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Peterson Zah is known as the first president of the Navajo Nation and a leader with foresight and intelligence that ushered in a new era for his people. Zah died at the age of 85 and was laid to rest at his birthplace in Low Mountain, Ariz. after a memorial service and funeral procession. His legacy includes starting a permanent fund that has reached into the multiple billions and advocacy that dramatically boosted the number of Navajo students in higher education. Today on Native America Calling, we honor his life with those who knew him:  Marley Shebala (Diné and Zuni), investigative journalist; Marcus Denetdale (Citizen of the Navajo Nation), program manager for the Construction in Indian Country program at Arizona State University; Jaynie Parrish (Diné), president and founder of Arizona Native Vote; and Robert Joe (Diné), managing partner with Towerhouse Group and partner Tribal Carbon.

Break 1 music: Leader’s Honor Song (song) Jay Begaye (artist) Night of the Northern Lights (album)

Break 2 music: The Slide (song) P. Town Boyz (artist) P. Town Boyz (album)

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:36 — 38.2MB) | Embed

Representatives from the National Congress of American Indian (NCAI) Youth Commission say they are ready to pick up the torch on critical issues like climate change, missing and murdered Indigenous people, tribal consultation, and health disparities. The two co-presidents of the commission expressed their enthusiasm for tackling Native issues during NCAI’s State of Indian Nations Address event. Today on Native America Calling, we hear from NCAI Youth Commission Co-Presidents Yanenowi Logan (Seneca Nation of Indians) and Caleb Dash (Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community) about their coming priorities on behalf of Native people.

Break 1 music: Generations (song) P. Town Boyz (artist) P. Town Boyz (album)

Break 2 music: The Slide (song) P. Town Boyz (artist) P. Town Boyz (album)

 

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The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is one of those programs that flies under the radar for a lot of tribal citizens. But as much as $1 billion is going out to states and tribes right now to help pay household heating and cooling costs. Program administrators say many of the people who are eligible neglect to sign up or they might not even know it exists. Today on Native America Calling, find out if you can get some financial help for those soaring utility bills with LIHEAP program specialist Vikki Pretlow; Melanie Conners (Akwesasne Mohawk), LIHEAP Coordinator for St. Regis Mohawk; Margaret Zientek (Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member), director for Workforce and Social Services at Citizen Potawatomi Nation; Mary Simon (Yup’ik), 477 director for Orutsararmiut Native Council; Richard Tonasket (Colville tribal member), LIHEAP program manager; and Ann Jagger, Housing Manager for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

More information at energyhelp.us and the Office of Community Services.

Break 1 music: Crossroads Blues (song) Lakota John (artist) Lakota John and Kin (album)

Break 2 music: The Slide (song) P. Town Boyz (artist) P. Town Boyz (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:35 — 38.2MB) | Embed

President Joe Biden is expected to designate Avi Kwa Ame a national monument, but the action will have to wait. Tribes and environmental organizations pushed for the federal designation for a number of years before President Biden expressed his intentions to protect the 450,000 acre site last November. The White House announced he would make the trip to the Nevada location to formally make the designation this week, but subsequently cancelled those plans. Today on Native America Calling, we get an update on the status of the sacred space also known as Spirit Mountain with Alan O’Neill, advisor for the National Parks Conservation Association and founder of Get Outdoors Nevada, and Taylor Patterson (Bishop Paiute), executive director of the Native Voters Alliance Nevada.

Break 1 music: Song 514 (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Stick Game Songs of The Paiute (album)

Break 2 music: The Slide (song) P. Town Boyz (artist) P. Town Boyz (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:08 — 38.5MB) | Embed

High school and college basketball seasons are culminating at state tournaments all over the country. Native ballplayers, with their families, fans, and sometimes whole Native communities in tow, are among those traveling to tournaments for high-stakes games. Today on Native America Calling, we speak with Zachary Eastman (Crow), head coach for the Lapwai High School varsity boys basketball team; Andrea Nield (Koyukon Athabascan), Assistant Director of Testing and Student Support for the Yukon Koyukuk School District; Dan Hale, head basketball coach for the St. Louis High School boys’ basketball team, associate athletic director, 8th grade teacher, and counselor; Robin Marquez (Pacific Islander), athletic trainer for Kohala High School and an assistant coach for the boys basketball team; and Tanisha Bitsoi (Navajo), head coach for the Tohatchi High School Lady Cougars basketball team.

