Native Voice One

Native American Radio Network

Word with A Champ – 4th Annual Championship of Champions

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Word with a Champ provides daily 5-minute reports of the Horse Nations Indian Relay Council’s  4th Annual Championship of Champions held in Walla Walla, Washington Sept. 21-23, 2018. 38 elite teams representing 13 Indian Nations qualified to compete at the 2018 Finals.
 
As America’s oldest known competition, Indian Relay is exploding onto the scene as the world’s newest and most exciting extreme sport! The championships are the culmination of over 18 grueling competitions between Native Americans and First Nations of Canada athletes.
 
An enthusiastic crowd set records as the largest gathering in the history of the sport. The Championship of Champions concluded September 23, 2018 crowning a Washington team from the great Colville tribe called NW Express as the world champions.
 
NV1 coverage of this event is supported by Wrangler.

Alaska Water Wars Revisited

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Alaska Water Wars is a multimedia project that shares the stories of Alaska Native people as they navigate the benefits and risks posed by new natural resource development projects coming to their regions.

Alaska’s Water Wars: Stories from Bristol Bay is a timely, 29-minute program focused on the proposed Pebble Mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay. The original 5-part series has been repackaged into a singular 29:00 program that shares updated information regarding this evolving story. In addition, the original series has been updated and made into a  6-part module series.

Alaska’s Bristol Bay is home to one of the most valuable salmon fisheries in the world. It’s also a place where a company has been wanting to build an open-pit copper and gold mine for years. The Obama administration proposed limits for Pebble Mine to protect water. President Donald Trump’s EPA could roll those back and make the mine a reality. Complicating matters, the Alaska Native people who live there are divided on whether the mine should go ahead.

Alaska Water Wars is a multimedia project that shares the stories of Alaska Native people as they navigate the benefits and risks posed by new natural resource development projects coming to their regions.

This series about the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay comes to us from Independent producer Daysha Eaton in Anchorage, Alaska. Financial support for this reporting was provided by the Alaska Humanities Forum and KNBA public radio.

 

Part 1: President Donald Trump’s EPA may make it easier for a Canadian mining company to get permits it needs to build a large copper and gold mine on top of wetlands that feed one of the world’s richest salmon fisheries in Southwest Alaska. But some local and indigenous people are resisting the project because of concerns it could ruin their fishing and way of life. At the center of it all is water.

Part 2: The Canadian mining company is looking for new investors and says it plans to apply for permits to build a copper and gold mine in the Bristol Bay region soon. But some local and indigenous people say the EPA was right to put limitations on the mine, under the Obama administration. Tribes connected to commercial fisheries in particular worry that allowing the mine to get a foothold in the area could spell disaster.

Part 3: Thousands of local and indigenous people in the Bristol Bay region are divided on the issue of the proposed Pebble Mine. While commercial fishing towns are united against mining, villages closer to the mine site are interested in the economic development it could bring. However, many also worry that the industry could pollute their pristine rivers as well as change their communities beyond recognition.

Part 4: Despite concerns about possible impacts to water quality, some local and indigenous communities very close to the proposed Pebble Mine say they want the jobs that mining could bring. Those communities don’t benefit as much from the commercial fishing industry and some say they want employment that will allow them to stay in their Native villages with a higher standard of living.

Part 5: The mining company insists that its new plan takes every precaution to protect water, but many local and indigenous people who live in villages midway between the proposed mine and Bristol Bay are skeptical. They rely heavily on subsistence salmon fishing for food and say the water that’s at risk is a cultural resource with which they’re not willing to gamble. They want the EPA to stick with limits it proposed on mining in 2014 and some are vowing to fight the mine no matter what.

Part 6: In early 2018, some game-changing things happened concerning the proposed Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska. The EPA backtracked, leaving its proposed protections for the Bristol Bay Watershed on the Table. In addition, Pebble Limited Partnership’s plans submitted as part of their application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the build the mine, became public. The company that wants to build the Pebble Mine is forging ahead while tribes opposing the mine say they will keep fighting it even as it progresses through the permitting process.

Reconnecting with a Healthy Lifestyle

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Reconnecting with a Healthy Lifestyle is a special broadcast from National Native News with a focus on traditional foods to improve the health and wellness of Native people. We hear from tribal leaders, health advocates and grassroots coalition members who are taking on wellness initiatives, promoting food sovereignty programs to increase access to fresh produce, and are seeking new ways to improve the overall health of their communities.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more likely to report their health is fair or poor compared to other groups, particularly Caucasians. Rates of diabetes, suicide and chronic illnesses are often higher in Native communities. Indigenous people across the United States are taking control of their mental and physical health using both traditional methods and Western medicine.

From urban gardens and tribal seed banks, to Indigenous smartphone apps to sharing traditional recipes, Native people are reconnecting to their traditions and culture to address disease and encourage others to live a holistic way of life.

