Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:58 — 38.4MB) | Embed

Space explorers, hip-hop musicians, artists, and housing activists are among the diverse list of characters who make up season two of the PBS series “Native America”. The four-part season builds on the original series from 2018. Native filmmakers guide viewers on an inspiring and poignant exploration of modern Native life and its connection to traditions and stories from time immemorial. We’ll hear from the producers and others involved in bringing the shows to life.

GUESTS

Pam Belgarde (Turtle Mountain Band of Anishinaabe), producer of “Native America”

Charles ‘Boots’ Kennedye (Kiowa), producer of “Native America”

Gary Glassman, executive producer of “Native America”

Break 1 Music: Tanokumbia (feat. El Dusty & Black Bear) (song) The Halluci-Nation (artist) Tanokumbia (feat. El Dusty & Black Bear) (single)

Break 2 Music: My Island Home (song) Warumpi Band (artist)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:56 — 38.4MB) | Embed

Tribes are getting their applications in for funds from the second round of the Biden Administration’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. Altogether the federal government is sinking almost $3 billion into tribal connectivity projects. From Starlink connections in Alaska to community Wi-Fi hubs in Kansas, almost 200 tribes received grants to put them on the cusp of high-speed internet infrastructure, some of them for the first time ever. We’ll hear from some tribes about what the money is paying for and how long before they see dividends toward bridging the digital divide.

GUESTS

President Dennis Robinson (Qawalangin Tribe), Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska

Chairman Timothy Rhodd (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska), chairman of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

Geoffrey Blackwell (Omaha/Chickasaw/Choctaw/Muscogee), general counsel and chief of staff for National Congress of American Indians

Jon Walton, GM of Grey Snow Tech Services

Break 1 music: Diyin Creates Sound (song) Randy Boogie (artist) The Blessingway Boogie (album)

Break 2 music: My Island Home (song) Warumpi Band (artist)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:25 — 37.4MB) | Embed

Months of qualifier rounds are wrapping up, culminating in the Indian National Finals Rodeo. Hundreds of Native barrel racers, calf ropers, bull riders, and steer wrestlers converge at the South Point Equestrian Center in Las Vegas, Nev. to compete for the world champion spot. We’ll hear about who to watch and what’s ahead in professional rodeo sports.

GUESTS

Randy Taylor (Cherokee), professional rodeo announcer and host of our sister Native Voice One program Word With A Champ

Karlee Tsosie (Navajo), owner and operator of Rockin KT Rodeo Co. 

Steven DeWolfe (Oglala Lakota), reigning 2022 INFR world champion bareback rider

Tatum Ward (Cheyenne River Sioux), 25-year-old Native, qualifying in ladies barrel racing event   

Break 1 Music: Rodeo Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album)

Break 2 Music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:24 — 38.0MB) | Embed

Teachers, librarians, authors, and literary advocates are struggling to keep books about Native issues into public classrooms and libraries. That’s because of the increasing momentum by groups intent on removing any references, however vague, that they deem to promote racial diversity. Michigan’s Brandywine School District banned Laurel Goodluck’s children’s book Forever Cousins, an innocuous story about two Native relatives coping with living apart. We’ll get an updated list of banned Native books and what’s being done to get them in the hands of readers.

GUESTS

Debbie Reese (Nambe Pueblo), founder of American Indians in Children’s Literature blog

Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian), author

Allison Waukau (Menominee and Navajo), president of the American Indian Library Association

Donald Keeble (Forest County Potawatomi), director of the Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center

Break 1 Music: ABC 123 Song (song) Talibah (artist) Navajo Songs for Children (album)

Break 2 Music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:40 — 38.2MB) | Embed

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)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:01 — 38.5MB) | Embed

Director Ken Burns recruited Native filmmakers, producers, and actors to help tell the story of the iconic Plains animal, the buffalo. The new PBS documentary The American Buffalo chronicles the history of the buffalo – from its sacred connection to tribes to its almost complete demise – and the contemporary work by tribes to restore herds descended from the survivors of the federal government’s efforts to eradicate them. We’ll hear from the show’s creators and tribal experts dedicated to reviving the important and once plentiful species.

