Native America Calling

A documentary filmmaker’s chance encounter with the Blackfoot man who became a social media sensation in connection with the phrase “skoden” (“let’s go then”), turns into a moving profile of Pernell Bad Arm. We’ll hear from Damien Eagle Bear (Blackfoot) about the person behind the meme who was initially mocked, but became a rallying cry for Indigenous people. And we’ll also talk with Inuit actress Lucy Tulugarjuk who shares the screen with Tom Cruise in the summer blockbuster “Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning”. It’s the latest in a series of notable films for the Inuit actress who is also the executive director of the Nunavut Independent Television Network in Canada and an accomplished throat singer. GUESTS Damien Eagle Bear (Blackfoot), filmmaker and director of “#skoden” Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuit), actress, throat singer, and executive director of the Nunavut Independent Television network

The U.S. Supreme Court didn’t rule on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship, a legal challenge closely watched by Native Americans. But their related decision in that case significantly changes the current practice in how all Americans can keep the federal government, corporations, and others from continuing actions with questionable constitutionality. We’ll review what’s at stake in the fight over birthright citizenship and how the High Court’s ruling preventing further nationwide injunctions will alter how lawyers tackle Native issues from now on. We’ll also learn about a legal settlement in Montana that aims to ensure schools adequately teach Native American history. GUESTS Matthew Fletcher (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians), law professor at the University of Michigan Law School and author of the “Turtle Talk” blog Danny Chrisney (Maya Q’eqchi’ descent), managing attorney of Wilner and O’Reilly Phoenix office Lenny Powell (Hopland Band of Pomo Indians), Native American Rights Fund staff attorney Mark Carter (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), Native American Rights Fund attorney

An illegal voting case in Alaska highlights lingering confusion over the rights extended to the citizens of American Samoa, a U.S. territory. Eleven Samoans from Whittier, Alaska are charged with felonies for alleged voter fraud by participating in their local election. All have U.S. passports, were born on U.S. soil, and can even participate in the presidential primary process. The territory has been under heavy colonial pressure for centuries and has been under U.S. oversight for more than 125 years. But Congress never granted its citizens the right to vote in national elections. In another case, tribes in North Dakota were dealt a serious blow in their ongoing fight against redistricting that reduces their collective power in state elections. This is an encore presentation so we won't be taking calls

The Indian Health Service (IHS) remains largely misunderstood by those not directly connected to it, and often derided as a bureaucratic and confusing system by those who are. IHS marks its 70th anniversary, providing care to all Native citizens. Of course, the agency’s history is also documented in the hundreds of treaties over almost 200 years in which the U.S. Government explicitly signed on to its responsibility. We’ll trace the history of IHS from the first immunizations to Public Law 638, and chart its future amid a major reassessment of federal government services. GUESTS Benjamin Smith (Navajo), acting director of Indian Health Service Retired Rear Adm. Michael Weahkee (Zuni Pueblo), former director of Indian Health Service Mary Smith (Cherokee), former CEO of Indian Health Service Dr. Donald Warne (Oglala Lakota), co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health Dr. John Molina (Pascua Yaqui and Yavapai Apache), director of the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care

Dune Lankard (Eyak Athabaskan), founder and president of Native Conservancy, has been working on land and habitat conservation since he witnessed the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. That, and his development of kelp as a sustainable source of food and economic development for Alaska Native residents, places him among the recipients of the inaugural James Beard Impact Award. Tribes on the East Coast are weighing in on a plan to deregulate a genetically modified variety of the American chestnut tree, which was all but wiped out by blight. Some see the engineered variety as the way to bring back what was once an abundant wild food source. Others see the potential effects on the natural ecology as too great a risk. Buffalo are more than food. They are a connection to culture and a symbol of survival. That’s why the Tanka Fund convened the Regional Buffalo to Schools Conference with native ranchers, cultural educators, and school administrators to break down hurdles for getting buffalo into school lunches.

