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There is no break in election campaigns anymore. Party operatives work long hours year round to find ways to bring voters to their side—or at least away from their opponents’ side. Even so, as the Midterm Election nears, information is moving at light speed and so much of it is exaggerated, misleading, and even false. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce provides tools the average citizen can use to make informed election decisions with Jason Begay (Navajo), associate professor at The University of Montana School of Journalism; Angela Willeford (Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member), intergovernmental relations project manager at Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community; Adrian Jawort (Northern Cheyenne), transgender two-spirit journalist, fiction writer, fact checker, and research and Political Director Indigenous Transilience in Montana; and Dr. Torivio A Fodder (Taos Pueblo), manager of the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Arizona.

Break 1 music: Groove Warrior (song) Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) Manitou (album)

Break 2 music: Monsters of the World Unite (song) Arigon Starr (artist) Meet the Diva (album)

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Alaska’s snow crab season is cancelled for the first time ever after a mass die-off all but wiped out the crustaceans in the Bering Sea. Officials estimate the snow crab population plummeted by at least 11 billion in a relatively short time. Many experts theorize warming waters are the main culprit. The harvest is crucial for local economies. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce hears about the immediate implications and concerns about the future of crab harvests with Mike Litzow, marine biologist and director of the Kodiak Lab for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Fisheries; Phillip Zavadil, city manager of St. Paul Island, AK; and Dennis Robinson (Qawalangin Tribe), president of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.

Break 1 music: Ocean Prayer (Version A) (song) Pamyua (artist) Side A/Side B (album)

Break 2 music: Monsters of the World Unite (song) Arigon Starr (artist) Meet the Diva (album)

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Four Inuit teenage girls face off against murderous aliens that inhabit the bodies of people and animals in the film “Slash/Back”. The girls must save the world using mainly makeshift weapons, but first they will have to save their small Arctic community. The film is filled with First Nations talent both in front of and behind the camera. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with director and co-writer Nyla Innuksuk (Inuk) and lead actor Tasiana Shirley (Inuk) about the film coming to theaters, and on-demand and digital platforms.

Break 1 music:  Sila (feat. Tanya Tagaq) (song) The Halluci Nation (artist) We Are the Halluci Nation (album)

Break 2 music: Enaemaekisaeh (song) Wayne Silas Jr (artist) Infinite Passion (album)

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The family of private land-owners just donated a valuable piece of land in California to the state-recognized Gabrielino Tongva tribe. It will be a place of ceremonial gatherings and conservation. Another California tribe, the Esselen, also regained ownership of more than 1,000 acres of land for conservation. Land donations by both private individuals and government entities are putting pieces of ancestral land back into tribal hands.

Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks more about the importance of donations toward restoring culturally-important land with Cris Stainbrook (Lakota), president of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation; Hillary Renick (enrolled member of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians and descendant of the Hopland Shanel, Noyo River, and Ft. McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone communities), co-founder of the California Indian Land Institute; and David Weeden (Wampanoag), tribal council member and tribal historic preservation officer for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, chairman of the Mashpee Board of Selectmen, and a Cape Cod Commission member.

Break 1 music: Land Back Ft. Boogey The Beat & Chippewa Travellers (single) The Halluci Nation (artist)

Break 2 music: Enaemaekisaeh (song) Wayne Silas Jr (artist) Infinite Passion (album)

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Getting signed to a college sports team is a dream for many Native athletes. It appeals to the competitive spirit and can be a major higher education financial boost. But it comes with responsibilities, pressures, and the possibility for injury. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce explores what it takes to reach and sustain NCAA status with Bennae Calac (Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians), co-founder, president, and executive director of the 7G Foundation; Zach Blankenship (Cherokee and Navajo), freshman at Oklahoma State University; and Amil Mitchell (Nez Perce), shooting guard for LeMoyne-Owen College.  

Break 1 music: Stomp the Yard (song) Elk Soldier (artist) The Elk Way (album)

Break 2 music: Enaemaekisaeh (song) Wayne Silas Jr (artist) Infinite Passion (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:01 — 38.5MB) | Embed

A new Netflix show for preschoolers features all Native writers and a storyline which centers around California’s Cowlitz tribe and culture. The voice cast is largely Native and includes heavy-hitting veterans Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with showrunner and creator Karissa Valencia (Santa Ynez Chumash) as well as “Spirit Rangers” singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza (Akimel O’odham descent) about bringing Native awareness to young viewers around the world.

Break 1 music: Kid’s Pow-Wow Songs Medley (World) (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) MORE Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)

Break 2 music: Ask Your Mom for Fifty Cents (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)

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Native candidates have a lot at stake coming up in the midterm elections. After redistricting, some incumbents find themselves in tight races, while others are expected to sail into office. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce zeroes in on a few Native candidates, both newcomers and veterans, and looks at how a win or loss impacts the larger picture with O.J. Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux), co-executive director for Four Directions Vote, and Jordan James Harvill (Cherokee/Choctaw), National Program Director for Advance Native Political Leadership.

 

Break 1 music: Braves Against the Machine (feat. Marla Nauni) (song) Quese Imc (artist) Defover30 (album)

Break 2 music: Ask Your Mom for Fifty Cents (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:07 — 38.5MB) | Embed

A new Dept. of Interior pilot program aims to put Indigenous food hubs at a handful of Bureau of Indian Education schools and BIA-operated detention centers. It follows a similar program to distribute traditional food on Indian Reservations. It’s part of an effort to make sure Native people who receive help from the U.S. government have access to healthy, local food produced by tribal food vendors. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks about how this new pilot program will work and what it means for Native food sovereignty with Wizipan Garriott (Rosebud Sioux), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs; Foster Cournoyer-Hogan (Ihanktonwan Dakota/enrolled Siċaŋġu Lakota), Lakota foods coordinator for Wakanyeja Tokeyahci Wounspe Oti, the Lakota Immersion School; and Bradley Harrington (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), culture and language revitalization advocate.

Break 1 music: Ch’iya’a’n Biyiin/Native Food Song (song) Radmilla & Herman Cody (artist) Shi Kéyah (album)

Break 2 music: Ask Your Mom for Fifty Cents (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Kids’ Pow-Wow Songs (album)