Claim OwnershipNative America Calling
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Interactive, daily program featuring Native and Indigenous voices, insights, and stories from across the U.S. and around the world.
1336 Episodes
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Ya Tseen pushes the boundaries of the musical collaboration’s signature psych-pop sound with their latest album, “Stand on My Shoulders.” It’s the second full-length album led by musician, visual artist, and totem carver Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂) under the Seattle-based Sub Pop Records label. The music features diverse collaborations from the indie rock group Portugal. The Man, famed singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, and the experimental hip hop artist Pink Siifu. It explores themes of kinship and collectivism but also pays homage to Galanin’s late father – lauded Tlingit silver carver and musician Dave Galanin.
Cochemea Gastelum‘s latest offering, “Vol. III: Ancestros Futuros“, completes an album trilogy that explores dreams, oral history, memories (both real and imagined), and Gastelum’s Yaqui identity. The new recording brings together the fruits of Gastelum’s 25 years in the music business performing with the likes of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp, and the popular rap-duo Run the Jewels.
Do Native Americans need more encouragement to consume saturated fats? Native nutritionists are wondering how the new federal dietary guidelines just unveiled by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. intersects with decades of scientific research urging the population with the highest rates of heart disease to limit their saturated fat intake. The new federal food pyramid shows up in recommendations for programs like Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Head Start, Indian Health Service, and the National School Lunch Program.
Tribes in the Pacific Northwest are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to seals taking a bite out of the salmon populations they worked decades to preserve. The seals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. They feast on fish that on which the tribes rely. We will look at how this situation affects tribal treaty rights and what tribes are doing in response.
A handful of organizations are working to strengthen traditional connections between urban Native residents and buffalo. Organizers in Chicago and Denver are among those working to put the animals closer to Native people who might not otherwise have exposure to a significant traditional source of food.
GUESTS
Dr. Tara Maudrie (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), assistant professor at the University of Michigan in the School of Social Work
Cecilia Gobin (Tulalip), conservation policy analyst with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Dnisa Oocumma (Eastern Band of Cherokee), community engagement coordinator for the American Indian Center
Lewis TallBull (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma), co-founder and president of Sacred Return
Dr. Valarie Jernigan (Choctaw), professor of medicine and director of the Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy at Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Sciences
Thaioronióhte Dan David (Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk) launched the news department for Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). In doing so, he gave Indigenous voices a national public platform they did not previously have. He started his career with the CBC covering the Yukon Territory. He reported on the Oka Crisis, among many other historic events. After establishing APTN News, he spent a decade reshaping a national newsroom in post-apartheid South Africa. We’ll speak with David’s family, friends and colleagues about his many accomplishments and the importance of putting Indigenous voices front and center in news coverage.
We’ll also hear from a founder of the Lakota Times newspaper on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The independent weekly newspaper ceased publication this month after decades in operation, leaving a blank space for Native news in the Great Plains region.
GUESTS
Marie David (Kanien’kehá:ke Mohawk), sister to Dan David
Karyn Pugliese (Pikwàkanagàn First Nation), host and producer Nation to Nation of APTN News
Drew Hayden Taylor (Curve Lake First Nation), playwright and author
Bruce Spence (Opaskwayak Cree Nation), producer at APTN National News
Sylvia Vollenhoven, journalist and filmmaker
Amanda War Takes Bonnett-Beauvais (Oglala Lakota), public education specialist at the Native Women’s Society of the Great Plains and former editor and publisher at the Lakota Country Times
Break 1 Music: Stomp Dance (song) George Hunter (artist) Haven (album)
Break 2 Music: Mahaha: Tickling Demon (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Legends (album)
President Donald Trump appears to have backed off his most urgent rhetoric, for now, around acquiring Greenland against the will of nearly every European nation and the vast majority of Americans. But the threat of a potential takeover of Greenland and other sovereign nations remains, with Trump officials also putting Cuba, Columbia, and even Canada and Mexico on notice for what Trump himself refers to as the “Donroe Doctrine”, a reference to the 200-year-old foreign policy asserting America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The momentum for such imperialistic rhetoric is a reminder of a dark time for Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples potentially in Trump’s path.
