Native America Calling

Friday, June 23, 2023 – Stepping into the father role

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Native fathers by marriage sometimes have to work a little harder to make sure they fulfil their end of the parenting partnership. Step parents often have to navigate complicated relationship situations like shared child custody, ex-husbands, and divided parent loyalty.

GUESTS

Bruce Savage (Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa band member), owner and operator of Spirit Lake Native Farms 

Troy Watlamet (Yakama Nation Tribal Member from the Klickat Cayuse Band), stepfather 

Halo Tomma (Yakama, Wanapum, North Thompson, and Flathead), daughter

William Penn (Squaxin Island Tribe and Quileute Tribe), program facilitator with Native Wellness Institute

 

Break 1 music: Friends (song) Henry Kapono, Alx, Blayne, Kalani, Kimie, Paula & Tavana (artists) The Songs of C & K (album)

Break 2 music: Gathering Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Thursday, June 22, 2023 – Measuring the gains and losses for tribal self-governance

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Tribes abilities to deliver everything from law enforcement to adequate health care depend on their collective strength when it comes to self-governance. Several legal and policy decisions in the past year have bolstered self-governance in both big and small ways, including a full-throated affirmation of the Indian Child Welfare Act. There were some setbacks too. We’ll assess the state of tribal self-governance in advance of the upcoming self-governance conference in Tulsa, Okla.

GUESTS

Ron Allen (Jamestown S’klallam Tribe), tribal chairman for the Jamestown S’klallam Tribe

Lt. Gov. Chris Anoatubby (Chickasaw Nation), Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation

Melanie Fourkiller (Cherokee and Choctaw), director of self-governance and health policy for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

 

Break 1 music:  Tiny Hands (Reimagined) (song) Quantum Tangle (artist) Shelter as We Go . . . (album)

Break 2 music: Gathering Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Wednesday, June 21, 2023 – Summer solstice traditions

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The longest day of the year is a significant marker of time for many tribes. The summer solstice is a time of traditional celebrations and ceremony. Dozens of tribes throughout history built structures around the sun’s position on June 21. We’ll get an account of some of the tribal stories and traditions as well as some modern acknowledgements of the day.

GUESTS

Briday Green (Shareholder in the Sitnasuak Alaska Native Corporation and the Bering Strait Alaska Native Corp), organizer of the Nome Midnight Sun Festival

Kainoa Horcajo (Kanaka Maoli), cultural consultant with the Mo’olelo Group

Adrienne Lalli-Hills (Wyandot Nation citizen), director of learning and community engagement at the First Americans Museum

Glenna Wallace, chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma

 

Break 1 music:  O-Ja-Ja (song) Yarina (artist) Sounds Of Indian Summer: Contemporary Native Music from The National Museum of The American Indian (album)

Break 2 music: Gathering Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 – Arizona tribes face high hurdles to water rights

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Nearly all tribes in Arizona have a tougher time successfully negotiating rights to the state’s scarce water than other governmental entities. And the requirements necessary for tribes to reach water agreements is tougher in Arizona than in neighboring states. An investigative project by ProPublica and High Country News exposes the concessions tribes face to access water. The stakes are high. On the Navajo Nation, for instance, a nearly-completed medical complex sits empty because there is not enough water.

GUESTS

Dr. Andrew Curley (Diné), assistant professor in the School of Geography, Development, & Environment at the University of Arizona

Jason John (Navajo), director of the Navajo Department of Water Resources

Mark Olalde, reporter for ProPublica

Umar Farooq, Ancil Payne Fellow at ProPublica

 

Break 1 music: Round Dance Song (song) Sissy Goodhouse (artist) The Third Circle (album)

Break 2 music: Gathering Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Monday, June 19, 2023 – Black Seminoles: a story of survival

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Groups of freed and fugitive slaves sought refuge in Florida and formed relationships with the Seminoles in the 18th Century. This kinship carried on through the bloody Seminole Wars into the Trail of Tears. Later, members of those groups became known as Seminole Maroons, Seminole Freedmen, or Black Seminoles. Some would find their way to Oklahoma, others to Texas, Mexico, the Caribbean, and some remained in Florida. They formed communities throughout the diaspora and held on to their history and maintained a distinct culture.

