Native America Calling

Heavy workloads, low pay, and increasing political pressures are among the contributing factors leading to a rise in teacher burnout. A survey by the University of Missouri of 500 public school teachers found 78% of them have considered quitting the profession since the 2020 pandemic. We’ll talk with Native educators about what it will take to recruit and retain Native teachers in the face of growing pressures. GUESTS Jerad Koepp (Wukchumni), Native student program specialist for North Thurston Public Schools and 2022 Washington State Teacher of the Year Lynette Stant (Diné), third grade teacher at Salt River Elementary School and 2020 Arizona Teacher of the Year Brad Lopes (Aquinnah Wampanoag), Native American Teacher Retention Initiative program manager and former classroom teacher Josie Green (Oglala Lakota), executive director of Teach for America South Dakota   Break 1 Music: The Opening (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (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)

Traditional culture meets global international economic development at the Bering Straits Native Corporation. The collection of tribes plays a key role in the Port of Nome that is working to develop the nation’s first deepwater port in the Arctic. It is among the big — and small — economic development visions for Indigenous people in the Arctic region. We’ll hear about those opportunities as well as some concerns about balancing financial and traditional environmental well-being being discussed at the Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska. GUESTS Haven Harris (enrolled tribal member of the Nome Eskimo Community), senior vice president of growth and strategy for the Bering Straits Native Corporation Edward Alexander (Gwich’in), co-councilor for Gwich’in Council International Rachel Kallander, founder and CEO of Arctic Encounter Symposium Kuno Fencker (Inuit), member of the parliament of Greenland

Canada, Norway, Denmark, and the U.S. are among the handful of countries with land above the Arctic Circle. Each of those has significant Indigenous populations with their own cultures built around the land, sea, and ice that they have always inhabited. We’ll hear from some of those Indigenous people who are working across borders to learn from, advocate for, and work with their counterparts in other countries. We’re broadcasting live from the Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska. GUESTS Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer (Iñupiaq), member of the board for the Arctic Encounter Symposium Dr. Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon (Iñupiaq), Indigenous researcher and Arctic Fulbright Scholar   Break 1 Music: Tikitaummata (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album) Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

Muscogee Freedmen are closer to tribal citizenship than ever before. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court ruled the tribe must extend the rights of citizenship to the descendants of slaves who also have Muscogee lineage. We’ll hear from Freedman who welcome the ruling, but warn there are likely more hurdles ahead. We’ll also talk with an Alaska Native engineer working on building clean water systems for rural villages and inspiring Native girls to consider careers in science along the way. And we’ll hear from both U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and the tribal chairman about Sec. Kennedy’s visit to the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho to tout the Trump administration’s commitment to food sovereignty. GUESTS Marilyn Vann (Cherokee Nation), president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association Eli Grayson (Muscogee), radio host, Muscogee Nation Hall of Fame inductee, and a Freedmen descendant Charitie Ropati (Yup’ik and Samoan), climate justice advocate, water engineer, and North America Regional Facilitator at the Youth Climate Justice Fund Shannon Wheeler (Nez Perce), chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee   Break 1 Music: Rainbow Gratitude (song) Joy Harjo (artist) Red Dreams, A Trail Beyond Tears (album) Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

After a period of colonial suppression, traditional kapa making is enjoying a sustained resurgence. In recent decades, a growing number of Native Hawaiian artists have mastered the labor-intensive process of harvesting, scraping, and soaking the bark of the wauke plant and embellishing the resulting fabric with colorful traditional designs. A new generation of artists is benefiting from this reclaimed expertise. This is an encore show so we won’t be taking listener phone calls Dalani Tanahy (Native Hawaiian), Hawaiian kapa artist Lehuauakea (Native Hawaiian), Hawaiian kapa artist Roen Hufford (Native Hawaiian), Hawaiian kapa artist Here’s an extended interview with 2023 National Heritage Fellow Roen Hufford (Native Hawaiian). She spoke with producer Sol Traverso about her favorite part of the kapa making process and being taught by her mother Marie Leilehua McDonald. https://nativeamericacalling-offload-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/121624-ROEN_KAPA_WEB.mp3   Break 1 Music: Wahine U`i (Beautiful One) (song) Linda Dela Cruz (artist) Linda Dela Cruz Hawaii’s Canary (album) Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

President Donald Trump is signaling a shift in the ongoing push to deport immigrants as the reality of taking migrant farmworkers out of the fields, disrupting businesses and the country’s food supply starts to become apparent. About 40% of the 2.6 million farm workers in the U.S. are estimated to be undocumented. A portion of those are Indigenous people from Mexico and Central American countries. We’ll hear about how the Trump administration may be adjusting its stance. A search for words in their language led a husband-and-wife team to 300-year-old texts where French Jesuit missionaries documented Seneca names for traditional foods, cooking, and even recipes. GUESTS Mily Treviño-Sauceda, executive director and co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas Coreen Thompson (Tonawanda Seneca), cultural educator   Break 1 Music: Zumbi (song) XOCÔ (artist) XOCÔ (album) Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

