Before their relocation along the Trail of Tears, southeast tribes found a need to curb cattle rustling and other violations of tribal laws. The Five Tribes organized tribal law enforcement units that came to be known as Lighthorse. They would respond to crimes such as stagecoach robberies, bootlegging, murder and land disputes. For several years, the Lighthorse acted as judge, jury, even executioner. The Cherokee Lighthorsemen have their origins in Georgia, but were official formed in November 1844. The tribes continue to use the term “Lighthorse” to refer to their community policing units. We’ll hear about the history of “Lighthorse” and how they paved the way for tribal law enforcement.
Past Shows
Thursday, October 31, 2024 – Native Bookshelf: New Native books offer hauntings, murders, and curses
Halloween is the right time to dive into new spooky books by Native authors. Ramona Emerson’s new sequel, Exposure, checks back in with her character Rita Todacheene, a Navajo forensic photographer introduced in Emerson’s debut novel, Shutter, who continues to be haunted by crime victims. Dark and menacing supernatural entities follow Choctaws along the infamous Trail of Tears to Oklahoma in Devon Mihesuah’s The Bone Picker, a collection of fictional stories set in real-life histories. Nathan Adler co-edited a collection of scary stories along with Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm (Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and Saugeen First Nation) called Zegaajimo: Indigenous Horror Fiction. Hunkpapa Lakota humorist and author Tiffany Midge’s newest collection of poetry, Horns, weaves horror through her creative use of language and satire. These authors join us for a conversation about horror in Native literature.
GUESTS
Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler (Anishinaabe and member of Lac de Mille Lacs First Nation), writer, author, and editor
Devon Mihesuah (Choctaw), writer, historian, and the Cora Lee Beers Price Teaching Professor at the University of Kansas
Ramona Emerson (Diné), writer and filmmaker
Tiffany Midge (Hunkpapa Lakota), poet, humorist, and author
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 – The Native National Humanities Medalists
Four Native Americans just received the nation’s highest honor recognizing work and dedication to enriching the community. President Joe Biden awarded the 2022-2023 National Humanities Medals to Muscogee poet Joy Harjo, long-time Cherokee educator Dr. Robert Martin, Potawatomi author and scientist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Tlingit cultural advocate Dr. Rosita Worl. The awards, in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Humanities, honors individuals and organizations that deepen “the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.” Native America Calling was the first Native organization to receive a National Humanities Medal in 2021.
GUESTS
Dr. Rosita Worl (Tlingit), anthropologist, cultural leader, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, and a 2023 National Humanities Medalist
Joy Harjo (Muscogee), poet and 2022 National Humanities Medalist
Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee), president of the Institute of American Indian Arts and a 2022 National Humanities Medalist
Shelly C. Lowe (Diné), chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 – Growing Indigenous business connections around the globe
Global business connections are a way to build economic development. But it’s also a way to promote cross-cultural relationships and understanding across borders. The World Indigenous Business Forum aims to strengthen those bonds. The annual forum returns to the U.S. for the first time in nine years with at least 1,000 Indigenous business leaders meeting in Albuquerque to talk about success stories and barriers when it comes to trade across global boundaries. We’ll hear about what they hope to accomplish.
Monday, October 28, 2024 – The Menu: ‘The Fancy Navajo’ and a look at a systemic suppression of Native food
Indian boarding schools notoriously worked to stamp out Native languages, religions, and cultures. And part of that was an effort to cut ties between Native children and their traditional means of sustenance. In light of President Joe Biden’s apology, we’ll review another legacy of the shameful federal policy. And Alana Yazzie, who goes by The Fancy Navajo, just launched a new cookbook, which blends old and new Native food traditions. It’s all today in our latest edition of our regular feature The Menu with host Andi Murphy.
Friday, October 25, 2024 – An apology, a long time coming
President Joe Biden is taking the historic step to formally apologize for the federal government’s role in the failed Indian Board School era. The first-of-its-kind acknowledgement comes after Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland released the final report from a three-year investigation that included formal listening sessions from boarding school survivors and their relatives. The report documented at least 18,000 Native children who were sent to distant live-in schools where they were forced to abandon their languages and cultures. They were subjected to extensive physical and sexual abuse. Nearly 1,000 children died while attending the institutions far from their families. We’ll hear from Sec. Haaland and others who have been working on building the infrastructure of healing from the Boarding School Era.
Thursday, October 24, 2024 – IHS patients risk paying medical costs out of pocket
Every year, thousands of Native Americans are going without the health care they’re entitled to or are risking costly medical bills for treatment that should be covered. A new report by KFF Health News focuses on the Purchased/Referred Care program in which patients seek outside treatment that IHS doesn’t offer. The report says the PRC program denied more than $550 million in payment requests from outside medical facilities in 2022, putting patients on the hook financially. Some tribes with resources are able to establish tribally-run care. Others are working on tribal health insurance programs. We’ll get a look at the problem facing those relying on IHS, and what can be done to solve it.