Break 1 music: Indian Tacos (song) LZDRP$ (artist)

Break 2 music: Blackbird Song (song) Emma Francisco, Frances Manuel, Joaquin Garcia & Lorenzo Pablo (artist)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:48 — 38.3MB) | Embed

The only comic convention from an Indigenous standpoint returns in-person in a big way. IndigiPopX reemerges in person at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City after a hiatus because of the pandemic. The slate of events includes Indigenous super heroes, cosplayers, artists, and Indigenous panel discussions on representation in media and entertainment. Today on Native America Calling, we visit with IndigiPopX organizers and participants Dr. Lee Francis IV (Laguna Pueblo), CEO and founder of Native Realities; Tom Farris (Otoe-Missouria and Cherokee), manager of the FAM store; Kristin Gentry (Choctaw), director of community engagement and outreach for Native Realities, artist, photographer, writer, and curator; and video game developer Miranda Due (Pawnee and Cherokee) for a preview of the biggest event in Indigenous comics and pop culture. 

Break 1 music: Ideal Dub (song) Casper Loma Da-Wa (artist) Honor the People (album)

Break 2 music: Blackbird Song (song) Emma Francisco, Frances Manuel, Joaquin Garcia & Lorenzo Pablo (artist)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:42 — 38.3MB) | Embed

How the Sand Creek Massacre is remembered has changed over the years. The original narrative described the attack as a battle victory for the U.S. Army led by Col. John Chivington. But a more accurate and sinister account soon emerged that described a deplorable attack on mostly women, children, and elders from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes. Today on Native America Calling, we learn how organizers of the new exhibit “The Sand Creek Massacre: The Betrayal that Changed Cheyenne and Arapaho People Forever” at the History Colorado Center worked with tribal representatives to tell an accurate and sensitive portrayal of the tragic event in 1864 with Chester Whiteman (Southern Cheyenne), Cheyenne coordinator of the Culture Program of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes; Fred Mosqueda (Arapaho), Arapaho Language and Culture Program Coordinator for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; and Sam Bock, lead exhibit developer for the Sand Creek Massacre exhibition and historian for History Colorado.

Break 1 music: Memorial Song (song) Porcupine Singers (artist) Alowanpi – Songs of Honoring – Lakota Classics: Past & Present, Vol. 1 (album)

Break 2 music: Blackbird Song (song) Emma Francisco, Frances Manuel, Joaquin Garcia & Lorenzo Pablo (artist)

 

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Two adolescent cousins—one from the city and one from the rez—bond during a summer herding sheep on their grandmother’s Navajo Nation ranch in the 1990s. They learn about their family’s past and themselves. That’s the story told in a new Native-led indie comedy Frybread Face and Me. Writer and director Billy Luther (Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo) creates a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story starring Martin Sensmeier and executive produced by Taika Waititi. Today on Native America Calling, Billy Luther takes your calls along with Morningstar Angeline (Navajo, Chippewa, Blackfoot, Shoshone), who plays Ann, and Nasheen Sleuth (Diné), who plays Aunt Sharon.

Break 1 music:  Frybread (song) Keith Secola (artist) Wild Band of Indians (album)

Break 2 music: Blackbird Song (song) Emma Francisco, Frances Manuel, Joaquin Garcia & Lorenzo Pablo (artist)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:09 — 38.6MB) | Embed

The federal government is mulling a plan to extend the height of the Shasta Dam in California. That would raise the level of the reservoir, permanently submerging even more of the sacred land cherished by the Winnemem Wintu and other tribes upstream. It also further diminishes hopes of restoring salmon runs to the levels the tribes once counted on as sustenance and ceremony. A new podcast series, A Prayer for Salmon explores the tribal connections to the rivers and documents efforts to not only halt the dam expansion, but to build momentum to remove the 1945 dam completely.

Today on Native America Calling, we hear highlights from the podcast and learn more about the federal plan with Caleen Sisk (Winnemem Wintu), chief of the Winnemem Wintu tribe; Judy Silber, executive editor of the Spiritual Edge and reporter for A Prayer for Salmon; Dr. Lyla June (Diné and Tsétsêhéstâhese [Cheyenne]), musician, scholar, and community organizer; and Joseph Orozco (Hoopa), website content coordinator and a member of the advisory board for A Prayer for Salmon.

Break 1 music: Cheyenne Flag Song (song) Phillip Whiteman Jr. (artist) Spirit Seeker: Votoestatane (album)

Break 2 music: Blackbird Song (song) Emma Francisco, Frances Manuel, Joaquin Garcia & Lorenzo Pablo (artist)