Snow is on the ground and that means it’s story time. Storytelling is an art. But it is also the primary method for so many tribes to convey history, cultural lessons and spiritual guidance. The Diné story about the coyote and the lizard warns listeners to be wary of who they trust. A Chickasaw story explains how two brothers split up on their journey, becoming the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes. We’ll hear those and some other selected stores by experienced Native storytellers.

GUESTS

Ogimaawab aka Joseph Sutherland (Nishnawbe Aski First Nation), Ojibwe language and culture educator

Sunny Dooley (Diné), blessing way Hané teller

Dancing Star aka Donna Courtney (Chickasaw), Chickasaw Nation Storytelling program manager

Gene Tagaban (Tlingit, Cherokee, and Filipino), storyteller, performing artist, and wellness and health trainer

 

Break 1 Music: Ridin’ Out the Storm (song) Samantha Crain (artist)

Break 2 Music: Ballad of Athabascan Theory (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album)

The Osage Nation successfully transferred more than 40,000 acres of land it purchased years ago into trust. It’s the second largest tribal trust land transfer in history. Their Oklahoma neighbor, the Cherokee Nation, is celebrating the transfer of five former boarding school properties into trust. The tribe says the properties on their reservation present opportunities to improve their surrounding communities. We’ll hear from each of the tribes and others about significant tribal land agreements.

GUESTS

Geoffrey Standing Bear, principal chief of the Osage Nation

Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation

Lora Ann Chaisson, principal chief of the United Houma Nation

 

Break 1 Music: Sovereign Land by the Summit Dub Squad (song) The Native Movement Native Music Compilation (artist) Written in Blood (album)

Break 2 Music: Ballad of Athabascan Theory (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album)

President Joe Biden’s apology for the federal government’s role in Indian Boarding School abuses was among the top news stories for Native Americans this year. It was an unprecedented event, but received a mixed reaction from Native policy watchers. Other notable news includes a survey showing significant Native voter support for Donald Trump in the presidential election. We’ll get additional insights into the stories important to Native Americans, plus a few you may have missed.

GUESTS

Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post reporter

Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi), publisher and editor of Native News Online and Tribal Business News

Shaun Griswold (Laguna, Zuni, and Jemez Pueblo), journalist

Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Ojibwe), national correspondent for ICT

 

Break 1 Music: Over and Over (song) Celeigh Cardinal (artist)

Break 2 Music: Ballad of Athabascan Theory (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album)

A focus on reducing chronic absenteeism for Native American students is paying off in a Cheyenne-Arapaho school system. It’s a hands-on initiative with an intensive interest in reaching students in the Oklahoma tribe. It comes as absenteeism remains at high levels for all students since the COVID-19 pandemic, but especially so for Native students. We’ll hear about promising methods to help keep kids on the track for learning.

GUESTS

Hollie Youngbear (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes), Watonga Public Schools Indian Educator

Jacob Metoxen (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), legal specialist with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute

Johanna Farmer (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), program attorney with the National American Indian Court Judges Association

 

Break 1 Music: Children’s Honoring Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album)

Break 2 Music: Ballad of Athabascan Theory (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album)

After a period of colonial suppression, traditional kapa making is enjoying a sustained resurgence. In recent decades, a growing number of Native Hawaiian artists have mastered the labor-intensive process of harvesting, scraping, and soaking the bark of the wauke plant and embellishing the resulting fabric with colorful traditional designs. A new generation of artists is benefiting from this reclaimed expertise.

GUESTS

Dalani Tanahy (Native Hawaiian), Hawaiian kapa artist

Lehuauakea (Native Hawaiian), Hawaiian kapa artist

Roen Hufford (Native Hawaiian), Hawaiian kapa artist

 

Break 1 Music: Wahine U`i (Beautiful One) (song) Linda Dela Cruz (artist) Linda Dela Cruz Hawaii’s Canary (album)

Break 2 Music: Ballad of Athabascan Theory (song) Hataałii (artist) Waiting for a Sign (album)

Here’s an extended interview with 2023 National Heritage Fellow Roen Hufford (Native Hawaiian). She spoke with producer Sol Traverso about her favorite part of the kapa making process and being taught by her mother Marie Leilehua McDonald.

https://nativeamericacalling-offload-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/121624-ROEN_KAPA_WEB.mp3

Bull and bareback riding, team roping, and barrel racing are among the highly anticipated competitions to watch at this year’s National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. We’ll talk with rodeo announcer Randy Taylor and some of the Native athletes working to make their names known in the arena.

