Native America Calling

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.

Some residents of Zuni Pueblo in northwestern New Mexico were forced to evacuate their homes due to severe flash flooding earlier this week. The community is bracing for more storms and flooding as the monsoon season continues. Tribal leadership is working to protect tribal members and historical structures. We’ll get an update from community members, and the Pueblo’s governor, on recovery efforts and the damage caused.

We’ll also hear from an Indigenous journalist covering the worsening wildfires in Ontario, Canada. More than 13 First Nations communities were displaced.

More than 35 First Nations in Canada have active drinking water advisories, but a new federal bill aims to address the issue. Indigenous leaders are critical of the bill and argue that it limits federal liability and fails to protect clean water as a basic human right. Some Indigenous communities have been without clean water since the 1960s, leading First Nations leaders to demand legislative fixes to industrial pollution and longstanding neglect by the federal government. We’ll hear from leaders and experts about what’s in the new water bill and the ongoing water crisis in parts of the country.

We’ll also hear about a new scientific study by Conservation International that examines how Indigenous stewardship and cultural practices improve the ecological health of lands. Researchers looked at the unique practices of more than 40 Indigenous communities around the world and how they’re adapting to a changing climate.

Around 200 wildfires are currently burning across the country and nearly 900 are burning in Canada. Large swaths of the northeastern U.S. are blanketed in heavy, hazardous smoke coming from widespread wildfires burning in northern Minnesota and Ontario. In the neighboring Canadian province, three First Nations communities were forced to evacuate after fires ripped through their remote reserves. Significant drought and decades of hands-off wild land management factor into increasingly severe wildfire seasons that impact Indigenous people the most. We’ll get updates from Indigenous fire experts about current wildfire events, smoke impacts, and the vulnerability of Indigenous communities.