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Native America Calling is a daily, interactive program connecting listeners with soul-stirring and thought-provoking conversations about Native and Indigenous communities. Each program features leaders, influencers, and folx on the front lines working to improve the quality of life for Native, Indigenous, and First Peoples around the globe. Native America Calling is heard on nearly 70 public, community, and tribal radio stations in the United States and Canada - and live streamed on our Native Voice One network. Our program is a production of Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, a Native-run non-profit based in Anchorage, Alaska.
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U.S. citizenship was not a given for the people who occupied the land before there was a United States. Nor was the idea universally welcomed by all Native nations. Citizenship ensured the right to vote in national elections and equal protection under the Constitution. But it also required relinquishing a measure of sovereignty, something the Onondaga Nation and the Haudenosaunee refuse to recognize to this day. A century after President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, we’ll look at the strengths and sacrifices of becoming American citizens.
GUESTS
Dr. Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee), president of the Morning Star Institute and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Robert Miller (Eastern Shawnee), professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and tribal judge
Sam Deloria (Yankton Dakota enrolled in Standing Rock), former director of the American Indian Law Center and American Indian Graduate Center
Allison Neswood (Navajo), staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund
Basketball fans are glued to their teams’ performance in the NBA conference finals, with at least two Native players still battling for the title. And the WNBA just started its season, welcoming Minnesota Lynx draft pick Alissa Pili (Iñupiaq and Samoan) onto the court. We’ll hear from Pili, as well as University of Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson (Lumbee), who the AP just named Coach of the Year, along with some other perspectives on Native representation on the court.
GUESTS
Alissa Pili (Iñupiaq and Samoan), Minnesota Lynx player
Kelvin Sampson (Lumbee), University of Houston coach
Dominic Tiger-Cortes (citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation), basketball trainer and founder and creative director of Hoop Medicine
L.A. Williams (Diné), sportscaster and radio talent
Most polls over the years show Native Americans’ substantial support for Democrats. But that hasn’t stopped strong representation in Congress by Native Republicans. That includes U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (Chickasaw Nation/R-OK), who recently took the reins of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. He is also the longest-serving Native congressman in history. We’ll get perspectives from some notable Native Republicans about what they see the party does for their Native constituents in the first of a series of profiles shedding light on political positions heading into the general election.
Alexa Numkena-Anderson (Hopi, Yakama, Cree, Skokomish) shares a bit of Southwest flare with Pacific Northwest flavors—to match her tribal identity—through her pop-up food business, Javelina: Indigenous Dining in Portland, Ore. A rare confluence of periodical cicadas is a nutritional gift and a reminder of resilience for some tribes in Southeast states. And “Nothing Left for Me,” a new museum exhibit at the University of New Mexico’s Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, documents Diné perspectives on the devastating effects of the federal government’s 1930s Navajo livestock reduction program. That’s on The Menu on Native America Calling, a feature about Native food hosted by Andi Murphy.
Sasquatch, also called Bigfoot, has captured the popular collective imagination around the globe for decades. But in addition to their pop icon status, Sasquatch have a deeper meaning for many Native American cultures. The name that’s often used most likely comes from the Coast Salish word “Sasq’ets.” The Sts'ailes First Nation in Canada consider Sasquatch to be a caretaker of the land. A new exhibition at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Ore. showcases work by Native artists inspired by Sasquatch. We’ll get a peek at the exhibition along with some context of the enduring cultural connection.
The world is gearing up for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Of course, that decisive military action by Allied forces was more than just one day and was supported by actions across Europe. We’ll hear about what the war was like for Native Americans who served, and get a profile of one of the infantry divisions that had among the highest percentage of Native enlisted members in the military.
Child support payments could be cut for hundreds of Native American mothers. The looming change revolves around a debate in Congress over access to private IRS information. Child support enforcement efforts use that information to garnish tax refunds going to non-custodial parents. It's a system that reroutes some $2 billion across the country every year. But tribes fall into a special category that would prevent them from solutions that non-tribal agencies are able to use. North Dakota tribes have already had such child support payments cut off because of an IRS directive, but that decision is now reversed. We'll hear about the complex issue of child support enforcement for tribes.