The Muscogee Nation will assume some law enforcement duties in the city of Tulsa, Okla., when it comes to tribal citizens. The development over jurisdiction ends a federal lawsuit filed by the Muscogee Nation in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark McGirt decision in 2020. The Cherokee and Osage Nations also potentially have jurisdiction claims in Tulsa and other cities. Local law enforcement officials and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt oppose the agreement, saying it creates a two-tiered system of justice. We’ll find out what the new agreement solves and what it leaves unanswered. Also, tribes connected to Florida are speaking out against the Trump administration’s fast track plans to establish a detention center for immigration actions near the Florida Everglades. Miccosukee and Seminole tribal officials and citizens say the center, dubbed the “Alligator Alcatraz,” infringes on land that is their “cultural, spiritual and historical identity.” GUESTS Betty Osceola (Miccosukee), environmental educator State Rep. Scott Fetgatter (Choctaw/R-OK 16) Robert Miller (Eastern Shawnee), law professor at Arizona State University and tribal judge Jason Salsman, press secretary for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation

The violent attacks on legislators in Minnesota are a shocking reminder of the pervasive threats rising from political divisions. The Brennan Center for Justice finds the volume and severity of abuse directed at public officials is increasing, and is disproportionately directed at women and people of color. As officials in Minnesota and the rest of the nation grieve the recent tragedy, we’ll look at the potential effect rising threats has on the willingness of Native Americans, and others, to hold public office. We’ll also learn more about a theatrical production offered by a church in the Navajo border town Gallup, N.M. that has many Navajo citizens upset over insensitive portrayals of Navajo spiritual culture. GUESTS State Rep. Heather Keeler (Ihaƞktoƞwaƞ and Eastern Shoshone/DFL-MN 04A) Louvannina Tsosie (Navajo), witness, advocate of Navajo culture, and university student Carl Slater (Diné), Navajo Nation council delegate Samuel Strong (Red Lake), tribal secretary for the Red Lake Nation

An illegal voting case in Alaska highlights lingering confusion over the rights extended to the citizens of American Samoa, a U.S. territory. Eleven Samoans from Whittier, Alaska are charged with felonies for alleged voter fraud by participating in their local election. All have U.S. passports, were born on U.S. soil, and can even participate in the presidential primary process. The territory has been under heavy colonial pressure for centuries and has been under U.S. oversight for more than 125 years. But Congress never granted its citizens the right to vote in national elections. In another case, tribes in North Dakota were dealt a serious blow in their ongoing fight against redistricting that reduces their collective power in state elections. GUESTS Charles Ala'ilima (Samoan), attorney Tafilisaunoa Toleafoa (Samoan), executive director of the Pacific Community of Alaska Nicole Donaghy (Hunkpapa Lakota), executive director of North Dakota Native Vote Neil Weare, co-director of Right to Democracy

Minnesota is the first state to sign compacts with tribes for cannabis operations. The White Earth Nation just opened that state’s first off-reservation recreational marijuana retail store. A second store is already in the works with the tribe envisioning as many as eight dispensaries statewide. But as some tribes lead the way with economic development potential for cannabis, some other tribes elsewhere are subject to law enforcement actions and regulatory hurdles. We’ll hear about both the success stories and dead ends for tribal cannabis operations. GUESTS Mary Jane Oatman (Nez Perce and Delaware), executive director of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association and founder of THC Magazine Lester Marston (Cahuilla), attorney and tribal court judge Blake Johnson (Dakota), president of Prairie Island CBH Inc. Zach Wilson, CEO of Waabigwan Mashkiki LLC

Deb Haaland’s (Laguna Pueblo) political star rose fast, from heading her state party to congresswoman to U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Each step of the way she blazed a trail for Native women. As the head of the agency that oversees Indian Affairs, Haaland championed a first-of-its-kind documentation of the U.S. Government’s role in the Indian Boarding School Era, drawing on both public records and first-hand testimony from survivors and their descendants. Now, she aims to become the first female Native American governor in her home state of New Mexico. We’ll hear from Haaland about her legacy as Interior Secretary and her hopes for the future. We’ll also get perspectives on the historic agreement between the federal government and Northwest tribes to protect endangered salmon, and the equally historic decision by President Donald Trump to rescind that agreement. We’ll discuss what it means for salmon and the trust in the federal government. GUESTS Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Erik Holt (Nez Perce), chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe Fish and Wildlife Commission Jeremy Takala (Yakama), member of the Yakama Nation tribal council and the chair of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

