Native America Calling

Indigenous business leaders in the U.S. and all over the world will now have to adjust to the uncertain effects of President Donald Trump’s aggressive new series of tariffs. Economic experts predict some measure of chaos in the short term. It’s impossible to predict how the tariffs will play out in the long run, but it will certainly affect everything from the beads used in regalia to groceries to auto sales. Trump insists the new tariffs will put American businesses on a more level playing field and boost the federal government’s coffers. We’ll hear how Native business experts are responding to the new economic reality. GUESTS Tabatha Bull (Nipissing First Nation), president and CEO of Canadian Council for Indigenous Business John Desjarlais (Cree-Métis), executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network Dante Biss-Grayson (Osage), founder of Sky-Eagle Collection Tally Monteau (Hunkpati Dakota and Chippewa-Cree), program manager for the Native American Development Corporation (NADC) Triia program and beadwork artist Benjamin Haile (Shinnecock), owner of Thunder Island Coffee Roasters

Indigenous people in Canada suffered a noticeably disproportionate number of fatal interactions with law enforcement in 2024. In one three-month period, 15 Indigenous people died either in custody or from direct interactions with police. It prompted the Assembly of First Nations and other Indigenous leaders to call for a national inquiry. It also inspired the news program, APTN Investigates, to pry into the factors that contribute to such an imbalance in the justice system. Their new three-part series looks into the strained relationship between Indigenous people and law enforcement. We’ll talk with APTN Investigates team members about their findings. We'll also hear from Marvin Roberts, the Athabascan man who just settled a wrongful conviction lawsuit against the city of Fairbanks, Alaska for $11.5 million. Roberts is one of the men – all Native – deemed the "Fairbanks Four". They were all convicted and imprisoned for the 1997 murder of a teenager. They were released in 2015 after another man confessed to the crime. GUESTS Cullen Crozier (Gwich’in, Dene, and Métis), producer with APTN Investigates Tamara Pimental (Métis), video journalist with APTN Investigates Tom Fennario, video journalist with APTN Investigates Marvin Roberts (Athabascan), one of the "Fairbanks Four" Reilly Cosgrove, partner at Kramer and Cosgrove law firm

Punk rock’s rebellious anger aimed at the forces of economic and political oppression and its low-fi, DIY aesthetic are among the reasons the genre took hold with some Indigenous musicians. It’s a connection that continues to resonate with both players and audiences. Kristy Martinez (Yoeme and Chicanx) is both a punk performer and a graduate student researching the history of the Indigenous contributions to the legacy of punk, one short, loud, and angry song at a time. She is building an archive of Indigenous punk musicians, posters, and performances on social media. We’ll hear from Martinez about her growing archive of Indigenous punk history and what the art form has to offer to today’s listeners. GUESTS Kristen Martinez (Yaqui and Mexican), archivist for the Indigenous Punk Archive and graduate student in musicology at UCLA Gregg Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe), visual artist and lead vocalist of the Dead Pioneers Toni Heartless (Diné, Choctaw, Filipino), artist and front man for Heart Museum

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in western Oregon signed away their subsistence hunting and fishing rights in exchange for federal recognition in 1980. Now, after years of work, those rights are fully restored, opening up a rich store of traditional food for tribal members. Author Brook Thompson was inspired to write her children's book, I Love Salmon and Lampreys, after witnessing a salmon kill in the Klamath River in 2002. Her book, illustrated by Anastasia Khmelevska, is an approachable story about environmental stewardship. Indigenous chef and restaurateur Bleu Adams reimagines American cuisine at her new eatery, The Continental, in Provo, Utah, "celebrating the land, the seasons, and the stories that shape us." GUESTS Brook Thompson (Yurok and Karuk), author, civil engineer, activist, artist, and full-time Ph.D. student at the University of California, Santa Cruz in environmental studies Bleu Adams (Diné, Mandan and Hidatsa), owner and chef of The Continental and served as an emissary for the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership Robert Kentta (Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians), Siletz Tribal Council member

For the first time in decades, tribes in the Pacific Northwest will be able to forage for wild huckleberries in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest without competition from commercial companies. The development comes after decades of work by the Yakama Nation and other tribes in a contentious dispute, all while the culturally important wild berry abundance has dwindled. Foraging is also important to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southern Colorado. A collaboration between the tribe and a conservation nonprofit to facilitate foraging on nearby private land just got a significant boost. GUESTS Bronsco Jim Jr., chief of the Ḱamíłpa Band of the Yakama Nation Josephine Woolington, journalist in Portland Treston Chee (Diné), Indigenous lands program field coordinator with Trees, Water & People

The Trump Administration is backtracking on some of the looming changes at the Social Security Administration (SSA) after widespread complaints from the public, advocates, and elected leaders. But staffing and budget cuts are already creating backlogs and delays for recipients. SSA is delaying for two weeks a new requirement for in-person identity checks, but significant changes are still on the way. We’ll talk about what those changes are for Native American elders and how they can prepare for them. GUESTS Rosalind Asetamy (Comanche), chairperson for the elder council of the Comanche Nation Larry Curley (Navajo), grant writer and consultant Judith Kozlowskiindependent Elder Justice consultant and is a consultant for the International Association for Indigenous Aging Michael Bird (Santo Domingo Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh), past president of the American Public Health Association and past national consultant for AARP

