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Every Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, Mardi Gras Indians play a big part in the celebration. It’s a long-held tradition, but the origins combining African-American, Cajun and Native cultures is unclear. Dozens of Mardi Gras Indian tribes use terminology and practices similar to Native American tribes; they have members, chiefs and a particular way of dressing. We’ll get a snapshot of the Mardi Gras Indians and how they have evolved over time.

Guests:

Big Queen Mary Kay Stevenson  with the original Wild Tchoupitoulas Indians

Lora Ann Chaisson (Houma) – tribal council for the United Houma Nation

Break 1 Music: Fire On the Bayou (song) Big Chief Alfred Doucette (artist) Rollin’ Wit Da Legends & Marie Laveau (album)

Break 2 Music: Kaaka-ggua Cauyalriitqa (song) Pamyua (artist) Mengluni (The Beginning) (album)

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The high-profile political fight over the need for a wall on the border with Mexico offers an opportunity to look at borders from an Indigenous perspective. Before European contact, tribes had their own ways of signifying territories. Navajos, for example, identify their traditional Dinétah homeland as the area within the Four Sacred Mountains. Some other tribes continue to follow specific protocols—including asking permission—when entering another tribe’s territory. Historically, some tribes fought other tribes over resources and hunting territory. We’ll explore both traditional and current concepts of borders.

Guests:

Dr. David Lewis (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde) – adjunct professor at Oregon State University and blogs at NDN History Research

Freddie Xwenang Lane (Lummi Nation) – councilmember of the Lummi Nation and environmental activist

Jewell James (Lummi) – master totem carver, director of Lummi Sovereignty and Treaty Protection Office

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

Full interview with Verlon Jose (Tohono O’odam) – Vice Chairman of the Tohono O’odam Tribe.

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South Dakota could become one of the few states in the country to officially recognize Indigenous languages. After emotional testimony by tribal leaders and language experts, the Senate State Affairs Committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 126 that makes Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota the state’s official Indigenous languages. At the same time the U.S. Senate is considering reauthorizing the Ester Martinez Language Act that expired in 2012. The landmark legislation first passed in 2006 and allocates funding for Native language revitalization efforts across the country. We’ll learn more about legislative actions to help revitalize Native languages.

Guests:

Troy Heinert (Rosebud Sioux) – South Dakota state senator representing district 26

Nakina Mills (Oglala Sioux Tribe) – councilwoman for the Oglala Sioux Tribe representing the Pine Ridge Village

Dr. Matthew Martinez (Ohkay Owingeh) – former lieutenant governor of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo and a member of the Ohkay Owingeh school board

Dr. Ofelia Zepeda (Tohono O’odham) – regents professor in the linguistics department at the University of Arizona

Break 1 Music: Encouragement Song (song) Sissy Goodhouse (artist) The Third Circle (album)

Break 2 Music: Kaaka-ggua Cauyalriitqa (song) Pamyua (artist) Mengluni (The Beginning) (album)

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“The Heart Beat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present” is a quick trip through time. Author David Treuer (Leech Lake Ojibwe) leads the non-fiction tour. He pushes back on the way Native people’s history is far too often framed through tragedy and loss while washing away Native existence and complexity. He also wants people to pick up his book not as a public service to Natives, but to truly learn about the country because as he says, “you can’t understand America unless you understand Native Americans.”

Break 1 Music: Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) (song) A Tribe Called Red (artist) Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) (single)

Break 2 Music: Kaaka-ggua Cauyalriitqa (song) Pamyua (artist) Mengluni (The Beginning) (album)

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A coal train derailment on the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation has triggered a dispute over jurisdiction. We’ll get the latest from the tribe. One of the Covington Catholic High School students featured in a video with Omaha elder Nathan Phillips is seeking $250 million in a defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post. Does the suit have a chance? Also, there’s progress toward restoring press freedom on Muscogee (Creek) Nation. But journalism advocates say some proposed details could be problematic. Tune in for our Native news round-up.

Break 1 Music: Awita Noosisim (song) Violet Naytowhow (artist) Wind Of The North (album)

Break 2 Music: Tarvautnauramken (Traditional Blessing Song) (song) I Sing, You Dance (artist) I Am Yup’ik (album)

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This month we welcome Swinomish & Iñupiat musician Katherine Paul into our monthly celebration of music. Her musical venture is called Black Belt Eagle Scout and her newest album is titled “Mother of My Children.” As a teenager she taught herself to play the guitar and things rocketed from there. She says she plays music to process feelings and there are many emotions that ring out in the different tracks on the album including what it means to face loss and what it means to still dream afterwards. We’ll experience her passionate guitar solos and lyrics on our February Music Maker.

