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About one out of every six high school students report being bullied, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number goes up significantly — as much as 40% — for LGBTQ2 students. The death of non-binary Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict, ruled a suicide, is sparking widespread conversations about the consequences of bullying. The federal Government Accounting Office found in 2021 that racist bullying is also on the rise. We’ll discuss strategies that are showing promise for combatting bullying.

GUESTS

Dr. Mark Standing Eagle Baez (member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation and descendent of the Mohawk and Pawnee Nations), assistant professor of the Clinical and Counseling Program at Bemidji State University, president-elect of Society of Indian Psychologists, and private practitioner

Kelley Blair (Choctaw, Cherokee, and Seminole), CEO and founder of the Diversity Center of Oklahoma, chair of the Central OK Two Spirit Society, and sits on International Two Spirit Council

Stephanie Paz (tribal member from Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo), ambassador for We R Native

Break 1 Music: No Evil (song) Shawnee Kish (artist)

Break 2 Music: Back Home (song) Pepper (artist) In with the Old (album)

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Alaska sets aside a day each year to honor William Henry Seward, Secretary of State under President Abraham Lincoln. Among other things he’s known for negotiating the U.S. Government’s purchase of Alaska in 1867, ushering in subsequent American colonialism in the 49th state, including the Klondike Gold Rush and other resource exploitation that largely ignored the original inhabitants.

GUESTS

Benjamin Jacuk (Dena’ina Athabascan and Sugpiaq), researcher at the Alaska Native Heritage Center

Jackson Polys (Lingít), multidisciplinary artist and carver

Curt Chamberlain (Native Village of Aniak), assistant general counsel for the Calista Corporation

Lee Farrow, distinguished research professor and distinguished teaching professor, and chair, in the Department of History and World Languages at Auburn University at Montgomery

Break 1 Music: Manifest Death (song) M.I.S. [Merciless Indian Savages] (artist) Kill the Man, Save the Indian (album)

Break 2 Music: Back Home (song) Pepper (artist) In with the Old (album)

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When the Exxon Valdez supertanker broke open on March 24, 1989, the resulting oil spill coated 1,300 miles of shoreline in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and killed thousands of fish, birds, and wildlife. The environmental disaster is associated with the distressing images of water birds, otters, and other animals fighting for their lives through a thick coat of crude oil. The spill destroyed subsistence and commercial fishing for Alaska Native fishers, and created ecological contamination that is still recovering. We’ll look at the lasting harm from the spill 35 years later, and what’s changed to prevent future disasters.

GUESTS

Dune Lankard (Eyak Athabascan), founder and president of the Native Conservancy

Sheri Buretta (Alutiiq from the Native Village of Tatitlek), chairman of the board for the Chugach Alaska Corporation

Stan Jones, author and former journalist

Patience Anderson Faulkner (Sugpiaq), legal technician and paralegal

Break 1 Music: Money Cannot Be Eaten (song) Rosary Spence (artist) Maskawisiwin (album)

Break 2 Music: Moody (song) Toni Heartless (artist) Dark Days (album)

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Four states and six tribes in the Colorado River Basin are working on an agreement on water usage into the future. The agreement could be finalized as early as April. It comes as a flurry of agreements — and lack of agreement — involving other states and tribes is competing for a comprehensive water sharing agreement in time for an imposed 2026 deadline. We’ll hear differing perspectives from tribal representatives about the evolving conversations about the vital and diminishing resource.

GUESTS

Ethel Branch (Diné), Navajo Nation Attorney General

Joelynn Ashley (Hopi and Navajo), chair of Navajo Nation Water Rights Commission

Chuck Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission

Break 1 Music: The Center of the Universe (song) Clark Tenakhongva (artist) Su’Vu’Yo’Yungw (album)

Break 2 Music: Moody (song) Toni Heartless (artist) Dark Days (album)

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The Fort Yukon (Alaska) Lady Eagles capped off a winning streak to capture the first state championship in the school’s history. Their coach said it’s like “winning the Super Bowl”.  The Navajo Prep (New Mexico) boys team, also the Eagles, won their first state championship, joined by a championship win by the school’s girls team. It’s basketball tournament time and we’re talking free throws, three-pointers, and trophies.

GUESTS

Josh Cadzow (Gwich’in), Fort Yukon Lady Eagles basketball head coach

L.A. Williams (Diné), sportscaster and radio talent

Dominic Tiger-Cortes (citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation), basketball trainer for 7G

Ann Gardner, Cherokee Lady Braves head coach

Break 1 Music: Hype Beat (song) RiverFlowz (artist)

Break 2 Music: Moody (song) Toni Heartless (artist) Dark Days (album)

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If the rates were equal among races, at least a thousand more Native Americans would have received life-saving liver transplants over a four-year period. An investigation by the Washington Post and The Markup shows Native Americans have the highest rate of death from liver disease, but the lowest representation on the waitlist for transplants. We’ll discuss the discrepancies and what’s being done to connect Native Americans with transplants.

GUESTS

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

Silena Thomas (Diné), patient navigator with the Mayo Clinic

Dr. Erin Maynard, division head of abdominal organ transplant at Oregon Health and Science University and the surgical director of the liver transplant program at the Portland VA

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

Break 2 Music: Moody (song) Toni Heartless (artist) Dark Days (album)

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A bill just introduced in Canada would outlaw what most of the developed world has considered a human rights violation for decades. The law would prohibit sterilizing women without their consent. An Indigenous woman testified in front of lawmakers that she was sterilized without any prior discussion. Her mother was also sterilized without consent decades prior. The discussion comes as women from the U.S., Canada, and around the world confront past abuses of medical professionals who said they were working in the best interests of Indigenous woman.

GUESTS

Madonna Thunderhawk (Lakota), community worker with Standing Strong Grandmothers  

Morningstar Mercredi (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), traditional oratory storyteller

Kahsenniyo Kick (Mohawk) multi-disciplinary artist and sterilization survivor

Anne Pilegaard Petersen, co-host of “Spiralkampagnen” podcast

Break 1 Music: Mean Things (song) Sihasin (artist) Never Surrender (album)

Break 2 Music: Roadrunner (song) DDAT (artist) DDAT (album)