Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

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)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

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)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

Of all the previous presidents to choose from, Donald Trump likes to align himself most with Andrew Jackson. He visited Jackson’s Hermitage in Tennessee and laid a wreath on his grave. For Native Americans, Jackson is forever associated with the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears. His presidency also ended with a crippling economic depression. Since he’s back in the spotlight, we’ll take time to talk with historians about the full legacy of Andrew Jackson.

Guests:

Catherine Foreman Gray (citizen of Cherokee Nation) – history and preservation officer for Cherokee Nation

Erin Adams – director of education and interpretation at Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage

Break music: Going Back (song) Paula Nelson (artist) C.H.A.N.T. Cherokee Hope And New Traditions (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

A tribal police officer in California is fighting charges of assault and false imprisonment. It all stems from his attempt to make an arrest during a domestic dispute on reservation land. This is one example of jurisdictional clashes that result from the 1953 measure called Public Law 280. There are instances when tribal law enforcement officers can’t take action even if they see a crime because PL 280 complicates an already complex jurisdictional landscape. The Tribal Court Clearinghouse says “it has often been misunderstood and misapplied.” We hear about PL 280 and ways tribes are trying to get out from under it.

Guests:

Dorothy Alther (Oglala Sioux Tribe) – executive director of Californian Indian Legal Services

Ryan Rusche (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux) – tribal attorney for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Break music: Anasazi Sun (song) Injunuity (artist) Fight For Survival (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

When a federal judge in Hawaii put a halt to President Trump’s travel restrictions, supporters of the policy vowed to boycott the state. The boycott appears to have fizzled, but not before Native Hawaiians actually expressed support of it–some tongue-in-cheek and some seriously. They were expressing their frustration over losing more and more control of their culture and island homeland. The news comes on the heels of a legal tussle involving an island purchased by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. We’ll get an update from Native Hawaiians.

Guests:

Ka’iulani Mahuka (Kanaka Maoli) – show host of Songs of Sovereignty for Kaua’i Community Radio and Hawaiian activist

 Dr. Kalamaoka’aina Niheu (Kanaka Maoli) – organizer with Ohana Koa-Nuclear Free and Independence Pacific

Break music: E ʻOni a Paʻa (song) Hawane (artist) E ʻOni a Paʻa – Single (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

The governor of Wyoming recently signed the Indian Education For All bill, which requires educators to create Native curricula for public schools statewide. The bill mandates organizers work with Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes to come up with the lesson plans. Wyoming is one of a handful of states putting an emphasis on teaching Native viewpoints. What’s behind states mandating the Native perspective of history, culture, the arts and other classroom subjects? What benefits are they hoping to see?

Guests:

Jason Baldes (member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe) – executive director of the Wind River Native Advocacy Center

Patricia Whitefoot (member of the Yakama Nation) – Indian education director for the Toppenish School District, and the director of Yakama Wellness Coalition

 Mike Jetty (member of the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation) – Indian education specialist with the Montana Office of Public Instruction

Break music: Agent 49 (song) Arigon Starr (artist) Wind-Up (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

The average funeral costs more than $7,000, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. That’s a hefty sum, especially when a family doesn’t plan ahead. Families face additional confusion when there’s no will for valuables, homes or land left behind. Death is a taboo subject in some parts of Native America so people avoid talking about the costs and legal issues ahead of time. We will go over some basic, appropriate ways to prepare for the inevitable.

Guests:

Michael Selzler – funeral director at Sioux Funeral Home

Diane Burkhardt – from the University of Denver Strum College of Law and volunteer supervising attorney for the Tribal Wills Project

Julie Redhouse (Diné) – accounting technician with the office of the special trust for American Indians and an organizer for the Tribal Wills Project

Break music: Dat One (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

A report for the FCC in 2015 found nearly two million people living on tribal land lack access to the internet. Even more than that can’t sign onto broadband. That digital divide makes it harder for Alaska Natives and Native Americans living in rural areas to complete tasks online that the rest of us take for granted: paying bills, looking for a job, and communicating with each other. President Trump has promised a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. There’s no indication it will include any fixes for the problem. Some tribes are taking the solution into their own hands.

Guests:

Brian Howard (Gila River Indian Community) – researcher and policy analyst with the American Indian Policy Institute at Arizona State University

Brian Gilbert – telecommunications consultant with Young Turks Consulting

Loris Taylor (Hopi Nation) – CEO and president of Native Public Media

Break music: New Women Song (feat. Jennifer Kreisberg) (song) Cris Derksen (artist) Cris Derksen: Orchestral Powwow (album)

---

Congressman Raul Ruiz interview about the Tribal Digital Access Act of 2017

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

The lingering American perception of Pocahontas is some form of the Disney film version: a tribal chief’s daughter bravely steps in to save Jamestown settler John Smith from a grisly execution by his Indigenous captors. There is little to no evidence any of that happened. Pocahontas is currently making headlines because England is devoting a considerable amount of attention to the 400th anniversary of her death. She spent her final years in the European country after marrying an English man. In addition, President Donald Trump uses her name as an insult against a political foe. The American East Coast tribes that claim her, meanwhile, have no special recognition of Pocahontas. Will the general public ever really learn the truth about Pocahontas? Historians and tribal members help us update our portrait of Pocahontas’ life.

Guests:

Robert Gray (Pamunkey) – Chief of the Pamunkey Tribe

Dr. Camilla Townsend – professor of history at Rutgers University

Break music: Prayer Loop (song) Supaman (artist)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has a long history of hearing cases involving Indian Country. We’ll explore what his nomination could mean for the Supreme Court. The FBI raided the Eastern Band of Cherokee Housing Authority as part of a fraud investigation. The tribal chief is enduring calls for his impeachment. And we’ll get the latest on the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, on our news round-up.

Guests:

Holly Kays – reporter with the Smoky Mountain News

Dr. Renae Ditmer (Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians) – freelance writer

Suzette Brewer (Cherokee Nation) – journalist

Break music: Chickasha Alhiha’ (song) Injunuity (artist) Fight For Survival (album)