Native America Calling

The Muscogee Nation will assume some law enforcement duties in the city of Tulsa, Okla., when it comes to tribal citizens. The development over jurisdiction ends a federal lawsuit filed by the Muscogee Nation in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark McGirt decision in 2020. The Cherokee and Osage Nations also potentially have jurisdiction claims in Tulsa and other cities. Local law enforcement officials and Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) oppose the agreement, saying it creates a two-tiered system of justice. We’ll find out what the new agreement solves and what it leaves unanswered.

Also, tribes connected to Florida are speaking out against the Trump administration’s fast track plans to establish a detention center for immigration actions near the Florida Everglades. Miccosukee and Seminole tribal officials and citizens say the center, dubbed the “Alligator Alcatraz,” infringes on land that is their “cultural, spiritual, and historical identity.”

GUESTS

Betty Osceola (Miccosukee), environmental educator

State Rep. Scott Fetgatter (Choctaw/R-OK 16)

Robert Miller (Eastern Shawnee), law professor at Arizona State University and tribal judge

Jason Salsman (Muscogee), press secretary for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation

 

Break 1 Music:  Dragonfly, Dragonfly (song) Joy Harjo (artist) Red Dreams, A Trail Beyond Tears (album)

Break 2 Music: The Wild One (song) Link Wray (artist)

President Donald Trump’s earlier executive orders and the comprehensive spending bill he just signed mark the end of dozens of tribal green energy initiatives. They mark a major shift in direction away from solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources championed during the Biden administration. Those projects aimed at energy sovereignty that can’t find new, private-sector funds will halt or scale back their original scope.

And, an Alaska tribal village is hoping a transition away from oil-fueled energy will both save money and help the environment.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the spending bill just signed by President Donald Trump will increase the number of people without health insurance by 16 million over the next ten years. The $1.1 trillion cuts to Medicaid will also affect Native Americans who rely on it to pay for health care through the Indian Health Service and threatens rural hospitals with a high rate of Medicaid-dependent patients. The new spending plan also substantially reduces the number of people who will collect food assistance through the federal government. We’ll get insights on what these numbers mean for Native Americans who disproportionately rely on these two federal government programs.

We’ll also find out about the significance of the new Indigenous head of Mexico’s Supreme Court.

“Fierce Aunties” by author Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa, Tsimshian) is a colorful, enthusiastic celebration of the Indigenous women we need in our lives. Goodluck’s children’s book explores the many ways women provide support for the young people who look up to them. Another writer, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (Sicangu and Ponca), also explores the power of relatives in her young readers chapter book, “The Summer of the Bone Horses.” The book is also an homage to her late brother by telling an interesting piece of his story on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in the late 1940s. Among the awards won by the long-time children’s book author and educator is the National Humanities Medal. Both books are illustrated by the talented artist Steph Littlebird (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde). We’ll hear from all three women about their work.

An illegal voting case in Alaska highlights lingering confusion over the rights extended to the citizens of American Samoa, a U.S. territory. Eleven Samoans from Whittier, Alaska are charged with felonies for alleged voter fraud by participating in their local election. All have U.S. passports, were born on U.S. soil, and can even participate in the presidential primary process. The territory has been under heavy colonial pressure for centuries and has been under U.S. oversight for more than 125 years. But Congress never granted its citizens the right to vote in national elections.

In another case, tribes in North Dakota were dealt a serious blow in their ongoing fight against redistricting that reduces their collective power in state elections.

This is an encore presentation so we won’t be taking calls

A documentary filmmaker’s chance encounter with the Blackfoot man who became a social media sensation in connection with the phrase “skoden” (“let’s go then”), turns into a moving profile of Pernell Bad Arm. We’ll hear from Damien Eagle Bear (Blackfoot) about the person behind the meme who was initially mocked, but became a rallying cry for Indigenous people.

And we’ll also talk with Inuit actress Lucy Tulugarjuk who shares the screen with Tom Cruise in the summer blockbuster “Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning”. It’s the latest in a series of notable films for the Inuit actress who is also the executive director of the Nunavut Independent Television Network in Canada and an accomplished throat singer.

The U.S. Supreme Court didn’t rule on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship, a legal challenge closely watched by Native Americans. But their related decision in that case significantly changes the current practice in how all Americans can keep the federal government, corporations, and others from continuing actions with questionable constitutionality. We’ll review what’s at stake in the fight over birthright citizenship and how the High Court’s ruling preventing further nationwide injunctions will alter how lawyers tackle Native issues from now on.

We’ll also learn about a legal settlement in Montana that aims to ensure schools adequately teach Native American history.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) remains largely misunderstood by those not directly connected to it, and often derided as a bureaucratic and confusing system by those who are. IHS marks its 70th anniversary, providing care to all Native citizens. Of course, the agency’s history is also documented in the hundreds of treaties over almost 200 years in which the U.S. Government explicitly signed on to its responsibility. We’ll trace the history of IHS from the first immunizations to Public Law 638, and chart its future amid a major reassessment of federal government services.