Native America Calling

Tuesday, December 24, 2024 — Native in the Spotlight: Rebecca Jim

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Rebecca Jim (Cherokee) was a school counselor in 1979 when she witnessed Tar Creek run orange with pollution from nearby mining tailings. The federal government eventually made it a Superfund site. She has been an environmental advocate ever since and is even known as the Tar Creek Keeper, raising awareness for the 11-mile waterway and leading a non-profit organization dedicated to ongoing cleanup and holding polluters accountable. Jim is our December Native in the Spotlight.

 

Break 1 Music: Elders Land Ballad (song) Paula Nelson (artist) C.H.A.N.T. Cherokee Hope and New Traditions (album)

Break 2 Music: Ridin’ Out the Storm (song) Samantha Crain (artist)

Monday, December 23, 2024 – Native Playlist 2024

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Native America Calling runs down some of the standout Indigenous tracks from the past year. We get expert recommendations from The Mainstream‘s Brett Maybee (Seneca), Indigenous in Music’s Larry K (Ho-Chunk), and Sounds of Survivance’s Tory J (Quinault) from KEXP. They give us a wide range of selections that include rock, folk, jazz-fusion, soul, and more, in addition to the insightful stories behind the music. We wrap up the 2024 Native Playlist with music you don’t want to miss.

Break 1 Music: Aster and daffodils (song) THRONE (artist) Singing Bear Speaks (album)

Break 1 Music: Ridin’ Out the Storm (song) Samantha Crain (artist)

Top five artists and songs of 2024 picked by guests and staff:

Larry K’s 2024 top artists and songs:

  1. “Ocean Child I Am” by Khu.éex’
  2. “Strawberries and Champagne” by Indian City
  3. “Ista Nts Ali” by Nuxalk Radio
  4. “Bay City Blues” by The Bloodshots
  5. “Movimento” by Jalmy

Tory J’s 2024 top artists and their songs:

  1. “In My Way” by Liv Rion
  2. “Purity” by Indian Giver
  3. “Seeing Two” by Deerlady
  4. “Glass in The Sage” by Under Exile”
  5. Carefree” by Wyatt C. Louis

Brett Maybee’s 2024 top artists and songs:

  1. “Reservation Road” by Nadjiwan
  2. “Bounce, Boogie & Bump” by C.W. Ayon
  3. “Ridin’ Out the Storm” by Samantha Crain
  4. “Sugarcane” by Mali Obomsawin
  5. “FEE FI FO FUM” by Mato Wayuhi (feat. Black Belt Eagle Scout)

Honorable Mention: “Ocean Child I Am” by Khu.éex’

Shawn Spruce’s 2024 top artists and songs:

  1. “Who’s Your Favorite Indian” by The Jir Project
  2. “Thunder Medicine” by Geneviève Gros-Louis
  3. “Growing Pains” by Sage Nizhoni
  4. “Last Call” by Melody McArthur
  5. [Posthumously] “Doctor My Eyes” by Jackson Browne (featuring Jesse Ed Davis)

Andi Murphy (producer) 2024 top artists and songs:

  1. “COME TO LIFE” by Toni Heartless
  2. “Everyday” by Celeigh Cardinal
  3. “We Up” by Barkaa
  4. “KALEIDOSCOPE” by Snotty Nose Rez Kids feat. Travis Thompson
  5. “Warriors” by Black Braid

Sol Traverso (producer) 2024 top artists and songs:

  1. “Dirt Roads” by Tia Wood
  2. “Brown Fool Eyes” – Hataallii
  3. “Alpha and Omega” by The Zonies
  4. “Slash and Gash” by Red-209
  5. “RESIDENT EVIL” by Toni Heartless

Friday, November 29, 2024 – Native Bookshelf: “The Mighty Red” by Louise Erdrich

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The title of Pulitzer Prize-winning Ojibwe writer Louise Erdrich‘s latest book refers to the north-flowing river along the North Dakota-Minnesota border. It’s the geography of The Mighty Red that stretches in all directions from the small-town loves and losses that Erdrich’s characters inhabit. Readers follow the teenage Ojibwe protagonist Kismet Poe as she navigates race, class, and an uncertain economy. Along the way, we learn how bison bones were once used to turn beets into sugar. It’s all woven together with Erdrich’s uniquely exquisite prose. We talk with Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) about her newest novel.

 

Break 1 Music: Little Sunflower (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Break 2 Music: Burn Your Village to The Ground (single) The Halluci-Nation (artist)

Wednesday, November 27, 2024 – The Menu: Turkey stories, Finding Manoomin, salmon restoration, and a Native twist on boba

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In Navajo origin stories, the turkey is a hero. He gathers up all the seeds from the third world and brings them to the fourth world we live in today. Many other tribes revere turkeys and make use of their feathers.

Anishinaabe journalist Leah Lemm documents her own cultural reconnection by gathering wild rice, or manoomin, in her home reservation in Minnesota for the first time.

Salmon are returning to the undammed Klamath River (Photo: by Matt Mais, Yurok Tribe)

Salmon are coming back to the tributaries of the Klamath River in California for the first time in a century after tribes helped bring about the largest dam removal project in history.

And a Diné entrepreneur creates an unlikely fusion of traditional flavors and the increasingly popular boba drink craze.

Those are the topics all on The Menu, our regular feature on Indigenous food stories and news.

GUESTS

Kenneth Brink (Karuk), vice chairman of the Karuk Tribe

Sheldon Blackhorse (Diné), cultural advisor, actor, and math tutor

Kevin Wilson (Diné), owner of Native Boba Tea Co.

