Native America Calling

Greg Biskakone Johnson (Lac du Flambeau), an experienced spearfisher and his tribe’s culture and language instructor, was helping an elder stock up on walleye when four gunshots rang out through the dark night last week. That and other incidents prompted Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) to issue a statement about the state’s responsibility to uphold treaty fishing rights. The incidents come 30 years after the violent confrontations in the state known as ‘The Walleye Wars.” Among the $1 billion in grants for schools and food programs rescinded by the Trump administration is a $750,000 USDA grant for Day Eagle Hope Project. The non-profit runs a food pantry and food delivery service on the Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. We’ll hear from its director about the program’s future. GUESTS Greg Biskakone Johnson (Lac du Flambeau), tribal spearfisherman and cultural and language instructor Jason Schlender (Lac Courte Oreilles), executive administrator for the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission Tescha Hawley (Aaniiih), founder and CEO of the Day Eagle Hope Project Richard Elm-Hill (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), associate director of Native Agriculture and Food Systems Investments at the First Nations Development Institute   Break 1 Music: Stomp (song) The GrayHawk Band (artist) Worth The Wait (album) Break 2 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

This year marks 100 years since Mount Rushmore was dedicated as a national monument. The stone butte carved with the faces of four presidents has become a patriotic symbol. But the federal government’s broken treaties to take over the land is only the beginning of the famous monument’s troubled history. We’ll hear about Rushmore’s connection to the Confederate South and the ongoing insult of honoring leaders who contributed to efforts to eliminate the sacred land’s original inhabitants. GUESTS Nick Estes (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe), assistant professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Chief Arvol Looking Horse (Lakota/Dakota/Nakota), 19th Generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe Matthew Davis, author of forthcoming book “A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore”   Break 1 Music:  Nothing for Ourselves (song) Klee Benally (artist) Appropriation (album) Break 2 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. promises a “massive testing and research effort” to find the cause of autism. Sec. Kennedy says it will happen by September. That ambitious promise alone, and other comments by Kennedy, are met with skepticism and even backlash by autism advocates and experts. Meanwhile, groups like Diné Parents Taking Action at Northern Arizona University are putting the work in to provide support and raise awareness when it comes to autism among Native Americans and other underserved communities. We’ll go over some of the facts about autism and how the disorder is being addressed among Native people. GUESTS Jules Edwards (Anishinaabe), author and disability justice advocate Dr. Davis Henderson (Diné), associate professor with Northern Arizona University Dr. Candi Running Bear (Diné), assistant professor at Western New Mexico University  Dr. Olivia Lindly, assistant professor at Northern Arizona University   Break 1 Music: Walking In Beauty (song) Jay Begaye (artist) The Beauty Way (album) Break 2 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

It’s a Native America Calling tradition to invite Pueblo musician Jir Anderson and his troupe of songwriters into the studio to play live during their run in Albuquerque. Native Guitars Tour always presents a diverse set of musicians with a focus on guitars. We’ll hear about what’s new with the tour and listen to some live music. GUESTS Jir Anderson (Cochiti Pueblo), lead singer for the Jir Project and founder of Native Guitars Jacob Shije (Santa Clara Pueblo), musician Ailani (Santa Clara Pueblo), singer/songwriter Welby June (Oglala Lakota, Muscogee, Ho-Chunk, and Cheyenne), musician Christy Bird (Santa Domingo Pueblo), fashion coordinator Scotti Clifford (Cheyenne/Lakota),  singer/songwriter Break 1 Music: Bounty (song) Deerlady (band) Greatest Hits (album) Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

As scores of talented musicians and artists assemble in Albuquerque during the Gathering of Nations Powwow, we’ll sample some of the musical offerings happening on stages around town. We begin with two established and popular shows featuring hip-hop and metal music: the Gathering of MCs and Merciless Savages. We’ll talk with organizers from each of the shows and take in some of the new music and some old favorites. GUESTS Franklin Yazzie (Diné), vocalist for Under Exile Randall Hoskie (Diné), promotor of the Merciless Savages shows Nataanii Means (Oglala Lakota, Omaha, and Diné), hip-hop artist, motivational speaker, and Indigenous advocate Def-I (Diné), hip-hop artist, and MC and co-host of the Gathering of MCs   Break 1 Music – G.O.N. (Grand Entry Song) (song) Gathering of Nations (artist) Gathering of Nations: Spirit Rising (album) Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

The PBS program “Frontline” examines the financial, cultural, and human toll of climate change on the western Alaska coastline and the Native people that have always called it home. Hopi producer Patty Talahongva takes a fresh look at the warming temperatures, increasingly destructive storms, and retreating wildlife that are forcing a drastic change in how some Alaska Native live. We’ll hear about the issue from those involved in the documentary. GUESTS Patty Talahongva (Hopi), correspondent, writer, director, and producer of “Alaska’s Vanishing Native Villages” Agatha Napoleon (Paimiut), climate change program coordinator Edgar Tall Sr. (Yup’ik), Chief of the Native Village of Hooper Bay   Break 1 Music: Take U Places (song) Pamyua (artist) Side A Side B (album) Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

