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With a whirl of colorful circles, shapes and movement, hoop dancers tell vivid stories. The exact origins of hoop dancing are unclear. Traditionally, the hoops were made with willow or some other pliable wood. Today, hoops might be made out of metal or plastic. The practice incorporates colorful regalia and has grown to include energetic competitions. We’ll hear from hoop dancers about what drives their passion.

Guests:

Dennis Bowen (Seneca Nation) – MC for the Heard Museum World Championship Hoop Dance Contest

Dallas Arcand Jr. (Cree) – motivational speaker and hoop dancer

Steve LaRance (Hopi/Assiniboine) – co-chair of the Lightening Boy Foundation

 

Break 1 music: Dance of the Coyote (song) Tony Duncan (artist) Earth Warrior (album)

Break 2 music: Tanokumbia (feat. El Dusty & Black Bear) (song) A Tribe Called Red (artist) Tanokumbia (feat. El Dusty & Black Bear) (single)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:18 — ) | Embed

The very first person to be counted this month for the 2020 U.S. Census was 90-year-old Lizzie Chimiugak, a Yup’ik woman from Toksook Bay Alaska. The Census Bureau started the process in the country’s largest state where it’s historically difficult to get an accurate count. Language, geography and mistrust of revealing personal information to the federal government are among the reasons Alaska Natives and Native Americans are often undercounted. Census numbers are the main way officials determine election boundaries and the allocations of trillions of federal dollars for public services. We’ll talk with census experts about why they think this year’s census is the most important one yet.

Guest:

Donna Bach (Orutsararmiute Native Council) – tribal partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau 

Dr. James Tucker – vice chair of the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations for the U.S. Census

Jessica Imotichey (Chickasaw Nation) – partnership coordinator for the Los Angeles Regional Office of the U.S. Census Bureau

Nicole Borromeo – Executive Vice-President and general counsel for the Alaska Federation of Natives

 

Break 1 music:  This Land (song) Keith Secola (artist) Native Americana – A Coup Stick (album)

Break 2 music: Tanokumbia (feat. El Dusty & Black Bear) (song) A Tribe Called Red (artist) Tanokumbia (feat. El Dusty & Black Bear) (single)

A small portion of the audio from this recording has been edited out at the request of the U.S. Census Bureau because it violated federal law concerning Census employees’ disclosure of Census respondents’ personal information. In this case, we feel the disclosure is not necessarily a privacy breach and removing it does not at all change the meaning of the show. But keeping it in could have incrementally detracted from the primary thrust of the show for our audience, which is to inform people about the importance of Native American participation in the Census process.

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Dozens of tribal leaders, 26 states, 77 members of Congress and 486 federally recognized tribes have signed on to defend against the latest challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act. After initially striking down a ruling by a Texas judge, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is rehearing the case claiming ICWA is improperly based on race. We’ll hear from tribal leaders and legal experts about what’s at stake in this case and what the future holds for ICWA.

Guests:

Suzette Brewer (Cherokee Nation) – independent journalist

Dan Lewerenz (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska) –  staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund

Derrick Beetso (Navajo Nation) – general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians

 

Break 1 music: Manitou (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album)

Break 2 music: Suma (feat. Thor Simonsen) (song) Aasiva (artist) Aasiva (album)

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With a the backing of a recent court ruling, the premier of British Columbia says the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline will be built. But the traditional leadership of the Wet’suwet’en Nation vow to protect their territory and will continue their years-long blockade against construction. The stage is set for another clash over resource development and preservation of traditional Indigenous territory.

Guests:

Gordon Christie (Inueialute) – professor and director of Indigenous Legal Studies at Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver

Stewart Phillip (Okanagan) –  president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs

Terry Teegee (Takla Lake First Nation) – Regional Chief British Columbia Assembly of First Nations

 

 

Break 1 music: Intertribal Happy Feet (feat. Chippewa Travellers) (song) Cris Derksen (artist) Cris Derksen: Orchestral Powwow (album)

Break 2 music: Suma (feat. Thor Simonsen) (song) Aasiva (artist) Aasiva (album)

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Indoor pollutants like smoke, radon and mold can contribute to heart disease and cancer, which are the leading causes of death for Native Americans. They can also exacerbate respiratory illnesses like asthma. The Environmental Protection Agency links poor indoor air quality to disproportionate health issues among Native people. We’ll get reminders on paying attention to air quality inside homes and businesses and hear how some tribes are breathing life into clean air programs.

