Native America Calling

Over the course of a few days, a gang war erupts on the fictional Thunderstone reservation in the new film, “Gangland”. Officer Teddy Sharpe (Lou Diamond Phillips) and his trainee must navigate a community affected by a dark secret. The new film features several talented Native actors including Lane Factor (Caddo), Elisha Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho), Irene Bedard (Iñupiaq, Yup’ik and Cree), and more.

The famed children’s series “Little House on the Prairie” gets a new screen adaptation for Netflix. The original books the show is based on faced criticism for perpetuating racist stereotypes. Now, the new TV series includes consultation with Osage citizens.

We’ll also remember the late Seminole and Cherokee actor Randolph Mantooth, best known as the lead of the hit 1970s television show “Emergency!” Mantooth died on July 9.

A bill making its way through Congress offers new hope for five Native communities in Southeast Alaska to secure their own land for the first time. For more than 50 years following the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), the five tribes left out of the pivotal agreement that fundamentally changed tribal governance and land ownership in the state have been working to secure their homelands. Tribal leaders celebrated as the bill cleared the U.S. House of Representatives. But it’s not without opposition; environmental groups and others worry the land transfer will turn over vast expanses of pristine old growth wilderness to a for-profit corporation intent on maximizing financial returns through extensive timber harvests and mining. We’ll hear about what this latest policy momentum accomplishes and discuss how we got here.

A coalition of rural Alaska Native villages is launching an initiative to boost veterinary care as a way to improve public health. They aim to cut down on the increasing number of feral dogs that pose a risk to residents by offering better spay and neuter services. They also hope a vaccination program can lower the spread of rabies. Alaska Native Rural Veterinary Inc. and the Alaska Federation of Natives are moving ahead after federal legislation stalled in Congress. We’ll talk with those called to bring veterinary care to rural communities — with or without government support — to keep animals and people safe.

We also talk with acclaimed musician and actor Robert Mirabal about his role in the movie, “Road to Everywhere“. Mirabal is performing at a screening of the film in Albuquerque, N.M.

Longtime Phoenix-based professional strongman Jerry Pritchett (Chickasaw) isn’t ready to retire just yet. For now, his focus is on his son, Bubba, who at 15 years old, recently locked out a 615-pound deadlift at a competition. Pritchett is a veteran strongman and powerlifter who was named America’s Strongest Man in 2017 and was later named a World’s Strongest Man finalist. Other Native strongmen who have earned professional titles like Pritchett is Harold “Iron Bear” Collins (Lumbee). Collins was a popular competitor in the 1990s who broke six Guinness World Records, one for pulling a 50,433-pound semitruck and flatbed trailer 160 feet in 44 seconds. In Canada, Colten Sloan (Whitefish Lake First Nation) is working hard to join the ranks of these strongmen. In 2021, he became the first Indigenous man in Canada to earn a pro card in the sport and has since competed around the world.