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Native America Calling was at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ill.
Host Shawn Spruce along with National Native News anchor Antonia Gonzales and Native Vote 2024 contributor Shaun Griswold from Source NM brought you special live coverage during Thursday night’s acceptance speech by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Listen to the full broadcast or watch it on YouTube.
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Moving through all four seasons, Karuk homecook Sara Calvosa Olson tells a compassionate story about the flavors and food of her tribe through her new debut cookbook Chími Nu’am. Menominee chef Jessica Walks First catering company Ketapanen Kitchen will be getting a lot of visibility as a member of this year’s Chicago Bears Small Business All-Pros Team. And part of Minneapolis American Indian Center’s reconstruction is a totally revamped Gatherings Café with a new executive chef Vernon DeFoe (Red Cliff). It’s all part of The Menu, our regular feature on Indigenous food and food sovereignty produced and hosted by Andi Murphy (Diné).
GUESTS
Sara Calvosa Olson (Karuk), foodways worker and author of Chími Nu’am: Native California Foodways for the Contemporary Kitchen
Vernon DeFoe (Anishinaabe from Red Cliff Wisconsin), executive chef of Gatherings Café
Jessica Walks First (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin), executive chef and owner of Ketapanen Kitchen
Break 1 Music: How It Came to Be This Way (song) Autumn (artist) The Hating Tree (album)
Break 2 Music: Bear Beats (song) Cheevers Toppah (artist) True Melodies (album)
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The current shortage of medical professionals is a public health crisis. And the most-often cited estimates on into the future predict it will only get worse. That’s a particular problem for Native Americans, a group with higher instances of dangerous physical and mental health conditions, many of which could be addressed with better access to health care. Several Native physicians and public health advocates are looking at ways to both recruit more medical professionals and train them on culturally-grounded methods to help improve Native patient outcomes and head off an even worse problem in the future.
GUESTS
Dr. Mary Owen (Tlingit), director of the Center of American Indian and Minority Health and associate dean of Native American Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School
Olivia Sloan (Navajo and Tohono O’Odham), Native American nurse liaison and senior research nurse for Christus St. Vincent Medical Center
Dr. Donald Warne (Lakota), co-director for the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health
Dr. John Gonzalez (member of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation), professor of psychology and co-director of Indigenous Students in Psychology Training (InPsyT) at Bemidji State University
Break 1 Music: Intertribal (song) High Noon (artist) Generations (album)
Break 2 Music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)
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Listen to the full ceremony audio above or watch the video.
Koahnic Broadcast Corp. Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 20, 2023
Native America Calling, produced by Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, receives 2021 National Humanities Medal
Anchorage, Alaska – Koahnic Broadcast Corporation is pleased to announce that its daily public affairs show Native America Calling is a recipient of the 2021 National Humanities Medal from The National Endowment for the Humanities. The award will be presented to Koahnic’s President and CEO, Jaclyn Sallee, by U.S. President Joe Biden at a White House ceremony March 21.
Since 1995, the live call-in program Native America Calling has brought public radio stations, listeners, and online audiences together every weekday for a thought-provoking national conversation about issues specific to Native communities.
Each Native America Calling program connects noted guests and experts with callers throughout the United States, and is the only program of its kind that focuses on Native American issues.
“We are grateful and humbled to receive this recognition for Native America Calling’s service to listeners across the nation, and for Native communities in particular,” said Koahnic’s President and CEO, Jaclyn Sallee, who is Iñupiaq.
“Koahnic was founded in the early 1990s by a visionary group of Alaska Native leaders who saw a media environment where Native people barely existed,” said Sallee. “Native America Calling was developed in 1995 by Native producers working together from Alaska, New Mexico, and Nebraska to create a much-needed broadcast forum for Native public affairs. Over the last three decades, Native America Calling, other Native-made programming, and Native-operated radio stations have ensured that Native voices and viewpoints are part of our national conversations.
The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, is a prestigious honor presented to 12 or fewer awardees per year whose work has “deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.” Past honorees include public radio host/producer Terry Gross, Director Steven Spielberg, The Iowa Writers Workshop, Novelist Toni Morrison, and musician Elton John. Native America Calling is the first non-individual Native honoree to-date.
“The humanities help us to understand ourselves as humans, what connects us. Ensuring Native voices have a platform and that our stories are told and heard is immensely important,” said Sallee.
About Native America Calling and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation.
