Native America Calling

Some language advocates are excited about potential for AI to help revitalize and promote Native languages. The emerging technology could create more accessible tools for second-language learners. At the same time, AI has implications for both tribes and individuals when it comes to using information they hold dear. AI is advancing fast, and Native experts are expressing the need for policy and legal safeguards to make sure it doesn’t trample Native values. GUESTS Dr. Ian Her Many Horses (Lakota), assistant teaching professor at the University of Colorado Boulder Michael Running Wolf (Lakota and Cheyenne), Ph.D student studying computer science and a language advocate using AI Dane Malenfant (citizen of Métis Nation Saskatchewan), AI researcher in Montreal Robbie Jimerson (member of the Seneca Nation), Ph.D candidate at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

Native Americans face a six-fold increased risk of flash floods because of climate change in the next two years. That is one of the predictions in a new study led by the University of Oklahoma. One of the study’s authors says “Indigenous communities are grappling with an imminent climate crisis.” And Native groups are both praising and lambasting the Biden Administration’s direction on oil leases on federal lands. Depending on where you stand, new policies are either protecting diminishing land, or denying Native people the jobs necessary to feed their families.

The torture and gruesome murders of three Navajo men by white high school students touched off a series of racially-fueled conflicts in Farmington, N.M. on the border with the Navajo Nation. The murders in April 1974 became known as the Chokecherry Massacre. One protest organizer at the time called Farmington “the Selma, Alabama of the Southwest,” referring to the simmering racial tensions. Demands by Navajos and other Native activists since then have improved relations in the border town and surrounding areas somewhat. But many residents and observers say the sources of the problems remain just below the surface. We’ll recount this little-known period of Four Corners history and discuss what community relationships are like 50 years later.

Native Americans are among the populations with the lowest rate of vaccinations, whether it’s for flu, measles, COVID-19, or hepatitis B. Health professionals urge parents to immunize their infants against more than a dozen serious diseases including polio, pertussis, diphtheria, and mumps. But poverty, lack of health insurance, and distance to health providers are among the barriers that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says keep rates for Native Americans low. On top of that, misinformation and confusion about vaccines creates additional hesitation for parents. We’ll talk with doctors about the factors that might improve immunization rates as a way to improve overall health.

Drones are for more than just appealing aerial videos. Native drone pilots are building careers using drones for scoping out landscapes for construction, searching for lost hikers, and even assessing potentially sacred areas. One First Nations enthusiast sees the novelty factor of drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, as a means to attract young Native people into STEM fields. We’ll talk to Native drone pilots about how they’re using their skills for enterprise and to help make their communities better.

Two Native sisters venture out of their Native community to chase their dreams, only to run head on into the threats of urban life in the new film, The Heart Stays. The Native-made drama is produced by a Native multi-arts organization and features a Native cast including Nathalie Standingcloud, Jon Proudstar, and Irene Bedard. Another film by Spirit Lake Dakota artist Marlena Myles is her own account of creating an augmented reality installation in St. Paul, Minn. And Bad River documents a Wisconsin tribe’s struggle with efforts to build an oil pipeline through their reservation.

Citing a troubling disparity for Native youth suicides, two tribes are suing the country’s most prominent social media companies. The lawsuit by the Spirit Lake Dakota Tribe and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin alleges the addictive pull of the platforms is driving a mental health crisis for young people – and Native youth are particularly vulnerable. They join a long list of states and other entities taking on social media corporations saying they are degrading the country’s mental health. We’ll discuss how to recognize when social media is becoming a problem and some ideas for a healthier approach.

Ojibwe writer Marcie Rendon takes a break from her popular Cash Murder Mystery series for a new collection of poems, Anishinaabe Songs For A New Millennium. She invokes the plants, animals, wind, and people of her White Earth home. She challenges readers to listen along to the songs of their ancestors. Rendon is among the poets helping us mark National Poetry Month.

It’s the time of year when Native nerds, cosplayers, comic geeks, and gamers assemble for the first and biggest convention devoted to them. IndigiPopX is back at the First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City for the second year, featuring panel discussions, vendors, musicians, a glowstick ball match, and a whole day devoted to the TV series Reservation Dogs. Amid the festival fun is the message that Native Americans enjoy Mandalorians just like everybody else. We’ll hear what’s new from the IPX organizers.

With no supporting information, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) claimed tribal leaders in her state are “personally benefiting” from the presence of drug cartels. While campaigning for re-election, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) warned about tribes setting up “abortion-on-demand” clinics to subvert the states new abortion laws. No Oklahoma tribe expressed any intention of setting up clinics. We’ll examine the fallout from such unfounded claims by high-ranking officials and what recourse tribal officials have to counter them.