Host:                   Antonia Gonzales, Native American Journalist
Cohost:                Brian Yazzie, Native American chef
Guests:
Vox Pops-Bethel, Alaska
Loren Anthony, health advocate/actor
Tennille Marley, researcher
Gailey Morgan, farmer/tribal leader
Mariah Gladstone, Indigikitchen founder
Linda Black Elk, ethnobotanist
Cezin Nottaway, caterer
Inez Cook, business owner
Shilo Maples, health program coordinator

Producers:         Sara Gustavus and Antonia Gonzales
sgustavus@gmail.com
agonzales@nativenews.net

Music:                 Gabriel Ayala   Song Title: Sewa Ania  ayalaguitarist@yahoo.com

Alaska Water Wars: Stories from Bristol Bay

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Alaska’s Water Wars: Stories from Bristol Bay is a timely, five-minute, 5-part series focused on the proposed Pebble Mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

Alaska’s Bristol Bay is home to one of the most valuable salmon fisheries in the world. It’s also a place where a company has been wanting to build an open-pit copper and gold mine for years. The Obama administration proposed limits for Pebble Mine to protect water. President Donald Trump’s EPA could roll those back and make the mine a reality. Complicating matters, the Alaska Native people who live there are divided on whether the mine should go ahead.

Alaska Water Wars is a multimedia project that shares the stories of Alaska Native people as they navigate the benefits and risks posed by new natural resource development projects coming to their regions.

This series about the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay comes to us from Independent producer Daysha Eaton in Anchorage, Alaska. Financial support for this reporting was provided by the Alaska Humanities Forum and KNBA public radio.

Part 1: President Donald Trump’s EPA may make it easier for a Canadian mining company to get permits it needs to build a large copper and gold mine on top of wetlands that feed one of the world’s richest salmon fisheries in Southwest Alaska. But some local and indigenous people are resisting the project because of concerns it could ruin their fishing and way of life. At the center of it all is water.

Part 2: The Canadian mining company is looking for new investors and says it plans to apply for permits to build a copper and gold mine in the Bristol Bay region soon. But some local and indigenous people say the EPA was right to put limitations on the mine, under the Obama administration. Tribes connected to commercial fisheries in particular worry that allowing the mine to get a foothold in the area could spell disaster.

Part 3: Thousands of local and indigenous people in the Bristol Bay region are divided on the issue of the proposed Pebble Mine. While commercial fishing towns are united against mining, villages closer to the mine site are interested in the economic development it could bring. However, many also worry that the industry could pollute their pristine rivers as well as change their communities beyond recognition.

Part 4: Despite concerns about possible impacts to water quality, some local and indigenous communities very close to the proposed Pebble Mine say they want the jobs that mining could bring. Those communities don’t benefit as much from the commercial fishing industry and some say they want employment that will allow them to stay in their Native villages with a higher standard of living.

Part 5: The mining company insists that its new plan takes every precaution to protect water, but many local and indigenous people who live in villages midway between the proposed mine and Bristol Bay are skeptical. They rely heavily on subsistence salmon fishing for food and say the water that’s at risk is a cultural resource with which they’re not willing to gamble. They want the EPA to stick with limits it proposed on mining in 2014 and some are vowing to fight the mine no matter what.

Remembering Jim Pepper

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Jim Pepper was a Muskogee Creek and Kaw Native who became a world renowned saxophone player and musician, respected by his peers and loved by those who grew to know his songs. Peppers music combined contemporary jazz fused with rock and Native rhythms.

Each fall for the past several years – a Native Arts Festval, is held in Portland Oregon, in Jim Pepper’s old neighborhood.  Sean Aaron Cruz organizes the event.  Winona LaDuke was a guest at the 2017 festival and paid tribute to his legacy.  Avotcja Jiltonilro performed at the 2016 Jim Pepper Native Arts Festival.  Kenman Miller plays with the Jim Pepper Tribute Band “The Flying Eagles.”  They each share their stories about how their paths intersected with Native Saxaphone great Jim Pepper, interwoven between beloved songs from the artist.

Alaska Federation of Natives Gavel-to-Gavel Coverage Oct. 19-21

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Tune in for annual broadcast of the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention LIVE from Anchorage, AK.

Thursday, October 19:
2:00 pm – 9:00 pm (EDT)

Friday, October 20:
2:00 pm – 9:00 pm (EDT)

Saturday, October 21:
12:00 pm – 8:00 pm (EDT)

The broadcast covers the convention as it happens from the main podium.

Listeners are able to hear the important speeches by Native leaders, state, and community representatives who are addressing the Native community as a whole.

At 4pm (EDT), hear “Alaska’s Native Voice,” a one hour program providing the voices of AFN attendees, as well as commentary and discussions about AFN presentations and activities, with host Antonia Gonzales.

KNBA 90.3 FM and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation are in the 21st year of providing this unique service that connects Native communities in Alaska through public radio.

Responding to the Opioid Drug Crisis in MN American Indian Communities

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Addiction to opioid pain killers and heroin is a daunting challenge to many Natives. In 2015, Minnesota had more American Indians dying from overdoses than any other state. That same year, nearly 70% of pregnant Native women gave birth to babies with opioids in their systems.

