Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

Many tribes organize wellness events and develop programs to educate people about healthy choices and food options. For the most part, involvement is voluntary. Some tribes go a step further to try and improve the health of their citizens. The Navajo Nation president banned throwing candy at the popular Navajo Nation Fair parade. It sparked a public discussion about the best ways to create healthful changes. The Navajo Nation is also known for adding a tax on soda and junk food. What do you think is the best way to go about improving health and wellness in an entire tribal community?

Guests:

Jonathan Nez (Diné) – president of the Navajo Nation

Lynn Lane (Diné) – community health nutritionist

A-dae Romero-Briones (Cochiti Pueblo/Kiowa) – director of program for the First Nations Development Institute

Break 1 Music: Walking In Beauty (song) Jay Begaye (artist) The Beauty Way (album)

Break 2 Music: Talking with Grandmothers (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Kikāwiynaw (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

There’s a reasonable chance you’re not getting enough sleep. A number of surveys find anywhere from a third to 45% of Americans don’t get the amount of sleep recommended by experts. And the lack of sleep is linked to serious health problems like diabetes, heart disease, depression and obesity according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One 2017 study of sleep health among Native Americans found a link between poor sleep and anxiety, mood disorders and alcohol dependence. Sleep experts will share their knowledge about the importance of sleep health and ways to get a more substantial night’s sleep.

Guests:

Dr. Melissa Begay (Diné) – sleep physician with the Veterans Affairs Hospital

Dr. Frank Ralls – associate professor of internal medicine at the University of New Mexico and the fellowship training director of sleep medicine

Break 1 Music: Lullaby (song) Pamyua (artist) Mengluni (The Beginning) (album)

Break 2 Music: Talking with Grandmothers (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Kikāwiynaw (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

Native architects draw from their tribal traditions and collective knowledge for the modern discipline of creating permanent structures. Among the influences for Native architects is using natural building materials and designs that emphasize interaction with the land and each other. From the multi-level pueblo dwellings in the Southwest to the log frame longhouses in the Northwest, tribes have a long history of architecturally significant contributions. And more Native architects are entering the field, adding an important voice that extends Native design, communication and functionality along with individual creativity.

Guests:

Duane Blue Spruce (Laguna and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo) – Architect and project manager for the National Museum of the American Indian

Summer Sutton (Lumbee) – Architect and PhD student at Yale University

Chris Cornelius (citizen of the Oneida Nation) – Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the founding principal of Studio Indigenous

Break 1 Music: Bui yo oh wanina (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)

Break 2 Music: Talking with Grandmothers (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Kikāwiynaw (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

Pleas from tribes, elected leaders and the Association on American Indian Affairs were not enough to stop an auction house in France from going ahead with a sale of cultural items earlier this summer. It’s one in a string of auctions by the Paris auction house that chooses to ignore admonitions against the harm they’re causing. The Yaqui Nation has been working for almost two decades to repatriate a sacred Maaso Kova that the tribe says was never meant to be out of the tribe’s possession or on public display. We’ll get an update on some repatriation efforts and what’s being done to influence international traders in cultural items.

Guests:

Andrea Carmen (Yaqui Indian Nation) – executive director of the International Indian Treaty Council

Peter Yocupicio (member of the Pascua Yaqui) – vice chairman of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Shannon Keller O’Loughlin (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) – executive director of the Association on American Indian Affairs

Break 1 Music: Heart of Gold (song) Midnight Shine (artist) High Road (album)

Break 2 Music: High Above The Eagle Soars (song) Blackstone (artist) On The Oregon Trail (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

You have a unique invention or business idea. Now what? Good ideas and inventions have the potential to change people’s lives and become a thriving venture for their creators. But turning a concept into an ongoing enterprise requires a number of behind-the-scenes steps. One of those is ensuring the original invention is legally protected. We’ll help navigate the legal side of inventions and map out what it takes to see an idea through to fruition.