GUESTS

Randy Taylor (Cherokee), professional rodeo announcer

Jacob Lees (Tlingit). professional bareback rider

JC Yeahquo (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), team roping header

Danielle Lowman (Navajo), breakaway roper

 

Break 1 Music: Hooked on an 8 Second Ride (song) Chris LeDoux (artist) Chris LeDoux and The Saddle Boogie Band (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

A bill to formally provide federal protections to the Ocmulgee Mounds in Georgia is making progress in Congress. If approved, it would establish the state’s first National Park and Preserve overseen by the National Park Service. The land is the ancestral home of the Muscogee Creek Nation and other tribes. The preservation momentum comes as several other locations look to better document and protect mounds. In Wisconsin, officials identified two mounds in Milwaukee’s oldest cemetery. We’ll get updates on recent efforts to recognize and preserve mounds.

GUESTS

Raelynn Butler (Muscogee), secretary of culture and humanities for the Muscogee Creek Nation

Tracie Revis (Muscogee/Euchee), director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative

Sunshine Thomas-Bear (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska), cultural preservation director, NAGPRA representative, and tribal historic preservation officer for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska — and director for the Angel De Cora Museum and Research Center

 

Break 1 Music: Rainbow Gratitude (song) Joy Harjo (artist) Red Dreams, A Trail Beyond Tears (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

 

Tribally run business owners and individual Native American entrepreneurs are preparing for tariffs and other international trade shifts if Donald Trump delivers on his promise to enact tariffs on good from certain countries. Trump initiated a trade war during his first term that hampered tribes and business that trade directly with foreign countries or that readily use foreign products. We’ll find out how Native companies with foreign ties are preparing.

GUESTS

Wayne Garnons-Williams (Plains Cree from Moosomin First Nation), chair of the International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization

Larry Chavis (Lumbee), economist and business school professor

Tyler Tawahongva (Hopi), owner of Cloud 9 Recycling

James Collard, director of planning and economic development for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation

 

Break 1 Music: Mr. Businessman’s Blues (song) DM Lafortune (artist) Beauty and Hard Times (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

 

Donald Trump targeted trans issues during his presidential campaign. He promised to take aim at gender-affirming care early in his upcoming term in office, including restricting federal funds for trans medical support. That could have a major effect on such care within the Indian Health Service. In addition, at least half of all states now ban gender affirming care for minors. A pending U.S. Supreme Court decision will determine the future of such care in those states. We’ll gauge the direction for trans issues and find out how trans advocates are preparing both politically and personally for the next few years.

GUESTS

Shelby Chestnut (Assiniboine), executive director of the Transgender Law Center

Dr. Itai Jeffries (Occaneechi), program director for the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s Paths (Re)Membered Project

Dr. Hannah Wenger, clinical consultant and contractor at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s Trans and Gender Affirming Care ECHO Program and Paths (Re)Membered Project

 

Break 1 Music: This Love (song) Edzi’u (artist) Tunnel Vision (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

The disproportionately high number of unsolved cases for missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) inspired Haley Omeasoo to launch a research lab on the Blackfeet Nation’s Montana reservation. Ohkomi Forensics offers tribal police and other law enforcement agencies scientific data in an attempt to make connections with current and past investigations. It’s one of the ways Native advocates all over the country are working to fill gaps to improve the troubling statistics for Native crime victims.

GUESTS

Haley Omeasoo (Hopi/Blackfeet), executive director and president of Ohkomi Forensics

Eleanore Sunchild (Thunderchild First Nation), Indigenous human rights attorney with Sunchild Law

Bree R Black Horse (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma), MMIP Assistant United States Attorney for the Northwest Regions

Melissa Skeet (Diné), endurance roller skater

 

Break 1 Music: Remember Me (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Kikāwiynaw (album)

Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)

Tribal leaders are heading to Washington, D.C. for President Joe Biden’s last White House Tribal Nations Summit. The gathering is touted as a chance for tribal representatives to interact with Administration officials and gauge progress and hurdles when it comes to the federal government’s trust responsibility. The future of the regular meetings with the executive branch is uncertain. In his previous term, President Donald Trump chose not to convene regular meetings with tribes. We’ll get a preview of the upcoming summit and assess the potential for future interactions with the White House.