GUESTS

Windy Goodloe (Black Seminole descendant), secretary of the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association

Anastasia Pittman (citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma), former state senator for District 48 in Oklahoma and a general council representative for the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

Dr. Wallis Tinnie (Seminole Maroon descendant), Project Director at the Florida Black Historical Research Project, Inc. 

Jason Brown (Seminole Maroon descendant from Red Bays settlement in Andros, Bahamas), archaeologist 

Corina Torralba (Black Seminole descendant from Nacimiento Coahuila, Mexico), founder of Casa de la Cultura Black Seminoles of Nacimiento Coahuila, Mexico

 

Break 1 music: The One Who Sees (song) Bear Creek (artist) XI – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at San Manuel (album)

Break 2 music: Gathering Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Friday, June 16, 2023 – ICWA reaffirmed: Victory at the U.S. Supreme Court

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The U.S. Supreme Court decisively rejected what many legal observers considered the most serious challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act in the law’s 45-year history. The ruling is a relief for ICWA supporters, many of whom were fearful of a decision that could turn back or weaken the law that ensures Native foster children a home with Native guardians. We’ll get reaction and analysis from those who have been watching the legal fight closely.

You can get more context from Native America Calling on the Supreme Court’s decision here.

GUESTS

Dr. Sarah Kastelic (Alutiiq), director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association  

Derrick Beetso (Navajo Nation), director, College of Law, Indian Gaming, and Self-Governance, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, and former general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians

Hilary Tompkins (citizen of the Navajo Nation), partner with Hogan Lovells and former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior

Erin Dougherty Lynch, Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Senior Staff Attorney and Managing Attorney of NARF’s Anchorage, Alaska, office

Beth Wright (Pueblo of Laguna), NARF staff attorney

Break 1 music: Victory (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Break 2 music: Bui yo oh wanina (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)

ICWA upheld: U.S. Supreme Court rejects constitutional challenge

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@nativevoiceone Matthew Fletcher #umichlaw quick take on #SCOTUS #ICWA decision with Native America Calling host Shawn Spruce #Native #Indigenous ♬ original sound – Native Voice One

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected what many legal observers considered the most serious challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act in the law’s 45-year history. With a 7-2 vote, the High Court overturns the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that deemed some aspects of ICWA unconstitutional. In the majority opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote “we reject all of petitioners’ challenges to the statute.”

The Native American Rights Fund issued a statement saying they are still reviewing the details of the decision but that they are “overcome with joy that the Supreme Court has upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act, which is widely regarded as the gold standard of child welfare.”

The National Congress of American Indians says, ” ICWA is crucial for the safety and well-being of Native children and families and the future of Native peoples and Tribal Nations. The positive impact of today’s decision will be felt across generations.”

The National Indian Health Board says “this victory comes after Indian Country joined together to support ICWA in a historically strong showing of unity.”

You can read the decision here.

The Goldwater Institute, a high profile opponent of ICWA for decades and a major backer of the most recent challenge, called the decision “shameful,” and believes the court at least “left open the door to future lawsuits challenging the race-based injustices caused by ICWA.” Goldwater and other challengers to ICWA insist the law gives unlawful preference to a racial class of citizens, an argument the Supreme Court again re-affirms as baseless.

Native resources on ICWA:
National Indian Child Welfare Assoc. (NICWA)
National Congress of American Indians
The ICWA Law Center
The Native American Rights Fund  (NARF’s history of ICWA)
Turtle Talk Blog’s Brackeen v Haaland resources
Rebecca Nagle’s This Land podcast and NDN Collective talks with Rebecca Nagle about Brackeen v. Haaland

You can reference recent Native America Calling shows for context on the Brackeen v Haaland Supreme Court Case:

March 20, 2023 – Behind the legal arguments for ICWA: Perspectives of ICWA from those who have lived it with Adriann Ricker (enrolled member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes), research associate at Johns Hopkins School for Nursing; Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Ojibwe), national correspondent for ICT; and Julia Lurie, journalist at Mother Jones.

