Native America Calling

Monday, August 19, 2024 – Chicago welcomes the Democratic National Convention

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For their most important public gathering in the presidential election, Democrats have chosen to meet on the traditional lands of the Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwe, Odawa, and a handful of other nations. The state has no established federally recognized tribes, but the number of Chicago citizens who identify as Native American has more than doubled in the past ten years. We’ll be in Chicago, talking with Native Chicago residents who are also clued in to the Democratic political process about what the party is doing to reach Native voters and what sets them apart from their political rivals.

GUESTS

Pamela Silas (enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin descendant), active member of the Chicago American Indian Community

Mary Smith (citizen of the Cherokee Nation), former IHS director and founder of the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation

Monica Rickert-Bolter (Prairie Band Potawatomi), visual artist and director of operations at the Center for Native Futures

Shaun Griswold (Laguna, Zuni, and Jemez), editor of Source New Mexico

Break 1 Music: Four Two-Step Songs (song) Pyawasits, Silas & Webster (artist) Wild Rice: Songs From The Menominee Nation (album)

Break 2 Music: Current (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Friday, August 16, 2024 – Live at Santa Fe Indian Market 2024

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Distinctly Native American artwork, fashion, and films converge again for the annual Santa Fe Indian Market, with at least 1,000 booths and somewhere around 100,000 visitors. Native America Calling is live from Santa Fe, hearing from Southwestern Association for Indian Arts representatives, 2023 Best In Show winner Jennifer Tafoya, curators from the Native Cinema Showcase, and others to get a preview of the largest juried Native art market in the world.

GUESTS

JoAnn Chase (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), SWAIA vice chair

Jennifer Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo), artist, potter, and 2023 Best of Show at the Santa Fe Indian Market

Chris Youngblood (Santa Clara Pueblo), potter

Cindy Benitez, program manager for the Native Cinema Showcase for the National Museum of the American Indian

 

Break 1 Music: Flyer (song) The Zoniez (artist)

Break 2 Music: Our Mother the Earth [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

 

Watch previous Santa Fe Indian Market programs

Thursday, August 15, 2024 – Native Playlist: Geneviève Gros-Louis

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Violinist, composer, and producer Geneviève Gros-Louis has a busy schedule of solo and group performances and discussions leading up to the release of her new album that celebrates Wendat culture and talent. She captivated the audience at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival with a piece composed specifically for the premiere of the film, Killers of the Flower Moon. She also composed the score to a season of National Geographic’s series, Life Below Zero: First Alaskans. Gros-Louis returns to the Native America Calling studio with live performances of her work.

Plus, we’ll catch up with organizers of the Pathways Indigenous Arts Festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico this weekend. We’ll talk about the Native art, music and film being featured this weekend.

GUESTS

Geneviève Gros-Louis (Huron-Wendat), composer, violinist, and music producer

Lonnie Bernally (Diné), development director of the Poeh Cultural Center

Jacob Shije (Santa Clara Pueblo), musician and marketing manager of the Poeh Cultural Center

 

Break 1 Music: Thunder Medicine (song) Geneviève Gros-Louis (artist)

Break 2 Music: Our Mother the Earth [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Native America Calling at the Democratic National Convention

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Native America Calling is at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ill. August 19-22.

Host Shawn Spruce along with Native Vote 2024 contributor Shaun Griswold from Source NM will bring you the latest news, views, and inside stories from the City of Big Shoulders with a focus on how the Democratic platform and candidates will impact the lives of Native folks across the U.S.

We’re live from Media Row Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during our regular broadcast at 1 p.m. ET.

And tune into our special Thursday night broadcast and webcast hosted by Shawn & Shaun featuring Vice President Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech on Native America Calling‘s digital channels and your local station between 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET.