Guests:

Wilfred J. Nabahe (Western Shoshone, Paiute and Mono) – chairman of the National Tribal Air Association and current director of the Colorado River Indian Tribes environmental protection office

David Rowson – director of the Indoor Environments Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Priyanka Pathak – former indoor air quality lead for the U.S. EPA region 9

 

Break 1 music: Straight (song) Ken Pooyak (artist) Northern Cree & Friends, Vol. 5: Long Winter Nights – Round Dance Live (album)

Break 2 music: Suma (feat. Thor Simonsen) (song) Aasiva (artist) Aasiva (album)

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The upcoming Sundance Film Festival is screening five films by Indigenous filmmakers. They include a documentary about raising a Haida totem pole in British Columbia, a fictional account of two strangers crossing paths on Oklahoma tribal land, and a biological exploration of lichen. Before they head to Utah for the festival, some of the filmmakers are taking time to talk about us about their films and what it means to have a Native perspective behind the camera.

Guests:

Lisa Jackson (Anishinaabe from Aamjiwnaang) – director of “Lichen”

Christopher Auchter (Haida) – director and screenwriter

Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga Nation) – filmmaker

Peshawn Bread (Comanche) – screen writer, director

 

Break 1 music: Red Line (song) Kayla Briët (artist) Red Line (single)

Break 2 music: Suma (feat. Thor Simonsen) (song) Aasiva (artist) Aasiva (album)

 

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Reindeer, and their very close cousins, caribou, have physical traits that help them thrive in Arctic and sub-Arctic areas. They include blood vessels that minimize heat loss and hoofs that help them walk on snow. That makes them important sources of sustenance for Inuit, Gwich’in, Sami and other peoples in the same regions. While some people rely on hunting among the herds of wild caribou, others have domesticated the animals. Either way, they have remained a key species for millennia. Climate change, overhunting and habitat loss are among the threats to wild species. We’ll hear more about the importance of reindeer and caribou and their strong cultural relationship to the people they’re connected to.

Guests:

Jody Juneby Potts (Han Gwich’in) – caribou hunter

Lloyd Binder (Inuit from the Inuvik region and Sami from Norway) – third generation reindeer herder

Nick Demma – wildlife research biologist with Alaska Department of Fish and Game

 

Break 1 music: Reindeer (song) Pamyua (artist) Caught In The Act (album)

Break 2 music: Aboriginal Kurdish (song) The Bart Willoughby Band (artist) Proud (album)

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Corine Pearce (Redwood Valley Rancheria Little River Band of Pomo Indians) weaves traditional Pomo baskets and cradleboards. But many of the grasses, ferns and trees she uses to practice her tradition burned in the California fires, so she is replanting and teaching others to ensure a future for her craft. She is among the 2020 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards honorees. We’ll talk with her and others about their work and efforts to pass on the tradition of making art.

Guests:

Corine Pearce (Little River Band of Pomo Indians) – traditional basket weaver

H’KLUMAIYAT Roberta Joy Kirk (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs/Diné) – bead worker

David Cournoyer (Rosebud Sioux) member of the First Peoples Fund board

Virgil “Smoker” Marchand (Arrow Lake Band from Colville Tribes) – artist 

 

Break 1 music: Intertribal 2 (song) Tha Tribe (artist) Woodland Groove (album)

Break 2 music: Aboriginal Kurdish (song) The Bart Willoughby Band (artist) Proud (album)

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Mixed Martial Arts has a dedicated Native following, both as a competitive sport and as a fitness regimen. Some Native MMA fighters are making names for themselves as pros, including Nicco Montaño (Diné) and David Michaud (Oglala Lakota). We’ll hear about the appeal of the sport and how fitness enthusiasts find inspiration in the intense mental and physical discipline required to go toe-to-toe with an opponent in the ring.

Guests:

Shana Pasapa (Nakota from the White Bear First Nation in Treaty 4 territory) – founder Power Our Women, purple belt in Jujitsu with a background in martial arts

Chee Bates (Navajo) – owner of Bates Premier Taekwondo

Indelahcio “Tat” Romero III (Turtle Mountain Anishinabek) – professional MMA fighter

 

Break 1 music: Yuve Yuve Yu (song) The Hu (artist) Yuve Yuve Yu (single)

Break 2 music: Aboriginal Kurdish (song) The Bart Willoughby Band (artist) Proud (album)