Monday, November 7, 2022 – Hunting season: traditions and complications

Many Native hunters have mastered big game hunting, providing for themselves and their families. Some go on to guide other hunters. But there remain a number of ongoing barriers, ranging from climate change to sovereign rights challenges. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce gets a snapshot of what this year’s elk, caribou, and moose season is like in selected places and how tribes are working to solve hurdles to traditional practices with Bobby Mercier (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde member), cultural advisor for CTGR and artist; Ricko DeWilde (Athabascan), hunter and fisherman; and Gary Roybal (San Ildefonso Pueblo), outdoorsman, avid hunter, and fishing and hunting guide for the Santa Fe Guiding Company.

Tuesday, November 8, 2022 – Honoring Native veterans

This Veterans Day, officials are formally dedicating the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. It’s been years in the making and the design is like no other veterans monument, welcoming members of the public since 2020. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce learns about the progress in awareness and recognition for the population that has the highest per capita participation in military service with artist and veteran Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho); Alexandra Harris, senior editor at the National Museum of the American Indian and co-author of Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces; and Candy Grimes, Adjudication Services Section Chief for the Bureau of Land Management.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022 – Midterm Elections: the morning after

The stakes are high for Native voters and election night delivered with some big surprises, a few lingering mysteries, and no indication of which party will dominate Capitol Hill. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce analyzes the races across the country where Native candidates are on the ballot and issues important to Native people are on the line with Jourdan Bennett-Begaye (Diné), editor at ICT; Angela Willeford (member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community), intergovernmental relations project manager for the tribe; Allen Wright (Choctaw), president and founder of the Hustings Group; Michelle Sparck (Qissunamuit/Tribe of Chevak), director of strategic initiatives at Get Out the Native Vote; and Rhonda McBride, the new news director of our flagship station in Anchorage – KNBA.

Thursday, November 10 2022 – The fate of ICWA

Each side presented their oral arguments Wednesday to the U.S. Supreme Court for the most serious challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act in recent memory. The decision in Haaland v. Brackeen will be a major force in the future of ICWA and the scope of tribal sovereignty. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce analyzes the legal debate from a Native perspective 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.

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Monday, October 31, 2022 – Spooky time stories

Halloween cries out like a banshee for scary stories and there are many traditional and modern Native narratives that fit the bill. Monday on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce heard some favorite stories for the season and checked in on folks whose experiences gave us goosebumps with storyteller Leeora White (Seneca); Lopaka Kapanui (Kanaka Maoli), storyteller, author, and founder of the ghost tour “Mysteries of Hawaii“; Nancy Fields (Lumbee), director and curator at The Museum of the Southeast American Indian; and Ishmael Hope (Tlingit and Inupiaq), poet, storyteller, and Indigenous scholar.

 

Tuesday, November 1, 2022 – Indigenous people in Mexico working for equity and awareness

Indigenous people in Mexico are much more likely to face poverty, human rights abuses, and discrimination than the rest of the country’s population. The UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples Rights has repeatedly called out Mexico’s government for a “serious pattern” of abuses against Indigenous people that includes the murder or disappearance of Indigenous environmental or human rights activists. Unlike in the United States, Mexico’s government does not official recognize or support the country’s Indigenous populations. Tuesday on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce met those fighting for Indigenous rights in Mexico with Odilia Romero (Zapotec), co-founder and executive director of Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO); Alan Dillingham (Choctaw), assistant professor of history at Arizona State University and author of Oaxaca Resurgent; Arcenio Lopez (Ñuu Savi), executive director of the Mixteco Indígena Community Organizing Project; and Dr. Shannon Speed (Chickasaw), director of the American Indian Studies Center (AISC) and professor of gender Studies and anthropology at UCLA.

 

Wednesday, November 2, 2022 – Tribal Leadership: citizenship and identity

Citizenship is one of the keystones of sovereignty for every tribe. And it’s absolute: you’re either a tribal citizen through lineal descendancy, blood quantum, or another agreed-up measurement, or you’re not. But Native identity sometimes extends beyond citizenship and there’s little agreement about those boundaries. Wednesday on Native America Calling, at a time of increasing scrutiny of those who claim—and build careers on—Native identity, Shawn Spruce gets the perspectives from tribal leaders on what makes identity and why it’s so important to get it right with Cathy Chavers, chairwoman of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians and the president of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; Dr. Aaron Payment, former chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians; Nathan McCowan (Tlingit and Haida), president and CEO of St. George Tanaq Corporation; Patt Iron Cloud AKA “GrandmaPatt”, councilwoman for the Fort Peck Tribes; and Harold “Buster” Hatcher, chief of the Waccamaw Indian People.

 

Thursday, November 3, 2022 – Oklahoma—are you OK?

Tribes in Oklahoma are actively working to unseat the incumbent governor—who is a Cherokee citizen—because they say he is the most anti-Native American state leader in recent memory. A judge recently dissolved the Osage Nation reservation, saying Congress probably would have gotten around to disestablishment at some point anyway. And tribes are fighting the state’s new anti-Critical Race Theory law, saying it hampers students learning about the state’s long history of Native American oppression. Thursday on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce checks in on the unique relationship tribes have with the state of Oklahoma.

 

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