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A Brazilian motivational speaker is facing some backlash for including haka in his programming. He’s not Maori, but uses the traditional Maori dance that he says he learned from videos. He’s one of several Brazilian companies criticized for using haka in corporate retreats. The Maori ceremonial dance is accompanied by chanting and intimidating postures and facial expressions. Modern presentations of it include important events like weddings and funerals and some sports teams perform haka before competitions. We’ll get the basics of what haka is and when it turns into appropriation.

Guests:

Karaitiana Taiuru (Maori) – cultural advisor

Rata Elmore (Maori) – cultural advocate and educator

 

Break 1 music: Haka (song) Te Runga Rawa (artist) Chants Maoris (album)

Break 2 music: Smoke Dance One (feat. Frazer Sundown) (song) DJ Shub (artist) PowWowStep EP (album)

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Can you imagine paying $11 for a package of bologna or $69 for a dozen blueberry muffins? Those are prices reported by members of a Facebook group that tracks food costs in northern Canada. A 2016 food security study found that people in northern Canada spend twice as much on food compared to less remote areas. One nonprofit is experimenting with growing vegetables in shipping containers powered by wind and solar collectors. It’s one possible solution to food insecurity and high costs in tribal areas in Canada and Alaska that are remote and have shorter growing seasons.

Guests:

Cynthia Erickson (Athabascan and Yupik) – owner of Tanana Commercial Co. and founder of My Grandma’s House

Betty Kogvik – gardener at the greenhouse

Sammy Kogvik (Inuit) – Greenhouse leader

Wade Thorhaug – executive director for Qajuqturvik Food Centre

 

Break 1 Music: Through The Woodlands: Buckskin Flats/ Rod’s Reel/ Les Disputeuses (song) Métis Fiddler Quartet (artist) North West Voyage Nord Ouest (album)

Break 2 music: Smoke Dance One (feat. Frazer Sundown) (song) DJ Shub (artist) PowWowStep EP (album)

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After an initial effort to arrest protesters, the RCMP have withdrawn their actions to clear blockades on Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia. The new strategy comes as protests sympathetic to the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs ignited elsewhere in Canada, including a blockade of rail traffic in Ontario by members of a Mohawk tribe that has severely disrupted commerce throughout the country. At the heart of the conflict is construction of the Costal GasLink pipeline, which has support from elected Wet’suwet’en tribal leaders, but not the hereditary chiefs. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing pressure from conservative members of Parliament to use force to facilitate pipeline construction, while liberal elected leaders are urging a solution through dialogue. We’ll get an update on the situation and hear from those who have a stake in the ongoing conflict.

Guests:

Dan George (Burns Lake Band) – elected chief of the Burns Lake Band

Dr. Jeff Corntassel (Cherokee Nation) – associate professor of Indigenous Studies and acting director of the Centre for Indigenous Research and Community-Led Engagement at the University of Victoria

Kolin Sutherland-Wilson (Gitxsan) – spokesperson for Indigenous youth for Wet’suwet’en

 

Break 1 music: Smokedance remix (single) Eastern Sky Ambassadors (artist)

Break 2 music: Smoke Dance One (feat. Frazer Sundown) (song) DJ Shub (artist) PowWowStep EP (album)

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President Trump’s new executive order establishes a White House level position dedicated to fighting human trafficking. His administration reports the federal government is spending $430 million to fight trafficking domestically and abroad. Several states also have on-going initiatives to try and get a handle on the problem. Native Americans—especially women—disproportionately fall victim to sex trafficking. We’ll hear from representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice and others about what we can expect from the recent efforts to address trafficking.

Guests:

Tara Katuk Mac Lean Sweeney (Inupiaq) – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior

Katharine Sullivan – Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs

Sarah Curtiss (Anishinaabe) – co-executive director at Men as Peacemakers

 

Break 1 Music: Canoe Song (song) Khu.éex’ (artist) They Forgot They Survived (album)

Break 2 music: Mt It (song) Mo-Town Singers (artist) Oneida Powwow: 40th Anniversary (album)

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The Trump Administration is proposing major changes to the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA requires projects on federal land to undergo environmental reviews determining the impact to land and water. It’s the law that regulates projects like oil pipelines and mines. Those industries complain the law creates costly and time-consuming delays. We’ll hear about how tribes are responding to the proposed changes.

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Guests:

Dr. Ryan Emanuel (Lumbee) – associate professor and university faculty scholar in the department of forestry and environmental resources at North Carolina State University

Leona Morgan (Diné) – activist and organizer

Lisa DeVille (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara) – Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights

 

Break 1 music: Through The Woodlands: Buckskin Flats/ Rod’s Reel/ Les Disputeuses (song) Métis Fiddler Quartet (artist) North West Voyage Nord Ouest (album)

Break 2 music: Mt It (song) Mo-Town Singers (artist) Oneida Powwow: 40th Anniversary (album)

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The tools for Native language programs are constantly evolving. They include the proven methods of immersion schools, camps and workshops. Some tribes are also incorporating apps, podcasts and social media to get the word out. We’ll take a tour of some of the innovative ways tribes are reaching out to potential language learners.

Guests:

Adrienne Thunder (Ho-Chunk) – division manager for the Ho-Chunk language division

Brian Weedon ((Mashpee Wampanoag) – language teacher trainee and elected member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council

Jennifer Weston (Standing Rock Sioux) – director of the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project

Shannon King (Treaty 3 member) – Anishinaabemodaa Initiative manager

 

Break 1 music: Honoring The Homeland (song) Radmilla & Herman Cody (artist) Shi Kéyah (album)

Break 2 music: Mt It (song) Mo-Town Singers (artist) Oneida Powwow: 40th Anniversary (album)

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Another Oklahoma criminal case has potential jurisdiction implications for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and other tribes in the state. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed the hear the case involving a tribal member who asserts he should have been tried in federal court rather than state district court because the crime happened within historical Muscogee boundaries. A decision has potentially far-reaching implications. It’s the second challenge of a criminal conviction on similar grounds. Last summer, the High Court declined to issue a decision in another case of a Muscogee man arguing his death sentence is invalid because he was prosecuted in state court. Both cases hinge on the question of whether Congress adequately disestablished reservations in the state.

Guests:

Riyaz Kanji – partner at Kanji & Katzen

Mary Kathryn Nagle (citizen of the Cherokee Nation) – partner at Pipestem Law

 

Break 1 music: Tha Chosen One (song) Southern Style (artist) Blacked Out (album)

Break 2 music: Mt It (song) Mo-Town Singers (artist) Oneida Powwow: 40th Anniversary (album)

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It can be a big leap to show that special someone how deep your affection runs or to ask to share a life together. On this Valentine’s Day we explore showing these desires through song. Some Native nations simply call them courting songs and they are often played on the Native American flute. They’re meant to express deep emotions. We’ll hear how different nations turn to songs to start and build strong unions.

Guests:

Jay Old Mouse (Northern Cheyenne) – Native American flute maker & player

Melvin Young Bear (Oglala Lakota) – educator and singer with Porcupine Singers

Aaron White (Ute/Navajo) – musician and Native American flute player

Marilyn White (Navajo)

Roman Arona (Apache/Pueblo/Yaqui) – performing artist and Native American flute Player

 

Break 1 music: A Warrior’s Love Song (song) Aaron White (artist) Moonlight Love Songs (album)

Break 2 music: Nitsimos (song) Shakti Hayes (artist) Touchwood Hills (album)