On this on this show he welcomes in our Spotlight from the Cree Nations, Canada, singer, songwriter and country performer, Jade Turner. She has just released her new album out “North Country”. You can find out all the Jade and hear her music on the web at jadeturner.ca
Also music from:
Jade Turner,
Tara Williamson,
Rose Moore,
Bebel Gilberto
Dj Bitman,
Carsen Gray,
Bomba Estereo,
Jamie Coon,
Nortec Collective,
Crystal Shawanda,
Rellik,
Quantum Tangle,
Pura Fe,
Carlos Santana,
Locos Por Juana,
Campo,
Nahko and Medicine For The People,
B-Side Players,
Jota Quest,
Ozomatli,
Los Amigos Invisibles,
Nortec Collective,
Mariame, Thiaguinho,
Novalima,
Buffe Sainte-Marie,
Triballistas,
Leeanne Goose
and much much more.
Candidates Seeking Early Votes in Primary Contests Across the Country
Tatewin Means is running for the Attorney General of South Dakota. (Campaign photo)
It’s already time to cast ballots in the 2018 election season — a cycle with more Native Americans running for Congress or to lead state governments than ever before. The first election tests are in Idaho, South Dakota and New Mexico.
This is Trahant Reports.
Paulette Jordan, Couer d’Alene, is looking for those early votes now in her bid to be the first Native American woman to lead a state. She is currently touring all of Idaho’s 44 counties before the May 15 Democratic Primary for governor.
Primary elections are an odd fixture in American politics. Any small dedicated group of voters, such as Native Americans, are better positioned to win a primary election because the turnout is so low. In Idaho’s last primary election only 22 percent of voters turned out for the primary — and most of them were Republican voters.
South Dakota is another state where absentee, or early voting, has begun. The primary is June 5. But South Dakota Democrats will pick their statewide candidate at the party convention on June 15 and 16. This means delegates, not voters, will pick the statewide candidates.
Tatewin Means, a former Attorney General for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is running for Attorney General against former U.S. Attorney Randy Seiler.
The challenge is similar to the Jordan race in Idaho because South Dakota Democrats are faced with a choice of a picking an establishment candidate or a younger Native American woman who has the potential to bring new voters into the process.
“I am an atypical candidate,” Means told KOTA News. “I am an indigenous woman. I am a single mother and this is my first political campaign. And so that brings a fresh perspective to a criminal justice and law enforcement system that doesn’t typically have that point of view at the table.”
There are several races with Native candidates for the state legislature in contested primaries.
In Utah, a congressional candidate won his party’s nomination for the third district over the weekend without a primary. James Singer, Navajo, earned 77 percent of the delegate vote and will face the winner of the Republican primary in November. Singer is running in the district that includes Bear’s Ears monument as well as Ute Mountain and the Navajo Nation.
New Mexico’s voters can cast ballots beginning May 8.
Democrat Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, is one of six candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in Albuquerque. This promises to be a close race, but Haaland easily won support from the state Democratic Party’s delegates at a pre-primary convention.
Further south, in the second congressional district on the Republican ticket, Gavin Clarkson, Choctaw, is in a four-way contest. He’s campaigned on support for President Donald J. Trump and “draining the swamp in Washington.”
The people are voting — and the 2018 election is underway. I am Mark Trahant.
Indigenous in Music with Larry K – Week of April 23rd 2018
Join Larry K, from the Ho Chunk Nation as he mixes up 2 hours of Indigenous sounds with music from:
Midnight Shine,
Jerry Sereda,
Tara Williamson,
Kelly Derrickson,
Gabriel Ayala,
Callie Bennett,
Ailaika, Calle 13,
Banda Black Rio,
Bomba Estereo,
Charming Horses,
Jace Martin,
Eagle & Hawk,
Stolen Identity,
Fawn Wood,
Twin Flames,
Fara Palmer,
Kelly Fraser,
Carsen Gray,
Ed Koban,
Irv Lyons Jr.,
Jota Quest,
Yanez,
Indian City,
Banda Black Rio,
Joey Styles,
Richie Legreagle,
Litefoot,
Chico Mann,
Loco Por Juana,
Fiebre Amarilla,
Flamingo Star
and much much more.
Indigenous in Music with Larry K – Gary Sappier Blues Band in our Spotlight Interview
Indigenous in Music with Larry K – Gary Sappier Blues Band in our Spotlight Interview
On this on this episode Larry welcomes in the Spotlight from the Tobique First Nation, Gary Sappier, he’ll be stopping by to tell us all about his Blues Band and their new album. You can find out all the Gary and hear their music on the web at garysappier.com
Also music from:
The Gary Sappier Blues Band,
Jimmy Wolf,
Jade Turner,
Tracy Bone,
William Prince,
Ailaika,
Bomba Estero,
Iskwe,
Robbie Robertson,
Tribal Spirit,
Black Bear,
The Deeds,
La Ley,
Ed Koban,
Chulius Filarmonicos,
Emicida,
Aterciopelados,
Buffy Sainte-Marie,
Jota Quest,
DJ Bitmam,
Captain Planet,
Chico Mann,
Allen French,
Whilk & Misky,
Elastic Bond,
Juanes,
and much much more.