Vaccines for the coronavirus have reduced the scope and severity of COVID-19 infections, but for as many as a third of the people who contract COVID, symptoms of the disease persist and cause potentially disabling affects day after day. Long COVID affects as many as 23 million Americans. Symptoms include persistent headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, and memory and concentration problems. In addition to the personal and medical burdens, several studies indicate the global financial drain from long COVID is anywhere from $1 trillion to $6 trillion. The Trump administration just announced it is closing the federal office that facilitates research and information-sharing among medical institutions on long COVID. GUESTS Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee), writer, advocate, host of the podcast This Land, and author of By the Fire We Carry Rita Bilagody (Navajo), activist and grandma Troy Montserrat-Gonzales (Lumbee and Chicana), mental health therapist and health care consultant Dr. Ivy Hurowitz, associate professor Division of Infectious Diseases at University of New Mexico Department of Internal Medicine Dr. Douglas Perkins, professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Global Health in the University of New Mexico Department of Internal Medicine

The unpredictable availability of salmon and other fish in Alaska is putting additional pressure on the practice of subsistence fishing for Alaska Native residents. A federal board just opened up subsistence fishing and hunting — something reserved only for rural residents — to all 14,000 residents of Ketchikan. The State of Alaska is fighting a federal panel’s approval of a COVID-era emergency subsistence hunt for citizens in Kake. Meanwhile, stakeholders are closely watching a legal conflict over fishing on the Kuskokwim River that has implications for decades of legal precedents over subsistence fishing access. GUESTS Ilsxílee Stáng / Gloria Burns (Haida), president of the Ketchikan Indian Community Nathaniel Amdur-Clark (Citizen Potawatomi), partner at Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller, and Monkman, LLP

Native Hawaiian writer Norma Kawelokū Wong tells us our current reality is “drifting haphazardly in the riptide of collapse”. Wong is both a Zen Master and an experienced political strategist, having advised prominent figures including Hawaii’s first Native Hawaiian Governor, John D. Waiheʻe III. She also offered guidance and mediation on some of Hawaii’s most high profile and vexing conflicts, including the U.S. Navy’s $344 million clean-up of munitions on Kahoʻolawe Island, telescope construction on Mauna Kea, and recovery following the devastating wildfire in Lahaina. In her new book, When No Thing Works, she weaves poetry, politics, and spiritual wisdom together into a lesson for navigating crises.

Mi’kmaq fiddler and songwriter Morgan Toney’s brand new album hopes to Heal The Divide for listeners. Shoshone poet and writer Tanaya Winder is releasing her first album of music, Call Back Your Heart, soon. And Navajo-fronted Tucson band The Reztones are bringing their high energy psychobilly sound on the road in their home state of Arizona and packing songs from their latest album, Chest Full of Arrows. We’ll add these artists to our Native Playlist and hear samples of their work. GUESTS Morgan Toney (Mi’kmaq), Mi’kmaq fiddler, singer, and songwriter Ace Begay (Diné), vocalist for The Reztones Tanaya Winder (Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Diné, and enrolled with the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe) musical artist, writer, and motivational speaker

Ahtna Athabascan elder Katie John’s efforts to get the state of Alaska to open up subsistence fishing in her Native Village of Batzulnetas turned into a series of legal and policy decisions that continue to protect Alaska Native fishing rights to this day. Daring Chickasaw aviator and legislator Eula Pearl Carter Scott was the youngest person in the country to fly an airplane solo. By age 14, she was working as a commercial pilot. She retired from flying to go on to work as the tribe’s Community Health Representative, and later as a tribal legislator. We’ll learn about the contributions of these and other notable Native women. GUESTS Jeannie Barbour (Chickasaw Nation), Chickasaw Nation creative development director Heather Kendall-Miller (Dena'ina Athabascan [Curyung tribe]), Native American Rights Fund attorney Liz Lovejoy Brown, executive director of the Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Center

The Donald Trump Administration is using the full force of the federal government to compel colleges and universities to do away with scholarships, recruiting, academic programs and any other initiatives that help Native students succeed. Schools risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding in addition to defending against investigations by the Department of Justice and other agencies. At least 50 schools are facing such investigations for what the U.S. Department of Education calls “race exclusionary” practices. We’ll get a look at the sweeping changes the Trump Administration is bringing about and how Native education advocates are responding. GUESTS Cheryl Crazy Bull (Sicangu Lakota), president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund Carrie Billy (Diné), education consultant and former president and CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Zonnie Gorman (Diné), historian and daughter of Dr. Carl Gorman, one of the original Navajo Code Talkers

Author Marcie Rendon (White Earth Nation) continues to put her favorite Ojibwe protagonist, Cash Blackbear, into a nail biting search for another murderer in Broken Fields. It’s the fourth in Rendon’s Cash Blackbear series about a tough independent young woman who loves working the land of the Red River Valley as a farm hand and has a special intuition for solving crime. There’s more than the usual slots and tables at the ocean-themed Hidden Atlantis Casino on the fictional Languille Lake Reservation. Something dark has the power over casino patrons and only Marion Lafournier and his cousins know what’s up. Passing Through a Prairie Country by Dennis E. Staples (Red Lake Nation) takes readers through dimensions that Marion must navigate to save the souls of his people.

