Monday, January 7, 2019 – Notable books for young readers
We carry on a tradition by devoting an hour to looking back at some of the outstanding books for young people published in the last year. Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo), founder of American Indians in Children’s Literature blog, will discuss her annual list of standouts. We’ll also hear from Dallas Hunt (Cree), author of “Awâsis and the World Famous Bannock” and Roy Boney (Cherokee), whose essay titled “Tell It In Your Own Way” is published in “We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices.”
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 – The art and beauty of porcupine quills
Plains tribes used dyed porcupine quills to adorn clothing, dolls and other items (called quillwork) before the introduction of beads. Many Native artists still choose to express themselves with the art form that begins with many hours of meticulous quill harvesting from porcupines—which may or may not still be alive. It also requires involved processing that includes flattening and dyeing the quills. The resulting work is vivid and unique. Join our conversation with some contemporary Native quillworkers about this traditional art form.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 – The 2018 Farm Bill
The new $867 billion Farm Bill just signed President Donald Trump is getting praise from tribes, Native farmers and advocates. One Native agriculture organization calls the number of Native-related provisions “unprecedented”. It also means access to more USDA programs and some changes for tribal food producers and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (commodity foods program). The bill also legalizes hemp opening doors to tribes getting into the industry.
Thursday, January 10, 2019 – Jesuits’ abuse of Alaska Native women and girls
The Catholic Church ignored the abuse of Native women and children by Jesuit priests in Alaska. That’s one of the revelations from a 19-month-long investigation by the Center for Investigative Journalism and the Northwest News Network. The reporting also found the church shuffled offending priests around, sometimes to other Alaska Native villages and ultimately offered them a retirement sanctuary in Washington state. We’ll talk with the one of the reporters from the project and a survivor featured in the report.
Friday, January 11, 2019 – Native in the Spotlight: Aaron Yazzie
Aaron Yazzie’s (Navajo) work is literally out of this world. Lately, the NASA mechanical engineer’s main job is designing the machinery gathering information 140 million miles away on the surface of Mars. In November he and his fellow scientists celebrated the end of an anxious six months, waiting for the successful flight and deployment of the unmanned Mars lander, InSight. We’ll hear about his own journey from the Navajo Nation to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
