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Forming glass from sand has ancient roots. But using glass in art is a relatively new medium for Native American artists. Those who work with glass turn traditional images, shapes, and ideas into sculpture that is as beautiful as it is fragile. The works take after traditional baskets, jars, totems and masks. A handful of Native American artists have mastered the process that involves forming molten glass into intricate patterns. We will talk to the artists about the joys and frustrations of working with glass to satisfy their inspiration.

Guests:

Ira Lujan (Taos Pueblo) – award winning glass artist
Ed Archie NoiseCat (Shuswap/Stl’atl’imx) – international award winning artist
Angela Babby (Lakota) – enameled stained glass mosaic artist

Break Music: Honour (feat. Skratch Won) (song) Rosary Spence (artist) Maskawisiwin (album)

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What you think of first when you consider Native Americans and alcohol is probably wrong. A new study counters the stereotype of Native Americans abusing alcohol. In fact, the study by the University of Arizona found a far higher percentage of Native Americans abstained from alcohol over a period of time than the majority population. Does the study finally put to rest the popular portrayal of the drunken Indian? Do the findings line up with what you’re seeing in your community?

Guests:

Dr. Teshia Solomon (Choctaw Nation) – Director of Native American Research and Training Center and Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Arizona

Dr. James Cunningham – Social Epidemiologist with the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Native American Research and Training Center

Marcella Ronyak (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) – director of the Office of Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Break Music: Don’t Make Trouble In Your Heart (song) Cheevers Toppah (artist) Renewed Spirit – Harmonized Church Hymns Of The Kiowa (album)

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Artists tend to use the medium most available to them. As buffalo hides became scarce in the late 19^th Century, Plains tribes resorted to drawing on the next-most abundant material: paper from accounting books. Artists drew pictographs of important events sometimes overtop lined paper and hand-written debits and credits of a local business. The style became known as ledger art. Now, a new generation of ledger artists are reviving the art form. Notable examples of ledger art are part of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

Mentioned on today’s show:

Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains

Guests:

Chris Pappan (Kaw, Osage and Cheyenne River Sioux) – artist

Emil Her Many Horses (Oglala Lakota) – curator at the National Museum of the American Indian

Wakeah Jhane (Comanche/ Blackfeet) – ledger artist

Lauren Good Day Giago (Arikara, Hidatsa, Blackfeet and Plains Cree) – artist

Break Music: Five Kiowa “49” Dance Songs (songs) Bill Koomsa, Sr. & Kiowa Dance Group Singers (artist) Kiowa – Traditional Kiowa Songs (album)

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More than two dozen tribes have nearly $6 million in new funding from HUD to help Native American homeless veterans. It’s a promising development to help a prevailing problem on reservations and in urban areas. Some tribes are getting as much as $142,000. They estimate the new influx of cash will help a total of 500 veterans who don’t have a roof over their heads. But already there are some complaints about bureaucracy interfering with the process. Which tribes are having the most success helping homeless veterans? And what challenges remain helping the men and women who have served in the military?

Guests:

Teresa Pittman – regional coordinator for the HUD VASH program

Taylor Real Bird (Crow) – assistant director for the Apsaalooke VA

Mitchelene Big Man (Crow) – president and founder of Native American Women Warriors and a retired Army Veteran

 Break Music: Flag Song (World) (song) The Black Lodge (artist) Veterans’ Honor Songs (album)

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Flint, Michigan captured the nation’s attention when its municipal water was deemed unsafe to drink.  The city’s average levels of lead are twice the recommended Environmental Protection Agency standards. While Flint deals with its crisis, Native America has its own on-going water problems. The EPA estimates 13 percent of Native American and Alaska Native homes lack safe drinking water or adequate wastewater disposal. Is the water in your community safe to drink? How do we make sure clean drinking water is available to everyone?

Guests:

Kathleen Brosemer (Echota Cherokee) -environmental program manager for the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribe

Shaun Livermore – Operations Manager for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Utilities Authority

Janene Yazzie (Diné) – senior planner for the Little Colorado River Watershed Chapters Association

Break Music -Bring The Water (song) DiggingRoots (artist) We Are (album)

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Sexual assault is an ongoing problem for girls and women. At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds 1 in 71 men report being victims of rape at some time in their lives. Nearly 28 percent of those say they became victims when they were 10 years old or younger. What challenges do Native men and boys face as victims of sexual assault? And is it time to talk about it and raise awareness?

Mentioned on the show I Am a Male Victim of Sexual Assault

Guests:

Vincent Schilling (Akwesasne Mohawk) – media company owner of Schilling Media and arts and entertainment editor for Indian Country Today Media Network

Nicole Matthews (White Earth Ojibwe) -Executive director of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition

Comanche Fairbanks (Red Lake Band of Ojibwe) – media and community specialist for the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition

Break Music: Straight (song) Northern Cree Singers (artist) Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live At Samson: Nikamo – “Sing!” (album)

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When is it appropriate to laugh at misfortune, bad luck and racism? Native comedians make fun of things that some people might consider hurtful, like poverty or cultural stereotypes. What do you find funny with your own culture? Is it OK to laugh at our shortcomings? Are some jokes funnier in Lakota or another language? What do we learn about ourselves when something that’s part of our lives becomes a punchline?

Guests:

JR Redwater (Standing Rock Sioux) –comedian

Dr. Sophia Marjanovic (Fort Peck Oglala) – standup comic and host of Indigenius Online Comic Writers Group

Ricardo Cate (Santo Domingo Pueblo) – cartoonist and artist

“Reservation Sensation” (song) MC RedCloud feat. Cook Book (artist) JR Redwater Presents: Chiefs of Comedy (album)

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As an advocate for Indigenous cultural, legal, political and environmental rights Sylvia McAdam (Saysewahum) has inspired many others with her passion and dedication to protecting Native ways of life. McAdam is one of the co-founders of the Idle No More movement. Her view on the hold colonialism has on Native liberty has also prompted others to push for self-determination and seek the path of healing from an era of genocide. Join us for this episode of Native America Calling where we sit down with Sylvia McAdam (Nêhiyaw First Nation) our March Native in the Spotlight.

Break Music: Idle No More (feat. Charlie Fettah, Wab Kinew & Young Kidd) (song) Boogey the Beat (artist) Idle No More (feat. Charlie Fettah, Wab Kinew & Young Kidd) (single)