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Native entrepreneurs and even some tribes see grocery stores as a double win: they help the local economy and provide healthier food options in places where they aren’t often available. The USDA finds many rural areas of Native America are food deserts—areas without grocery stores or farmers’ markets with fresh produce. We’ll hear from Native grocery store owners about what it takes to make to be profitable on their reservations.

Guests:

Germaine Simonson (Navajo) – owner and operator of Rocky Ridge Gas and Market

Joey VanAlstine (citizen of the Little Travers Bay Bands of Odawa Indians) – chairman of Ziibimijwang Inc.

Richard Driskell – director for retail operations for FireLake Discount Foods and the FireLake Express Grocery stores in Tecumseh and McLoud for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation

Break 1 Music: Indigenous Life (song) Fiji (artist) Indigenous Life (album)

Break 2 Music: Happy Sundance (song) Dallas Arcand (artist) Modern Day Warrior (album)

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Dancers and emcees on the circuit are putting hundreds of miles on their cars traveling from one summer powwow to the next. There are fancy dancers, traditional dancers, jingle dress dancers, fancy shawl dancers, grass dancers and chicken dancers. Each of the dances has its own meaning, steps and regalia. We’ll spend an hour breaking down the powwow scene and find out how competition mixes with tradition in the dance arena.

Guests:

Richard Archuleta (Taos Pueblo) – co-coordinator for the Taos Pueblo Pow Wow

Vince Beyl (Ojibwe) – powwow announcer

Erik Gahbow (Ojibwe) – professional powwow participant (singer)

Break 1 Music: Apsaalooke Double Beat (Sung for Head Lady Dancer Dora Old Elk) (song) Warscout (artist) Scouts (album)

Break 2 Music: Happy Sundance (song) Dallas Arcand (artist) Modern Day Warrior (album)

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There’s a push on to rescind the official honors bestowed on members of the 7th Calvary Regiment for their roles in the Wounded Knee Massacre. Ironically, it was a tweet by President Donald Trump that prompted the latest effort to take back the 20 Medals of Honor given after the infamous 1890 attack that killed hundreds of Lakota men, women and children. We’ll hear from Wounded Knee descendants and other stakeholders about how an accurate portrayal of history informs what the federal government considers an ‘honor’.

Guests:

OJ Semans (Rosebud Sioux) – co-founder of Four Directions

Manny Iron Hawk (Howozu Lakota) – chairperson of Heartbeat At Wounded Knee or HAWK

Marcella LeBeau (Cheyenne River Sioux) – WWII veteran and defender of Wounded Knee

Break 1 Music: Song Of Encouragement (song) Porcupine Singers (artist) Alowanpi – Songs Of Honoring – Lakota Classics: Past & Present, Vol. 1 (album)

Break 2 Music: Happy Sundance (song) Dallas Arcand (artist) Modern Day Warrior (album)

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Rural villages in Alaska are in a public safety crisis. One in three communities in Alaska have no local law enforcement, according to an investigation by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica. In some areas, crime victims—often Alaska Natives—must wait hours or even days for officers to respond. In some cases, residents are forced to apprehend people who pose a threat to the public. U.S. Attorney General William Barr declared an emergency, making $10 million of federal money available to boost rural law enforcement. The same day, Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed $3 million in spending for Village Public Safety Officer positions. In this hour we’ll look into law enforcement in Alaska and what solutions might help.

Guests:

AlexAnna Salmon (Igiugig Village) – president of the Igiugig Village Council

Julie Kitka (Chugach Eskimo) – president of Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN)

Richard Peterson (Tlingit) – president of the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

Darlene Trigg (Inupiaq) – local community advocate

Break 1 Music: Sunshine (song) Audiopharmacy (artist) U Forgot About Us (album)

Break 2 Music: Happy Sundance (song) Dallas Arcand (artist) Modern Day Warrior (album)

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All Indian Health Service facilities are drafting action plans for patients to seek medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction. That’s significant because it could mean more IHS patients would have access to methadone, Subutex and other drugs that are showing some promise in combination with behavioral therapy. IHS Principal Deputy Director Michael D. Weahkee set a December deadline for the plans. We’ll talk with doctors as well as people in addiction recovery about treating opioid addiction with medication.

Guests:

Dr. Snehal Bhatt – chief of addiction psychiatry at the University of New Mexico

Kailee Fretland (White Earth Nation) – acting director of pharmacy at the Red Lake Indian Health Service

Madison Giroux (Rosebud Sioux) – guest coordinator at the Madison House (sober living facility)

Dr. David Sprenger – program director of TeleWell Indian Health Medication Assisted Treatment Project

Break 1 Music: In Beauty (The Remix) (song) Primeaux & Mike (artist) Road to Peace (album)

Break 2 Music: Happy Sundance (song) Dallas Arcand (artist) Modern Day Warrior (album)

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From a sense of urgency to a desire to connect with your culture, there are many reasons to start learning your tribal language. In this hour, we’ll talk with a few different individuals who are learning or teaching their Native languages. In this encore show (no live callers) we’ll hear why they chose to make the effort and the challenges they face along the way.

