Native America Calling

Monday, February 1, 2016 — The School-To-Prison Pipeline for Native Youth

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(Photo: x1klima via Flickr CC)

(Photo: x1klima via Flickr CC)

More and more studies are exposing educational practices that work against minority students’ success. Civil rights advocates say disparities in school punishment contribute to higher incarceration rates later in life for Native Americans, Blacks and Latinos.  They call it the school-to-prison pipeline. The Congress of American Indians says Native youth are 1.5 times more likely than white youth to be sent to the adult criminal system. Can the right school policies help cut the high rate of Natives going to prison?

Guests:

Patty Ferguson-Bohnee (Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe) -Faculty Director of the Indian Legal Program, Director of the Indian Legal Clinic and Clinical Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University

Stephen Pevar – Senior Staff Attorney in the American Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Program

Dennis Bowen (Seneca) – Lifelong community service provider with youth and family and family care giver

Break music:  Buc Wild – Teen Boy’s Southern Straight (song) Gathering Of Nations Powwow (artist) A Spirit’s Dance (album)

Wednesday, December 30, 2015 — Tribal Courts and the Dollar General Case

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An alleged sexual assault of a Choctaw teenager in a Dollar General store on the reservation, turned into a high-profile Supreme Court case. In Dollar General Corporation v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the petitioners argue tribal courts can’t provide a fair and do not have jurisdiction. The tribe maintains it has jurisdiction to hear the civil case and has the power to impose penalties in tribal court. A decision by the Supreme Court could have a far-reaching effect on tribal sovereignty and the power of tribal courts.  Should tribal courts have the power to hear civil suits against non-Native owned businesses?

Guests:

Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee Nation) – partner at Pipestem Law

Robert J. Miller (Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma) – professor of law at Arizona State University

Break Music: Ululu (song) Jesse Davis (artist) Ululu (album)

Friday, August 21, 2015 – Women in the Prison System 

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The incarceration rate in the United States has risen dramatically in recent decades and the number of women in state and federal prisons is also on the rise. Although men outnumber women in the U.S. prison system, the number of female inmates in recent years has increased at a higher rate than male inmates, according to The Sentencing Project. What issues do Native women face in prison? The Sentencing Project also reports that women serving time in state prisons are more likely to have children than men in state prisons. How does a mother’s incarceration affect a young person? What about Native communities that have women serving time behind bars?

Guests:

Sharyl Whitehawk (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) — trainer for White Bison

Momi  Akana (Native Hawaiian) — executive director of Keiki O Ka `Āina Family Learning Centers

Katherine Alexander — executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of the Yukon

 

 Break Music:  Pixou Falls (song) Oh My Darling (artist) In the Lonesome Hours (album)

 

Thursday, June 25, 2015 – Life After Prison

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Getting out of jail or prison seems like a joyous occasion. Sometimes families gather for some real, home cooked food, hugs, and stories. Some people have no one on the outside waiting and others head to halfway houses. Whether an individual has been behind bars for two years or 20, prison takes its toll and has lasting effects. What do inmates face as they re-enter society? What are some issues that inmates face years later? This is the fourth episode of our prison series.

Guests:

Winona Stevens (Ho-Chunk) – Washington State Department of Corrections Native American religious program manager

“Real Talk Native” James Cross (White Earth Annishinabee and Lower Sioux Mdewakanton) – motivational speaker, re-entry coordinator American Indian Prison Project Working Group

Carlos Rivera (Pomo) – executive director of White Bison 

 

Break Music:  Track 6 Learned from the Late Joe Cozad (song) Kenneth Cozad & Group (artist) Songs of Our Old People – Old-Time Round Dance Songs of Oklahoma (album) 

Thursday, June 18, 2015 – Loved Ones on the Outside

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There are currently over 2 million people incarcerated in the US. But how many more wives, children, fathers and friends are waiting outside? How does incarceration affect the loved ones of prisoners? There can be financial burdens such as a mother or father supporting the whole family on one income. Emotions can also be difficult to manage. Family members may experience grief, anger and other emotional effects when there’s an empty space at the dinner table. How does the incarceration of a parent affect children? What support is available for families as they deal with the incarceration of a loved one?  Today’s show is part three of our series on Native Americans in the prison system.

Guests:

Amanda Teller (Navajo) – Loved one

Marletta Pacheco (Rose Bud Sioux Tribe) – founders of the South Dakota Prisoner Support Group

Dr. Jody Becker-Green – Washington Department of Corrections program administrator

Break Music:  For the Light (song) Digging Roots (artist) For the Light (album)

 

Thursday, June 11, 2015 – Juvenile Justice in Native America

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In 2013, the Indian Law and Order Commission released a report titled “A Roadmap For Making Native America Safer.” One chapter in the report examined how the juvenile justice system is failing Native American youth. Native American youth who find themselves in trouble with the law face a jurisdictional maze in a system that is not created to address juveniles. Some tribes have built their own juvenile detention centers, in order to keep incarcerated youth in the community, but is building more jails the best solution? Is incarceration really the answer to help young people whose crimes may be a result of systemic and long-term trauma? In part two of our series on the prison system, we examine the juvenile justice system in Native America.

Guests:
Addie Rolnick – associate professor of law at the University of Nevada Las Vegas

Kathleen Bliss (Cherokee Nation) – partner at Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith 

Mike Guilfoyle (Seneca) – Native American Juvenile Justice Specialist

 

Break Music: Pixou Falls (song) Oh My Darling (artist) In the Lonesome Hours (album)

Thursday, June 4, 2015 – Sentencing Disparities in Native America

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The rate of Native Americans in federal prison has increased by 27 percent in the last five years, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. Because of the special relationship tribes have with the federal government, many crimes committed on Indian Reservations are subject to federal sentencing guidelines. This can create a dramatic difference in the sentences for the same crimes that are handed down to Native Americans. The United States Sentencing Commission created a Tribal Issues Advisory Group to look at the issue of federal sentencing in Indian Country. In this first installment of our 4-part series on prison issues in Native America, we discuss the disparities Native Americans face in federal sentencing. How does this issue impact you or your community? What is needed to create a more equitable sentencing system for Native Americans?

Guests: 

Heather Dawn Thompson (Cheyenne River Sioux) – Attorney at Greenburg Traurig

Barbara Creel  (Pueblo of Jemez) – professor of law at the University of New Mexico

Break Music:  Dohinoo (song) Morley Loon  (artist)  Native America Calling – Music From Indian Country  (album)       

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