Native America Calling

In the comedy thriller “Seeds”, social media influencer Ziggy is offered a lucrative sponsorship contract with a corporate seed and fertilizer company, but she’s also called back to her Mohawk reservation to help out her cousin, which gets her tangled in an all-out battle to save her tribe’s ancestral seeds. Kanienʼkehá:ka Mohawk actor Kaniehtiio Horn is Ziggy. She is also the screenwriter and director for the film. And a new collection of stories by Indigenous authors, “Legendary Frybread Drive-In”, serves up more than just Native comfort food. Each of the stories geared toward young adult readers finds its way to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-in, a place with a helping of elder wisdom about love, grief, culture, and healing. Editor Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) calls it “a hug of a book”. Horn and Smith both join Andi Murphy for “The Menu“, our special feature on Indigenous food sovereignty.   Break 1 Music: Heartbites (song) Kristi Lane Sinclair (artist) Super Blood Wolf Moon (album) Break 2 Music: Bounty (song) Deerlady (band) Greatest Hits (album)

Serving on a school board is not a glamorous position, but it’s an important one that plays a big role in Native American students’ success. Elected members of school boards make decisions ranging annual budgets to what’s allowed in classroom lessons. They are also responsible for representing the community’s values and interests. As such, individual board members are lightning rods for public criticism. We’ll get a look at what school board members encounter on a daily basis and hear about a program designed to support Native school board participation. GUESTS Stacey Woolley (Choctaw), member on Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education Regina Yazzie (White Mountain Apache), member for the Theodore Roosevelt School Governing Board Michele Justice (Diné), owner of Personnel Security Consultants Dr. Chris Bonn, owner of Bonfire Leadership Solutions   Break 1 Music: Totah (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album) Break 2 Music: Bounty (song) Deerlady (band) Greatest Hits (album)

Aquinnah Wampanoag journalist Joseph Lee investigates the difficult subject of Indigenous identity in his new book, “Nothing More Of This Land“. He uses his own family’s story as a jumping off point, exploring the reality of the people who once greeted the Mayflower. The original Wampanoag homeland includes Martha’s Vineyard, the haven for wealthy elites that has become so expensive that at least three quarters of tribal members can no longer afford to live there. Lee branches out from there to find parallels among the Native people and places he’s covered — from Alaska to the halls of the United Nations. We’ll talk with Lee about his new book, journalism, and what it means to be Native in modern America.   Break 1 Music: Going to Walk That Line (song) Donita Large (artist) Going to Walk That Line (album) Break 2 Music: Real Things (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album

Santa Ana Pueblo is celebrating the return of a clay bowl that was stolen in 1984, but it’s only one out of nearly 150 irreplaceable items taken during a series of burglaries and never recovered. Investigators believe the items were eventually sold to collectors around the world and authorities never tracked them down. We’ll check in on the tribe’s renewed efforts to find and bring the items back home. We’ll also get updates on other repatriation efforts, including tribes and lawmakers putting renewed pressure on the University of California over its failure to return remains and artifacts required by law, and we’ll recount the largest Native Hawaiian repatriation in history with Edward Halealoha Ayau. GUESTS Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw), chief executive and attorney of the Association on American Indian Affairs Jack Potter Jr. (Redding Rancheria), chairman of the Redding Rancheria Myron Armijo (Santa Ana Pueblo), Santa Ana Pueblo governor Monica Murrell, tribal historic preservation officer and director of the Santa Ana Historic Preservation Department Edward Halealoha Ayau (Native Hawaiian), executive director of Hui Iwi Kuamo’o   Break 1 Music: Rise Up (song) Big Every Time (artist) Universitile (album) Break 2 Music: Real Things (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

Miccosukee Tribe of Florida scored at least a temporary legal victory when a federal judge halted construction and ordered parts of the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” removed. The decision comes in the lawsuit by the tribe and environmental groups claiming work on the abandoned airport turned emergency immigrant detention center in Florida violates environmental and national preservation laws. The facility is on traditional Miccosukee land. The Department of Homeland Security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement along with the state of Florida see the compound as part of ramped-up immigrant deportation efforts. We’ll speak with Chairman Talbert Cypress (Miccosukee). We’ll also hear from Lakota artist Danielle SeeWalker, who settled a lawsuit with the city of Vail, Colo. after officials cancelled a summer artist residency. The cancellation came after she posted a picture of a work criticizing Israel’s actions against the citizens of Gaza.   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)

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)