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Whether they’re strays or have attentive caretakers, the dogs that occupy reservations have a bad reputation. Advocates for rez dogs are working on a number of fronts to turn that around. Mindful of the occasional safety issue, advocates for dogs are organizing veterinarian visits, spay, neuter clinics, and even dog shows, all as a way to prevent more drastic measures and to promote safer environments.

GUESTS

Tadraschell Murray (Shoshone-Bannock), recreation manager for Fort Hall Department of Recreation 

Chantal Wadsworth (Navajo), founder of RezRoads Rescue

Podzy Wolf Granillo (member of Klamath Tribes), Warm Springs Dog Lady

Break 1 Music: Cedar & Willows (song) The Northwest Kid (artist)

Break 2 Music: Chase the Child (song) Raye Zaragoza (artist) Fight for You (album)

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Public pressure is mounting to search a municipal landfill in Winnipeg for two missing Indigenous women. Police indicated last December the privately run landfill could be where the bodies of the women ended up. Police investigators say they believe the two are victims of a serial killer, but officials all the way from the city on up to the provincial premiere are preventing the search, saying it’s much too expensive and dangerous. The victims’ families and supporters say it’s another example of officials’ lack of will to deliver justice for Indigenous crime victims.

GUESTS

Faye Joseph (Coast Salish), member of the Circle of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Students at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador chapter

Grand Chief Cathy Merrick (Pimicikamak Cree Nation), Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs  

Chief Kyra Wilson (Ojibway and Dakota), Chief of the Long Plain First Nation

Eleanore Sunchild (Thunderchild First Nation), Indigenous human rights attorney with Sunchild Law; part of the Redrum Motorcycle Club 

Grand Chief Jerry Daniels (Long Plain First Nation), Southern Chiefs’ Organization

 

Break 1 Music: MMIW (single) Antone George with Arrangement by Mark Nichols (artist)

Break 2 Music: Chase the Child (song) Raye Zaragoza (artist) Fight for You (album)

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A quarry in Minnesota has been a reliable source for the stone used in ceremonial pipes for dozens of tribes throughout the central U.S. and Canada. Other tribes elsewhere found their own local sources for making pipes. We’ll talk about the importance of pipes and the methods for making them passed down through the centuries.

GUESTS

Robert Sweeney (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), Northern Ponca spiritual leader

Bud Johnston (Anishinaabe), president of the Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers 

Gabrielle Drapeau (Yankton Sioux Tribe), cultural resource specialist and park ranger at Pipestone National Monument

Travis Erickson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), pipemaker and Pipestone Indian Shrine Association board member

Chief Looking Horse (Lakota/Dakota/Nakota), 19th Generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe

 

Break 1 Music: Smoke dance remix (song) Chief Rock (artist)

Break 2 Music: Chase the Child (song) Raye Zaragoza (artist) Fight for You (album)

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A handful of tribes are venturing into the realm of family fun in the form of water parks, amusement parks, or theme parks. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians just opened a $70 million expansion to its giant Alabama Gulf Coast water park that also offers restaurants and live entertainment venues. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians has a $75 million deal for a Tennessee theme park that will also feature an interactive look at Cherokee military heroism. As the days of summer vacations begin to wane, we’ll take a look at the draw — and business — of tribal family destinations.

GUESTS

Major Robinson (Northern Cheyenne), owner and principal at Redstone Project Development

Kristin Hellmich, director of external communications for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Dennis Bunner (Muskogee Creek), parks and recreations director for the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge

 

Break 1 Music: Feels Like (song) Nataanii Means (artist)

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

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The mortality rate for Native American women during pregnancy and childbirth have outpaced most other ethnic groups for decades. The latest numbers just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) show Native maternal mortality far exceeds their white, Black, and Asian counterparts in some states — especially in the upper Midwest. We’ll look at the causes and trends for high Native pregnancy death rates and what health professionals say is the solution.

GUESTS

Nicolle Gonzales (Diné), founder, health policy director, and board member for the Changing Woman Initiative

Dr. Tina Pattara-Lau, maternal child health consultant at Indian Health Service headquarters

Dr. Andrew Williams, assistant professor at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of North Dakota

Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

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

 

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Oklahoma is among at least 18 states with new laws restricting how public schools can teach history about race and culture. Teachers are now wondering how to inform students about events like the Trail of Tears and the Tulsa Massacre. Some educators are defying the restrictions. Also, the Pointe-au-Chien Tribe in Louisiana is starting a new language immersion school two years after their only elementary school closed. We’ll get a snapshot of what Native educators see ahead in the new school year.

GUEST INFO

Patty Ferguson-Bohnee (Pointe-au-Chien), director of the Indian Legal Program and clinical professor of Law at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University

Matt Jackson (citizen of the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma), ethnic studies teacher for Norman Public Schools

Lucyann Harjo (Diné), Indian Education coordinator for Norman Public Schools

Alicia Andrew (Alutiiq), Tribal Chief of Karluk Village

 

Break 1 music: Turtle Island Reggae (song) Quese IMC & Cempoalli 20 (artist) Osahwuh (album)

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

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Native American ranchers and other rural New Mexico residents were among those who saw the flash of the first test of the atomic bomb in 1945. Descendants of the people downwind of the blast say they continue to pay the price with serious health conditions – and tribes also complain leaching from uranium mines to fuel subsequent nuclear reactors pose a daily health threat.

GUESTS

Leona Morgan (Diné), anti-nuclear activist

Marian Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), founder and director of Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE)

Marissa Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), environmental justice organizer with HOPE

Ian Zabarte (Shoshone), principal man of the Western Band of Shoshone Indians and secretary of the Native Community Action Council

 

Break 1 Music: Bui yo oh wanina (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)

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

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The Fort Belknap Indian Community is the latest tribe to sue the federal government over inadequate law enforcement. A joint legislative resolution passed this year noted “justice has eluded many Native American victims, survivors, and families” as there are not enough officers to cover the more than 1,000 square miles within the reservation boundaries. They’re one of at least three tribes that are taking on what they say is the lack of full federal funding to keep their citizens safe.

GUESTS

President Jeffrey Stiffarm (Aaniiih and Nakoda), Fort Belknap Indian Community

Gary LaMere Jr. (Aaniiih), supervisory criminal investigator for the Fort Belknap Indian Community 

Geno LeValdo (Aaniiih and Nakoda), Gros Ventre At Large Council Member

John Grinsell (Northern Cheyenne), supervisory criminal investigator for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe

 

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