November 10 2022 – The fate of ICWA: The legal debate from a Native perspective following the U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments…with Matthew Fletcher (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians), law professor at the University of Michigan Law School and author of the Turtle Talk blog; independent journalist Suzette Brewer (citizen of the Cherokee Nation); and Dr. Sarah Kastelic (Alutiiq), director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association.

September 20, 2021 – ICWA: Federal protections for children under constant legal pressure: Guest host Rebecca Nagle examines how we got here and who is behind the legal efforts to dismantle ICWA with guests Matthew Fletcher (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians) law professor at Michigan State University’s college of law and author of the Turtle Talk blog, Sandy Whitehawk (Sicangu Lakota) – Elder in Residence at the ICWA Law Center, and Shana King (citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation), parent advocate at the ICWA Law Center.

January 23, 2020 – The high stakes hearing for ICWA: Tribal leaders and ICWA legal watchers weigh in on the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to rehear the case en banc. Guests are independent journalist Suzette Brewer (Cherokee Nation), Native American Rights Fund staff attorney Dan Lewerenz (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska) and National Congress of American Indians general counsel Derrick Beetso.

Thursday, June 15, 2023 – Pueblo baseball through the generations 

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It’s the time of year when Pueblo athletes take to the dusty baseball diamonds throughout New Mexico, carrying on a tradition that their grandparents and even great-grandparents helped establish. Baseball is more than just a sport for the teams in the Pueblo leagues. It’s a tribal and family legacy.

Plus, analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act and reverse a circuit court ruling.

GUESTS

Derrick Toledo (Jemez Pueblo), Shortstop and pitcher for the Jemez Sun Devils 

Nathan Abeyta (Ohkay Owingeh), co-founder of the Northern Pueblo League 

Joseph Suina (Cochiti Pueblo), volunteer coach

Matthew Fletcher (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians), law professor at the University of Michigan Law School and author of the “Turtle Talk” blog

Break 1 music: Wim Ah I Wem, Tiwa (single) Gregg Analla (artist)

Break 2 music: Bui yo oh wanina (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)

Wednesday, June 14, 2023 – Canada’s Indigenous communities brace for wildfires

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Wildfires in Canada are not just sending clouds of smoke to major U.S. cities. They’re also a threat to residents, including a dozen or more Indigenous communities that were forced to evacuate. The country’s Natural Resources ministry predicts this summer could be the worst wildfire season on record.

GUESTS

Amy Cardinal Christianson (Métis),  Indigenous fire specialist with Parks Canada and co-host of the Good Fire Podcast

Brandi Morin (Cree, Iroquois, and French), journalist and author

Kenza El Bied, Director General of Sector Operations Branch, a part of the Regional Operations Sector of Indigenous Services Canada 

Mentioned on today’s show: Canadian Wildland Fire Information Center interactive map & FireSmoke Canada 

 

Break 1 music: Kwelosoet (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Kikāwiynaw (album)

Break 2 music: Bui yo oh wanina (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 – Native Bookshelf: Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

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Where else can you get a young adult mystery and a lesson in the Native American Graves Protection Act but from Ojibwe writer Angeline Boulley (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)? In Warrior Girl Unearthed, a follow-up to her debut novel The Firekeeper’s Daughter, Boulley catches readers up with the Firekeeper family’s subsequent generation on Sugar Island. As the title suggests, the young protagonist digs into connections to her people and culture she never realized were there.

 

Here’s a TikTok video of the author unveiling a promotional box for Warrior Girl Unearthed:

@angelineboulley Unboxing this wonderful promo box I received! Special appearance by Pietro! @fiercereads @cheekbonebeauty @heartberry.co @eighthgeneration @reesesbookclub @bookclubbabes.pod #firekeepersdaughter #warriorgirlunearthed #indigenousbooktok #indigenoustiktok #firekeepersdaughter #nativetiktok #sugarislandpowwow #saultstemarie #ancestorsback #unboxing #nagpra ♬ original sound – Angeline Boulley

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

Break 2 music: Bui yo oh wanina (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album)

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