Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:30 — 38.8MB) | Embed

If he lives up to his word, President-elect Donald Trump’s first day in the Oval Office will include a wave of executive actions with significant repercussions for tribes and individuals. In addition to major moves to expel immigrants, Trump promises to expand oil and other extractive development, cancel selected green energy spending, and eliminate federal diversity and equity measures. Trump also has an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days that herald sweeping changes in federal government. We’ll hear from political watchers about what could be in store.

GUESTS

Aaron Payment (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), tribal councilman and former chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Angela Parker (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Cree), assistant professor of history at the University of Denver

Julia Wakeford (Muscogee and Yuchi), policy director for the National Indian Education Association

Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, assistant professor in the Department of Black and Latino Studies at Baruch College

 

Break 1 Music:  Our Autonomy (song) Klee Benally (artist) Appropriation (album)

Break 2 Music: Grandmother’s Song (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Iskwewak (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:53 — 38.4MB) | Embed

President Donald Trump and Republicans pulled off a decisive victory. Are Native Americans poised to benefit from the change in power? We’ll get the early analysis about what the election results mean from a Native perspective and hear more about how Native candidates fared up and down the ballot. We’ll also find out how tribes might shift strategies to accommodate the change in political winds.

GUESTS

OJ Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), co-executive director of Four Directions Vote

Allen Wright (Choctaw), president and founder of the Hustings Group

Dr. Aaron Payment (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), tribal councilman and former chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Rhonda McBride, journalist and producer at our Koahnic Broadcast Corp. flagship station KNBA

 

Break 1 Music: 500 Years O’ Blues (song) Digging Roots (artist) Seeds (album)

Break 2 Music: Midnite Blues (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:10 — 38.6MB) | Embed

It’s the final day to cast your vote, setting the political course for the foreseeable future. All the messages to encourage Native voting, the legal and technical work to assure access, and the onslaught of campaign ads come down to Election Day. We’ll get reports from around the country to talk about progress and remaining hurdles as Native voters choose their elected leaders.

GUESTS

Gabriella Cázares-Kelly (Tohono O’odham), Pima County Recorder

April Ignacio (Tohono O’odham), co-founder of Indivisible Tohono

Kevin Killer (Oglala Lakota), former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and member of the South Dakota legislature

Maria Haskins (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe), Wisconsin Native Vote manager and organizer

 

Break 1 Music: Ideal Dub (song) Casper Loma Da-Wa (artist) Honor the People (album)

Break 2 Music: Midnite Blues (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:28 — 38.1MB) | Embed

The Lumbee Nation counts 55,000 members, and although they are not federally recognized and have no tribal trust land, they have a strong cultural identity. The possibility of federal recognition is a factor in who members support in the presidential race. Across the state, the smaller, but federally recognized, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has political and economic muscle and opposes Lumbee recognition. We’ll explore the dynamics of navigating the Native vote in a critical swing state.

GUESTS

John Cummings (Lumbee Tribe), chairman of the Robeson County Board of Commissioners

Christopher Reed (enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), vice chair of the North Carolina District 11 Democratic Party

Jesalyn Kaziah (Lumbee), executive director of the Triangle Native American Society

 

Break 1 Music: Hug Room (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Break 2 Music: Midnite Blues (song) Crystal Shawanda (artist) Midnight Blues (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:52 — 38.4MB) | Embed

Nevada is the first state to extend electronic ballots to tribal members. It allows them to register and vote from their own homes, giving rural Native voters an alternative to traveling miles to their nearest polling or ballot drop-off site. It’s an idea that other states remain wary of. In Alaska, efforts to improve voting among Native voters remain elusive. Opposition from Republican state lawmakers killed a bill eliminating witness signatures on absentee ballots. On a conservative talk show, the Alaska House Speaker admitted she opposed it because it would have favored U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat and the only Alaska Native in Congress. Rep. Peltola calls it “a concerted effort to silence” Native votes. We’ll discuss progress and continuing hurdles for Native voters.

