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As students head back into the classroom, they’ll find many of their fellow classmates are…not there. Overall, more parents are choosing to teach their kids at home. A perception of safety and the flexibility to teach their children religious or cultural values are among the top reasons parents give for homeschooling. In addition, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced students to learn from home, more parents got used to the idea of taking on the task. We’ll talk with Native homeschooling families and advocates about what is important to them this school year.

GUESTS

Chris Morigeau (Bitterroot Salish), director of American Indian Education for All at the Montana Office of Public Instruction

Sara Gon (Diné), homeschool mom and vlogger The Navajo Mama

Lisa Iron Cloud (Oglala Lakota), community member

Break 1 Music: Generations (song) P. Town Boyz (artist) P. Town Boyz (album)

Break 2 Music: The Crossing (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album)

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Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisive confirmation of the Indian Child Welfare Act two years ago in Brackeen v. Haaland, the law has seen victories and challenges. In a win for tribal sovereignty, a decision by the California Supreme Court requires state case workers to make more of an effort to ascertain a foster child’s Native identity status. Congress is considering a bill that would strengthen state-by-state compliance with the 45-year-old law. And the investigative new outlet Reveal explores questions about how a Utah public official was able to adopt a Northern Cheyenne child without ever triggering the standard ICWA process.

GUESTS

Nancy Marie Spears (citizen of the Cherokee Nation), Indigenous Child and Families Reporter for The Imprint

Gary Valenzuela (Coastal Band of Chumash), biological father of adopted child in Reveal episode, “A Baby Adopted, A Family Divided”

Bernice Yeung, managing editor of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism Investigative Reporting Program and co-reporter of Reveal episode, “A Baby Adopted, A Family Divided”

Kimberly Cluff, legal director for the California Tribal Families Coalition

Break 1 Music: Children’s Honoring Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Break 2 Music: The Crossing (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album)

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Yup’iks know them as Ircenrraat. Poncas refer to them as Gadázhe. Cherokees call them Yunwi Tsunsdi. In some cases, they are caretakers or protectors. Other times they are tricksters or menacing characters. Most tribes have traditions that fit under the umbrella of “little people”. They bear resemblance to fairies in other cultures. They are elusive supernatural beings that show up in stories or are invoked to explain good luck or misfortune.

GUESTS

Mark John (Yup’ik), cultural adviser and elder

Cliff Taylor (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), poet, storyteller, and author of The Memory of Souls

Kathi Littlejohn (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), storyteller

Break 1 Music: Hound Dog on a Chain (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)

Break 2 Music: The Crossing (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album)

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Syphilis is relatively easy to treat. But that fact hasn’t stopped an unremitting increase in the disease that is hitting Native Americans hardest. Public health officials say American Indian and Alaska Native people currently suffer the highest syphilis infection rates of any group in the country – and the highest recorded since the cure was discovered in 1941. The Indian Health Service warns cases of congenital syphilis have resulted in stillbirths or infant deaths shortly after birth. Medical officials have a series of detection and treatment recommendations. We’ll revisit the problem of syphilis infections and discuss the strategies for solving it.

GUESTS

Dr. Naomi Young (Navajo), family medicine physician and director of medical services at the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital

Dr. Loretta Christensen (Navajo), chief medical officer for the Indian Health Service

Break 1 Music: Steamboat Akalii Song (song) Jay Begaye (artist) Horses Are Our Journey World (album)

Break 2 Music: Ancestors (song) Mike Bern (artist) Ancestors (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:47 — 38.3MB) | Embed

This week, Indigenous leaders, climate, activists, and community members from more than 80 different nations around the world are convening in Rapid City, S.D. The 12th World Wilderness Congress will be looking at concerns and solutions to issues facing forest health, biodiversity, and wildlife. We’ll talk with elders actively addressing these issues. Also, we’ll hear updates from the group Apache Stronghold as they make their way across the country raising awareness of a copper mining project on Oak Flat in Arizona before stopping in Washington D.C. The group will turn to the U.S. Supreme Court for protections of the sacred site.

GUESTS

Ilarion Merculieff (Unangan), founder and president of the Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways

Phil Two Eagle (Sicangu Lakota), executive director of the Sicangu Lakota Treaty Council

Wendsler Nosie Sr. (member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe), founder of the Apache-Stronghold

Break 1 Music: The Power of the Land [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird and Twin Flames] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Break 2 Music: Ancestors (song) Mike Bern (artist) Ancestors (album)