There’s a call for a culturally specific response base on traditional teachings and ceremonies, and a different urgent call for medically assisted treatment. In the end, healing from historical trauma is the path forward. Join us as we explore these issues in Minnesota’s Indian country in this special report from Minnesota Native News brought to you by Native Voice One.

Rocking the Boat: the Story of Changing Race Relations in Bemidji, Minnesota

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Predominantly white towns that border large American Indian reservations can be racially charged places. It is difficult for residents to face the historical atrocities and heal as a community. In a small city in Minnesota’s north woods, Natives and their non-Native allies have been working for 50 years to do just that.  Join us as we hear their stories in the documentary Rocking the Boat: the Story of Changing Race Relations in Bemidji, Minnesota.  It’s a special report from Minnesota Native News brought to you by Native Voice One.

Trahant Reports – Native journalist arrest puts the First Amendment on trial

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A Native American journalist is arrested while covering Standing Rock.

This is Trahant Reports.

There is an idea in law enforcement called the “thin blue line.” It basically means that police work together. A call goes out from Morton County and, right or wrong, law enforcement from around the country provides back up.

You would think journalism would be like that, too.

When one journalist is threatened, we all are. We cannot do our jobs when we worry about being injured or worse. And when a journalist is arrested? Well, everyone who claims the First Amendment as a framework should object loudly.

Last Wednesday Jenni Monet was arrested near Cannonball, North Dakota. She was interviewing water protectors who were setting up a new camp near the Dakota Access Pipeline route on treaty lands of the Great Sioux Nation. Law enforcement from Morton County surrounded the camp and captured everyone within the circle. A press release from the sheriff’s Department puts it this way: “Approximately 76 members of a rogue group of protestors were arrested.” Most were charged with criminal trespassing and inciting a riot.

As was Jenni Monet.

She is facing serious charges and the judicial process will go forward. The truth will come out.

But this story is about the failure of journalism institutions.

The Native press and the institutions that carry her work had Monet’s back. That includes Indian Country Media Network, Yes! Magazine, and the Center for Investigative Reporting. The Lost Angeles Times has now weighed in with its own story written by Sandy Tolan who’s done some great reporting from Standing Rock.

But in North Dakota you would not know this arrest happened. The press is silent.

After her release from jail, Monet wrote for Indian Country Media Network, “When Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman was charged with the same allegations I now face—criminal trespassing and rioting—her message to the world embraced the First Amendment. ‘There’s a reason why journalism is explicitly protected by the U.S. Constitution,’ she said before a crowd gathered in front of the Morton County courthouse. “Because we’re supposed to be the check and balance on power.”

The funny thing is that journalism institutions were not quick to embrace Goodman either. I have talked to many journalists who see her as an “other” because she practices a different kind of journalism than they do.

Monet’s brand of journalism is rooted in facts and good reporting. She talks to everyone on all sides of the story, including the Morton County Sheriff and North Dakota’s new governor. She also has street cred … and knows how to tell a story.

So if we ever need journalism institutions to rally, it’s now. It’s not Jenni Monet who will be on trial. It’s the First Amendment. Journalism is not a crime. I am Mark Trahant.

Trahant Reports – Thinking different in the Trump Era

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How does Indian Country survive the Donald Trump era? The new administration is only a few days old and already the chaos of the times have upset business as usual. And possibly the very structure of federal-Indian law.

This is Trahant Reports.

Don’t count out the bureaucracy. I first started covering federal Indian policy during the late 1970s. I was in DC and was interviewing someone about a reform project at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a plan that I thought made a lot of sense. But my source smiled and responded, “I have seen them come. I have seen them go.” There are ways to tie up initiatives — even good ones — through the process of government.

President Donald J. Trump’s memoranda might fit into this category. Usually an executive order or a memorandum has a legal framework as part of the document, including citing the statutory authority for the presidential action. On Dakota Access and Keystone that reference has been replaced by the logic of “because I said so.”

We shall see.

Tribes should work closer with cities, states, private companies, and any global government that’s open to help. The federal government is going to be close to useless for the next four years (unless the Trump infrastructure program happens, and includes Indian Country, but there is no evidence of that yet.) The modern city state, think a Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis or a Phoenix, are the real engines of growth in this country. What’s the best way for tribes to become partners?

Indian Country’s greatest advantage right now is our young people, more than 40 percent of our total population (compared to about a third for country as a whole.) We have numbers working in our favor and we should look for more ways to leverage that advantage.

Don’t count out Republican versus Republican. Right now Republicans in Congress are giving President Trump the benefit of the doubt. But as decisions get harder, the act of governing gets more complex.

There is already evidence of this in the debate about repealing the Affordable Care Act. The idea of getting rid of Obamacare was a unifying force. But there is no consensus about a replacement law. Republican governors fear that their state budgets will collapse if Medicaid becomes a block grant with less money. And many Republicans in Congress cling to the idea that health care should be left up to families and government should not be involved or fund it. And finally Republicans who want to win the next election know that stripping heath insurance from millions of people is not a winning hand.

There are many ways for tribes to survive the Trump era. Only … it’s time to think differently. I am Mark Trahant.

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