Native America Calling

A play in Burbank, Calif. exposes the frustrations Native Americans often express about the ongoing tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). The largely Native production, Four Women In Red, portrays a group of women who learn they’re largely alone in finding out information about missing loved ones. The play comes at a time of job cuts for Department of Interior officials and federal law enforcement officers. At the same time, the Trump Administration announced new efforts to identify remains of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and reunite them with their families. Some states, including New Mexico, are making moves to reinforce their efforts to solve MMIP crimes.

Iowa is testing new legal limits as the first state to remove gender identity as a protected class in the state’s civil rights code. The Trump administration is also removing transgender service personnel from the military. And the State Department is using existing law against fraud to bar foreign transgender athletes from entering the country, something critics worry could be used to ban any trans traveler. After years of progress, Native American trans residents are facing a major rollback of favorable laws and policies. We’ll hear about the current public climate and what might be in store for the future.

Among the shows and films touching on Native American themes is the start of season three of the suspenseful Dark Winds crime saga on AMC. The well-received show has new mysteries with Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), and Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) among many other Native characters. The show just got confirmed for a fourth season. The Netflix limited series American Primeval is a violent retelling of the American West with several significant Native storylines and characters. And fresh off its Academy Award nomination, Sugarcane is a hard-hitting documentary about the Canadian residential school system.

President Donald Trump has promised to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Education advocates worry about what that means for the $119 billion the federal government sends to public K-12 schools and what becomes of the programs supporting Native American students. We’ll get a sense of what the future for Native primary and secondary education along with concerns from Native educators and policy advocates.

Compensation for college athletics is changing fast. University sports programs are having to adapt to the evolving market for athletes through what is known as name, image and likeness. The issue is being debated in state legislatures and Congress. A settlement between the NCAA and current and former athletes could open the door to schools directly compensating athletes and revenue sharing among institutions. We’ll find out how some Native athletes are navigating the new N.I.L. reality and what some of the potential benefits and pitfalls could be.

The good news is overdose deaths dropped significantly in the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bad news is Native Americans and other people of color are not enjoying the same statistical headway against the persistent scourge of fentanyl, heroin, and other dangerous drugs. We’ll look at the efforts that are showing promise in saving people’s lives and explore ways to eliminate disparities for populations that are losing ground.

Haskell Indian Nations University lost nearly a quarter of its staff in the Trump administration’s mass terminations. It’s one of two higher education institutions that rely on federal funds through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education that are scrambling after the sudden and unprecedented job cuts. The reduction of more than a thousand National Park Service employees prompted worries over certain sacred and important Native treasures protected by federal workers. We’ll check on how the fast-paced federal job restructurings are affecting issues Native people are following.

Repatriation advocates have had some recent progress in both policy and practice when it comes to getting important items returned to tribes. But the ongoing effort to educate the elected officials, institutional leaders and the public requires time and resources. We’ll get an update on the eve of the biggest annual conference for people working in the repatriation field. We’ll also get an update on a Florida repatriation dispute.