GUESTS
Dr. Sara Olsvig (Inuk from Greenland), chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and holds a Ph.D in Arctic studies
Andrea Carmen (Yaqui), executive director of the International Indian Treaty Council
Tillie Martinussen (Inuit), former member of Parliament of Greenland
Malu Rosing (Inuit), advisor on Arctic and global governance for the International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs
Break 1 Music: Tikitaummata (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album)
Break 2 Music: Mahaha: Tickling Demon (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Legends (album)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says he is taking a “sledgehammer” to a federal program that many tribes and tribal businesses rely on. He is referring to the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program that extends contract priorities to disadvantaged business owners. Hegseth uses words like “fraud” and “scheme” to describe what he says is an outdated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative. His is part of an overall scrutiny of the program by the federal government. Hundreds of Native small businesses have accessed the program over the past 60 years, and some Alaska Native corporations have multi-million dollar contracts.
GUESTS
Jon Panamaroff (Native Village of Afognak), co-chair of the Native American Contractors Association and CEO of Command Holdings
Kevin Allis (Forest County Potawatomi), founder and president of Thunderbird Strategic and former CEO of the National Congress of American Indians
Nick Grube, investigative reporter at Honolulu Civil Beat
Break 1 Music: Shawnee Stomp Dance (song) Little Axe Singers (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)
Break 2 Music: Mahaha: Tickling Demon (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Legends (album)
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (Sicangu Lakota and Ponca) mistook her first interaction with racism — a separate gas station outhouse reserved for “Indians” — as a privileged courtesy for her and her people. It is one of the “Special Places, Sacred Circles” that she recalls in the account of her life on the dry, windy plains of South Dakota. She tells of the Great Depression, grandmothers who taught her the power of words, and the navigation of a literary world that embraced her. Sneve was one of the first authors to offer an alternative to children’s literature flush with stereotypes. Her insightful writing took her from her home along Ponca Creek to a presidential honor at the White House. We’ll hear Sneve talk about her life as a writer and public school educator.
Break 1 Music: Song of Encouragement (song) Porcupine Singers (artist) Alowanpi – Songs of Honoring – Lakota Classics: Past & Present, Vol. 1 (album)
Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)
A recent agreement between a gold mining company and the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation is being called “historic” by its chairman. The mining company president says the agreement follows the standards set by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and gives the tribe a share of the profits from the mine. The company and tribal officials are optimistic this will set a precedent for how mining companies partner with tribes.
At the same time as the agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposes to severely limit the power of tribes to interfere with construction of oil and natural gas pipelines and resource-guzzling data centers.
GUESTS
Chairman Brian Mason (Shoshone Paiute)
Maranda Compton (Delaware Tribe of Indians), founder and president of Lepwe
Kate Finn (Osage), founder and director of the Tallgrass Institute
James Grijalva, professor of law at the University of North Dakota School of Law
Melissa Kay, Tribal Water Institute fellow at the Native American Rights Fund
Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)
Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)
In Los Angeles, Chicago, and now Minneapolis, activists, community leaders, and concerned neighbors have organized loose-knit networks of support for what they believe will be a protracted resistance effort against the crackdowns by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The Powwow Grounds Coffeehouse in Minneapolis is among the locations collecting food, cash, and other support for those filling the streets with whistles, drums, and their own voices. Doing so carries risk. ICE agents shot and killed one person. Many more are injured. At least one Minneapolis restaurant fended off ICE agents who attempted to enter. We’ll hear from Native organizers in cities around the country about what they expect in the weeks and months ahead.
GUESTS
Robert Rice (White Earth Nation), owner of Pow Wow Grounds
Courtney Cochran (Anishinaabe), artist, filmmaker, and community organizer
Jennifer Marley (San Ildefonso), community organizer and a member of the Total Sovereignty Working Group
Eva Cardenas (Mexica Chicana of Mazahua and Zapotec descent), director of organizing for the NDN Collective, the LANDBACK action network
Joel Garcia (Huichol), artist, cultural organizer, and director of Meztli Projects
Break 1 Music: Hope [Featuring Werner Erb] (song) Sihasin (artist) Never Surrender (album)
Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)
The village of Kwigillingok, Alaska is at a crossroads after flooding, fueled by a serious Bearing Sea storm, washed away 50 houses, killing three residents. The storm is one of the increasingly frequent and increasingly severe storms to pummel the area. Combined with thawing permafrost and rising sea levels, village leaders are pushing to move — a plan that state and Native regional corporation officials reject.
