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We look at the personal and emotional side of Cheyenne history though the fictional work of Northern Cheyenne author Gerry Robinson. “The Cheyenne Story: an Interpretation of Courage” is set in the time after the Battle of the Little Bighorn when Robinson’s people were pushed to Oklahoma. Our February Book of the Month allows us to walk along this side of Native History.

 

Break 1 music: Cheyenne Flag Song (song) Phillip Whiteman Jr. (artist) Spirit Seeker: Votoestatane (album)

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

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Before homeless Native young people can thrive, they need to heal and a secure base of culture and safety to build on. That’s what the Ain Dah Yung (Our Home) Center in Minnesota’s Twin Cities hopes to provide. They offer an emergency shelter for children as young as five and temporary transitional housing for teens. They also just opened the Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung Center (Good New Home) to offer permanent housing aimed at helping Native homeless for 18-24 year olds. The $17 million project has 42 efficiency apartments but is more than a place to stay. It has communal gathering spaces, teaching kitchens, and places for beading, hide tanning and sewing. The physical space is accompanied by mental, cultural and structural support. We’ll talk with the director and staff members about the work they do to help Native youth.

Guests:

Deb Foster (St. Croix Ojibwe) – executive director of Ain Dah Yung

Angela Gauthier – associate director of Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung

Mandy Pant – project manager Project for Pride in Living

Michael Laverdure (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) – principal and architect at DSGW Architects and director of First American Design Studio

 

Break 1 music: Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) (song) A Tribe Called Red (artist) Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) (single)

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

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Removing long-standing members from tribal rolls appears to be picking up after a brief lull. It’s a controversial practice. So much so that opponents established an annual “Stop Disenrollment Day” to call attention to the harm it causes. Some disenrolled members trace their identity to their tribes for generations. Tribal leaders defend their actions as an effort to purge their membership of those who don’t belong. We’ll get observations on current disenrollment trends and some of the factors that go into tribes’ decision-making.

Guests:

Dr. David Wilkins (Lumbee) – professor of Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond

Gabe Galanda (Round Valley Indian Tribes) – managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman 

 

Break 1 music: Contest Song (song) Dakota Travels Home Of The Champions (artist) Home Of The Champions (album)

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

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Climate change, missing and murdered Indigenous women, and challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act are all significant issues on the minds of Native Americans heading into 2020. Fawn Sharp (Quinault), newly elected president of the National Congress of American Indians, gives her take on the key triumphs, opportunities and threats facing Native people in her first State of Indian Nation address. We’ll bring you the full speech and the congressional response.

 

Break 1 music: Youth Prayer Chant (song) Spirit Line Collective (artist) Spirit Line: Woven Together For Our Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives (album)

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

Full State of Indian Nations Speech, congressional response and questions and answers

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It’s time again to start thinking about doing your taxes. And the schemes to separate you from your tax refund are already gearing up. Some are perfectly legal. Commercial tax preparers offer loans in advance of your tax refund, but they might come with high interest rates or steep fees. Most people are eligible for free online tax programs, but ProPublica found the companies often steer customers toward premium services that cost money. Other schemes are illegal. The Federal Trade Commission warns this time of year criminals step up efforts to get personal information they can use to steal peoples’ money. The FTC designated February 3rd through the 7th Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week. We’ll talk about ways to avoid getting taken for a ride this tax season.

Guests:

Paul Kiel – covers business and consumer finance for ProPublica

Brenda Anderson (Navajo, Gila River, Hopi) – managing attorney for DNA Peoples Legal Services in Window Rock

Michael Roberts (Tlingit) – president & CEO of the First Nations Development Institute

Seena Gressin – attorney with the Federal Trade Commission

 

Break 1 Music: Eagle Dance REMIX (single) Jason Brown/Decontie & Brown (artist)

Break 2 music: Siku (song) Pamyua (album) Caught In The Act (album)

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Getting surgery to lose weight is a drastic step, but may be necessary for some people struggling with severe obesity. Native American adults are 50 percent more likely to be obese than whites according to the Office of Minority Health. There are four types of weight loss surgery, each with their own risks and benefits. In this hour we’ll talk with experts about why someone might choose to go this route and the benefits and risks.

Guests:

Dre Abeita (Isleta Pueblo) – critical race theory whiteness intersectional scholar

Joy Begay (Navajo) – beadworker and artist who specializes in regalia

Brian Wallace (Tlingit) – freelance photographer and artist

Dr. Steven Bock – director of bariatric surgery at UNM and assistant professor of surgery

Dr. Richard Arakaki – Phoenix area diabetes consultant for the Indian Health Service

 

Break 1 music: Red Line (song) Kayla Briët (artist) Red Line (single)

Break 2 music: Siku (song) Pamyua (album) Caught In The Act (album)

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To preserve salmon habitat, the Tulalip Tribe is relocating beavers to create wetlands with their dams. Native youth in a project with Blackfeet Tribe learn how beavers naturally restore waterways through an Indigenous scientific lens. Beavers and their dams can drastically change landscapes. They are important to many tribes who see them as architects, teachers and a valuable resource.

This is the second in our monthly series exploring animals’ relationship to tribes and their cultural, environmental and scientific importance.

Guests:

Joe Graveen (Lac de Flambeau band of Ojibwe) – wild rice technician for Lac de flambeau tribe

Molly Alves – wildlife biologist for the Tulalip Tribe natural resources department

Termaine Edmo (Blackfeet) – climate change coordinator for the Blackfeet Tribe

 

Break 1 music: Intertribal (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Confederacy Style (album)

Break 2 music: Siku (song) Pamyua (album) Caught In The Act (album)

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Many Native college freshman have their first semester behind them and are getting back in the groove for the rest of the school year. We’ll check in with some students about how their transition to college life is going and get some help from education experts about what kind of support students need to sustain their momentum.

Guests:

Melissa Faircloth (Coharie) – director for the American Indian and Indigenous Community Center at Virginia Tech

Mikaela Crank (Navajo) – director of the Scholars Program for College Horizons

Temeya Gachupin (Jemez Pueblo) – freshman at SIPI

Tiffany Gusbeth (Northern Cheyenne) – director of Student Success Services at the American Indian College Fund

 

Break 1 music: Good Man (song) Levi Platero Band (artist) Levi Platero Band (album)

Break 2 music: Siku (song) Pamyua (album) Caught In The Act (album)

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“Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists,” an art exhibit celebrating the artistic contributions of Native women, is taking a tour across the country with upcoming stops in Washington, D.C. and Tulsa this year. The exhibit includes over 100 pieces from women of different tribes and from different times. We’ll talk with the curators and some of the artists about how women are a driving force in the art world.

Guests:

Teri Greeves (Kiowa) – beadwork artist and co-curator of the “Hearts of Our People” exhibit

Jill Ahlberg Yohe – associate curator of Native American art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and co-curator of Hearts of Our People

Kelly Church (Anishinaabe, Odawa and Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Potawatomi) – black ash basket maker

 

Break 1 music: Tapwe Oma (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

Break 2 music: Siku (song) Pamyua (album) Caught In The Act (album)