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Less than half of students graduated from Tohono O’odham Nation high schools a decade ago. It was a wake-up call for the superintendent at the time, Alberto Siqueiros. He set the school on a plan to improve graduation rates, test scores and overall performance. He cleaned house, removing half the district’s staff and raising teacher salaries. Today one high school in the school district sees 87-percent of their students graduate. We’ll talk with him and others about the successes and challenges of this transformation.

Guests:

Dr. Alberto Siqueros – executive director of the Tohono O’odham Nation education department

Dr. Edna Morris – superintendent of the Baboquivari Unified School District

Verlon Manual Jose (Tohono O’odham Nation) – Vice Chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation

Break Music: Willie’s Ghost Riders (song) Gertie & the T.O. Boyz (artist)

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The trees are budding, flowers are blooming and in some places the pollen count already has allergy sufferers staying inside. More than 50 million people experience allergies each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are many kinds of allergies, like seasonal allergies and animal allergies, and a wide range of symptoms including itchy eyes, congestion and anaphylactic shock. In this program, we’ll break down the causes and treatments for allergies while exploring some traditional remedies.

Guests:

Dr. Osman Dokmeci – assistant professor in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at the University of New Mexico. He manages the Northeast Heights Allergy Clinic in Albuquerque

Linda Black Elk (Catawba) – ethnobotanist at Sitting Bull College

Break Music: A’choo (song) James Bilagody (artist) Near Midnight (album)

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Indian Country Today is back with veteran journalist Mark Trahant (Shoshone/Bannock) as the editor. We’ll talk with him about what new innovations and directions the revived ICT will incorporate. We’ll also talk about disappearing red abalone numbers in California. We hear from journalists covering recent important issues in Native America. It’s our regular news round up.

Guests:

Mark Trahant (Shoshone-Bannock) – journalist and editor of Indian Country Today

Allison Herrera (Salinan Nation) – multimedia reporter and editor

Debra Utacia Krol (Xolon Salinan Tribe) – independent journalist

Break Music: Eagle Dancer (song) Moiety (artist) Eagle Dancer (album)

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Artist James Luna (Luiseño/ Ipai/Mexican) famously put his own body on display as a museum artifact in 1987. Later, he divided his face in two with his work, “Half Indian/Half Mexican,” a photo commentary on “the absurdity of being of measurability mixed blood ancestry.” In 2014 he reimagined Ishi, the last of the Yahi tribe, with photography. Last month the Native art world mourned when Luna unexpectedly walked on at the age of 68. We’ll remember his art and life with family and friends.

Guests:

Joanna Bigfeather (Cherokee Nation/Mescalero Apache) – curator/artist/writer/educator

Preston Singletary (Tlingit) – glass artist

Amber-Dawn Bear Robe (Blackfoot) – visiting faculty in art history and cinematic arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts

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In certain Native communities, what gets passed on orally to future generations can be a wealth of Indigenous knowledge. But how much value do we place on this process in modern times? This month our featured author Donald Fixico (Shawnee/Sac and Fox/Mvskoke Creek/Seminole) explores what accessing this type of information sharing does for tribal communities. He hones in on his own experience and explains the role storytellers play in forming Native identity. “That’s What They Used to Say: Reflections on American Indian Oral Traditions” is our March Book of the Month.

Break Music: Sac and Fox (song) Brian Stoner (artist) with Love and Faith We Pray Volume II (album)

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When Oglala Lakota educator Robert Cook’s son came to him asking for a violin to play in the school orchestra, he told him the family didn’t have the money for the instrument. But the Johnson-O’Malley Program in their tribe was able to provide the funds for the instrument, creating a lifelong musician. Since 1934 the JOM has provided funding for American Indian and Alaska Native students in public school. The money provides school supplies, cultural activities and other enrichment for Native students. The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal includes eliminating the JOM program. We’ll talk about the program and efforts to save the funding.

Guests:

Robert Cook (Oglala Lakota) – national senior managing director of the Native Alliance at Teach for America

Avis Ballard (Osage) – JOM coordinator for the Osage Nation Education Department

Carla Mann (Blackfeet/Eastern Shoshone) – president of the National Johnson-O’Malley Association

Mark Vance (Cherokee Nation) – manager of the JOM program for the Cherokee Nation and vice president of National JOM

Break Music: We’re Gunna Dance (song) Niizhoo Sullivan (artist) Rez Kid Rhythm (album)

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When Chickasaw classical composer, Jerod Tate creates music he’s always “feeling ethos, romance and deep feelings about Indian people,” he said. In some of his newest works, Tate tells traditional stories through large orchestrated oratorios. Another composer, Wolastoqiyik Jeremy Dutcher, based in Canada, is honoring his people’s language by composing music around old wax cylinder recordings from 1910. These two Indigenous artists will join us to talk about telling stories through classical music.

Break Music: Mehcinut (song) Jeremy Dutcher (artist) Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (album)

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In the age when people publish instantly on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and their own blogs, it might be difficult to see where zines—low-tech, photocopied, self-published magazines—have a place. But they’re still around. You might find them laying around at your local coffee shop or alternative bookstore. The zine publisher might print one out and mail it to you. Kayla Shaggy’s (Diné and Anishinaabe) zine, “Monstrous,” is filled with drawings of monsters. She says the format offers “the freedom to do what you want.” Self-publishing something that people can hold in their hands is part of the reason for doing it. We’ll talk with Native zine makers about why self-publishing a few copies with limited reach is their favorite way to get their creative work out.

Guests:

Demian DinéYazhi’ (Diné) – artist, writer and curator and founder and director of R.I.S.E. (Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment)

Kayla Shaggy (Diné and Anishinaabe) self-publisher

Russel Daniels (Ho-Chunk) – documentary photographer

Cecelia LaPointe (Ojibway/Métis who is enrolled in the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community) – founder and owner of red circle consulting and Waub Ajijaak Press

Break Music: Sweet Grass Water Is Life (single song) Miracle Dolls (artist)