Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:54 — 38.4MB) | Embed

At a time when some holdout sports teams ignore calls to end problematic mascots and imagery, some teams are turning to Native American designers for appropriate designs. The NBA’s Phoenix Suns are debuting new uniforms, jersey logos and center court design created in collaboration with a Navajo artist that honors the state’s tribes and cultural references to tribes elsewhere. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce meets the Native artists behind the team’s graphics with Shawn Martinez (Navajo), senior director of live presentation for the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury; artist and designer Jeremy Donavan Arviso (Diné, Hopi, Pima and Tohono O’odham); and Patrick Hunter (Ojibwe), two-spirit woodland artist and graphic designer.

Break 1 music: Dee Zee (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album)

Break 2 music: Buffalo (song) Algin Scabby Robe (artist) Along the Way: Round Dance Songs (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:00 — 38.5MB) | Embed

Among the deluge of podcasts, Native producers are tackling subjects ranging from mental health and sobriety, issues within their own tribes, and language revitalization. Tuesday on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce sampled some podcasts that are reaching their audiences through the spoken word with Paige Willett (Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member), host and producer of the Hownikan Podcast; Majerle Lister (Diné ), PhD student at the University of Arizona and host of the Wósdéé Podcast; Ralph Sara (Yup’ik and Sami), host of The Anonymous Eskimo Podcast; Dr. X̱’unei Lance Twitchell (Lingít, Haida, Yup’ik, and Sami), host of the podcast Tongue Unbroken.

Break 1 music: Native Funk (song) Burning Sky (artist) A Native American Odyssey Inuit to Inca (album)

Break 2 music: Buffalo (song) Algin Scabby Robe (artist) Along the Way: Round Dance Songs (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:42 — 38.3MB) | Embed

A new study by North Carolina State University finds the number of acres destroyed by wildfire in the United States in the past two years is double the number just 30 years ago.  Their researchers point to warmer-than-average surface temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns, which they predict will only get worse. Those trends mean forestry officials have to work both to prevent the most destructive fires and restore areas that burned. Traditional tribal ecological knowledge can inform that work and some non-tribal officials are taking notice. Monday on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce spoke with Daniel Denipah (Ohkay Owingeh), forestry director for Santa Clara Pueblo; Tommy Cabe (Eastern Band of Cherokee), forest resource specialist for Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and ShiNaasha Pete (Navajo and Eastern Shawnee), reforestation forester with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Break 1 music: Burn with the Sun (song) Son of Hwéeldi (artist) 019910 (album)

Break 2 music: Buffalo (song) Algin Scabby Robe (artist) Along The Way: Round Dance Songs (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:16 — 38.6MB) | Embed

As you and the young people in your life settle down for a long winter’s nap, a number of new Native children’s books would make great bedtime stories, especially for those hungry little book worms. Forever Cousins by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa and Tsimshian) has been getting good reviews since its October release. It focuses on a pair of young cousins and how their relationship changes when one of them moves away. Look, Grandma! Ni Elisi! by Art Coulson (Cherokee) weaves math and the Cherokee language with a story about a boy on a quest for the perfect container to show off his artwork. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks with authors Laurel Goodluck and Art Coulson and gets more book ideas, just in time for the holiday shopping season, from Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo), founder of the American Indians in Children’s Literature blog. 

Break 1 music: Eensie Weensie Spider (song) Radmilla Cody (artist) Precious Friends: Songs for Children (album)

Break 2 music: Keep Rising (song) House of Shem (artist) Keep Rising (album)

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Each side presented their oral arguments Wednesday to the U.S. Supreme Court for the most serious challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act in recent memory. The decision in Haaland v. Brackeen will be a major force in the future of ICWA and the scope of tribal sovereignty. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce analyzes the legal debate from a Native perspective with Matthew Fletcher (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians), law professor at the University of Michigan Law School and author of the Turtle Talk blog; independent journalist Suzette Brewer (citizen of the Cherokee Nation); and Dr. Sarah Kastelic (Alutiiq), director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association.

Break 1 music: Migwitch Mahnomen (song) Chippewa Pow-Wow Drum Group In Ball Club, Leech Lake Reservation (artist) Songs of the Chippewa, Vol. 1 – Minnesota Chippewa Game and Social Dance Songs (album)

Break 2 music: Keep Rising (song) House of Shem (artist) Keep Rising (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:09 — 38.6MB) | Embed

The stakes are high for Native voters and election night delivered with some big surprises, a few lingering mysteries, and no indication of which party will dominate Capitol Hill. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce analyzes the races across the country where Native candidates are on the ballot and issues important to Native people are on the line with Jourdan Bennett-Begaye (Diné), editor at ICT; Angela Willeford (member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community), intergovernmental relations project manager for the tribe; Allen Wright (Choctaw), president and founder of the Hustings Group; Michelle Sparck (Qissunamuit/Tribe of Chevak), director of strategic initiatives at Get Out the Native Vote; and Rhonda McBride, the new news director of our flagship station in Anchorage – KNBA.