Monday, August 19, 2024 – Chicago welcomes the Democratic National Convention

Tuesday, August 20, 2024 – The work of DNC delegates

Wednesday, August 21, 2024 – The Harris effect on other races

Thursday, August 22, 2024 – What a Harris presidency would mean for Native Americans

Friday, August 23, 2024 – Native in the Spotlight: Hugo Morales

 

Wednesday, August 14, 2024 – Recalling how Yaqui resistance shaped Mexican and American colonization

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The Yaqui people fought for centuries against Spanish missionaries, miners, slave-traders, and the iron-fisted, anti-Indigenous rule of the Mexican government in the latter part of the 19th Century. Once the dominant culture in what is now Sonora, Yaqui populations were eventually diminished from conflict, disease, and even deportation out of their homelands. They eventually won back a significant portion of their traditional homeland in 1930. We recognize the Yaqui people on the anniversary of a significant battle alongside Mexican revolutionaries against both Mexican and American forces.

GUESTS

Dr. Anabel Galindo (Yaqui descendant), assistant professor at Northern Arizona University

Robert Valencia (Pasqua Yaqui), former chairman and vice chairman Pascua Yaqui Tribe chairman and adjunct history faculty at Pima College

Break 1 Music: Deer Dance (song) Tosay Hwilit [White Bird] & Taciovakok [a Herb] (artist) Yaqui Ritual and Festive Music by Musicians & Singers from Old Paschua Village, Tucson & Rio Yaqui, Sonora (album)

Break 2 Music: Our Mother the Earth [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Tuesday, August 13, 2024 — Native Bookshelf: Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer

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As an Ojibwe language teacher and expert on Native American history and issues, Anton Treuer has penned more than a dozen books that are required reading for some Native studies college courses. But Treuer turns to fiction in his newest work, Where Wolves Don’t Die. His first novel is for young readers and focuses on Ezra, a young Ojibwe teen living in Minneapolis. A serious crime prompts his family to move him to live with his grandfather on the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation. There he encounters new insights into his family and culture as he navigates the consequences of circumstances beyond his control. Treuer joins us as the Native Bookshelf featured author.

Break 1 Music: Little Sunflower (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Break 2 Music: Our Mother the Earth [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Monday, August 12, 2024 – Navajo Nation clashes with new uranium mining push

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The Navajo Nation deployed its police department to hold back trucks hauling uranium ore across tribal land. The action comes after the recent resumption of uranium mining at the Pinyon Plain (formerly Canyon) Mine in northwest Arizona. It is one of 600 uranium mines considered dormant because they aren’t financially viable. They are tied to numerous health conditions by citizens of Navajo and other nearby tribes. But new interest in nuclear energy is improving prices for raw ore. We’ll hear about tribes leveraging sovereignty to halt the mining and transport of uranium.

GUESTS

Crystalyne Curley (Diné), Speaker of the Navajo Nation

Carletta Tilousi (Havasupai), former councilwoman for the Havasupai Tribe and member of the Uranium Mining Committee

Leona Morgan (Diné), co-founder of Haul No

Donovan Quintero (Diné), freelance reporter

Break 1 Music: Until We Break (song) Klee Benally (artist) Appropriation (album)

Break 2 Music: Our Mother the Earth [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

Friday, August 9, 2024 – Democrat vice president pick puts new spotlight on Minnesota

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The Land of 10,000 Lakes, Paul Bunyan, and Tater Tot hotdish is also home to 11 federally recognized tribes. A citizen of one of those tribes, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Ojibwe/D-MN) is already the highest ranking female Native elected executive in the country. Now that Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate, Lt. Gov. Flanagan is one presidential election victory away from becoming the first Native female governor. We’ll hear from current and former political leaders from Minnesota and the Upper Midwest about any contributions or detriments the state’s Native elected leaders bring to the national stage.

