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Tax breaks and other incentives are driving wealthy, outside investors to buy up property in Puerto Rico. That’s pushing housing prices up, exacerbating the island’s debt crisis, and threatening the country’s long-held tradition of public access to beaches. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with Roberto Borrero (Taino), president of United Confederation of Taino People; Gualterio Alomar (Taino), president of the Organization for Culture of Hispanic Origins; Zulma Oliveras (Taino) an activist, counselor and LGBTQ+ advocate; and Tai Pelli (Taino), international relations and human rights officer for the United Confederation of Taino People.

 

Break 1 Music: Taino-Arawak Welcome Song (song) Joan Henry (artist) Kanogisgi – Song-Carrier (album)

Break 2 music: Umumutayayata (Rolling Thunder) (song) Clark Tenakhongva (artist) Öngtupqa (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:43 — 25.5MB) | Embed

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska Tribal Council reversed course on recognizing marriage equality after their citizens and others spoke up. Today on Native America Calling, in celebration of Pride month, Shawn Spruce takes a look at the varying actions across Native nations to acknowledge same-sex unions in light of the growing trend among states to do so with Curtis Alexander Jr. (Omaha), president and public relations chair for Winnebago Two-Spirits, and Alray Nelson (Diné), lead organizer for Diné Equality and executive director for Navajo Nation Pride.

 

Break 1 music: Intertribal (song) Sweetgrass (artist) Follow the Trial (album)

Break 2 music: Umumutayayata (Rolling Thunder) (song) Clark Tenakhongva (artist) Öngtupqa (album)

 

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The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s experience is a cautionary tale for tribes working with outsiders to help preserve their language. Tribal members worked with the Lakota Language Consortium for years, recording elders, developing workshops, and translating books. When the tribe wanted to utilize the materials they’d worked on, they discovered they were copyrighted and controlled by a non-Native entrepreneur and tribal members would have to purchase the books and other materials. The tribe has since taken the rare step of banishing the organization. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with Graham Lee Brewer (Cherokee), investigative reporter for NBC News; Alex FireThunder (Oglala Lakota), Lakota language instructor, musician, and incoming deputy director for the Lakota Language Consortium; Tipiziwin Tolman (Standing Rock Sioux), Indigenous language revitalization student and board member on the Lakota Language Consortium; Jennifer Weston (Standing Rock Sioux), co-author of the resolution to ban the Lakota Language Consortium from the tribe; and Waniya Locke (Ahtna Dene, Lakota/Dakota, and Anishinaabe), community organizer, Indigenous doula, former Lakota Language teacher, and transcriber of Lakota language.

 

Break 1 music: Song of Encouragement (song) Porcupine Singers (artist) Alowanpi – Songs Of Honoring – Lakota Classics: Past & Present, Vol. 1 (album)

Break 2 Music: Indians Never Die (song) Black Belt Eagle Scout (artist) Mother of My Children (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:15 — 25.8MB) | Embed

Wilma Mankiller’s image on the U.S. quarter coin is the latest recognition for the pioneering Cherokee leader. Among her other honors was the Presidential Medal of Freedom. During the event celebrating her likeness on the quarter, current Principle Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. (Cherokee) said, years after her death, Chief Mankiller “keeps changing the world for the better”. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce looks back at Chief Mankiller’s legacy as an advocate for Cherokee people and the tribe’s first female principal chief with Chief Hoskin; Alaina Roberts (Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedman descendent), PhD, Professor at University of Pittsburgh and author of the book “I’ve Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land”; Valerie Red-Horse Mohl (Cherokee), filmmaker and director and producer of “Mankiller”; and Mary Smith (Cherokee), former chief executive of the Indian Health Service.

 

Break 1 Music: Elders Land Ballad (song) Paula Nelson (artist) C.H.A.N.T. Cherokee Hope and New Traditions (album)

Break 2 Music: Indians Never Die (song) Black Belt Eagle Scout (artist) Mother of My Children (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:28 — 25.4MB) | Embed

The Metropolitan State University of Denver will provide Native students waivers for both tuition and fees. The move follows action by the Colorado Legislature last fall to offer in-state tuition to any student enrolled in a federally recognized tribe with historical ties to Colorado. The state of Oregon and the University of California system also have tuition waivers for Native students. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce looks at the trend and who it helps with Phenocia Bauerle (Crow), director of the Native American Student Development at the University of California-Berkeley; Karen Diver (Chippewa), senior advisor to the president for Native American Affairs at the University of Minnesota; and Joseph Lindsay (Chemehuevi), director of admission and operation at Berkeley Law.

 

Break 1 Music: Crow Push Dance Song (song) Authentic Native American Music (artist) Authentic Native American Music (album)

Break 2 Music: Indians Never Die (song) Black Belt Eagle Scout (artist) Mother of My Children (album)

 

 

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AMC’s new television series “Dark Winds” is a thriller set in the 1970s on the Navajo Nation and the production is filled with Native talent. Showrunner Graham Roland (Chickasaw) and veteran director Chris Eyre (Cheyenne and Arapaho) are getting big name production credentials from Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin. They’re also navigating some touchy source material from non-Native author Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee murder mystery novels. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce hears from those involved in the series about what adapting the work was like and their experiences on the set with writers Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo) and Razelle Benally (Oglala Lakota and Diné) – and actors Eugene Brave Rock (Blackfeet) and Kiowa Gordon (Hualapai).

 

Break 1 music: Edge of The Rez, Part 2 (song) The Blue Stone Project (artist) Blue Stone (album)

Break 2 music: Duck and Dive (song) Black Thunder Singers (artist) Black Thunder (album)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:07 — 25.7MB) | Embed

This month marks the 60^th anniversary of Samoa’s independence from colonial rule. Self rule came to the Pacific island nation in 1962 after decades of frustration with occupation by New Zealand and Germany before that. During those times, Samoans had little say in the administration of their own people – and their culture and language were systematically diminished. Now, Samoa thrives and works to revitalize the core elements of their identity. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce speaks with Brian Alofaituli, PhD, senior lecturer in the Archaeology and Cultural Heritage division at the Centre for Samoan Studies at the National University of Sāmoa; Rev. Samuel F. Unutoa, honorary board member for the Alaska Samoa Community Corporation; and Maddy Unutoa, Alaska Samoa Community Corporation president and CEO.

Break 1 music: Le Manu (song) Shepherds Reign (artist) Le Manu (album)

Break 2 music: Duck and Dive (song) Black Thunder Singers (artist) Black Thunder (album)