Recent flooding in Washington State also has tribal officials assessing their options. There too, major flooding — what used to be a once-in-a-lifetime event — threatens residents’ lives and property and the natural viability of the rivers than once sustained life for local tribes.
We’ll get updates about the effects of increasing floods and the difficult choices tribal officials face.
GUESTS
Daniel Paul (Yup’ik), tribal president for the Village of Kipnuk
Gavin Phillip (Yup’ik), tribal administrator for the Village of Kwigillingok
Darrel John (Yup’ik), community school advocate
Joseph Pavel (Skokomish), director of natural resources for the Skokomish Indian Tribe
Guillaume Mauger, Washington state climatologist and research scientist at the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group
Break 1 Music: Uangilaa (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album)
Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)
This year is the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the federal law that promised equal access to voting regardless of race or religion. The document was a milestone in the movement championed by Martin Luther King, Jr. Among the actions that prompted the legislation was a series of violent confrontations between protestors and officials intent on preventing their progress, including law enforcement officers’ attack on hundreds of marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. Many civil rights advocates say the country is now dismantling the progress that King devoted his life to that has helped Native Americans and so many others.
GUESTS
Dr. Sandy Grande (Quechua), professor of political science and Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Connecticut
Nick Tilsen (Oglala Lakota), founder and CEO of the NDN Collective
Wenona Singel (Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians)
Caroline LaPorte (Little River Band of Ottawa Indians descendant), staff attorney with the Indian Law Resource Center and associate judge for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Break 1 Music: Leadership Song [Naaí’áanii Biyiin] (song) Radmilla Cody (artist) K’é Hasin (album)
Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)
Dakota Louis’ (Northern Cheyenne) family bull riding roots go back five generations. His father was a two-time champion at the Indian Finals Rodeo. Now, Louis is a top competitor at the same rodeo and other events around the country. He hopes to pass down his skills and inspiration to a younger generation on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana where he grew up. On the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina, Jade Blankenship (Colville Tribes/Eastern Band of Cherokee) opened a spa and boutique with her sister. Together they are sharing their business knowledge with budding Native entrepreneurs. They are among the names on this year’s 40 under 40 list by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. We’ll hear from some of the Native people on a variety of career paths recognized for their contributions to their communities.
GUESTS
Dakota Louis (Northern Cheyenne, Cree, and Blackfeet), professional bull rider
Jade Blankenship (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Spokane and Eastern Band of Cherokee), co-owner of Indigenous Boutique and Spa and founder of UWENA
Corey Hinton (Passamaquoddy), attorney at Drummond Woodsum
Michael Charles (Diné), assistant professor in the department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University
Break 1 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)
Break 2 Music: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)
The U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has prompted questions about what comes next. No one is more concerned about the answer to that question than Venezuela’s Wayúu people and the other Indigenous tribes that make up as much as 3% of the population. They are no fans of Maduro, enduring the same oppressive tactics as other residents, contributing to disproportionate socio-economic hurdles. They are also suffering at the hands of both legal and illegal mining operations. What will President Donald Trump’s stated interests in gas and mineral development mean going forward?
GUESTS
Alicia Moncada (Wayúu), director of advocacy and communications for Cultural Survival
Carlos Roa, journalist and editor for IQ Latino and a member and spokesperson with Asociación de Periodistas Venezolanos en el Extranjero / Association of Venezuelan Journalists Abroad (APEVEX)
Alejandro Velasco, professor of Latin American history at New York University
Laura Botero, PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin
Break 1 Music: Money Cannot Be Eaten (song) Rosary Spence (artist) Maskawisiwin (album)
Break 2 Music: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)
A recent decision by the U.S. Treasury Department is a major win for tribes. For the first time, tribes are on the same level as states when it comes to determining how tribal services are taxed. Advocates call the decision “historic” and say it is a significant breakthrough in tribal sovereignty. Not only will it allow tribes to keep hundreds of millions of dollars more per year, it removes the tax filing hassle for small contractors who work with tribes. We’ll hear about the decade-long push to change what is called the General Welfare Exclusion and what it means for tribal economic development.
