Native America Calling

A big band made up of Native musicians is headlining a jazz festival at the Kennedy Center in the nation’s capital this weekend. The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band is billed as the only all-Native jazz band in the world. It’s made up of 16 of the music disciplined genre’s most notable and talented Native musicians, including co-director Delbert Anderson (Diné), Mali Obomsawin (Odanak Abenaki), and Ed Littlefield (Tlingit). GUESTS Julia Keefe (Nimiipuu), jazz singer, band leader, actor, and director of Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band Delbert Anderson (Diné), jazz trumpet artist, composer, educator, and co-director of Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band

Twenty-five year old Diné multimedia artist Kassie John is the newest cultural ambassador to wear the Miss Indian World crown. She is the first Navajo Miss Indian World in a decade. John hopes to inspire young people to tap into their own artistic talent to bring Indigenous stories to others. She’s a business owner and comes from a family with many strong ties to the powwow community. We’ll hear from her and some previous Miss Indian World winners about the power of Native royalty. GUESTS Kassie John (Diné), current Miss Indian World 2023-2024 Cheyenne Kippenberger (Seminole), former Miss Indian World 2019-2021 and owner of C.K. Consulting

Tribes can enact laws and take actions that relate to tribal land. But the ability for tribes to dictate what happens in the skies over that land is less clear. The Federal Aviation Administration is the main authority controlling the use of airspace. But the growing proliferation of drones and small personal aircraft is prompting researchers and some tribes to explore how to assert jurisdiction to what happens overhead. We’ll discuss some of the current limits and possibilities for exerting sovereign influence over tribal airspace.

Gaming revenue hit a record $40.9 billion in the most recent report by the National Indian Gaming Commission. Gaming’s economic reliability over the years along with other tribal enterprises give some tribes multi-billion dollar annual incomes. The U.S. Census Bureau reports Native-owned businesses employ more than 243,000. We’ll hear about the unique opportunities and challenges that come with tribal wealth.

Ten years since a world-changing blackout, an Anishinaabe community must embark on a mission of discovery if they’re going to survive. First Nations author Waubgeshig Rice revisits the survivors from his first novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, as they search south for sustainable future in his next novel, Moon of the Turning Leaves. We’ll hear from him how he works to bring hope into a post-apocalyptic story. Plus, we'll be joined by one of Jim Thorpe's granddaughters about his posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The number of arrests in connection to protests against the Israel-Hamas war has now gone over 2,000. A number of Native students are among those supporting the protests generally calling for universities to cut any ties to Israel’s military efforts in Gaza. Inspired by students at Columbia University, additional protests have spread to more than two dozen campuses. The protests include occupying university buildings and setting up encampments. In addition to arrests, protesting students risk suspensions and other academic consequences. We’ll hear from Native students in support of the largest college campus protests since the Vietnam War.

A substantial number of Native Americans are affected by Arizona’s efforts to solidify a strict ban on abortions. Even after Arizona elected leaders repealed the law affirmed by the state Supreme Court that criminalizes nearly all abortions, the state faces a new landscape with it comes to access to the procedure. Abortion access advocates are taking cues from other states with abortion restrictions on the books — a reality that affects at least 75 federally recognized tribes. We’ll get rundown from multiple perspectives on the current trends and realities for abortion access for Native women.

The short video social media platform TikTok is mostly a source of entertainment and information for most Native users. A ban on the app in the United States would cut that off for TikTok fans, but also close off a source of income for several talented Native producers. A new law requires TikTok's China-based company to sell its interest in the app or lose its U.S. audience, which has a massive, mostly young base. We'll hear from Native TikTok producers and cybersecurity experts about what's behind the ban and what it means for users.

In his book Rabbit Decolonizes the Forest, Euchee judge Gregory Bigler uses a mix of legal analysis, first-hand accounts, and traditional animal stories. He also includes lots of references to food and how Euchee people carried culinary tradition with them from Georgia to Oklahoma. Filmmakers in the new PBS documentary One With The Whale follow a Yupik family who endured a barrage of hate messages after a traditional whale hunt. It shows the disconnection between traditional subsistence hunting in Alaska and outsiders who don’t have to rely on nature for their existence. And some Native school gardens are no longer just a class project, but an established part of the curriculum. That’s on this episode of The Menu on Native America Calling, our regular feature on food sovereignty hosted by Andi Murphy.

Jon Proudstar (Pascua Yaqui, Jewish, and Mexican) is coming off a successful run on the TV series, Reservation Dogs, and a starring role in an all-Native movie set on the Osage Nation. On top of that, his ground-breaking 1996 comic, Tribal Force, is enjoying a triumphant return. We’ll catch up with the Pascua Yaqui actor and learn about the wisdom he’s picked up from his more than 40 films and TV shows.

The year-round creative drive, Native Guitars Tour, heads up a two-day music and fashion presentation at the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque. It's a chance for us to hear from some of the musicians including Jir Anderson, Scotti Clifford, and Geneviève Gros-Louis – an hour of live music by Native talent.

We are in the midst of a new surge of Native writing talent. And their skill for engaging readers with compelling stories is propelling a new, complex and more sophisticated narrative about who Native Americans are. Gone are the Louis L’Amour stereotypes. The new Native characters are miscreants, bored office workers, dysfunctional family members, and reluctant heroes. And they all have a story to tell, with a voice that readers wouldn’t hear otherwise. We’ll explore the arc of Native literature from two writers who are part of the torrent of creative representation.

The early bond between Native Americans and horses was both technical and spiritual. For centuries, horses amplified the range and power for tribes, especially in the west. New discoveries are potentially rewriting what we know about the use of horses by the earliest inhabitants of North America. Those ancient bonds translate into a lasting spiritual and vocational connection that continues for those who work with horses. We’ll hear from some of them about how Native knowledge and horses go together.

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.

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.