The stage drama "Unto These Hills", put on by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, is celebrating 75 years of telling southeast American history from a Native American perspective. It is a major tourism draw every summer to the outdoor Mountainside Theatre on the Qualla Boundary. One enterprising Navajo entrepreneur is helping out southwest tourism destinations, connecting travelers with the places they want to go while tribal businesses can hang on to more of their money. What better time than the Summer Solstice to look around at Native American tourism draws for the season? GUESTS Laura Blythe (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), program director for the Cherokee Historical Association DeAnnethea Long (Diné and San Carlos Apache), director of operations for Moenkopi Developers Corporation Wyatt Gilmore (Navajo), CEO and owner of Laguna Creek and Native American Tours Robert Hall (Blackfeet), Blackfeet Native American studies instructor at the Browning School on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation

Tulsa, Okla. Mayor Monroe Nichols is championing a $105 million reparations package for the survivors and families of his city’s 1921 Race Massacre. It’s a philanthropy-driven city and housing rejuvenation project to offset the continuing repercussions from the coordinated attack more than a century ago. At the time, thousands of white residents besieged what was among the most successful and affluent Black communities in the early 20th century. Three hundred Black people died and more than a thousand homes and businesses were destroyed. Years of efforts to compensate descendants for the violence have failed. We'll get perspectives from Freedmen descendants about the importance of this ambitious effort to set things right. Also, we’ll learn about a swamp with connections to Indigenous people going back thousands of years. On the homelands of the Nansemond Indian Nation in Virginia, the Great Dismal Swamp was a safe space for tribes. It also became a refuge for Black freedom seekers escaping slavery. Federal officials are exploring it as a new National Heritage Area. GUESTS Hannibal B. Johnson, author, attorney, and consultant Saché Primeaux-Shaw (Ponca, Yankton Dakota, Seminole, and Chickasaw Freedman), historian and genealogist Sam Bass (Nansemond Indian Nation), Chief Emeritus of the Nansemond Indian Nation Alexandra Sutton (African American and Yesàh), co-founder of the Great Dismal Swamp Stakeholder Collaborative and executive director of Indigenous East Eric "Mubita" Sheppard, co-founder of Mubita LLC

A new study finds the death rate for Native Americans — which was already higher than other groups — is much higher than previously thought. The analysis just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) finds the gap in life expectancy between Native Americans and Alaska Natives and the national average is almost three times wider than what official statistics say it is. The researchers point to the fact that more than 40% of death certificates misidentify Native Americans and Alaska Natives. One of the study’s researchers says the discrepancies indicate “statistical erasure” in routine public health data has obscured the severity of a mortality crisis among Native people. We’ll get a handle on the new study and what is behind the numbers. GUESTS Michael Bird (Kewa Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh), past president of the American Public Health Association and past national consultant for AARP Stephanie Woolhandler, distinguished professor at the City University of New York – Hunter College

If you’re one of the 1.9 million people who still get a paper tax refund check from the federal government, you will need to make a change in the coming months. It’s the same for those who still count on Social Security checks in the mail rather than electronic direct deposit. A presidential executive order requires those and other transactions by the federal government to go completely electronic by September 30. The White House claims paperless transactions will save taxpayers as much as $657 million. At the same time, it poses a significant challenge for the high percentage of Native Americans who choose not to utilize conventional banks. GUESTS Cory Blankenship (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), executive director of the Native American Finance Officers Association Josh Lucio (Zuni), marketing director for World Financial Group Nathan King (member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), vice president of Bay Bank

President Donald Trump is expected to reverse President Joe Biden’s designation of two national monuments in California supported by area tribes. The Department of Justice issued an opinion that it is in the president’s purview to do away with Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument. There is additional pressure to at least reduce the side of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase Escalante as President Trump did during his first term. The changes to national monuments also come as Republicans in Congress propose selling millions of acres of federal land, some of which is important to nearby tribes. We’ll get a rundown of the likely land moves and how it affects people. We’ll also hear about the final piece in a land transfer to the Yurok Tribe that comprises the largest return of land to a tribe in California history. Nearly all of the Yurok’s traditional land — 90% — was taken during the time known as the California Gold Rush. GUESTS Joseph Mirelez (Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians), chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Davina Smith (Diné), co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Matthew Campbell (Native Village of Gambell), deputy director of the Native American Rights Fund Tiana Williams-Claussen (Yurok), wildlife director for the Yurok Tribe

