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Indigenous people all over the world are disproportionately represented among those who are missing or murdered. Canada released a national inquiry into missing and murdered women and others in 2019, calling for major reforms among governments, businesses, advocacy organizations and social service providers. The country likely will not meet the deadline this June for an action plan, but lawmakers just allocated more than $2.2 billion to help Indigenous women. In Mexico, the murder of women is becoming one of the country’s top criminal issues. Lack of funding, corruption and poverty all fuel a growing crisis where few of the murders, especially of Indigenous women, are investigated, much less prosecuted. We’ll take time to look at the Missing and Murdered issue in our neighboring countries.

Guests:

Connie Walker (Cree from the Okanese First Nation in Treaty 4 Territory) – investigative journalist and host of the podcast “Stolen”

Kimberly Bautista – founder and director of Justice for My Sister Collective

Sheila North (Cree) – former grand chief of Northern Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and MMIW advocate

 

Break 1 music: Remember Me (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Kikāwiynaw (album)

Break 2 music: Youth Prayer Chant (song) Spirit Line Collective (artist) Spirit Line: Woven Together For Our Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives (album)

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Each missing and murdered Indigenous person retains a connection to family members, loved ones, and friends. Their absence leaves an empty space in their communities and a lifetime of pain and trauma. Unanswered questions surrounding a missing person or unresolved crime just compound the misery. In this hour, family members of missing and murdered people remember their loved ones and discuss the legacy they are forced to carry.

Guests:

LaRenda Morgan (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes) – cousin of Ida Beard and advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Pam Smith (Cherokee Nation) – aunt of Aubrey Dameron

 

Break 1 music: MMIW (single) Antone George with Arrangement by Mark Nichols (artist)

Break 2 music: Youth Prayer Chant (song) Spirit Line Collective (artist) Spirit Line: Woven Together For Our Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives (album)

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Many advocates focus on solving the problem of missing and murdered women and girls because they are vulnerable to the prevalent violence and neglect that contributes to the problem. But the missing and murdered efforts are expanding to include other groups. A 2016 study funded by the National Institute of Justice found significantly more Indigenous men are missing than women. Native gay and trans men and women are targets of persecution and exploitation, increasing their chances of falling victim to violence. We’ll take a look at some of the groups and individuals who aren’t as prominent in the effort to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Guests:

Cheyenne Antonio (Diné) – sex trafficking project coordinator for the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women

Council delegate Amber Crotty (Diné) – 24th Navajo Nation council delegate

Lenny Hayes (Sisseton-Wapheton Oyate) – executive director of Tate Topa Consulting

Mark Pooley (Navajo and Hopi) – criminal justice coordinator for the Native American Fatherhood and Families Association

Mitch Bourbonniere (Metis) – community organizer

Break 1 music: Encouragement Song (song) Joseph Shields, Jr. (artist) Wahancanka [Remember Me Grandfather] (album)

Break 2 music: Youth Prayer Chant (song) Spirit Line Collective (artist) Spirit Line: Woven Together For Our Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives (album)

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U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Debra Haaland created a new unit to seek justice for missing and murdered Indigenous people. The initiative includes the influx of $5 million to review unsolved cases and coordinate work among other agencies and organizations. Oklahoma just instituted a law that requires coordination among state and federal officials on cases involving missing and murdered Native people. These are among the efforts elected leaders have instituted to try and address the problem. We’ll get a view of what’s showing promise in combating the epidemic taking a toll on Indigenous people in the United States.

Guests:

Kerri Colfer (Tlingit) – senior Native affairs advisor for the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center

Mickey Dollens – representative of district 93 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives

 

Break 1 music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)

Break 2 music: Natural Anthem (song) Jesse Ed Davis (artist) Keep Me Comin’ (album)

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Hubert Logan, Wampum Baggs, Blud Kwan’Tum and the other characters created by Arigon Starr (Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma) are coming back to life in an audio podcast. It’s full circle for the Super Indian cast that started as radio theater in 2006 distributed by Native Voice One. Starr then developed the idea into a graphic novel. Now the enterprising writer, artist and musician revives the Super Indian story with three installments of a streaming audio podcast. We’ll catch up with Starr as she re-introduces the “Super Indian” team.

Guests:

Arigon Starr (Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma and Muskogee Creek) – writer, director and actor of “The New Adventures of Super Indian”

DeLanna Studi (enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation) – artistic director of Native voice at the Autry

Ernest Briggs (enrolled member of the White Earth Nation) – voice over performer for “The New Adventures of Super Indian”

Kholan Studi (an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation) – actor, the voice of Hubert Logan/Super Indian in “The New Adventures of Super Indian”

 

Break 1 music: Agent 49 (song) Arigon Starr (artist) Wind-Up (album)

Break 2 music: Natural Anthem (song) Jesse Ed Davis (artist) Keep Me Comin’ (album)

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White Earth Ojibwe poet Kimberly Blaeser is helping us celebrate National Poetry Month by sharing her book “Copper Yearning.” It’s full of poems that speak about Native people’s place in the world. That includes the connection to sacred places and lands and waterways that are challenged. Other poetic gems give the details of Native life center stage, down to the ribbon and jingles on a dancer’s dress. Join us for our April Book of the Month and our visit with Kimberly Blaeser.

 

Break 1 music: Traditional Side Step Song (song) Little Otter (artist) Side Step Songs (album)

Break 2 music: Natural Anthem (song) Jesse Ed Davis (artist) Keep Me Comin’ (album)

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A new comedy on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock TV, proves border towns can be funny. The setting is a town near the fictional Minishonka reservation. The two main characters, Nathan Rutherford, played by Ed Helms, and Regan Wells played by Jana Schmieding (Mniconjou and Sicangu Lakota) are best friends who are trying to get their communities excited about history and culture. Half of the writers are Native, as are the showrunner and main character. Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo) is the first Native American to run a TV comedy. We’ll talk with Teller Ornelas, Schmieding and writer/actor Bobby Wilson (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota) about this history-making TV series.

Guests:

Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota) – a writer for Rutherford Falls and he also plays Wayne on the show

Jana Schmieding (Mniconjou and Sicangu Lakota) – actor and writer for the TV show Rutherford Falls

Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo) – co-creator and showrunner of the Peacock TV series Rutherford Falls

 

Break 1 music: It’s My Way (song) Buffy Sainte-Marie (artist) It’s My Way! (album)

Break 2 music: Natural Anthem (song) Jesse Ed Davis (artist) Keep Me Comin’ (album)

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Ojibwe fishermen launch their boats in shallow water in the Great Lakes at dusk. They shine flashlights into the water looking for the iridescent shimmer of walleye eyes. In an age-old tradition, they take their catch with a spear. The tradition and tribes’ right to spearfish is affirmed in past treaties and legal decisions. Still, Native fishers face occasional confrontations by uninformed non-Native fishermen.  We’ll hear about the cultural significance of spearfishing as well as some history of past political tensions of subsistence fishing.

Guests:

Biskakone Johnson (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe) – language and art teacher for the Lac du Flambeau Tribe

Jason Bisonette (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe) – K-12 dean of students at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School and a spearfisherman

John Gilbert – director of biological service at the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission

Mic Isham (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) – executive administrator for the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission and former chairman of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe

 

Break 1 music: Straight Song (song) Pyawasits, Silas & Webster (artist) Wild Rice: Songs From The Menominee Nation (album)

Break 2 music: Na Makua (song) Henry Kapono (artist) The Wild Hawaiian (album)