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Getting signed to a college sports team is a dream for many Native athletes. It appeals to the competitive spirit and can be a major higher education financial boost. But it comes with responsibilities, pressures, and the possibility for injury. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce explores what it takes to reach and sustain NCAA status with Bennae Calac (Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians), co-founder, president, and executive director of the 7G Foundation; Zach Blankenship (Cherokee and Navajo), freshman at Oklahoma State University; and Amil Mitchell (Nez Perce), shooting guard for LeMoyne-Owen College.  

Break 1 music: Stomp the Yard (song) Elk Soldier (artist) The Elk Way (album)

Break 2 music: Enaemaekisaeh (song) Wayne Silas Jr (artist) Infinite Passion (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:01 — 38.5MB) | Embed

A new Netflix show for preschoolers features all Native writers and a storyline which centers around California’s Cowlitz tribe and culture. The voice cast is largely Native and includes heavy-hitting veterans Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with showrunner and creator Karissa Valencia (Santa Ynez Chumash) as well as “Spirit Rangers” singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza (Akimel O’odham descent) about bringing Native awareness to young viewers around the world.

Break 1 music: Kid’s Pow-Wow Songs Medley (World) (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) MORE Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)

Break 2 music: Ask Your Mom for Fifty Cents (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)

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Native candidates have a lot at stake coming up in the midterm elections. After redistricting, some incumbents find themselves in tight races, while others are expected to sail into office. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce zeroes in on a few Native candidates, both newcomers and veterans, and looks at how a win or loss impacts the larger picture with O.J. Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux), co-executive director for Four Directions Vote, and Jordan James Harvill (Cherokee/Choctaw), National Program Director for Advance Native Political Leadership.

 

Break 1 music: Braves Against the Machine (feat. Marla Nauni) (song) Quese Imc (artist) Defover30 (album)

Break 2 music: Ask Your Mom for Fifty Cents (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:07 — 38.5MB) | Embed

A new Dept. of Interior pilot program aims to put Indigenous food hubs at a handful of Bureau of Indian Education schools and BIA-operated detention centers. It follows a similar program to distribute traditional food on Indian Reservations. It’s part of an effort to make sure Native people who receive help from the U.S. government have access to healthy, local food produced by tribal food vendors. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks about how this new pilot program will work and what it means for Native food sovereignty with Wizipan Garriott (Rosebud Sioux), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs; Foster Cournoyer-Hogan (Ihanktonwan Dakota/enrolled Siċaŋġu Lakota), Lakota foods coordinator for Wakanyeja Tokeyahci Wounspe Oti, the Lakota Immersion School; and Bradley Harrington (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), culture and language revitalization advocate.

Break 1 music: Ch’iya’a’n Biyiin/Native Food Song (song) Radmilla & Herman Cody (artist) Shi Kéyah (album)

Break 2 music: Ask Your Mom for Fifty Cents (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)

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A number of tribes remain on the waiting list for federal recognition. Some want to legally secure their sovereign rights and access to trust land status, while others hope to gain federal emergency assistance or the power to take on civil lawsuits against corporate polluters. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce hears from some tribes on the cusp of federal recognition about what it could mean for them with Professor Kerri Malloy (Yurok/Karuk), assistant professor at San Jose University; Rachel Cushman (Chinook Indian Nation), secretary and treasurer for the Chinook Indian Nation; and 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.

Break 1 music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

Break 2 music: Ask Your Mom for Fifty Cents (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:11 — 25.3MB) | Embed

The day to honor Indigenous people is catching on in schools, cities, and states. Organizers in Phoenix, AZ are putting on an all-day festival that includes food trucks, a vendor market, skateboard competitions, music, and Indigenous film screenings. New York State might be getting resistance to the idea of officially renaming the holiday, but its largest city is celebrating its eighth, two-day Indigenous festival. And Bethel, AK scheduled a march and potluck. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce checks in on Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations around the country with Martha Atmaun Glore (Cup’ik), office manager at the Kuskokwim Campus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; Jir Anderson (Cochiti Pueblo), lead singer for the Jir Project and founder of Native Guitars Tour; Candace Hamana (Hopi), owner of Badger PR and the founder of Indigenous Peoples Public Relations Association; and Ray Bacasegua (Yaqui/Yoeme), director of AIM Northern Nevada and the executive grand council for AIM.

Break 1 music: The Pueblo (song) The Jir Project Band (artist) The Pueblo (album)

Break 2 music: Ask Your Mom for Fifty Cents (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)