GUESTS

Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker and director of The American Buffalo

 Julianna Brannum (citizen of the Comanche Nation), consulting producer on The American Buffalo, director of public media programs for Vision Maker Media, and documentary filmmaker

Dr. Rosalyn LaPier (enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and Métis), professor of history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Break 1 Music: Buffalo (song) Algin Scabby Robe (artist) Along the Way: Round Dance Songs (album)

Break 2 Music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:37 — 38.2MB) | Embed

More teachers and administrators are turning to trauma-informed practices in the classroom. Among other things it prioritizes communication over discipline in certain circumstances, like when students experienced violence, a major accident, or some other significant event that might cause them to act out. It could be among the tools educators use to address the disproportionate percentage of Native America students who are suspended or expelled, which could affect their overall success at school.

GUESTS

Tesia Zientek (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), National Indian Education Association board president 

Jillene Joseph (A’aninin), executive director of the Native Wellness Institute

Shalene Joseph (A’aniiih and Koyukon Athabascan), project coordinator and facilitator at the Native Wellness Institute  

Star Weatherall (enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Klamath), education coordinator for the Grand Ronde Head Start Preschool

Break 1 Music: In the Presence of Young Drums (song) RiverFlowz (artist)

Break 2 Music: Dm Yootu Stukwliin (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) G̱al’üünx Wil Lu Holtga Liimi (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:25 — 38.7MB) | Embed

Most residents of North America will be able to witness at least a partial solar eclipse this weekend. The rare celestial event evokes a variety of reactions depending on tribal beliefs. Many Cherokees go outside and make noise to scare away the giant frog trying to eat the sun. The eclipse is an auspicious time of ceremony for Hopis. The Navajo Nation plans to close some tribal operations during the eclipse. We’ll shine a light on some of the tribal traditions for the upcoming eclipse.

GUESTS

Barry Wesley (Stoney Îyârhe), traditional knowledge holder and consultation officer for Stoney Nakoda First Nation 

Kari Holloway (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), library aide at Snowbird Community Library 

Jeneda Benally (Diné), one half of Sihasin, executive producer of “Indigenous YOUth Nation”  

Jones Benally (Diné), Jeneda’s father and a medicine man

Jeneda and Jones talk about Navajo eclipse traditions on Facebook Live, Friday 10/13 at 5 p.m. MT

Break 1 Music: Red Red Sun (song) Sunburnt Stone (artist) El Navaho (album)

Break 2 Music: She’s an Elder (song) Joanne Shenandoah (artist) LifeGivers (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:58 — 38.4MB) | Embed

Speaking a Native language is one thing. Reading and writing it often takes another level of effort and understanding, especially for adult language learners. To help keep languages thriving, Alaska is looking for ways to develop Native language standards in public schools. A number of other tribes utilize technology, adult classes and even games to promote their written languages.

GUESTS

Dr. Melissa Lewis (Cherokee Nation), assistant professor at the University of Missouri  

Dr. Jennifer Wheeler (Diné), long-time educator of Navajo and English  

Tirzah Toya-Waconda (Laguna Pueblo), director of family engagement and the Indigenous languages facilitator at Native American Community Academy (NACA)

Break 1 music: Going Back (song) Paula Nelson (artist) C.H.A.N.T. Cherokee Hope and New Traditions (album)

Break 2 Music: She’s an Elder (song) Joanne Shenandoah (artist) LifeGivers (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:31 — 38.1MB) | Embed

In the coming U.S. Supreme Court session, justices will hear arguments against a law that prevents people with domestic violence restraining orders from possessing guns. Native advocates for domestic violence survivors are worried a decision in favor of gun owners will jeopardize the lives of women, who are, by far, the most frequent victims of domestic violence. For Domestic Violence Awareness Month and to mark the 29th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, we’ll find out what actions help—and hurt—potential domestic violence victims.

GUESTS

Shawn Partridge (Mvskoke), director of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s Center for Victim Services (formerly known as the Family Violence Prevention Program)

Melody Ybarra (enrolled member of Apache Tribe of Oklahoma), domestic violence advocate with the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s House of Hope 

Dayna Schultz (Native Hawaiian), executive director and founding member of Pouhana O Nā Wāhine

Kathy Gibson (member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley), rural project coordinator for the Napuha Kha Nii Programs, the domestic violence and sexual assault programs for the Shoshone-Paiute tribes on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation 

Jeana Lungwitz, clinical professor in the Domestic Violence Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law 

Break 1 Music: Break ft. Kelly Fraser (song) Kristi Lane Sinclair (artist)

Break 2 Music: She’s an Elder (song) Joanne Shenandoah (artist) LifeGivers (album)