Two Native nations, the Washoe Tribe of Nebraska and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, are suing the federal government over what they say is mismanagement of funds related to Indian Boarding Schools. They claim the U.S. Government is on the hook for $23.3 billion by failing to live up to the Treaty and Trust Responsibility. Meanwhile, boarding school survivor advocates are concerned that years of research and narratives shedding light on the Boarding School Era have vanished from federal government sources. We’ll discuss the importance of these recent updates. GUESTS Vice President Tasha Mousseau (Wichita and Affiliated Tribes) President J.C. Seneca (Seneca Nation) Lori Quigley (Seneca Nation), professor and department chair for the Ph.D. in Leadership and Policy program at Niagara University and educational consultant Samuel Torres (Mexica and Nahua), deputy CEO for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition Amy Sazue (Sicangu and Oglala Lakota), executive director of Remembering the Children

The city of Anchorage plans to clear a large encampment of homeless people at a park in mid-June following years of complaints and public safety problems. The park has seen two fatal shootings and a large fire in recent months. The city’s move is one of dozens of encampment “abatements” around the country following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows such law enforcement actions. Some cities have multi-pronged strategies to help homeless residents further displaced when officials clear encampments. We’ll explore where solutions may lie in the balance between compassion and public safety. GUESTS Jim LaBelle (Iñupiaq), member of the Anchorage Native Community Council James Lovell (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians), chief community development officer for the Chief Seattle Club Rene’ Williams (Colville), director of strategic initiatives for the California Native Vote Project Reva Stewart (Diné), owner of Shush Diné Native Shop, founder of Stolen People, Stolen Benefits, and founder of Turtle Island Women Warriors

President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles has upped the ante when it comes to the response to direct action. Native Americans turned to civil disobedience during high profile protests at Standing Rock and following George Floyd’s death more recently, and during the formation of the American Indian Movement more than a half century ago. Will the equation for direct action include confrontations with the U.S. military from now on? We’ll discuss what Native activists see for the future of public protests. GUESTS Dr. Robert Warrior (Osage), Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas Jacob Johns (Hopi and Akimel O'Odham/Gila River Pima), executive director of A Wisdom Keepers Delegation Joel Garcia (Huichol), artist and cultural organizer and director of Meztli Projects

In what is becoming an annual occurrence, numerous fires across at least three Canadian provinces are putting Indigenous nations residents at risk. The 3,000 citizens of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation are affected by evacuations because of the fires. They are among the estimated 30,000 people forced to flee from some 200 wildfires. Many, like the Sandy Lake First Nation, had to be airlifted to safety. At one point, workers took refuge against the smoke and flames for several hours in a shipping container. Smoke from the fires are also degrading air quality in northern U.S. states. We’ll find out what is on the minds of Indigenous people affected by the fires and what long term solutions might be in store. GUESTS Tyson Wesley (Kashechewan Cree Nation), CEO of Creemergency Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson (Métis), senior fire advisor for Indigenous Leadership Initiative and board member of the International Association of Wildland Fire Chief Willie Moore (Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation), Manitoba Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Jimmy Côté, president of Creemergency Mayor Colleen Smook, city of Thompson

At least two tribal relocation efforts foreshadow what can go wrong when even small communities are forced to contend with the increasing threats posed by climate change. A report by the Washington Post, ProPublica, and Bethel radio station KYUK documents the ongoing difficulties which the residents of Newtok, Alaska confront after moving their village to escape the effects of the rising sea and thawing permafrost. We’ll hear about that report and the worries about future efforts to react to changing landscapes. GUESTS Bernice John (Yup’ik), president of the Newtok Native Corporation Chantel Comardelle (Jean Charles Choctaw Nation), tribal secretary for the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation Emily Schwing, freelance reporter based in Alaska