Guests:

David Petite (Fond du Lac Tribe) – business entrepreneur, inventor and co-founder of Native American Intellectual Property Enterprise Council

Brad Rousseau (Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe) – inventor

Break 1 Music: Creation Story (song) John-Carlos Perea (artist) Creation Story (album)

Break 2 Music: East Winging It (feat. Black Bear) (song) Cris Derksen (artist) Cris Derksen: Orchestral Powwow World

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe author Dawn Quigley’s debut novel, “Apple in the Middle” follows the identity exploration of a mixed race youth, Apple Starkington, who finds out what it means to be between two cultures. A major life turn causes Apple to return to the world of her Native relatives to confront stereotypes. It also propels her to figure out just where she fits into her Native roots. Find out more on our August Book of the Month with Native author Dawn Quigley.

Break 1 Music: Fancy Shawl Song (song) BlackStone (artist) Bring Your Feathers In! (album)

Break 2 Music: East Winging It (feat. Black Bear) (song) Cris Derksen (artist) Cris Derksen: Orchestral Powwow World

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download () | Embed

The boundaries of reservations, treaty land and traditional Native territory are all represented by two-dimensional lines on paper. Few, if any, of those lines were ever drawn by Native mapmakers. But Indigenous people have always charted their surroundings in textile designs, drawings, carvings and even in songs. And Indigenous cartographers are finding new ways to map their environment that include interactive digital displays and geospatial technologies. These maps tap into conversations of history, culture, relationships and colonization. We’ll hear from some Indigenous people about both the traditional and new ways of getting a sense of place.

 

Guests

Jim Enote (Zuni Pueblo) – CEO of the Colorado Plateau Foundation

Annita Luchessi (Cheyenne) – executive director of Sovereign Bodies Institute and PhD student at the University of Arizona

Steve DeRoy (Anishinaabe/Saulteaux and a member of the Ebb and Flow First Nation) – Director of the Firelight Group and founder of the Indigenous Mapping Workshop

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

When Marjorie Tahbone (Inupiaq) got permission from her grandmother to get a traditional chin tattoo, she had nowhere to go besides a non-Native tattoo shop in town. The experience ignited her passion to learn traditional Inupiaq tattooing and the culture and traditions behind it. At the first Ancestral Ink symposium, Indigenous tattoo masters and apprentices from tribes in Alaska, California, Canada, New Zealand and Hawaii spoke about reconnecting with the traditional significance of permanently embellishing a person’s skin.

Guests:

Keone Nunes (Kanaka Maoli) – traditional tattoo practitioner

Tiffany Adams (Chemehuevi from the Mojave desert, Konkow and Nisenan) – artist and education activist

L. Frank Manriquez (Tongva and Ajachmem, Rarámuri) – irresponsible artist, responsible activist, de-colonist

Te Rangitu Netana – ta moko artist

Break 1 Music: Wild Band Of Comanches – Men’s Fancy (song) Gathering Of Nations Powwow (artist) A Spirit’s Dance (album)

Break 2 Music: East Winging It (feat. Black Bear) (song) Cris Derksen (artist) Cris Derksen: Orchestral Powwow World

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

As college students get settled into their dorms they’re no doubt pondering all they need to do to have a successful and fulfilling experience at school. Getting to class, taking notes, making time for homework and keeping on top of assignments always presents a challenge. We’ll have some tips on what to expect in the coming weeks and what some of the longer-term deadlines new college students should put in their calendars now.

Guests:

Corey Still (citizen of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) – director of scholarship operation at the American Indian Graduate Center

Josh Lucio (Zuni Pueblo) – program associate for scholarships and programs for the American Indian Graduate Center

AJ Garcia (Jicarilla Apache and Mexica) – student at UNM

Cordelia Kellie (tribal member of the Native Village of Wain Wright) – government affairs advisor for Ilisagvik College

Break 1 Music: Vipismal – The Hummingbird Song (song) Earl Ray (artist) Traditional Songs Of The Salt River Pima (album)

Break 2 Music: Evolution Revolution (song) Indigenous (artist) Circle (album)