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Artist James Luna (Luiseño/ Ipai/Mexican) famously put his own body on display as a museum artifact in 1987. Later, he divided his face in two with his work, “Half Indian/Half Mexican,” a photo commentary on “the absurdity of being of measurability mixed blood ancestry.” In 2014 he reimagined Ishi, the last of the Yahi tribe, with photography. Last month the Native art world mourned when Luna unexpectedly walked on at the age of 68. We’ll remember his art and life with family and friends.

Guests:

Joanna Bigfeather (Cherokee Nation/Mescalero Apache) – curator/artist/writer/educator

Preston Singletary (Tlingit) – glass artist

Amber-Dawn Bear Robe (Blackfoot) – visiting faculty in art history and cinematic arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts

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In certain Native communities, what gets passed on orally to future generations can be a wealth of Indigenous knowledge. But how much value do we place on this process in modern times? This month our featured author Donald Fixico (Shawnee/Sac and Fox/Mvskoke Creek/Seminole) explores what accessing this type of information sharing does for tribal communities. He hones in on his own experience and explains the role storytellers play in forming Native identity. “That’s What They Used to Say: Reflections on American Indian Oral Traditions” is our March Book of the Month.

Break Music: Sac and Fox (song) Brian Stoner (artist) with Love and Faith We Pray Volume II (album)

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When Oglala Lakota educator Robert Cook’s son came to him asking for a violin to play in the school orchestra, he told him the family didn’t have the money for the instrument. But the Johnson-O’Malley Program in their tribe was able to provide the funds for the instrument, creating a lifelong musician. Since 1934 the JOM has provided funding for American Indian and Alaska Native students in public school. The money provides school supplies, cultural activities and other enrichment for Native students. The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal includes eliminating the JOM program. We’ll talk about the program and efforts to save the funding.

Guests:

Robert Cook (Oglala Lakota) – national senior managing director of the Native Alliance at Teach for America

Avis Ballard (Osage) – JOM coordinator for the Osage Nation Education Department

Carla Mann (Blackfeet/Eastern Shoshone) – president of the National Johnson-O’Malley Association

Mark Vance (Cherokee Nation) – manager of the JOM program for the Cherokee Nation and vice president of National JOM

Break Music: We’re Gunna Dance (song) Niizhoo Sullivan (artist) Rez Kid Rhythm (album)

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When Chickasaw classical composer, Jerod Tate creates music he’s always “feeling ethos, romance and deep feelings about Indian people,” he said. In some of his newest works, Tate tells traditional stories through large orchestrated oratorios. Another composer, Wolastoqiyik Jeremy Dutcher, based in Canada, is honoring his people’s language by composing music around old wax cylinder recordings from 1910. These two Indigenous artists will join us to talk about telling stories through classical music.

Break Music: Mehcinut (song) Jeremy Dutcher (artist) Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (album)

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In the age when people publish instantly on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and their own blogs, it might be difficult to see where zines—low-tech, photocopied, self-published magazines—have a place. But they’re still around. You might find them laying around at your local coffee shop or alternative bookstore. The zine publisher might print one out and mail it to you. Kayla Shaggy’s (Diné and Anishinaabe) zine, “Monstrous,” is filled with drawings of monsters. She says the format offers “the freedom to do what you want.” Self-publishing something that people can hold in their hands is part of the reason for doing it. We’ll talk with Native zine makers about why self-publishing a few copies with limited reach is their favorite way to get their creative work out.

Guests:

Demian DinéYazhi’ (Diné) – artist, writer and curator and founder and director of R.I.S.E. (Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment)

Kayla Shaggy (Diné and Anishinaabe) self-publisher

Russel Daniels (Ho-Chunk) – documentary photographer

Cecelia LaPointe (Ojibway/Métis who is enrolled in the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community) – founder and owner of red circle consulting and Waub Ajijaak Press

Break Music: Sweet Grass Water Is Life (single song) Miracle Dolls (artist)

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A blend of funk, jazz and Indigenous hip-hop soul is what happens when DDAT steps on the stage. In their self-titled album DDAT is showing what happens when music genres dance together. The group is comprised of Navajo MC Def-I and the Delbert Anderson Trio, whose members have ties to the Navajo Nation. The rapid pace of rhyme and lyrics is what the group calls a pure fusion fire of tracks. We’ll hear about the process of making the DDAT sound.