Native America Calling, a production of Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, is produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and heard on nearly 90 public, community and tribal radio stations in the United States and in Canada. Shawn Spruce (Laguna Pueblo) is the Host and Producer of the program, assisted by Senior Producer Andi Murphy (Diné), Associate Producer Sol Traverso (Athabascan, Puerto Rican), Production Engineer Marino Spencer (Diné) and Executive Producer Art Hughes.
Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, established in 1992, is a multimedia Native American production and distribution nonprofit located in Anchorage, Alaska, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Koahnic operates public radio station KNBA, and produces and distributes National Native News, Native America Calling, The RIVR, Indigefi, and also operates Native Voice One (NV1) the national Native radio distribution service. Koahnic Broadcast Corporation is committed to amplifying Native voices throughout Alaska and the nation.
WASHINGTON, DC (March 20, 2023)
President Joseph R. Biden will present the 2021 National Humanities Medals, in conjunction with the National Medals of Arts, tomorrow, Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. in an East Room ceremony at the White House. The 12 distinguished medal recipients include writers, historians, educators, and activists. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will attend the medals award ceremony, which will be livestreamed at: www.whitehouse.gov/live
“The National Humanities Medal recipients have enriched our world through writing that moves and inspires us; scholarship that enlarges our understanding of the past; and through their dedication to educating, informing, and giving voice to communities and histories often overlooked,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “I am proud to join President Biden in recognizing these distinguished leaders for their outstanding contributions to our nation’s cultural life.”
The National Humanities Medal honors an individual or organization whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the human experience, broadened citizens’ engagement with history or literature, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to cultural resources.
Here are the 12 recipients of the 2021 National Humanities Medal, with their White House citations:
The first National Humanities Medal was awarded in 1996. Since then 206 medals have been bestowed—190 to individuals and 16 to organizations—inclusive of this year’s recipients. A complete set of previous honorees is available at this link.
The humanities medal was preceded by the Charles Frankel Prize, first awarded in 1989.
Join the conversation on Twitter at #ArtsHumanitiesMedal.
The 2021 National Medals of Arts will be presented at the same ceremony. Among the recipients are Vera Wang, Jose Feliciano, Gladys Knight, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supports learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation that support research in the humanities, nurture humanities infrastructure, and expand the reach of the humanities. Since 1965, NEH has awarded nearly $6 billion to cultural institutions, individual scholars, and communities. The Endowment serves and strengthens the country by bringing high-quality historical and cultural experiences to large and diverse audiences in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five jurisdictions; providing opportunities for lifelong learning, access to cultural and educational resources, and strengthening the base of the human stories that connect all Americans.
National Endowment for the Humanities: Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at neh.gov.
Media Contacts:
Paula Wasley: | pwasley@neh.gov
Native America Calling, for connecting tribal and non-tribal communities across the United States. Through its interactive shows on the radio and online, Native America Calling educates the American public about Indigenous issues while preserving Indigenous history and culture to honor their contributions that strengthen the sacred Nation-to-Nation relationship.
Every weekday, listeners are invited to share their questions, comments, and thoughts on Native America Calling, the live call-in show focused on issues affecting Native American and Alaska Native people in the United States. The program has been dubbed “the nation’s largest electronic talking circle,” and it is exactly what it sounds like, a safe, shared space where listeners speak with noted experts and guests over the airwaves. For one hour, community is fostered through the reciprocal exchange of words, ideas, and information; and Native voices have agency.
Topics range from the difficult—such as the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Native communities, the trauma inflicted on generations of Native children sent to government-run boarding schools, or the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people—to the more light-hearted, such as the world of superheroes and cosplay, explorations into food culture, or the fandom of Native high school basketball.
However, one thing all these conversations have in common is their ability to demonstrate, in real time, that Native peoples are contemporary peoples, with complex lives and from diverse communities, and that contemporary Indigeneity is chock-full of brilliant thinkers, problem-solvers, leaders, creatives, humorists, activists, athletes, and down-right resilient individuals—a message that has always been understood by Native peoples themselves but virtually absent from mainstream representations.
Native America Calling was produced under a partnership between Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium and Alaska Public Radio Network and began broadcasting on June 5, 1995, from KUNM at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. The first national talk show devoted exclusively to Native American issues aired on 14 radio stations, with the first caller chiming in from Porcupine, South Dakota, to speak with the show’s first guest, Ada Deer, the assistant secretary of Indian affairs during the Clinton administration.
The program is now broadcast on 139 main stations, repeaters, and translators (of this number, 74 are Native-controlled stations and repeaters); heard by 60 thousand listeners via radio stations, according to 2015 Nielson audio estimates (which do not include most Native and small rural stations); and has about 84 thousand podcast downloads per month. Native America Calling has now become one of the premier venues for Native artists, musicians, writers, policy makers, and other notables to engage directly with Native communities.
In 2001, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, a Native-operated multimedia production and distribution nonprofit based in Anchorage, Alaska, took over management of the program. Like Native America Calling, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation’s mission has always been about amplifying Native voices through the lens of culture, identity, and resilience. The program continues to expand its digital capacity and audience capabilities through streaming services, social media, and a digital newsletter. While Native America Calling is primarily focused on Native American and Alaska Native people in the United States, perspectives from Indigenous populations throughout Canada, the Pacific, Australia, and Central and South America are also welcome.
According to the president and CEO of Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, Jaclyn Sallee (Inupiaq), “there is not really another public radio program like Native America Calling that is distributed and marketed to the tribal stations and offered to larger non-Native stations” and that operates as a daily call-in on issues specific to Native communities. Sallee attributes its success, in part, to the daily call-in format, which is still unique in the world of Native programming, and to the host and team, who “make it exciting,” assuring that “good conversation takes place.”
For host Shawn Spruce (Laguna Pueblo), his experience as a consultant in economic and community development in Native communities has proven helpful in facilitating the diverse conversations that take place among Indigenous people from varied backgrounds. A major part of his job, he explains, is understanding “what kind of priorities and values are at work in different Native communities across the country and being able to hone in on that,” so that he can give each one of these communities and each listener “something they can connect with.” He adds that “it’s about bringing out the best in our guests. Everybody’s got a story; everybody’s got a great story. It’s just that some of us need help telling that story.”
It is the in-depth exploration of these stories that the groundbreaking Native America Calling has been doing for nearly 30 years, every week, five days a week, and continues to do—connecting, supporting, and cultivating community, each guest, and each call, at a time.
—Kim Suina Melwani
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Laine Neech.yanagút Yéil Rinehart (Lingít/Taos Pueblo), based in Lingít lands in what’s today known as Juneau, AK., practices the traditional Lingít artform of Chilkat weaving, an intricate craft that retains its traditional designs, meanings, and uses.
In this episode, Laine shares how their art practice is a natural way to express personal and cultural identity, and makes space to acknowledge the harms of colonization. Also, a peek at their ambition to increase access to the mountain goat wool used in original weaving practices. Their stories are imbued with gratitude for the communities of teachers from whom they’ve learned.
Native Artist Series
The Native Artist Series takes a deep dive into the stories of Indigenous artists, spanning a wide range of artistic disciplines. From performance artists and writers, to carvers and weavers, artists share their unique stories and perspectives on navigating these fields while reclaiming native identity.
Dorthy is a professional performer and business owner of a dance company based on Dena’ina lands in Deghay’kaq, known today as Anchorage, AK. Dorthy’s talent reflects a lifetime of discipline and love for dance. She performs as Violet Lee Vamp. Along with her business partner, performer Lady Duchess, she co-founded the Sweet Cheeks Cabaret dance company in 2013. Their work straddles the discipline of live performance, the close-knit community of small businesses, and the energy that comes with cabaret—a niche in live theater that combines entertainment with an artform that is gender, body, and sex positive, and where safety and consent come first.
Violet Lee Vamp and Lady Duchess have helped make Sweet Cheeks a fan-favorite in the Anchorage nightlife scene, frequently earning the company, and its cast of dedicated performers, awards in audience-voted theater and burlesque.
At the core of it all, as an Indigenous performer and entrepreneur in the small business community, Dorthy’s work marks a steady, subtle sense of ownership for Indigenous women in entertainment.
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Host: Shawn Spruce
Native Americans are much more likely to get certain cancers than the rest of the population. And cultural and geographic separations are two major factors that could determine life or death when it comes to cancer treatment.
Congress just approved $8 million in federal money to expand a tribally run cancer treatment center on the Navajo Nation. It’s an acknowledgement of the higher prevalence of cancer there and the disparity in treatment on the reservation. Also, many Navajos prefer to keep the subject of cancer private, a concept that Indigenous care providers are more likely to understand.
Today on Native America Calling, we learn about tribally run cancer treatment and the importance of connecting on a cultural level.
GUESTS
Dr. Myra Parker, director of the Seven Directions Center for Indigenous Public Health at University of Washington in Seattle
Melissa Buffalo, CEO at the American Indian Cancer Foundation in Minneapolis
Lynette Bonar, CEO of Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation
Break 1 music: Chant (song) Robert Mirabal + Ethel (artist) The River (album)
Break 2 music: Sisters (song) The Halluci Nation (artist) Nation II Nation (album)