Numerous studies over the years point out the overrepresentation of Native American women in U.S. prisons. The Sentencing Project found a 525% increase over more than 20 years in the incarceration of women and girls. Juvenile Native American girls had the highest rate, at more than four times that of their white counterparts. We’ll talk about the factors driving a growing trend and what advocates are doing to turn the numbers around.

The Lummi Nation is among the tribes that continue to face serious threats from the ongoing opioid epidemic, despite their best efforts. Lawmakers in Washington State are poised to allocate millions of dollars in opioid litigation settlement money to Lummi and other tribes in an effort to stem troubling statistics that show Native Americans are overwhelmingly affected by opioid abuse. All across the country, tribes are working to find the most promising opioid treatments funded by dozens of settlements with pharmaceutical giants. We’ll check in with the ongoing problem of Native opioid addiction and the best prospects for the $1.5 billion earmarked to help solve it.

Most tribes have important traditional connections to the stars and other celestial bodies in the night sky. But increasing encroachment from artificial lights is diminishing those connections. A handful of tribes are supporting a dark skies initiative to preserve what night sky visibility is left and promoting methods to limit light pollution. In the process, they’re raising awareness of their own night sky traditions.

A crime spree by two Ute youths in 1923 escalated into a mob of settlers bent on suppressing the nearby Ute and Paiute populations in what is now Utah. The conflict led to the deaths of two Paiute men, including William Posey, a leader who was vilified in the press for his resistance to oppressive settler tactics. The ‘posse’ formed to retaliate against the tribes imprisoned dozens of Ute citizens in a makeshift stockade. The action, sometimes called the “Posey War” or the “Last Indian Uprising,” forever changed the tribes’ access to their land and ushered in a time of forced attendance in boarding schools for Ute children. A new exhibition in Salt Lake City, Utah recounts the Posey War a century later.

Roberto Múkaro Borrero spent two decades surveying historical documents and piecing together fragments of written texts to create a new, comprehensive Taino language dictionary. And Alaina Tahlate is using what she learned from hours of recordings and hundreds of documents as she races to preserve the language of Oklahoma’s Caddo Nation that has only two fluent speakers remaining. We'll speak with these two passionate language scholars about the dedication it takes to make a difference.

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America struck 75 miles south of Anchorage in March 1964. More than 130 people lost their lives in the temblor and the subsequent tsunamis. The state’s largest city endured major damage to buildings, property, and infrastructure. Kodiak, Seward, Valdez, and the village of Chenega were among the places severely damaged by rising waters. The event forever changed how Alaska monitors and prepares for dangerous seismic threats.

Bestselling Blackfeet writer Stephen Graham Jones (Blackfeet), author and English professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, caps off his horror trilogy with his new novel, The Angel of Indian Lake. It’s the usual rough ride for protagonist Jade Daniels, a slasher movie buff who keeps finding herself the target of human and supernatural malevolence. Her experiences over the years have given her unique strength and wisdom, but have also taken a physical and emotional toll. Does she have what it takes to fend off the inevitable confluence of evil?

The future of Native agriculture depends on educating new generations of farmers and securing tribal water rights. Those are two of the conclusions from this year’s State of Native Agriculture Address. Federal ag agency leaders and Native non-profit ag representatives also praise new federal financial support programs and express the need make sure tribes’ interests are addressed in the overdue Farm Bill. Out on the land, it’s ramp (wild onion) season and time for cooks to share new and traditional wild onion dishes. And, for Women’s History Month, we’re focusing on the mothers, grandmothers, and ancestral matriarchs who keeping Indigenous foods alive. The Menu is our regular feature on Indigenous food sovereignty hosted and produced by Andi Murphy.

A Minneapolis Lakota man is developing an archive of music by Native American artists one record and cassette tape at a time. Justis Brokenrope (Sicangu Lakota), founder of Wathéča Records, music curator, DJ, and educator, has already amassed a sizable collection of mostly folk, rock, blues, and country music by Native musicians. Now he’s converting a lot of that music to digital formats to give the music and the artists who created it new recognition. Along the way he’s expanding the conversation about the importance of Native languages.

Minot Public Schools issued a public apology over conduct of fans at a basketball tournament this month. The action comes after reports of "potentially discriminatory conduct" targeting Native players. It’s one in a series of complaints about racially insensitive actions. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating. Native American advocates successfully pushed the state School Activities Association to adopt a zero tolerance policy for racially insensitive behavior by fans.