Break 1 music: The Real People (song) RiverFlowz (artist) RiverFlowz (album)

Break 2 music: Keep Rising (song) House of Shem (artist) Keep Rising (album)

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:38 — 38.2MB) | Embed

This Veterans Day, officials are formally dedicating the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. It’s been years in the making and the design is like no other veterans monument, welcoming members of the public since 2020. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce learns about the progress in awareness and recognition for the population that has the highest per capita participation in military service with artist and veteran Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho); Alexandra Harris, senior editor at the National Museum of the American Indian and co-author of Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces; and Candy Grimes, Adjudication Services Section Chief for the Bureau of Land Management.

Break 1 music: Flag Song (song) Black Lodge (artist) Veteran’s Honor Song (album)

Break 2 music: Keep Rising (song) House of Shem (artist) Keep Rising (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:23 — 38.0MB) | Embed

Many Native hunters have mastered big game hunting, providing for themselves and their families. Some go on to guide other hunters. But there remain a number of ongoing barriers, ranging from climate change to sovereign rights challenges. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce gets a snapshot of what this year’s elk, caribou, and moose season is like in selected places and how tribes are working to solve hurdles to traditional practices with Bobby Mercier (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde member), cultural advisor for CTGR and artist; Ricko DeWilde (Athabascan), hunter and fisherman; and Gary Roybal (San Ildefonso Pueblo), outdoorsman, avid hunter, and fishing and hunting guide for the Santa Fe Guiding Company.

Break 1 music: Animal Song (song) Art Napoleon (artist) Mocikan (album)

Break 2 music: Keep Rising (song) House of Shem (artist) Keep Rising (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:59 — 38.4MB) | Embed

Stickball is the older, rougher cousin of lacrosse, developed many centuries ago as both a game and a training exercise. The U.S. government once deemed stickball one of the cultural connections they needed to eliminate in the effort to assimilate Native children through missionary-run boarding schools. The game survived that assault and keeps gaining momentum, played by local clubs and in competitive national tournaments. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce learns about the origins and growing future for the nation’s oldest team sport with Mike Slee (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), stickball player for the Walelu Cherokee Indian Ball team and the director of operations for the Museum of the Cherokee Indian; Miranda Long Stamper (Creek and a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee), teacher, coach and stickball player; announcer and player Jeremy Bell (Mississippi Band of Choctaw member); Dr. Scott Ketchum (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Chickasaw Nation endowed chair in Native American Studies for East Central University; and Casey Bigpond (Mississippi Band of Choctaw member), cultural revitalization specialist for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Break 1 music:  Stick Game Jam (song) Inez F. BIG Phil (Beat by Magic Touch, Mixed by EV Of A-Slam.Com) (artist) Singsoulgirl (album)

Break 2 music: Sahkaweyohk Ota (Give A War Cry Here) (song) Young Spirit (artist) Akameyimoh Baby Boy (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:59 — 38.4MB) | Embed

Tribes in Oklahoma are actively working to unseat the incumbent governor—who is a Cherokee citizen—because they say he is the most anti-Native American state leader in recent memory. A judge recently dissolved the Osage Nation reservation, saying Congress probably would have gotten around to disestablishment at some point anyway. And tribes are fighting the state’s new anti-Critical Race Theory law, saying it hampers students learning about the state’s long history of Native American oppression. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce checks in on the unique relationship between tribes and the state of Oklahoma with Allison Herrera (Xolon Salinan), Indigenous Affairs reporter at KOSU; Sarah Gray (Cherokee, Muscogee, Kiowa), partner at the Muscogee Nation-based PR firm ST. Comms Shop; Reese Gorman, political reporter for The Frontier; and Allen Wright (Choctaw), president and founder of the Hustings Group.

Break 1 music: Cherokee Morning Song (song) Walela (artist) Walela (album)

Break 2 music: Sahkaweyohk Ota (Give A War Cry Here) (song) Young Spirit (artist) Akameyimoh Baby Boy (album)

 

Hear an extended interview on selected races in Oklahoma with Husings Group President Allen Wright: