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Gaming revenue hit a record $40.9 billion in the most recent report by the National Indian Gaming Commission. Gaming’s economic reliability over the years along with other tribal enterprises give some tribes multi-billion dollar annual incomes. The U.S. Census Bureau reports Native-owned businesses employ more than 243,000. We’ll hear about the unique opportunities and challenges that come with tribal wealth.

GUESTS

Lance Morgan (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska), founder and CEO of Ho-Chunk, Inc.  

Leilani Wilson Walkush (Tlingit), chief compliance officer for Breakwater Investment Group, LLC

Jason Giles (Muscogee Creek), executive director of the National Indian Gaming Association

Misty Napeahi, vice chairwoman of the Tulalip Tribes

Break 1 Music: Rainbow Gratitude (song) Joy Harjo (artist) Red Dreams, A Trail Beyond Tears (album)

Break 2 Music: Nd Waza Bat (song) Keith Secola (artist) Circle (album)

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The number of arrests in connection to protests against the Israel-Hamas war has now gone over 2,000. A number of Native students are among those supporting the protests generally calling for universities to cut any ties to Israel’s military efforts in Gaza. Inspired by students at Columbia University, additional protests have spread to more than two dozen campuses. The protests include occupying university buildings and setting up encampments. In addition to arrests, protesting students risk suspensions and other academic consequences. We’ll hear from Native students in support of the largest college campus protests since the Vietnam War.

GUESTS

Kianna (Diné), Columbia University student

Derek (Mixteco), Columbia University student

Siihasin Hope (Diné), University of New Mexico alumnus, community organizer

Lani Mekeel (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara), model and Indigenous advocate

Break 1 Music: Walking in Beauty (song) Jay Begaye (artist) The Beauty Way (album)

Break 2 Music: Flyer (song) The Zoniez (artist)

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A substantial number of Native Americans are affected by Arizona’s efforts to solidify a strict ban on abortions. Even after Arizona elected leaders repealed the law affirmed by the state Supreme Court that criminalizes nearly all abortions, the state faces a new landscape with it comes to access to the procedure. Abortion access advocates are taking cues from other states with abortion restrictions on the books — a reality that affects at least 75 federally recognized tribes. We’ll get rundown from multiple perspectives on the current trends and realities for abortion access for Native women.

GUESTS

Charon Asetoyer (Comanche), executive director of the Native American Community board, which is a parent organization to the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center

Rachael Lorenzo (Mescalero Apache and Laguna Pueblo), executive director of Indigenous Women Rising

Wes Nofire (citizen of the Cherokee Nation), Native American Liaison for the State of Oklahoma

Ann Tweedy, professor at the University of South Dakota School of Law

Break 1 Music: Hope (Featuring Werner Erb) (song) Sihasin (artist) Never Surrender (album)

Break 2 Music: Flyer (song) The Zoniez (artist)

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The short video social media platform TikTok is mostly a source of entertainment and information for most Native users. A ban on the app in the United States would cut that off for TikTok fans, but also close off a source of income for several talented Native producers. A new law requires TikTok’s China-based company to sell its interest in the app or lose its U.S. audience, which has a massive, mostly young base. We’ll hear from Native TikTok producers and cybersecurity experts about what’s behind the ban and what it means for users.

GUESTS

charlie amáyá scott (Diné), influencer, TikTok creator, and PhD candidate  

Patuk Glenn (Iñupiaq), executive director of the Arctic Slope Community Foundation and content creator 

Brandon Benallie (Diné and Hopi), cybersecurity expert

Dr. Karaitiana Taiuru (Kai Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, & Ngāti Toa), Māori A.I., Data, and Emerging Tech Ethicist and Governance, IP, and Critical Indigenous Researcher

Break 1 Music: Hoka Hey (feat. Jayden Paz & Dancin Dave) [Radio Version] (song) DJ krayzkree (artist) Future Generations (album)

Break 2 Music: Flyer (song) The Zoniez (artist)

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The year-round creative drive, Native Guitars Tour, heads up a two-day music and fashion presentation at the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque. It’s a chance for us to hear from some of the musicians including Jir Anderson, Scotti Clifford, and Geneviève Gros-Louis – an hour of live music by Native talent.

GUESTS

Jir Anderson (Cochiti Pueblo), lead singer for the Jir Project and the founder of Native Guitars Tour

Geneviève Gros-Louis (Huron-Wendat), composer, violinist, and producer

Scotti Clifford (Oglala Lakota), singer-songwriter

Sage Nizhoni (Diné), singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer

Break 1 Music: Rumble (Remastered) (song) Link Wray (artist) Rumble (Remastered) (single)

Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

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We are in the midst of a new surge of Native writing talent. And their skill for engaging readers with compelling stories is propelling a new, complex and more sophisticated narrative about who Native Americans are. Gone are the Louis L’Amour stereotypes. The new Native characters are miscreants, bored office workers, dysfunctional family members, and reluctant heroes. And they all have a story to tell, with a voice that readers wouldn’t hear otherwise. We’ll explore the arc of Native literature from two writers who are part of the torrent of creative representation.

GUESTS

Deborah Jackson Taffa (Kwatsaán and Laguna Pueblo), author of Whiskey Tender, director of the MFA in Creative Writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and editor-in-chief of “River Styx” literary magazine   

Ramona Emerson (Diné), former forensic videographer and photographer, filmmaker, and author of Shutter

Break 1 Music: Totah (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album)

Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

And listeners in Albuquerque can continue the conversation with a special live panel discussion moderated by Shawn Spruce with writers Deborah Jackson Taffa, Ramona Emerson, and Brandon Hobson at Bookworks at 6 p.m. Friday, April 25:

 

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The early bond between Native Americans and horses was both technical and spiritual. For centuries, horses amplified the range and power for tribes, especially in the west. New discoveries are potentially rewriting what we know about the use of horses by the earliest inhabitants of North America. Those ancient bonds translate into a lasting spiritual and vocational connection that continues for those who work with horses. We’ll hear from some of them about how Native knowledge and horses go together.

GUESTS

Dustina Abrahamson (Lemhi-Shoshone and Bannock), member of the Gathering of Nations Horse Parade Committee

George Goode (Yaqui), master farrier and president of the Native American Horseshoeing Education Foundation

Emerson Sam (Diné), horse trainer and farrier

Raquel Sam (Diné), Gathering of Nations horse and rider regalia parade competitor and fashion designer

Tommy Sam (Diné), horseback and professional bull rider

Break 1 Music: For the Horses (song) Randy Wood (artist) My Heart & Soul (album)

Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)