Leah Lemm (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), senior editor for the Native News Initiative at Minnesota Public Radio and host of the Native Lights radio program

 

Break 1 Music: Ridin’ Out the Storm (song) Samantha Crain (artist)

Break 2 Music: Burn Your Village to The Ground (single) The Halluci-Nation (artist)

Friday, November 22, 2024 – Native in the Spotlight: Mark Trahant

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As he marks 50 years in journalism, Mark Trahant (Shoshone-Bannock) is stepping down from his leadership role at the Native news organization, ICT. Trahant revived the struggling Indian Country Today newspaper and turned it into a premier non-profit multimedia Indigenous news source. His five decades of reporting and editing news includes interviews with world leaders and having a front row seat to the major events that affect Native people. In that time he has served as a champion and mentor for Native journalists. We’ll hear from Trahant about his work and his hopes for Native journalism.

 

Break 1 Music: Current (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

Tuesday, November 19, 2024 – What to expect on Trump’s first day

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If he lives up to his word, President-elect Donald Trump’s first day in the Oval Office will include a wave of executive actions with significant repercussions for tribes and individuals. In addition to major moves to expel immigrants, Trump promises to expand oil and other extractive development, cancel selected green energy spending, and eliminate federal diversity and equity measures. Trump also has an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days that herald sweeping changes in federal government. We’ll hear from political watchers about what could be in store.

GUESTS

Aaron Payment (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), tribal councilman and former chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Angela Parker (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Cree), assistant professor of history at the University of Denver

Julia Wakeford (Muscogee and Yuchi), policy director for the National Indian Education Association

Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, assistant professor in the Department of Black and Latino Studies at Baruch College

 

Break 1 Music:  Our Autonomy (song) Klee Benally (artist) Appropriation (album)

Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 — Native Vote 2024: What now?

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President Donald Trump and Republicans pulled off a decisive victory. Are Native Americans poised to benefit from the change in power? We’ll get the early analysis about what the election results mean from a Native perspective and hear more about how Native candidates fared up and down the ballot. We’ll also find out how tribes might shift strategies to accommodate the change in political winds.

GUESTS

OJ Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), co-executive director of Four Directions Vote

Allen Wright (Choctaw), president and founder of the Hustings Group

Dr. Aaron Payment (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), tribal councilman and former chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Rhonda McBride, journalist and producer at our Koahnic Broadcast Corp. flagship station KNBA

 

Break 1 Music: 500 Years O’ Blues (song) Digging Roots (artist) Seeds (album)

Break 2 Music: Midnite Blues (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

 

Tuesday, November 5, 2024 — Decision day

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It’s the final day to cast your vote, setting the political course for the foreseeable future. All the messages to encourage Native voting, the legal and technical work to assure access, and the onslaught of campaign ads come down to Election Day. We’ll get reports from around the country to talk about progress and remaining hurdles as Native voters choose their elected leaders.

GUESTS

Gabriella Cázares-Kelly (Tohono O’odham), Pima County Recorder

April Ignacio (Tohono O’odham), co-founder of Indivisible Tohono

Kevin Killer (Oglala Lakota), former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and member of the South Dakota legislature

Maria Haskins (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe), Wisconsin Native Vote manager and organizer

 

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

Break 2 Music: Midnite Blues (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

Monday, November 4, 2024 — Pinning down the North Carolina Native vote

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The Lumbee Nation counts 55,000 members, and although they are not federally recognized and have no tribal trust land, they have a strong cultural identity. The possibility of federal recognition is a factor in who members support in the presidential race. Across the state, the smaller, but federally recognized, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has political and economic muscle and opposes Lumbee recognition. We’ll explore the dynamics of navigating the Native vote in a critical swing state.

GUESTS

John Cummings (Lumbee Tribe), chairman of the Robeson County Board of Commissioners

Christopher Reed (enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), vice chair of the North Carolina District 11 Democratic Party

Jesalyn Kaziah (Lumbee), executive director of the Triangle Native American Society

 

Break 1 Music: Hug Room (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Break 2 Music: Midnite Blues (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

Thursday, October 31, 2024 – Native Bookshelf: New Native books offer hauntings, murders, and curses

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Halloween is the right time to dive into new spooky books by Native authors. Ramona Emerson’s new sequel, Exposure, checks back in with her character Rita Todacheene, a Navajo forensic photographer introduced in Emerson’s debut novel, Shutter, who continues to be haunted by crime victims. Dark and menacing supernatural entities follow Choctaws along the infamous Trail of Tears to Oklahoma in Devon Mihesuah’s The Bone Picker, a collection of fictional stories set in real-life histories. Nathan Adler co-edited a collection of scary stories along with Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm (Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and Saugeen First Nation) called Zegaajimo: Indigenous Horror Fiction. Hunkpapa Lakota humorist and author Tiffany Midge’s newest collection of poetry, Horns, weaves horror through her creative use of language and satire. These authors join us for a conversation about horror in Native literature.

GUESTS

Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler (Anishinaabe and member of Lac de Mille Lacs First Nation), writer, author, and editor

Devon Mihesuah (Choctaw), writer, historian, and the Cora Lee Beers Price Teaching Professor at the University of Kansas

Ramona Emerson (Diné), writer and filmmaker

Tiffany Midge (Hunkpapa Lakota), poet, humorist, and author

 

Break 1 Music: Halloween (song) Blood Dance (artist) Halloween (album)

Break 2 Music: Ksm Xaayda (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’nsk (album)

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