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For many of our Native Nations, winter is a time of dancing, storytelling and singing. The traditions are passed down generation to generation. It’s a powerful time for making the most of the short daylight hours and the long nights. It’s a time for connecting with family and strengthening one’s community. Today we’ll get some input from various people about different winter traditions and ceremonies. We’ll also take your calls.

Guests:

Boye Ladd (Ho-chunk and Zuni) – cultural consultant

Terence Nelson (Anishinaabe) – former chief of the Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation

Steve LaRance (Hopi/Assiniboine) – artist, teacher and coach for Lighting Boy Hoop Dancers

Break Music: My Winter Song (song) Andrea Menard (artist) Sparkle Holiday (album)

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Native jewelry makers create wearable art that connects to their culture. In many tribes, men are the ones who work the metal and set the stones for earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. But there are now many Native women jewelry craftspeople. Some perfect traditional designs and materials. Others introduce new, modern elements. We’ll talk with several female jewelry makers about what inspires their expression.

Guests:

Leah Mata-Fragua (Chumash) – jeweler and consultant and professor of traditional art and ecology at the Institute for American Indian Arts

Tania Larsson (Gwich’in) – jeweler

Kristen Dorsey (citizen of the Chickasaw Nation) – jeweler and owner of CEO of Kristen Dorsey Designs

Break Music: Sneak Up (song) Red Bull (artist) Greatest Hits (album)

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Tiger Lee, Raye Zaragoza, Tha Yoties, and Radmilla Cody. Those are just a few of the dozen Music Makers we’ve featured on Native America Calling over the past year. We’re picking out our favorite moments and some choice tunes to liven up your holiday. Sit back and turn up the volume as we hear some graceful melodies and driving beats from some notable Native musicians. This is a pre-recorded show so we won’t take live calls, but feel free to reach out to us on this web page or on Facebook or Twitter.

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The Netflix show, “Longmire,” has come to an end. The modern Western police drama broached several Native issues including the Violence Against Women Act, tribal jurisdiction and adoption of Native children by non-Native families. We’ll discuss the show’s triumphs and failures and also hear about some other promising projects that Native screenwriters and actors are bringing to the small screen.

Guests:

Dustin Tahmahkera (Comanche Nation of Oklahoma) – assistant professor of Mexican American and Latino studies and faculty in Native American and Indigenous studies

Theo Van Alst (Lakota) – associate professor and chair of Native American Studies Department at the University of Montana

Brian Twenter – professor of Indigenous Literature at Western Washington University

Marcus Red Thunder (Ojibwe) – technical adviser for Longmire, and a Native Wellness consultant

Break Music: Place I Call Home (song) Native Roots (artist) Most High (album)

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Standing Rock, Native media, and even Indigenous food are some of the topics that a rising crop of Native podcasts tackle. The approaches range from serious and analytical to funny and personal. Media experts say audio podcasts can help bring marginalized issues to light by cutting out the gatekeepers between producers and the audience. At its most basic, all it takes to start is a microphone and something to record on. Edison Research finds about 40 percent of the population has listened to a podcast at least once. Are you one of them? What are your favorite podcasts?

Guests:

Gabriel Night Shield (Rosebud Sioux) – host of Urban Indianz Podcast

Char Green-Maximo (Sisseton Wahpeton and Assiniboine) – co-host of Urban Indianz Podcast

Rick Harp (Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation) – founder and president of the INDIGENA Creative Group

Andi Murphy (Navajo) – founder and host of the Toasted Sister Podcast

Break Music: Aroha – Love (song) Mika (artist) Mika Versus Fashion (album)

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Once nearly dead, the proposal to build a massive open-pit copper and gold mine on pristine wetlands in southwest Alaska is gaining new momentum. The Trump Administration is more favorable to the Pebble Mine project and the company pitching it is promising it will be smaller and more environmentally responsible. Some Alaska Natives representing villages closer to the proposed mine site say it offers much-needed jobs. But resistance against the mine remains strong, especially near the commercial fishing hub of Dillingham. Opponents say just building the mine would damage critical salmon spawning habitat and an accident could be disastrous to the billion dollar fishing industry. We’ll talk with representatives from both sides and hear from a reporter who just completed a five-part series weighing the threat to the environment and Indigenous cultures with the promise of economic benefit.

Guests:

Alannah Hurley (Yupik) – executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay

Mike Heatwole – vice president of public affairs for The Pebble Partnership

Daysha Eaton  – independent journalist

Break Music: Duck and Dive (song) Red Bull (artist) Live in Minnesota (album)

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“She,” “he,” “zhe” or “they”? Gender fluidity, transgender, cisgender, non-binary, genderqueer? Keeping up with just the preferred words to talk about someone’s gender is increasingly complicated. In Native America those descriptions are sometimes put into one term: “two-spirit.” We’ll talk about how awareness of gender fluidity is changing for Native Americans and everyone else. We are also asking how those with less-defined gender identity are finding ways to fit in.

Guests:

Nazbah Tom (Navajo) – somatic practitioner

Mattee Jim (Diné) – HIV prevention and support coordinator for First Nations Community Healthsource and board member of the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico

Roger Kuhn (Poarch Band of Creek Indians) – licensed psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco, a Ph.D student at the California Institute of Integral Studies and chair of the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits organization 

Break Music: Wiconi (song) Primeaux & Mike (artist) Road to Peace (album)

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The end of the world as we know it is a popular topic for filmmakers, writers and artists. Current real life events are also fueling apocalyptic discussions. In recent years the scientists and others who control the Doomsday Clock moved the perceived threat to its highest level since the mid-80s. Indigenous people have their own prophesies and signs of the end. They also have unique histories of resilience in the face of colonization, disease, war and foreign invasion. We’ll take on the End of Times from a Native perspective.

Guests:

Johnnie Jae (Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw) – founder of the Tribe Called Geek

Bunky Echo-Hawk (Pawnee and Yakama) – artist

Dr. Daniel H. Wilson (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation) – best-selling author “robopocalypse” and “The Clock Word dynasty.”

Break Music: Steadfast (song) Mr.Elive, Phillip Charette (artist) Tengaurtukut (album)

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In this month’s book feature, “Fall in Line, Holden” by Daniel W. Vandever, a young Navajo boy uses his imagination to help him cope with the challenges of boarding school. The book’s author from the Navajo Nation says the story is meant to not only encourage young readers though discovery, but it’s also his take on facing a dark moment in Native history and the boarding school era. Join us as we hear from the book’s creator.

Break Music: Fall Away (song) Native Son (artist)