Missoula, Mont. is the setting for the inaugural festival of literature, music, and other arts known as Indigipalooza. Musician and former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) headlines the list of talent offering their perspectives on the state of Indigenous storytelling. We’ll also hear from filmmaker Adam Piron about his curated selection of films screened in New York highlighting Native American urban relocation. And we’ll get context for President Donald Trump’s demand that sports teams return to their offensive names and mascots. GUESTS James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe), author and speaker Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz (Lumbee Tribe), assistant professor at the University of Iowa and director of the Native Policy Lab Chris La Tray (citizen of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians and a descendent of the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians), author, Poet Laureate of Montana, and a coordinator for IndigiPalooza Adam Piron (Kiowa and Mohawk), filmmaker and film curator Larry Wright Jr. (Ponca), executive director of the National Congress of American Indians   Break 1 Music: The Wild One (song) Link Wray (artist) Break 2 Music: Steamboat Akalii Song (song) Jay Begaye (artist) Horses Are Our Journey World (album)

The Crow Tribe is marking the 200th anniversary of their treaty with the United States. It is a document whose limits have been tested over that time, but still defines the tribe’s relationship with the federal government. This year also marks 170 years since the treaty ratifying the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indians’ official relationship with the U.S. We’ll examine these important historical and legal milestones and how they fit in with the extensive and complicated history of treaties. GUESTS Heather Whiteman Runs Him (Apsáalooke), associate clinical professor and the director of the Tribal Justice Clinic at Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona Stephen Selam (Yakama Nation), executive secretary of Yakama Nation tribal council Jeanine Gordon (Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation), special assistant to the president for Native American outreach for Whitman College Jim Real Bird (Apsáalooke), horse hand and co-organizer of the 1825 Crow Tribe Treaty commemoration Lanny Real Bird (Apsáalooke), educator, consultant, and Native language advocate   Break 1 Music: Crow Push Dance Song (song) Authentic Native American Music (artist) Authentic Native American Music (album) Break 2 Music: Steamboat Akalii Song (song) Jay Begaye (artist) Horses Are Our Journey World (album) Here’s more from our pre-recorded interview with Dr. Lanny Real Bird. He gives more background on the signing of the 1825 Crow Tribe Treaty as well as more understanding of Apsáalooke worldview: https://nativeamericacalling-offload-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/072525-Lanny-Real-Bird-extended-web.mp3 Also, here’s more from Jim Real Bird describing the Crow Tribe’s 200th anniversary commemoration event that he co-organized: https://nativeamericacalling-offload-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/072525-Jim-Real-Bird-extended-web.mp3

Education advocates are launching a multi-year program to develop a game and to teach the Denaakk’e language in schools. That and another language teaching apps come at a time when almost all federal funding for language revitalization is eliminated. We’ll also talk with a man about his personal journey learning the Cherokee language, an undertaking that inspired him to learn more about his tribal language’s history and importance in maintaining culture. GUESTS Joel Isaak (Dena’ina Athabascan), director of language and culture for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe Mariah Pitka (Louden Tribe), executive director for the Doyon Foundation Dr. Benjamin Frey (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), assistant professor of Cherokee language and culture at the University of North Carolina–Asheville Jamie Jacobs (Tonawanda Seneca), managing curator for the Rock Foundation collections at the Rochester Museum and Science Center   Break 1 Music: Siyo, Siyo (song) Paula Nelson (artist) C.H.A.N.T. Cherokee Hope And New Traditions (album) Break 2 Music: Steamboat Akalii Song (song) Jay Begaye (artist) Horses Are Our Journey World (album)

After Congress approved President Donald Trump’s clawback of funds distributed through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, tribal stations are frantically searching for money to keep from going dark. Tribes are stepping up in some cases, audiences are responding with increased donations, and the stations are scaling back their operations. In the meantime, higher education officials are worried about a Trump budget plan to cut federal funding to tribal colleges and universities by nearly 90%. Representatives from some of those institutions say they will have to significantly scale back their operations. Others say they will have to close outright. We’ll get more detail on both of these major funding changes. GUESTS Stephen Wall (citizen of the White Earth Nation and a descendent of Cattaraugus Seneca Community), interim president for the Institute of American Indian Arts Sean Chandler (Aaniinen [Gros Ventre Nation]), president of Aaniiih Nakoda College Aziza Smith (Eastern Shoshone), senior at Haskell Indian Nations University Marina Decora (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska), sophomore at Haskell Indian Nations University Lenora Ward (Iñupiaq), general manager of KOTZ and Kotzebue Broadcasting Karl Habeck (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), general manager of WOJB   Break 1 Music: Navajo Radio (song) Arigon Starr (artist) Meet the Diva (album) Break 2 Music: Steamboat Akalii Song (song) Jay Begaye (artist) Horses Are Our Journey World (album)