Wednesday, October 23, 2024 – Ways to improve rural Native voting access
Nevada is the first state to extend electronic ballots to tribal members. It allows them to register and vote from their own homes, giving rural Native voters an alternative to traveling miles to their nearest polling or ballot drop-off site. It’s an idea that other states remain wary of. In Alaska, efforts to improve voting among Native voters remain elusive. Opposition from Republican state lawmakers killed a bill eliminating witness signatures on absentee ballots. On a conservative talk show, the Alaska House Speaker admitted she opposed it because it would have favored U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat and the only Alaska Native in Congress. Rep. Peltola calls it “a concerted effort to silence” Native votes. We’ll discuss progress and continuing hurdles for Native voters.
Tuesday, October 22, 2024 – Checking in on the new college admissions reality
Some colleges and universities say Native American admissions for the class of 2028 have suffered after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious recruitment. Harvard University reports a drop in enrollment for Native students and other students of color. Other colleges say it’s still too early to say. We’ll get an update on the trends for Native enrollment in post-secondary education and how Native students can adjust to the new admissions reality.
Monday, October 21, 2024 – What Mexico’s new president means for the country’s Indigenous peoples
Claudia Sheinbaum has already made history as Mexico’s first female president. She also comes into office with a promise to bolster the rights and recognition for the country’s many Indigenous peoples. Her inauguration included a traditional Indigenous blessing ceremony, something that at least one church leader criticized as “witchcraft”. We’ll explore what the Sheinbaum presidency means for Mexico’s Indigenous peoples and what obstacles stand in the way.
Native Vote 2024
Friday, October 18, 2024 – Candidate Native voter outreach in the home stretch
Connecting with Native voters works best when the message comes from a Native source. In the final days before the election, the campaigns are working at a feverish pace in places like Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada, and North Carolina, deploying specialists to connect with Native voters. We’ll hear from some of those specialists about what you might expect to hear in the final stretch of the campaigns, and what messages are resonating most.
Through The Decades
Wednesday, July 27, 2022 — Through The Decades: 1990s
The U.S. Congress passed both the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the Indian Arts And Crafts Act in 1990—two pieces of legislation with significant power to protect culture. On the international front, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico rose up in an effort to reclaim their land and resist globalization. Dances With Wolves captured audiences’ attention with a Native cast and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Graham Greene, while a new generation of Native writers and directors made their voices heard. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce remembers the Native ’90s, as part of our series Through The Decades. Shannon Keller O’Loughlin (Choctaw), executive director of the Association on American Indian Affairs, and Vincent Schilling (Akwesasne Mohawk), editor of NativeViewPoint.com and certified Rotten Tomatoes critic.
Wednesday, July 20, 2022 – Through the Decades: 1980s
The 1980s saw the rise of gaming on Native nations, a momentum that brought about the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988 with revenue quickly hitting $100 million. Wilma Mankiller became the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and Ben Nighthorse Campbell started his long and historic career as an elected leader. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce has the next installment of our new series Through the Decades with Dr. James Riding In (Pawnee), a retired professor and founding member of the American Indian Studies program at Arizona State University focusing on repatriation, sacred sites protection, and Pawnee history and culture; Larry Nesper, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the book The Walleye War: The Struggle for Ojibwe Spearfishing and Treaty Rights; and America Meredith (Cherokee), writer, visual artist, independent curator, and publishing editor of “First American Art Magazine”.
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 – Through the Decades: the 1970s
Watergate, Vietnam, and disco are some of the major highlights that define the 1970s. For Native people, it’s the decade of the Wounded Knee occupation, Self-determination, the federal Boldt decision, and Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love”. Today on Native America Calling, as we continue our trip through the decades, Shawn Spruce looks at some of the highs and lows of the ‘70s through a Native lens with Dr. David Wilkins (Lumbee), professor at the University of Richmond; Dr. LaNada War Jack (Shoshone-Bannock), writer, activist, and the chair of Indians of All Tribes in San Francisco, CA; Vincent Schilling (Akwesasne Mohawk), editor of NativeViewPoint.com and certified Rotten Tomatoes critic; and Pat Vegas (Mexican/Yaqui/Shoshone descent), singer, songwriter, producer, and bass player for the band Redbone.
Wednesday, July 6, 2022 — Through the Decades: The 1960s
The 1960s were the genesis of Native American activism. Urban Native communities, formed by the American Indian Urban Relocation program of the 1950s, were tough and deplorable places to live. The American Indian Movement formed as a result and by 1968, the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed. This decade is also marked by the arrival of the color TV, an explosion of (rock) music, and a new style of Native art. In the first episode in our new series “Through the Decades”, Shawn Spruce remembers the politics, significant events, and pop culture that helped shape Native America with Donovin Sprague (Cheyenne River), author, historian, and professor of history at Sheridan College; actress Dawn Little Sky (Standing Rock and Cheyenne River); Dr. Jonathan Tomhave (MHA Nation), lecturer at the University of Washington; America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), publishing editor of First American Art Magazine, art writer, visual artist, and independent curator; and Deanna Aquiar (Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo), director of programs and development for the National Indian Youth Council.
