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The mortality rate for Native American women during pregnancy and childbirth have outpaced most other ethnic groups for decades. The latest numbers just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) show Native maternal mortality far exceeds their white, Black, and Asian counterparts in some states — especially in the upper Midwest. We’ll look at the causes and trends for high Native pregnancy death rates and what health professionals say is the solution.

GUESTS

Nicolle Gonzales (Diné), founder, health policy director, and board member for the Changing Woman Initiative

Dr. Tina Pattara-Lau, maternal child health consultant at Indian Health Service headquarters

Dr. Andrew Williams, assistant professor at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of North Dakota

Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Break 2 Music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)

 

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Oklahoma is among at least 18 states with new laws restricting how public schools can teach history about race and culture. Teachers are now wondering how to inform students about events like the Trail of Tears and the Tulsa Massacre. Some educators are defying the restrictions. Also, the Pointe-au-Chien Tribe in Louisiana is starting a new language immersion school two years after their only elementary school closed. We’ll get a snapshot of what Native educators see ahead in the new school year.

GUEST INFO

Patty Ferguson-Bohnee (Pointe-au-Chien), director of the Indian Legal Program and clinical professor of Law at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University

Matt Jackson (citizen of the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma), ethnic studies teacher for Norman Public Schools

Lucyann Harjo (Diné), Indian Education coordinator for Norman Public Schools

Alicia Andrew (Alutiiq), Tribal Chief of Karluk Village

 

Break 1 music: Turtle Island Reggae (song) Quese IMC & Cempoalli 20 (artist) Osahwuh (album)

Break 2 music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)

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Native American ranchers and other rural New Mexico residents were among those who saw the flash of the first test of the atomic bomb in 1945. Descendants of the people downwind of the blast say they continue to pay the price with serious health conditions – and tribes also complain leaching from uranium mines to fuel subsequent nuclear reactors pose a daily health threat.

GUESTS

Leona Morgan (Diné), anti-nuclear activist

Marian Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), founder and director of Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE)

Marissa Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), environmental justice organizer with HOPE

Ian Zabarte (Shoshone), principal man of the Western Band of Shoshone Indians and secretary of the Native Community Action Council

 

Break 1 Music: Bui yo oh wanina (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)

Break 2 Music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)

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The Fort Belknap Indian Community is the latest tribe to sue the federal government over inadequate law enforcement. A joint legislative resolution passed this year noted “justice has eluded many Native American victims, survivors, and families” as there are not enough officers to cover the more than 1,000 square miles within the reservation boundaries. They’re one of at least three tribes that are taking on what they say is the lack of full federal funding to keep their citizens safe.

GUESTS

President Jeffrey Stiffarm (Aaniiih and Nakoda), Fort Belknap Indian Community

Gary LaMere Jr. (Aaniiih), supervisory criminal investigator for the Fort Belknap Indian Community 

Geno LeValdo (Aaniiih and Nakoda), Gros Ventre At Large Council Member

John Grinsell (Northern Cheyenne), supervisory criminal investigator for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe

 

Break 2 music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)

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The Seminole Tribe is poised to have exclusive control of mobile sports betting in Florida just as the NFL season gets started. Their potential windfall is part of a $5 billion compact with the state that — for now — is holding up against court challenges. It’s just one place where tribes are jockeying for better field position in the lucrative and evolving world of sports gaming.

GUESTS

State Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales (Pascua Yaqui/D-AZ 3)

Chris Garrow, director of gaming at Prairie Band Casino and Resort

Kathryn Rand, law professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law

Steven Light, professor & co-director, Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy, Political Science, and Public Administration at University of North Dakota

 

Break 1 music: AbOriginal (song) Frank Waln (artist) AbOriginal – Single (album)

Break 2 music: Atomic (song) Sunburnt Stone (artist) El Navaho (album)

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Threats to water and culturally important land propels a dozen tribes to call for a new National Monument designation near the Grand Canyon. The proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument would encompass more than a million acres. Among other things it would place a permanent ban on uranium mining in a place where tribes say such development contaminates the air and water and permanently scars the land.

GUESTS

Vice Chairman Shelton Scott Crozier (Hualapai)

Carletta Tilousi (Havasupai), Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition coordinator

Woody Lee (Diné), executive director for Utah Diné Bikeyah

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), U.S. Representative and Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources

 

Break 1 music: Umumutayayata (Rolling Thunder) (song) Clark Tenakhongva (artist) Öngtupqa (album)

Break 2 music: Atomic (song) Sunburnt Stone (artist) El Navaho (album)

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As much as Native Americans are associated with tribal lands in the U.S., the vast majority of tribal citizens live in urban areas off their reservations. In a few selected cities, Native Americans are among the largest minority groups. Still, cities often lag in design considerations that reflect and respond to cultural and socioeconomic touch points that attract and reinforce Native urban residents. A number of Native planners, designers, and architects are pushing to create new buildings and spaces with Native residents’ needs in mind.

GUESTS

Dr. Ted Jojola (Isleta Pueblo), founder and director of the Indigenous Design + Planning Institute at the University of New Mexico

Sam Olbekson (White Earth Nation Ojibwe), CEO of Full Circle Indigenous Planning + Design

Wanda Dalla Costa (Saddle Lake First Nation), Tawaw Architecture Collective Inc.

Break 1 music: Place I Call Home (song) Native Roots (artist) A Place I Call Home (album)

Break 2 music: Atomic (song) Sunburnt Stone (artist) El Navaho (album)