Break 1 Music: Just Lie Down (song) Black Belt Eagle Scout (artist) Mother of My child (album)

Break 2 Music: Tarvautnauramken (Traditional Blessing Song) (song) I Sing, You Dance (artist) I Am Yup’ik (album)

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What can you believe online? The confrontation last month between Omaha elder Nathan Phillips and a crowd of rowdy Catholic high school boys was hard enough to interpret from mainstream news reports. It was made even harder by fake social media posts, including an inflammatory note claiming to be from the mother of one of the students. The false tweet wishing the “pioneers had brought more blankets with smallpox” was widely retweeted before the account disappeared. We’ll look into some things to keep in mind when trying to form an opinion from what you read, whether it’s high profile events or texts from friends.

Guests:

Marisa Duarte (Pascua Yaqui Tribe) – assistant professor of Justice and Sociotechnical Change in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University

Miranda Belarde-Lewis (Zuni and Tlingit) – assistant professor in the information school at the University of Washington

Break 1 Music: Facebook Drama (song) Northern Cree (artist) Dancerz Groove (Cree Round Dance Songs) (album)

Break 2 Music: Tarvautnauramken (Traditional Blessing Song) (song) I Sing, You Dance (artist) I Am Yup’ik (album)

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Numerous studies spanning decades show that music education can help students in other areas of their education, such as reading, vocabulary and even standardized tests. A number of organizations and Native musicians are working to expose more Native students to music education and even get musical instruments into classrooms. We’ll hear about the benefits of teaching music and get a glimpse of the efforts to improve music education for Native students.

Guests:

Raven Chacon (Diné) – composer and artist

Delbert Anderson (Diné) – music instructor, director of jazz at the San Juan College

Gabriel Ayala (Yaqui) – musician, artist, motivational speaker (multi-dimensional artist)

Break 1 Music: Pink Panther/Baby Elephant (song) 2006 Standing Rock Warrior Band (artist)

Break 2 Music: Tarvautnauramken (Traditional Blessing Song) (song) I Sing, You Dance (artist) I Am Yup’ik (album)

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A decade before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala. bus, Elizabeth Peratrovich and her husband were demanding equal rights for Alaska Natives. At the time Alaska Natives were lawfully excluded from theaters, hotels, restaurants and neighborhoods. Peratrovich made a famous speech in a territorial Senate hearing that spurred momentum to end discrimination against Alaska Natives. We’ll learn more about her story, her legacy, and the fight for civil rights in Alaska. Every year, the state sets aside a day to remember Peratrovich’s contributions.

Guests:

Kacey Qunmiġu Hopson (Iñupiaq) – Indigenous knowledge advocate for the First Alaskans Institute

Annie Boochever – author of Fighter in Velvet Gloves: Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich

Janice Jackson (Tlingit, Tsimshian and Haida) – former grand camp president of the Alaska Native Sisterhood

Rosita Worl (Tlingit) – president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute

Break 1 Music: Gunalchéesh (song) Khu.éex’ (artist) They Forgot They Survived (album)

Break 2 Music: Tarvautnauramken (Traditional Blessing Song) (song) I Sing, You Dance (artist) I Am Yup’ik (album)

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It starts with acknowledging the Indigenous people on whose traditional land the institution exists. But making college a welcome place also includes the right training for faculty and staff and offering courses that include context from a Native perspective. Those are among the recommendations listed in a new report by the American Indian College Fund titled “Creating Visibility and Healthy Learning Environments for Native Americans in Higher Education.” The report was spurred by an incident when a member of a Colorado campus tour called police because two prospective Native students ‘looked suspicious.’

Guests:

Cheryl Crazy Bull (Sicangu Lakota) – president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund

Dr. Amanda Tachine (Navajo) – research and evaluation associate with the American Indian College Fund

Break 1 Music: Kaaka-ggua Cauyalriitqa (song) Pamyua (artist) Mengluni (The Beginning) (album)

Break 2 Music: Cincinnati Flow Rag (song) Lakota John (artist) Winds of Time (album)