Tribes that rely on Colorado River water — and the complex set of rules that govern it — are worried about how President Donald Trump’s executive orders and the ongoing legal questions about them will affect their water access. President Trump froze federal funds for the Inflation Reduction Act. Even after a judge reinstated those funds, tribes are concerned about the viability of some water conservation efforts going forward. Those water access issues are becoming increasingly important because of long-term trends showing significantly less water available in the basin. GUESTS Heather Whiteman Runs Him (Apsáalooke), associate clinical professor at the James E. Rogers College of Law and director of the Tribal Justice Clinic at the University of Arizona Jenny Dumas, water attorney for the Jicarilla Apache Nation Daryl Vigil (Jicarilla Apache Nation), co-director of the Water & Tribes Initiative Edward Wemytewa (Zuni), Pueblo of Zuni tribal councilman

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expediting permits for the Line 5 oil pipeline project. It’s the first project to be put on a fast track under President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring a national energy emergency. The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is among a number of tribes in at least three states that oppose the project by Canadian energy company Enbridge, saying it posing significant risk to the environment, most notably the Great Lakes. The existing pipeline runs across Bad River land, but the company’s new route bypasses the reservation. We’ll get a perspective on the new status of the project and the near-term possibilities. GUESTS David Gover (Pawnee and Choctaw), senior staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund Jennifer Smith, director of U.S. tribal engagement at Enbridge Stefanie Tsosie (Navajo), senior attorney in the Tribal Partnerships Program at Earthjustice   Break 1 Music: Buffalo (song) Algin Scabby Robe (artist) Along the Way: Round Dance Songs (album) Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)   Disclosure: Enbridge provides financial underwriting for Native America Calling and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation

Elise Paschen’s (Osage) new book of poetry, “Blood Wolf Moon”, weaves Osage stories from the Reign of Terror with her experience as the daughter of famous major prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief. m.s. RedCherries’ (Northern Cheyenne) first poetry book, “mother”, was a 2024 National Book Award for Poetry finalist. It follows the Cheyenne protagonist who is exploring Indian identity as a former boarding school student reconnecting to her roots and larger Native community through the backdrop of the American Indian Movement. “Indigenous Poetics” is a collection of essays illustrating how Native poets use their craft as a critical tool to help readers understand, question, and realize deeper layers of Indigenous life and community. Aligning with National Poetry Month, we’ll dive into these new and recent publications by Indigenous poets. GUESTS Dr. Elise Paschen (Osage), poet and author of “Blood Wolf Moon” Inés Hernández-Ávila (Nez Perce), co-editor of “Indigenous Poetics” with Molly McGlennen m.s. RedCherries (Northern Cheyenne Tribe), poet and author of “mother”   Break 1 Music: Our Mother the Earth [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird] (song) Sultans of String (artist) Break 2 Music: Learned from the Late Ralph Kotay (song) Kenneth Cozad & Group (artist) Songs of Our Old People – Old-Time Round Dance Songs of Oklahoma (album)

The state of Alaska is actively working to shut down a gaming hall just opened by the Native Village of Eklutna. The Chin’an Gaming Hall is doing a brisk business with pull-tabs and 85 bingo machines in an unassuming building just outside of Anchorage. But state officials maintain the operation is illegal because the tribe does not control the land it is on. Elsewhere, in Maine, tribes are also working against state resistance to expand gaming. They face a regulatory reality that is different from tribes in other states because of legislation in 1980 limiting Maine’s tribes’ gaming enterprise ability. Note: since this show aired, the Alaska Department of Law sent a written statement about their position on the Chin’an Gaming Hall: “This case is about jurisdiction over lands. We are asking a court to reaffirm what it has already said—the State maintains primary jurisdiction over Alaska Native Allotments. A solicitor’s opinion cannot convert them into Indian reservations,” said Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills. “We are asking for the court to make sure the issues can be resolved before further development occurs—we believe keeping the status quo best protects all parties involved. Once the litigation is completed, then everyone will know where their lane is.” GUESTS Aaron Leggett (Dena’ina Athabascan), president of the Native Village of Eklutna Aaron Dana (Passamaquoddy), Passamaquoddy Tribal Representative Chez Oxendine (Lumbee), staff writer for Tribal Business News   Break 1 Music: Thick as Thieves (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album) Break 2 Music: Learned from the Late Ralph Kotay (song) Kenneth Cozad & Group (artist) Songs of Our Old People – Old-Time Round Dance Songs of Oklahoma (album)