Reindeer weren’t always in Alaska, but now there’s a strong connection for Alaska Native herders. It all started in 1891, when the U.S. Government signed onto a plan by a Presbyterian missionary to recruit Indigenous European Sami people in order to spark economic development and relieve food insecurity in Alaska. The program took off, but was greatly hampered by subsequent policy decisions. Somewhere along the way, the Arctic reindeer herding lifestyle meshed well with the state’s Iñupiaq and Yup’ik residents.
There’s something for everybody on the summer reading lists by our expert panel of Native super-readers. From supernatural slashers to memoirs to poetry, there is an abundance of Native literature available right now to put in your backpack or beach bag. From the usual big names and a few hidden treasures, we’ll have ideas for you to stock up on the printed word.
Edgar Blatchford (Iñupiaq and Yup'ik), former journalist and professor, has served as Alaska’s economic development commissioner for the Frank Murkowski Administration. He was also the mayor of Seward, Alaska. He’s a college educator and oversaw a news publishing network. He’s an outspoken advocate for reforming Alaska Native corporations. We’ll hear from Blatchford about his ideas for improving the world around him.
This time every year for the past 30 years the Sac and Fox Nation takes a day to celebrate a momentous U. S. Supreme Court decision affirming the tribe’s right to issue vehicle license plates to its citizens. The tribal tags are an important expression of sovereignty and it generates revenue for education and other programs. Dozens of tribes in and outside of Oklahoma now extend their authority to motor vehicle tags. But Oklahoma tribes say that authority is under fire like never before. Tribal citizens are having to defend what tribal officials say is an increase in targeted stops and fines by non-tribal law enforcement. We’ll talk about celebrating a victory for sovereignty and the constant effort required to keep it.
The graduating class of 2024 is taking one of the biggest steps in their academic careers. What’s next? We know that almost three quarters of Native students graduate high school. And college graduates reached an achievement only 1 in 5 Native people attain by age 25. We devote this show to the Native academic stars reaching a major educational milestone.
There are many more people on parole and probation — almost double — compared to those incarcerated behind bars. And just as Native Americans are overrepresented in jails and prisons, they make up a disproportionate number of those on supervised release. Criminal justice advocates point to policies and practices that set up hurdles that trip up Native Americans on probation and parole more than other populations. We’ll explore the problems and find out how some correction systems are responding to minimize discrepancies.
Following August’s U.S. Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action, several states are rushing to rid their higher education institutions of recruitment and inclusion programs that benefit Native students. On top of that, the botched update to the FAFSA process has many families confused about their ability to pay for college in the coming academic year. Native Americans already have among the lowest college enrollment rates. Higher education advocates worry the confluence of factors might erase any recent educational attainment gains.
A tribe once targeted for termination has established the first reservation in the state of Illinois. The U.S. Department of Interior transferred 130 acres of Northern Illinois land to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The action comes 175 years after the federal government illegally sold the tribe’s Illinois land — ten times the current trust land size — when the chief was out of the state visiting family. We’ll hear about the new land transaction and other recent notable land achievements.
A big band made up of Native musicians is headlining a jazz festival at the Kennedy Center in the nation’s capital this weekend. The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band is billed as the only all-Native jazz band in the world. It’s made up of 16 of the music disciplined genre’s most notable and talented Native musicians, including co-director Delbert Anderson (Diné), Mali Obomsawin (Odanak Abenaki), and Ed Littlefield (Tlingit).
Twenty-five year old Diné multimedia artist Kassie John is the newest cultural ambassador to wear the Miss Indian World crown. She is the first Navajo Miss Indian World in a decade. John hopes to inspire young people to tap into their own artistic talent to bring Indigenous stories to others. She’s a business owner and comes from a family with many strong ties to the powwow community. We’ll hear from her and some previous Miss Indian World winners about the power of Native royalty.
Tribes can enact laws and take actions that relate to tribal land. But the ability for tribes to dictate what happens in the skies over that land is less clear. The Federal Aviation Administration is the main authority controlling the use of airspace. But the growing proliferation of drones and small personal aircraft is prompting researchers and some tribes to explore how to assert jurisdiction to what happens overhead. We’ll discuss some of the current limits and possibilities for exerting sovereign influence over tribal airspace.
Gaming revenue hit a record $40.9 billion in the most recent report by the National Indian Gaming Commission. Gaming’s economic reliability over the years along with other tribal enterprises give some tribes multi-billion dollar annual incomes. The U.S. Census Bureau reports Native-owned businesses employ more than 243,000. We’ll hear about the unique opportunities and challenges that come with tribal wealth.
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.
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