation’s lack of clean drinking water faded as federal funding for a pipeline project is increasingly tangled in government turmoil. Tribal citizens are forced to drink bottled water to avoid the high levels of manganese in well water. On the Navajo Nation, dozens of people’s water wells are contaminated with chemicals, like benzene, associated with the oil and gas drilling industry. There are many mysterious, uncapped wells that could be contributing to the problem. They are just two of the problems tribal citizens are having when it comes to accessing the most basic resource. GUESTS Heather Tanana (Diné), initiative lead of the Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities and law professor at the University of Denver Nicole Horseherder (Navajo), executive director of Tó Nizhóní Ání Kameron Runnels (Santee Sioux), vice chairman of the Santee Sioux Nation Jerry Redfern, staff reporter for Capital & Main   Break 1 Music: The Four Essential Elements [Diigo Bee’iináanii] (song) Radmilla Cody (artist) K’é Hasin (album) Break 2 Music: The Gift of Life (song) Randy Wood (artist) The Gift of Life (album)