GUESTS
Lynn Malerba (Mohegan), chief of the Mohegan Tribe and former U.S. Treasurer
Hershel Gorham (Cheyenne and Arapaho), lieutenant governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
OJ Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux), executive director of the Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT)
Scott Skaro (Standing Rock Sioux), board member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the financial aid director for United Tribes Technical College
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: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)
Organizers in Chicago just broke ground on a 45-unit affordable housing project specifically for Native Americans that is scheduled to open this year. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians just cut the ribbon in October for 40 new affordable housing units in Salem, Oreg. And Oakland, Calif. is working on 76 new homes for low-income Native Americans attached to a Native health facility. The surge in projects specifically geared toward urban Native Americans is meant to offset barriers that disproportionately affect their ability to keep a roof over their heads. We’ll hear about the factors fueling the surge in new affordable housing projects in various cities.
GUESTS
Shelly Tucciarelli (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), executive director of Visionary Ventures NFP Corp. and vice president of the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative
Sky Waters (Osage), community development director at the Native American Youth and Family Center
Anthony Guzman (Northern Ute), chief cultural officer at the Native American Health Center
Bryan Singer (Crow), entrepreneur development specialist for the Montana Department of Commerce Indian Country Economic Development programs and member of the Mountain Shadow Association board
Break 1 Music: Journey Home (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album)
Break 2 Music: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are accused of forcefully dragging a Native American man from car and detaining him during the increasing tensions in Minneapolis, Minn. More than 2,000 ICE agents and other federal officers descended on the city in what the Trump administration insists is an immigration enforcement action. At least five Native Americans have been detained, several others have had confrontations with ICE agents. The crackdown is roundly condemned by local and state community leaders. We’ll talk to some of those caught up in the action and what more might be in store elsewhere.
We’ll also hear from the leader of Virginia’s Rappahannock Tribe about their opposition to a plan by county officials to use 9,000,000 gallons of water from the tribe’s namesake river for a proposed data center, a plan that tribal leaders say was drafted without proper consultation.
GUESTS
Little Crow Bellecourt (Bad River), executive director of Indigenous Protector Movement
Shawntia Sosa-Clara (Red Lake Nation descendant), aunt to Jose Ramirez
Amelia Schafer (Brothertown Indian Nation descendant), North Central Bureau correspondent for ICT News
Chief Anne Richardson (Rappahannock)
Break 1 Music: 500 Years O’ Blues (song) Digging Roots (artist) Seeds (album)
Break 2 Music: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)
The celebrations of the country’s independence are not the same for Native Americans. As a year of events, re-enactments, seminars, and commemorative coin creation gets under way to mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, many Native Americans are asking where they stand in the historical narrative. Some states have developed dialogues with tribes as they plan out the year’s events. Some tribes have a more direct connection to the resulting Revolutionary War than others. We’ll get an idea what Native citizens are anticipating as the country collectively honors what it calls “the Founding Fathers”.
GUESTS
Darren Bonaparte (Akwesasne Mohawk), director of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s tribal historic preservation office
Andrei Jacobs (Orutsararmuit Native Council), former director of Tribal Partnerships for America250, freelance consultant, and content creator
Robert Lilligren (White Earth Ojibwe Nation), chair of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors of Minneapolis and president and CEO of the Native American Community Development Institute
Break 1 Music: Water by Jim Pepper [Arranged by Jhoely Garay] (song) Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Live at Joe’s Pub, NYC on January 13th, 2024 (performance)
Break 2 Music: Put Your Feathers On (song) Blue Moon Marquee & Northern Cree (artist) Get Your Feathers Ready (Album)
The U.S. Postal Service just implemented a seemingly minor rule that is worrying Native American voting rights advocates. They and others say it is among a number of changes that add to the barriers Native voters face getting their ballots counted come this November. The new rule changes when mail, including mail-in ballots, are postmarked, shortening the time frame for when the ballots are deemed valid. It applies most directly to voters in states with large Native populations, including California, Arizona, and New Mexico along with nearly a dozen others. We’ll talk with Native voting rights advocates about this rule change and other challenges to the Native voting access in 2026.