Two Native students are among the recent winners of one of the most prestigious science research competitions for high school students. Logan Lee (Native Hawaiian) and Ava Grace Cummings (Lumbee and Coharie) placed in the top 10 among thousands of contestants in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. It’s the first time two Indigenous students were awarded prizes in the competition’s 83-year history. We’ll hear about their drive for science excellence. We’ll also check in with the author of Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa. It’s a children’s book by Leslie Stall Widener and illustrator Johnson Yazzie highlighting the enduring connection between the Choctaw Nation and Ireland. GUESTS Ava Grace Cummings (Lumbee and Coharie), senior at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Logan Lee (Native Hawaiian), senior at ‘Iolani School Leslie Widener (Choctaw), author of Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa

At least 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19; thousands of them just since January. As the nation marks five years since the pandemic-causing virus appeared in this country, we’ll look at how Native Americans have recovered — and how they haven’t. Businesses closed down or have yet to regain their pre-pandemic levels, school enrollment remains weakened, and trust in medical science — something Native Americans already lacked — is diminished. We’ll examine what we learned from the unprecedented public health emergency five years later. GUESTS Gwendena Lee-Gatewood (White Mountain Apache), former chairwoman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Dr. Rebecca St. Germaine (Lac Courte Oreilles), director of tribal health care administration at St. Germaine Data Innovations Jonathan Nez (Diné), former Navajo Nation President Lavinia Cody (Diné), certified school Diné counselor

An entire wall of one school building is buckling after a leaky roof went unattended for 19 years. Students at another school have to go home to use the bathroom during the day because the school’s water pipes burst. Exposed insulation hangs from the ceiling in another school. For more than a quarter century, the Alaska legislature has devoted only a fraction of the funds needed to keep the public school buildings that serve a predominantly Alaska Native student population functioning properly. We’ll hear about the investigation by KYUK in collaboration with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network and NPR’s Station Investigations Team that exposed a problem many years in the making. GUESTS Emily Schwing, KYUK senior reporter Jason Dropik (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), National Indian Education Association executive director

The death of a 14-year-old San Carlos Apache girl is spurring questions nationally about what could have been done to prevent the tragedy. Emily Pike’s remains were found three weeks after she went missing from a Mesa, Ariz. group home. A candlelight vigil over the weekend honored her memory. At least one other community event is scheduled. Her death also comes after authorities identified the remains found at a Winnipeg landfill as one of the women suspected to be a victim of a serial killer. We’ll hear about both cases in context of pressure to improve the outcomes for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. GUESTS Mary Kim Titla (San Carlos Apache), executive director of United National Indian Tribal Youth Jolyana Begay-Kroupa (Diné), chief executive officer of the Phoenix Indian Center Kim Wheeler (Anishinaabe and Mohawk), journalist and host of The Kim Wheeler Show on Sirius XM Sandra DeLaronde (Cross Lake First Nation and Métis), MMIWG2S advocate

Military veterans make up just under a third of the thousands of federal job cuts that the White House has imposed since January. On top of that, the Trump Administration indicates it intends to cut 80,000 jobs from Veterans Affairs. We’ll explore how those cuts are being felt by the population that traditionally has the highest military participation compared to any other group. GUESTS Dean Dauphinais (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians), business owner, entrepreneur, and Marine Corps veteran Robert Hunter Sr. (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Northern Cheyenne), director of MHA Veterans Affairs and Army veteran

Native Americans have a lower risk of developing skin cancer than their white counterparts. But a more comprehensive look at the disease over ten years’ time shows gaps in how skin cancer among Native people is counted. It also signals problems in awareness, diagnosis, and treatment among people who live in poverty or in rural areas. We’ll look at the links between Native Americans and skin cancer, and get a reminder about what to look for. GUESTS Dr. Anna Chacon (Maya), board certified dermatologist Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis (Plains Cree and Saulteaux First Nations), dermatologist and clinician researcher Melissa Buffalo (Meskwaki Nation), Chief Executive Officer at American Indian Cancer Foundation

Tribal and state public health efforts in New Mexico are credited with cutting the Native American suicide rate in that state by 43% over a year’s time. It’s even more notable in that the percent reduction is more than five times that of the rest of the population. There are still troubling statistics, including a study that shows Native American young people at most risk. We’ll hear from suicide prevention experts about where problems persist and what is being done to offset them. GUESTS Shelby Rowe (Chickasaw), executive director of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center Dr. Deidre Yellowhair (Diné), research assistant professor in the division of community behavioral health for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of New Mexico Lynette Hepa (Iñupiaq), director of the department of health and social services for the North Slope Borough Amanda WhiteCrane (Northern Cheyenne), director of the Native & Strong Lifeline with the Volunteers of America Western Washington