GUESTS

Mathilda Guerrero Miller (Kanaka Maoli), government relations director for Native Voters Alliance Nevada

Elveda Martinez (Walker River Paiute Tribe), voter rights activist

Michelle Sparck (Qissunamiut Tribe of Chevak), director of Get Out the Native Vote

Gabriel Di Chiara, Chief Deputy Secretary of State for Nevada

Break 1 Music: Keep Rising (song) House of Shem (artist) Keep Rising (album)

Break 2 Music: Grateful Sun (song) Mike Bern (artist)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:08 — 38.6MB) | Embed

Connecting with Native voters works best when the message comes from a Native source. In the final days before the election, the campaigns are working at a feverish pace in places like Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada, and North Carolina, deploying specialists to connect with Native voters. We’ll hear from some of those specialists about what you might expect to hear in the final stretch of the campaigns, and what messages are resonating most.

GUESTS

Julie Dye (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians), co-founder and secretary of the Anishinaabek Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party

John Cummings (Lumbee), chairman of the Robeson County Board of Commissioners

Francine Bradley-Arthur (Navajo), co-founder of the Freedom House in St. Michaels, Ariz. and retired police lieutenant

Arvina Martin (Ho-Chunk and Stockbridge-Munsee), executive director for Emerge Wisconsin

Break 1 Music: Unity (song) Native Roots (artist) Most High (album)

Break 2 Music: Creator (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:40 — 36.9MB) | Embed

Republican U.S. Senate challenger Tim Sheehy is drawing fire from Montana tribal officials for comments deemed derogatory against the state’s Native American residents. A recording of the comments at a previous public appearance surfaced at the end of August. In a candidate debate, incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) called on Sheehy to apologize. In a state with 70,000 Native Americans and seven federally recognized Native reservations, how the candidates appeal to Native voters could make a difference in the outcome of a close race.

Plus, we’ll get updates on Hurricane Helene damage from North Carolina.

GUESTS

Levi Black Eagle (Apsáalooke), secretary of the Crow Tribe

Jordan James Harvill (Cherokee and Choctaw), national program director for Advance Native Political Leadership

Anthony Sequoyah (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), secretary of operations for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Break 1 Music: Outer Inner (song) DDAT (artist) DDAT (album)

Break 2 Music: Mr. Businessman’s Blues (song) DM Lafortune (artist) Beauty and Hard Times (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:49 — 38.3MB) | Embed

The last presidential debate marked the beginning of the end for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. What of consequence will come out of the debate between his replacement, Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump? Neither of the main party campaigns have so much as mentioned tribes and Native issues in any major public appearances. We’ll ask Native political watchers about how they think the debate propels—or hampers—the things Native voters are most concerned about.

GUESTS

Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation), publisher and editor of Native News Online and Tribal Business News

Mike Stopp (Cherokee and Muscogee), CEO and president of SevenStar Holdings, LLC

Isaac Casados (Diné), secretary of the Democratic Party of New Mexico

 

Break 1 Music: Leadership Song (Naaí’áanii Biyiin) (song) Radmilla Cody (artist) K’é Hasin (album)

Break 2 Music: Ancestors In My Bones (song) Donita Large (artist) Ancestors In My Bones (album)

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:04 — 38.5MB) | Embed

With a basis in resistance to institutional authority, anarchy appeals to some politically minded Native Americans. Historically, Indigenous anarchists played a significant role in the Mexican Revolution. Although the term is often used in popular culture to be synonymous with chaos, modern Native anarchists also incorporate the development of collaborations and trade to benefit the collective good. We’ll talk with Indigenous people who adhere to an anarchist philosophy about how it guides their lives and their views on the upcoming elections.

GUESTS

Dr. J. Kēhaulani Kauanui (Native Hawaiian), professor at Princeton University, scholar-activist, author, and radio host and producer

Brandon Benallie (Diné and Hopi), Diné anarchist

Dr. Jeff Corntassel (citizen of the Cherokee Nation), professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Victoria and the host of the Frontlines are Everywhere podcast

Dr. Claudio Lomnitz, Campbell Family Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department at Columbia University and author of The Return of Comrade Ricardo Flores Magón

Break 1 Music:  Our Autonomy (song) Klee Benally (artist) Appropriation (album)

Break 2 Music: Ancestors (song) Mike Bern (artist) Ancestors (album)

Here’s an extended interview with Dr. Claudio Lomintz about early 20th century Indigenous Mexican anarchist Ricardo Flores Magón.