GUESTS
Jacqueline de León (Isleta Pueblo), senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund
OJ Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux), co-executive director of Four Directions Vote
Jonnette Paddy (Navajo), communications associate for Indigenous Voices of Nevada
Michelle Sparck (Qissunamiut Tribe of Chevak), director of Get Out the Native Vote
Break 1 Music: Get Up Stand Up (song) Bailey Wiley, Che Fu, King Kapisi, Laughton Kora, Maisey Rika & Tiki Taane (artist)
Break 2 Music: Put Your Feathers On (song) Blue Moon Marquee & Northern Cree (artist) Get Your Feathers Ready (Album)
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern Cheyenne) is remembered as an effective congressional leader who passionately advocated for Native American issues. He served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Among other things, he was instrumental in the political advocacy for establishing the National Museum of the American Indians (NMAI).
Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho) was a national voice in support of Native American arts. A large part of his career was as a police sketch artist. He also headed the Indian Arts and Crafts Board for a decade. A former U.S. Marine, he was an advocate for military veterans. His design for a Native American Veterans Memorial was chosen and built on the NMAI campus in 2022.
GUESTS
Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee), president of the Morning Star Institute and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Rick West (Cheyenne and Arapaho), founding director and director emeritus of NMAI
Shanan Campbell (Northern Cheyenne), founder and CEO of Sorrel Sky Gallery and daughter of Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Gina Pratt (Muscogee and Yuchi), wife of Harvey Pratt
Nathan Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho), artist and son of Harvey Pratt
Dee Cordry, former Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and author of “Children of White Thunder”
Break 1 Music: I Walk with You (song) Joseph Fire Crow (artist) Face the Music (album)
Break 2 Music: Put Your Feathers On (song) Blue Moon Marquee & Northern Cree (artist) Get Your Feathers Ready (Album)
Anishinaabe call the cluster of seven stars in the winter sky Bugonagiizhig, or “Hole in the Sky”. Navajos say it is Dilyéhé, or “Sparkling.” And Senecas say it is the Seven Dancers. On conventional Western star maps, the cluster is known as the Pleiades, a name that refers to Greek mythology. Prominent during winter months, these stars bookmark the winter season and are important symbols for many tribes’ origin stories. We’ll hear about those stories and the teachings connected to the Pleiades.
GUESTS
Michael Waasegiizhig Price (Wikwemikong First Nation), Anishinaabe culture and language keeper
Cal Nez (Navajo), fine arts artist and graphic designer, Navajo spiritualist
Jamie Jacobs (Tonawanda Seneca), managing curator for the Rock Foundation collections at the Rochester Museum and Science Center
Break 1 Music: Starry Night (song) Dallas Arcand (artist) Modern Day Warrior (album)
Break 2 Music: Put Your Feathers On (song) Blue Moon Marquee & Northern Cree (artist) Get Your Feathers Ready (Album)
Elaine Miles (Cayuse and Nez Perce) didn’t seek out her breakout role as the humorously deadpan Lingít office manager Marilyn Whirlwind in the hit TV show, “Northern Exposure“, but after she was cast and became a beloved addition to the show, acting was her vocation from then on. She had a hilarious presence in the classic movie, “Smoke Signals“, and just appeared on the acclaimed HBO series, “The Last of Us“. Behind the scenes, Miles is an advocate for Indigenous rights and a steady voice of support for Native veterans. She is our January Native In The Spotlight.
Break 1 Music: Mama (song) LOV (artist) Mama (single)
Break 2 Music: Put Your Feathers On (song) Blue Moon Marquee & Northern Cree (artist) Get Your Feathers Ready (Album)
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Can we hear from more leftist natives? I'm sure there are plenty, but it would be nice to hear from progressives, too. (though I get the DNC is going on now and that's why you're focused on Dems)