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Whether you view the New Year as a good time for a hard reboot or just a few tweaks here and there, a few words of encouragement can’t hurt. A lot of people see January as the time to launch a new exercise routine or start being a more patient parent. It doesn’t necessarily take an established place of worship or hours in a quiet room to engage with your own internal strengths. We have a panel of experts in mindfulness and using one’s own cultural connections to help stay on a more positive and meaningful path.

GUESTS

D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas (Odawa), motivational storyteller, host of the PBS special, “Discovering your Warrior Spirit”, and author of “Warrior Within” from Penguin Random House

Michael Yellow Bird (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), professor at the faculty of social work at the University of Manitoba

Eduardo Duran (Apache, Tewa, and Lakota), psychologist and author of “Healing the Soul Wound”

 

Break 1 Music: On the Road Missing Home [Corn Dance] (song) Sheldon Sundown (artist) Hand Drum/Smoke N’ Round Dance (album)

Break 2 Music: Oshki Manitou (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

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A team of researchers are actively sifting through archival documents, artifacts, even artwork to expand the story of Indigenous slavery. The Native Bound Unbound project includes interactive maps, digitized documents, and recent interviews with descendants whose ancestors endured enslavement. The publicly available digital archive aims to document every instance of Indigenous slavery in the Western Hemisphere to illuminate where and when slavery took place, and the lasting effects for Indigenous communities and their descendants. This is an encore show so we won’t be taking calls from listeners.

GUESTS

Philip J. Deloria (Yankton Dakota), professor of history at Harvard University

Theresa Pasqual (Acoma Pueblo), executive vice president of Indigenous Affairs at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and the former tribal historic preservation officer for the Pueblo of Acoma

Estevan Rael-Galvez, executive director of Native Bound Unbound: Archive of Indigenous Slavery

 

Break 1 Music: Crossroad Blues (song) Lakota John (artist) Lakota John and Kin (album)

Break 2 Music: Oshki Manitou (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

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The scariest clown to ever appear on screen drives a storyline involving a fictional tribe in Maine. “IT: Welcome to Derry” uses horror writer Stephen King’s 1986 novel as a jumping off point. The hit HBO Max miniseries provides a new Native American theme to the plot with some veteran Native talent in front of and behind the camara. It is one of the notable projects from 2025, a list that also includes Sterlin Harjo’s “The Lowdown”, the TIFF Best Canadian Feature winner, “Uiksaringitara,” and SXSW Documentary Feature Special Jury Award winner, “Remaining Native.” We’ll recall some of the best film and TV projects from the year and see what’s in store for 2026.

GUESTS

Johnnie Jae (Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw), founder of Red Pop! News

 Jason Asenap (Comanche and Muscogee), writer, critic, and filmmaker

Sunrise Tippeconnie (Commanche, Navajo and Cherokee), director of programming at deadCenter Film and co-host of the Reel Indigenous Podcast

Kimberly Guerrero (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and Salish and Kootenai), actress, screenwriter, and professor at the University of California, Riverside

 

Break 1 Music: Put Your Feathers On (song) Blue Moon Marquee & Northern Cree (artist) Get Your Feathers Ready (Album)

Break 2 Music: Oshki Manitou (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Favorite films and television shows of the year

Sunrise Tippeconnie:

1. Tiger – (documentary short), director Loren Waters
2. Drowned Land – (documentary), director Colleen Thurston
3. Legend of Fry-Roti: Rise of the Dough – (short film), director Sabrina Saleha
4. Free Leonard Peltier – (documentary), directors Jesse Short Bull and David France
5. Siren of the Wood – (short film), director Christopher Corsy

Jason Asenap:

1. Tiger – (short doc), director Lauren Waters
2. Endless Cookie – (animated film), directors Seth Scriver and Peter Scriver
3. Remaining Native – (documentary), director Paige Bethmann
4. The Lowdown – (television show), creator Sterlin Harjo

Johnnie Jae:

1. Guardian of the Land – (documentary), director LaRonn Katchia
2. Inkwo for When the Starving Return – (animated short), director Amanda Strong
3. Pow! – (animated short), director Joey Clift
4. Courage – (documentary short), director Eric Michael Hernandez
5. Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) – (feature film), director Zacharias Kunuk

Here’s an extended interview with “IT: Welcome to Derry” star Kimberly Guerrero speaking on her role of Rose in the television series. She starts off describing her early career in Hollywood.