Break Music: In Tongue (song) DDAT (artist) DDAT (album)

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Art for the sake of art is great, but for many artists, at some point bills need to be paid. That moment when real cash money is exchanged for hard work can be exhilarating. But there are a lot of questions about getting to that point and how to keep it going. What is a fair price to ask for your art work? Do you charge by the hour or by the inch? And what do you do when customers think you are asking too much? We’ll talk with artists and experts about the business side of art.

Guests:

Nocona Burgess (Comanche/Kiowa) – student coordinator and student government advisor at IAIA and a painter

Linda Infante Lyons (Alutiiq) – visual artist and painter and a 2018 National Arts Fellowship recipient from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation

Scott Hale – IRS qualified personal property appraiser and accredited member of the International Society of Appraisers specializing in Native, Western and Spanish colonial art and antiques

Break Music: Mewasin Oma (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Kihtawasoh Wapakwani-Beautiful Flower (album)

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Warming shelters for the homeless in Rapid City are well-intentioned but ultimately “do more harm than good” says Police Chief Karl Jegeris. He says the shelters are partly to blame for the recent deaths of Connie Red Nest and Ernie Evans. Officials believe they died of exposure in sub-zero temperatures. Rapid City is just one place working against the odds to try and help people—many of them Native Americans—who don’t have a safe harbor from weather, violence, and their own addictions. Shelters struggle with the balance between keeping people alive while not enabling drug and alcohol abuse. We’ll catch up on the latest strategies for keeping our unsheltered relatives safe?

Guests:

Ramona Herrington (Oglala Lakota) – community organizer for One Rapid City

Don Hedrick – Assistant Chief of the Rapid City Police Department

Norine Hill (Oneida) – executive director and founder of Mother Nation

Break Music: Jingle Dress Slide (World) (song) Young Grey Horse (artist) Thunder Across the Plainz – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live in Lapwai (album)

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The shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school sparked a new level of discussion about school safety and gun policy. It culminated most recently with a nationwide walkout by thousands of students protesting the inability to effectively address gun violence. The discussion rarely gets much past arming teachers on one side and banning certain guns on the other. Native school administrators and teachers are continually looking for ways to protect their students. We’ll talk about some of the realities and concerns about safety for Native students.

Guests:

Darrell DeCoteau (Sisseton Wahpeton) – middle and high school Dakota studies teacher at Tiospa Zina Tribal School

Thomas Barrett (Red Lake Band of Ojibwe) – hip-hop artist

LoriLei Chavez (Kiwa Pueblo) – Native American liaison at Bernalillo High School and Native American Studies student at the University of New Mexico

Break Music: Lummi Morning Song (song) Chenoa (artist) Spirit of Salishan (album)

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The Transportation Security Administration is requiring cultural sensitivity training for agents at selected airports. That comes after the TSA settled a lawsuit with the Native American Church over agents mishandling sacred items. The lawsuit articulates the persistent problem of non-Native people undermining Native culture and belief by reaching out to touch Native regalia, eagle feathers, hair or sacred items without permission. In this case the traveler asked the agent to avoid desecrating the items. We’ll hear from people about how they protect sacred and sensitive items.

Guests:

Sandor Iron Rope (Lakota from the Pine Ridge agency) – chairperson for the NAC of South Dakota and former chairperson for the NAC of North American

Forrest Tahdooahnippah (Comanche Nation of Oklahoma) – lawyer with Dorsey & Whitney LLC, lead council for the TSA case

Lawrence Baker (Mandan, Hidatsa, Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians) – emcee for the Denver March Powwow

Robert “Tree” Cody (Maricopa and Dakota) – award-winning Native American flutist, actor and powwow dancer

Break Music: Encouragement Song (song) Joseph Shields, Jr. (artist)Wahancanka [Remember Me Grandfather] (album)