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The organizers of the Rezilience Indigenous Arts Experience are back for another year of music, art and activities. The event focuses on the resilience of the Indigenous experience through a variety of expressions including a fashion show, live music, and even curated community conversations. It’s April 29th and 30th during the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We’ll talk with the founder and some of the artists and performers about their experience and what “rezilience” means to them.

Guests:

Warren Montoya (Santa Ana and Santa Clara Pueblo) – executive director of the Rezilience Indigenous Arts Experience

Carla Cuylear (Jicarilla Apache Nation) – member of the band Lindy Vision

Leela Gilday (Dene Nation) – award winning singer songwriter

Break music: In The River: A Protest Song (song) Raye Zaragoza (artist)

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Test your knowledge about our Native nations. We’re filling the hour with trivia about Native life—from history to current events to culture. It’s also a chance to boost your understanding of the different tribes that make up Native America.

Guests:

Franklin Yazzie (Navajo) – The vocalist with Under Exile

Adrian Wall (Jemez Pueblo, Laguna, Chippewa, Seneca)

Levi Platero (Diné) – Navajo Musician singer songwriter musician

Jir Anderson (Cochiti Pueblo)

Def-I (Diné)

Break music: Fly to the Sun (song) Red Earth (artist) Zia Soul (album)

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As we look toward Earth Day, we’ll review some of the major environmental stories affecting Indigenous people. We’ll talk with reporters about developments they’re covering on key issues from contaminated water on the Navajo Nation to environmental rights for Aboriginal Canadians.

Mentioned on the show: On the Navajo Nation, Special Ed Students Await Water That Doesn’t Stink

Guests:

Laurel Morales – senior field correspondent for the Fronteras Desk at KJZZ

Gene Kahee (Cochiti Pueblo) – environmental technician at the Department of Natural Resources at Cochiti Pueblo.

Mara Matteson – English-speaking elementary teacher at the Keres Children’s Learning Center

Nick Tilsen (Oglala Lakota) – executive director of the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

Break music: Don’t Be A Litter Bug (Ts’iilzéí Ch’osh) (song) Radmilla Cody (artist) K’é Hasin (album)

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We turn to Native poets to get us closer to the beauty of Mother Earth. From the rivers to the stars there is plenty to celebrate. If there is a poem you’d like to share with others on this special day of poetry we’re all ears. Make plans to join us and let the poetry loose. We continue Earth Day week exploring just how poetic our planet can get.

Guests:

Luci Tapahonso (Diné) – Poet and the Inaugural Navajo Nation Poet Laureate. University of New Mexico Professor Emeritus

Esther Belin (Citizen of the Navajo Nation) – Poet/Writer /Counselor/In-take Coordinator for Peaceful Spirit a division of the Southern Ute community action programs and its located Ignacio, Colorado

Sherwin Bitsui (Navajo) – Navajo Poet. Currently visiting a professor in the creative writing program at the University of Montana. He is also an instructor with the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts

Break music: We Come From (song) Santa Fe Indian School Spoken Word Team (artist) Moccasins And Microphones: Modern Native Storytelling Through Performance Poetry (album)

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The state of Alaska just approved a key permit to begin work on a controversial copper, gold and silver mine. Native American groups have opposeed the Pebble Mine project since it was first proposed. Environmental organizations, commercial fishermen and others are also fighting it. The mine is planned for an area within the watershed for Bristol Bay, which is vital salmon habitat.

Guests:

Alannah Hurley (Yupik) – executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay

Mike Heatwole – vice president of public affairs for The Pebble Partnership

Abe Williams (Alutiiq Eskimo, Bristol Bay Native Corporation shareholder and past president of the Paug-Vik Village Corporation) – commercial fisherman and business owner

Break music: Qalurru (Dip Netting) (song) Pamyua (artist) Drums Of The North: Traditional Yup’ik Songs (album)

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For reasons many environmental experts don’t exactly know, bee populations are shrinking. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently added a species of bumble bee to the Endangered Species List. Seven species of bees in Hawaii are also endangered. Some Native American beekeepers are doing what they can to lend bees a helping hand.

Guests:

Marla BullBear (Sičháŋǧu Lakota) – executive director of Native American Advocacy Program

David Manuel (Anishinaabe) – foods coordinator for the Red Lake Food Initiative and beekeeper

Pam Kingfisher (Cherokee) – Cherokee beekeeper and health advocate

Break music: Honey Be (song) Red Earth (artist) When Worlds Collide (album)

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In honor of Earth Day, we’re starting off a week of shows devoted to environmental issues with a discussion about totem poles. For the communities that create them, they hold significant cultural value and are much more than art. There are many tribes in Canada and the U.S.—including the Tlingit, Haida and the Tsimshian, to name a few—that carve poles. They typically use old growth trees, which are harder and harder to come by. We’ll talk with carvers about the history and tradition of totem poles.

Guests:

David R. Boxley (Tsimshian) – traditional Tsimshian artist and totem pole carver

James Hart (Haida) – hereditary chief of the Saanggalh Stastas clan

T. J. Young (member of the Haida Nation) – traditional Haida carver

Break music: Hummingbird Song (song) Fred Louis and Ella Thompson (artist) Haida: Indian Music of the Pacific

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The songs, players and methods might be different across Turtle Island, but the fun is the same. Hand games are played between families and within tribal communities. We celebrate hand games and talk with the pros about what makes them so fun. We also dig into the roots of hand games and why it’s important to keep them going.

Guests:

Mary Bearshield-Beaver (Cheyenne Arapaho) – hand game coordinator for the majority of the powwows in the area

Rusty Farmer (Colville Nez Perce) – owner and creator of Battle of Nations Stick Game Tournament

Lawrence Nayally (Pehdzeh Ki First Nations) – Host for CBC’s “Trail’s End” and an organizer

Break Music:  Treaty Six and Coastal Hand Game Song (song) Fawn Wood & Dallas Waskahat (album) Blessings (album)

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Pervasive alcoholism is among the main reasons tribal leaders ban the sale of alcohol on reservations. But that can be big business for liquor stores just outside of the border. Tribal leaders from the Pine Ridge Reservation are working to shut down four stores in nearby Whiteclay, Neb. They say the vast majority of their sales goes to worsen alcohol-related problems within Pine Ridge. Critics of the strategy say people wanting a drink will get alcohol somewhere else and might even increase the hazard by drinking and driving. Does banning alcohol on the reservation help the people or not?

Guests:

Abram Neumann – community outreach coordinator for Lakota Hope Ministries

Frank LaMere (Winnebago) – associate chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, contractor for the Four Direction Community Center in Sioux City, Iowa

Senator Tom Brewer (a member Oglala Sioux Tribe) – Nebraska State senator for district 43

Break music: Kayas (song) Bear Creek (artist) Through Thick and Thin (album)

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We make way for some killer Native blues this month. Our April Music Makers, Bluedog, are out of the Minneapolis, Minnesota area. For years they have given blues lovers what they love: great tunes flavored with a lot of Native soul and get-down boogie rhythms. We’ll visit with them about their new album “Red, White & Blues.” We’re inviting you to into the discussion as we pay tribute to the blues.

Guests:

Alexandra Buffalohead (Sissten Whapeton) – keyboard & vocals

Joni Buffalohead (Sissten Whapeton) – lead vocalist and co-founder, songwriter

Eric Buffalohead (Southern Ponca) – guitarist and cofounder, songwriter

Break music: Working for the Man (song) Bluedog (artist) Red, White & Blue (album)