Guests:

James Vukelich (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) – creator of the online series Ojibwe Word of the Day

Santana Fuentes (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate/ Mni Wakan Oyate) – Dakota language learner

Jacey Firth-Hagen (Gwich’in) – started the social media campaign Speak Gwich’in To Me

Fawn Wood (Cree/Salish) – award winning recording artist

Break 1 Music: The Four Essential Elements (Diigo Bee’iináanii) (song) Radmilla Cody (artist) K’é Hasin (album)

Break 2 Music: Electric Pow Wow Drum (song) A Tribe Called Red (artist) A Tribe Called Red (album)

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Plants such as sage, sweetgrass, and cedar are important for ceremonies and prayer. They’re also readily available online and even at chain stores, marketed as methods to reduce negative energy or for some vague DIY cleansing ritual. Non-Native people are buying them with little information about what they actually do or how they’re used. Some Native people say some natural medicines are getting harder to find. There’s at least one instance of illegal sage harvesting in California. We’ll discuss the traditional roles and uses of Native medicines and find out if there’s a way to get the message across to those who think such ceremonies are open for anyone.

Guests:

Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) – Independent journalist and writer

Neelou Malekpour – Owner of Smudged

Tipiziwin Tolman (Dakota and Lakota) – Owner of Haipažaža Pȟežuta

Kat High (Hoopa descendant) – Traditional Basket weaver and storyteller

Break 1 Music: Chicken Dance (song) Sweetgrass (artist) Follow The Trial (album)

Break 2 Music: Little Earthings (song) The Jir Project Band (artist) Sun Child (album)

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It took three years and $92 million. Almost 1,500 family members and survivors testified. Canada’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls concluded the disproportionate violence against Native women, girls and the LGBTQ2 population amounts to genocide. The commission that prepared the report offered 231 suggestions to remedy the disparities, including creating a national action plan and task force to address unsolved cases. Members of the commission presented the report to Canada’s prime minister during a solemn ceremony this month. We will look into the final report and determine what lessons other nations might learn from it.

Guests:

Nahanni Fontaine (Sagkeeng First Nation) – MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) for St. Johns in Manitoba

Bernadette Smith (Anishinaabe/Métis) – Member of the Legislative Assembly for Point Douglas in Manitoba

Sheila North (Bunibonibee Cree Nation) – former grand chief Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and a MMIWG advocate

Break 1 Music: Tapwe Oma (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

Break 2 Music: Little Earthings (song) The Jir Project Band (artist) Sun Child (album)

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Fort Sill, a military post in Oklahoma used to imprison Apaches in the 1860s, is slated to house hundreds of undocumented children. Fort Sill is notably the place where Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimo died as a prisoner of war. It was also an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. Native American and advocacy groups condemn the treatment of migrant children, some of whom are already being housed away from their families in substandard conditions. They also note the troubling ties between the historical blunders and current detentions. We’ll learn what’s known about migrants and asylum seekers in U.S. custody and the policies and conditions that led us here.

Guests:

Allegra Love – executive director of Santa Fe Dreamers Project and licensed attorney

Lavetta Yeahquo (Kiowa) – elder advisor for the American Indian Movement Indian Territory

Edson Alvarado Fierro (Tarahumara tribe) – anti-racism community educator, and cyber-security adviser for Dream Action Oklahoma

Odilia Romero (Zapotec) – general binational coordinator for the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations FIOB

Break 1 Music: Cissy (Fish/Smoke Dance) (song) Sheldon Sundown (artist) Hand Drum/Smoke N’ Round Dance (album)

Break 2 Music: Little Earthings (song) The Jir Project Band (artist) Sun Child (album)

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Marching bands have a place beyond football halftime shows. Native bands like the Navajo Nation Band and A:Shiwi A:Wan Band are community traditions that appeal to crowds at parades and summer community events. Some Native marching bands also offer a musical outlet for adult musicians, some of whom have participated in their community band for decades. We recognize Native marching bands and their years of providing community entertainment.

Guests:

Valerie Harrison (Navajo) – Navajo Nation band administration coordinator

Steve Lopez (member of the Ft. Mojave Indian Tribe) – tribal spokesman for the Fort Mojave Tribal Band

Delbert Anderson (Diné) – music instructor, director of jazz at San Juan College

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

Break 2 Music: Little Earthings (song) The Jir Project Band (artist) Sun Child (album)