GUESTS

Judith Le Blanc (Caddo), executive director of the Native Organizers Alliance

OJ Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), co-executive director of Four Directions Native Vote

Winona LaDuke (White Earth Ojibwe), activist, writer and 1996 and 2000 Green Party vice presidential candidate

Robert Lilligren (White Earth Ojibwe), Minneapolis Metropolitan Council member for District 6 and president and CEO of Native American Community Development Institute

Break 1 Music: Ojibwe Honor Song (song) Darren Thompson (artist)

Break 2 Music: Believer (song) Deerlady (artist)

Thursday, August 8, 2024 – From ‘Lord of the Rings’ to ‘The Convert’: How Māori filmmakers are improving representation

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The Lord of the Rings film trilogy won 17 Academy Awards and its legacy endures nearly 25 years after the first film’s release. The trilogy’s success has put its filming location, New Zealand, on the industry map. The motion picture business contributes at least $2.12 billion a year to New Zealand’s economy. That’s also been a boon for Indigenous cinema. Māori film critic and programmer Leo Koziol calls it a “renaissance“. The recent Māori-led film The Convert, directed by Lee Tamahori, is garnering critical acclaim. We’ll talk with Koziol and hear from Māori creatives who worked on Lord of the Rings about progress on Māori representation in film since then.

GUESTS

Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Rakaipaaka), founder of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, Indigenous editor at Letterboxd, and a programmer for the New Zealand International Film Festival

Lawrence Makoare (Ngāti Whātua), actor

Hammond Peek (Ngāi Tahu and Te Āti Awa), sound recordist and production sound mixer

Ra Vincent (Te Atiawa), production designer and artist

Dr. Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Apakura), Tainui leader and Ahorangi (professor) in the University of Waikato’s Te Pua Wananga ki te Ao Māori and Indigenous Studies

Billboard Music: The Bridge of Khazad Dum (song) Howard Shore (artist) The Fellowship of the Ring [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] (album)

Break 1 Music: I Am (song) Stan Walker (artist) I Am [From the Ava DuVernay feature film ‘Origin’] (album)

Break 2 Music: Believer (song) Deerlady (artist)

Outro Music: The Breaking of the Fellowship (song) Howard Shore, Edward Ross (artist) The Fellowship of the Ring [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] (album)

Listen to extended interviews…

Dr. Tom Roa
Here’s an interview with Dr. Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Apakura). He’s an elder who has spent decades revitalizing te reo Māori. Here he talks about the current state of the Māori language and why he chose to translate books like “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “The Hobbit.”


Lawrence Makoare
Here’s an extended interview with Lawrence Makoare (Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Rakaipaaka). He is an actor whose credits include: Rapa Nui, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, Dead Lands and The Convert. Here he talks more about the importance of Māori representation, turning down Once Were Warriors and his relationship with acting.


Hammond Peek
Here’s an extended interview with Hammond Peek (Ngāi Tahu and Te Āti Awa) sound recordist and production sound mixer. He won two Academy Awards for sound with Return of the King (2003) and King Kong (2005). Here he talks more about his work in sound and the future of Māori representation in media.


Ra Vincent
Here’s an extended interview with Ra Vincent (Te Atiawa). He is a production designer and artist. He’s nominated for two Academy Awards. The first was The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) for set decoration and Jojo Rabbit (2019) for production design. Here he talks about his early career start on Lord of the Rings, collaborating with directors Peter Jackson and Taika Watiti (Te Whānau-ā-Apanu) and mentoring others.

Wednesday, August 7, 2024 – The expense people don’t like to think about

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Losing a loved one is a traumatic experience. The burden of paying funeral costs for a befitting honor for that person’s life can add to the stress. There are a number of alternatives in either direction, but the National Funeral Director’s Association reports the median cost of a funeral in 2024 is $7,848. More families are turning to crowd funding sites like GoFundMe to cover expenses, especially for the sudden deaths of loved ones. The website says it raised some $330 million for funerals last year. We’ll talk about ways to anticipate inevitable end-of-life costs in a culturally and financially feasible way.

GUESTS

Grace Bulltail (Crow), assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and member of the Not Invisible Act Commission

Ralph Foster, owner of Foster Funeral Home and Crematory and a licensed mortician of 42 years

Tami Truett Jerue (citizen of the Anvik Tribe), executive director of the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center

Michelle John (Oneida), death benefits coordinator for the Oneida Nation

Break 1 Music: Intertribal (song) High Noon (artist) Generations (album)

Break 2 Music: Believer (song) Deerlady (artist)

Promo Music: Concerning Hobbits (song) Howard Shore (artist) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (album)

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