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Native American women have higher rates of cervical cancer compared to their white counterparts, according to a 2014 study published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. Native women are also more likely to die from cervical cancer. We’ll talk about the connection between cervical cancer and the sexually-transmitted disease, human papillomavirus, or HPV. A vaccination recommended for girls when they’re 11 or 12 years old is producing results, but it remains controversial. And HPV vaccinations among Native Americans is spotty.

Guests:

Dr. Eve Espey – OBGYN

Laura Roberts(Red Lake band of Ojibwe and Santee Sioux Nation) – health programs specialist at the American Indian Cancer Foundation

Tina Gray (Navajo) – project manager at capacity building Inc.’s Navajo Youth Builders

Break music:  Great Grandpah’s Banjo (song) Pura Fe (artist) Full Moon Rising (album)

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Activists in North Dakota are camping out and going to jail to resist the Dakota Access Pipeline plan. Meanwhile lawyers for tribes and environmental groups chip away at the legal boundaries of the project in the courts. Protests, petitions, direct action, social media campaigns, and legal challenges are all methods people employ to bring about change. Whether you want to stop a pipeline, restore traditional hunting and fishing rights, or ridding your community of drug abuse, what strategies actually produce results?

Guests:

Kandi Mossett (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara) – extreme energy and Just transition campaign organizer for Indigenous Environmental Network

Willie Wolf (Cheyenne River Sioux) –  president of Red Road leadership

Frank Bibeau (White Earth Nation) – executive director of the 1855 Treaty Authority

Break Music:   Cissy (Fish/Smoke Dance) (song) Sheldon Sundown (artist) Hand Drum/Smoke N’ Round Dance (album)

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This month we feature Ilarion Merculieff’s new book “Wisdom Keeper: One Man’s Journey to Honor the Untold History of the Unangan People.” It’s part memoir and part history book. The author offers his insight to help tribal nations and readers face the changing world—including the transformation of the planet through climate change. The work is also a tribute to the many Native knowledge-holders that have shared their stories and culture with the author. We invite you to turn through the pages with us as we visit with Unangan author Ilarion Merculieff.

Guest:

Ilarion “Larry” Merculieff (Unangan) – Author, president of the global center for indigenous leadership and lifeways

Break music:  Hindsight 20/20 (song) Cris Derksen (artist) The Cusp (album)

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From “bakery science” to “Egyptology,” colleges and universities offer an increasing variety of areas to focus study. But does your college major really matter? Some degrees certainly offer a leg up in the working world. What goes into picking a college major? Are you afraid of choosing the wrong one? We get guidance from the experts.

Annabell Bowen (Navajo/Seneca) – director of American Indian Initiatives in the Office of the President at Arizona State University

Steven Abbott – associate director of admissions and coordinator of Native outreach Dartmouth College

Sara LaBarge (Menominee Nation) – academic advisor for the American Indian Graduate Center

Break music:  Stick Game Song #9 (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Stick Game Songs of the Paiute (album)

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This year’s Community Spirit honorees are recognized for their basket art, music, weaving, helping their community cope with loss and honoring those who died. We’ll hear from some of the award winners about why their Native culture is important to them. Are you inspired by someone in your Native community?

Guests:

Anna Huntington – development director of First Peoples Fund

David Boxley (Tsimshian) –  Tsimshian traditional wood carver

Jack Gladstone (enrolled citizen of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana) –  Montana’s troubadour

Lynette Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota) –  director of Yellow Bird and coordinator of the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run

Break music:  Chicken Dance (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Confederacy Style (album)

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The Washington NFL team lost the latest round in their claim for federal trademark protection for their team name. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down the appeal challenging the law against copyrighting disparaging names. The team’s lawyers say the law violates their First Amendment rights. Is this the beginning of the end for the controversial mascot?

Guests:

Dr. Gavin Clarkson (enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) – professor of finance and business law at New Mexico State University

Aaron Henderson (Navajo and Oneida) – co-founder of a 505 Washington football team fan club in New Mexico

Jeffrey Charley (Navajo) – co-founder of a 505 Washington football team fan club in New Mexico

Break music:  Four Two-Step Songs (song) Pyawasits, Silas & Webster (artist) Wild Rice: Songs From The Menominee (album)

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Phoenix, Yakima, Wash., and San Diego are among the latest U.S. cities to declare the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples Day. The local efforts aim to recognize Native people over top of the day set aside by the federal government to honor Christopher Columbus. But some cities, like Cleveland, Ohio and Philadelphia, Penn., rejected Indigenous Peoples Day proposals this month. Is there enough momentum to change the national holiday named for the man who Native Americans credit with ushering in occupation by Europeans?

Guests:

Johnnie Jae Morris (Otoe Missouria/Choctaw) – co-founding board member of Live Indigenous OK

Antonio Diaz (Pamaque) – founder and director Texas Indigenous Council

Raquel Halsey (Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation) – interim executive director at the North American Indian Center of Boston

Councilman Paul López – Councilman for District 3 in Denver Colorado

Break Music:  Turtle Island Reggae (song) Cempoalli 20 & Quese Imc (artist) Osahwuh (album)

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Autumn ushers in big game hunting season in many states. For us, hunting is a matter of sustenance, ceremony, sport and celebration. Hunting traditions come from a time before boundaries and wildlife management. How do we carry on hunting traditions? What are the new traditions in your community?

Guests:

Jeff Savage (Fond Du Lac Band of Ojibwe) – director of the Fond du Lac Cultural Center and Museum, artist and sculpture

Jeff Cole – wildlife manager for Navajo Nation Fish and Wildlife

Break music:  Hunting Chant (song) Art Napoleon (Travelling Sun) (artist) Miyoskamin (Early Springtime) (album)

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The path to Native Hawaiian recognition remains murky. Department of the Interior just provided some clarity when it established new rules for a government-to-government relationship with Native Hawaiians. It offers recognition similar to that of Native Americans if Native Hawaiians form an autonomous government. It remains an open question whether the disparate opinions can come together to do that, however. We’ll hear different perspectives on the debate.

Guests:

Noelani Goodyear Ka ‘opua (Kanaka Maoli) – associate professor of political science at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa

Dr. Kalamaoka’aina Niheu (Kanaka Maoli) – doctor and main convener for Aha Aloha Aina

Rebecca Soon (Native Hawaiian) – one of the participants to the Native Hawaiian ‘Aha in February 2016

Davis Price (Native Hawaiian) – one of the participants to the Native Hawaiian ‘Aha in February 2016

Mentioned on the show:

Native Hawaiian Roll Commission

Hawaiian Nation

Protest Na’i Aupuni

 `Aha Aloha `Āina

Break music:  Ke Aloha I Ka Pu’uwai / He ‘Ili ‘Ula Au a He Hawai’I (song) Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu (artist) Call It What You Like (album)

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Overseas tourists are a big source of revenue for some tribes. It’s such an economic boost that the International Trade Administration have the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association $200,000 to help boost European tourism in Native communities. Just what are places that promote tourism selling? What are the benefits and pitfalls of encouraging outside visitors?

Guests:

Camille Ferguson (Tlingit from the Kiksadi Clan and a member of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska) – executive director of the American Indian and Alaska Native Tourism Association

Emerson Vallo (Acoma Pueblo) – former director of the Sky City Museum, cultural center a Haaku museum. Southwest regional board member of AIANTA

Sara Mathuin – owner of Native American Tours

Music Bed:  Traveling Song (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)