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As South Dakota tribes mark the 135th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre, they face a headwind of history revision by the Trump administration. After years of admonishment by tribal leaders to rescind the Medals of Honor awarded to the soldiers who participated in the massacre, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instead praised the soldiers for their bravery and declared that the medals will stand. Since then, President Donald Trump signed legislation preserving land at the site in honor of the tragedy. We’ll get perspective on how Wounded Knee is remembered.

GUESTS

Jeff Means (Oglala Lakota), associate professor of history and department chair at the University of Wyoming

Courtney Yellow Fat (Hunkpapa Lakota), historian and chief cultural consultant and co-producer with the Densmore/Lakota Songs Repatriation Project

Willard Malebear Jr. (Hunkpapa Lakota), current organizer of the Dakota 38+2 Memorial Run

 

Break 1 Music: Calvin Jumping Bull’s Memorial Song (song) Porcupine Singers (artist) Alowanpi – Songs Of Honoring – Lakota Classics: Past & Present, Vol. 1 (album)

Break 2 Music: Oshki Manitou (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

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On the cusp of what could be a new era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), some researchers are urging caution and the need for deliberate controls to keep the developing technology from robbing Indigenous people of their cultures and sovereignty. A project with three universities provides a framework of standards to prevent AI from stripping Native Americans and all other Indigenous peoples of their right to control images, language, cultural knowledge, and other components of their identities they’ve worked so hard to retain. We’ll hear about the potential benefits and threats of AI to Native people. This is an encore show so we won’t be taking calls from listeners.

GUESTS

Danielle Boyer (Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), robotics inventor

Randy Kekoa Akee (Native Hawaiian), Julie Johnson Kidd Professor of Indigenous Governance and Development at Harvard University

Michael Running Wolf (Lakota and Cheyenne), community leader in AI research

Crystal Hill-Pennington, professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks

 

Break 1 Music: Obsidian (song) Red-209 (artist)

Break 2 Music: Coventry Carol (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Coventry Carol (album)

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December is a traditional time for feasts, family, and giving, but the financial and time burdens of the holiday-heavy month, combined with the change of seasons and other factors, also make it a time ripe for breaks in a person’s mental health. We’ll find out how connections — with other people, cultural traditions, or spiritual foundations — can be a way to mitigate the added stresses of December — or any time, in this encore presentation.

GUESTS

Dr. Pamela End of Horn (Oglala Lakota), national suicide prevention consultant for the Indian Health Service

Kristin Mitchell (Diné), assistant project director for Project AWARE Wildcats (PAWS)

Dr. Jessica Saniguq Ullrich (Nome Eskimo Community and Native Village of Wales), assistant professor at the Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH) at Washington State University

 

Break 1 Music: Dreaming of A Christmas (song) Randall Paskemin (artist) Christmas Cheer (album)

Break 2 Music: Coventry Carol (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Coventry Carol (album)

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With the stroke of a pen, the U.S. welcomes more than 50,000 new federally recognized tribal citizens. After numerous failed attempts, the Lumbee Nation is the 575th federally recognized tribe — the fourth-largest overall in terms of population and the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River. The recognition brings a host of potential changes, including new political power, economic development opportunities, and a sense of pride for Lumbee citizens who have worked for nearly 140 years to be counted among the country’s established sovereign nations.

GUESTS

David E. Wilkins (Lumbee), professor at the University of Richmond

Malinda Maynor Lowery (Lumbee), professor at Emory University, historian, and filmmaker

Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz (Lumbee), professor at the University of Iowa and director of the Native Policy Lab

 

Break 1 Music: Maple Leaf Rag (song) Lakota John (artist) Winds of Time (album)

Break 2 Music: Coventry Carol (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Coventry Carol (album)