Indigenous in Music with Larry K: Macc Meeze in our Spotlight Interview
On this episode Larry welcomes back to the Spotlight from the Pit River Nation, Hip Hop Musician Macc Meeze!
Mac is stopping by to tell us all about his new music and album. You can hear music from Macc, on the web, at Spotify.
Also music from:
- Macc Meeze
- Brandis Knudsen
- Captain Planet
- Chico Mann
- Wolfsheart
- Jose Feliciano
- Santana
- Isley Brothers
- Litefoot
- Juanes
- Joey Stylez
- Zoe
- Zeep
- XAXO
- Indian City
- Twice As Good
- Une Mas Tri
- Jamie Coon
- Kelly Derrickson
- Desiree Dorion
- Jade Turner
- Victoria Canal
- Callie Bennett
- Natalie Lafourcade
- Los Enanitos Verdes
- Leeanee Goose
- Joey Stylez
- Triablistas
- Toia
- Stolen Identity
- Locos Por Juana
- Axel Krygier
- and much much more!
A Changing Arctic Presents Incredible Challenges and Opportunities for Indigenous Peoples
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US Ambassador David Balton, Senior Arctic Official, Arctic Council
A changing Arctic? A region that presents incredible challenges and opportunities for Indigenous People. This is Trahant Reports.
One of the unique opportunities involves governance of the region. The Arctic Council is eight nations who work together on complex issues ranging from climate change to a sustainable future. Right now the United States is chairing this body for the next two years.
What makes this international body unique, though, is that it includes indigenous representation as “permanent participants.”
US Ambassador David Balton explains: “I am not aware of another international forum that has representatives of Indigenous groups engaged the way the Arctic Council does. They are at the table as, essentially, equal partners with the governments. And they bring a lot to that table. Among other things their populations span multiple countries” (with the exception of Russia.)
“They have special needs and special points of view that get aired. Officially they don’t participate in decision-making as such, those are for eight governments. But the reality is the governments … will not take decisions that are opposed by so-called permanent participants. Part of the on-going work of the Arctic Council is figure out how to deal with the Indigenous Peoples’ of the Arctic better.”
One of the issues that’s of particular interest to me involves climate change and “adaptation.” Most of the debate about climate change involves “mitigation.” That idea is humans are the primary cause of climate change so if we reduce our carbon emissions we can limit the impacts. But the second topic in climate change is “adaptation.” That means doing what’s required to build higher sea walls, protect pipelines from permafrost damage, and, all too often, move villages inland because of eroding shorelines. It also means figuring out how animals and fish will react to the loss of habitat, when sea ice, or plant life disappear. And, of course, less wildlife and fish too often means less food for Native people.
The Arctic Council examines and incorporates “Indigenous knowledge” in its database. As one recent document puts it: “Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge and its potential to advise adaptation mechanisms across the Arctic is a common theme. Moreover, scientific, traditional and experience-based knowledge in combination are recognized as key factors for a sustainable Arctic future. Generating grassroots support is the most important condition for sustainability.”
How we build a sustainable future in the Arctic? That’s the key question as we figure out how we and our children will live in a changing environment. Of course that’s not just an Arctic issue. I am Mark Trahant reporting from Anchorage.
Trahant Reports – Canada’s Missing and Murdered Women
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A rally on the steps of the Manitoba Legislature October 4th called attention to the 1,200 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Canada’s election day is October 19 and many Native groups are hoping a strong turnout will result in a national investigation and proposed solutions.
This is Trahant Reports. A similar story was told across Canada this weekend: Too many Native women have gone missing or have been murdered.
In Winnipeg, one event organizer, Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, put it this way:
“As well as Aboriginal women, Indigenous women and girls we all deserve to be loved and valued and to feel safe. That we shouldn’t have to live in a society and worry about if we’re next. If we are going to be next to be murdered or to go missing. We need to feel safe. It’s our right to feel safe. ”
So on the steps of the Manitoba Legislature many rows of bouquets — shaped as a butterfly. Each flower a reminder of of so many loved ones who have been victims at of violence.
This is the tenth year of vigils; a tragedy that’s compounded by how little has changed since the movement began.
In a few days Canada will elect a new government. The hope is that through the ballot box the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls will take on new importance — and at the very least there will be a serious national inquiry.
Three of the four major political parties have agreed that there should be a major investigation and solutions put forward to the end epidemic of violence. But the party that said “no” is the current government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Indeed some have called the Harper years a “war” on First Nations because of his emphasis on resource extraction and budget cuts that disproportionately impact native communities.
Prominent Aboriginal Canadians from musician and broadcaster Wab Kinew to the new Mrs. Universe, Ashley Callingbull, have urged Native people to turn out and vote. Perry Bellegarde, grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, recently told the CBC that he will vote in this election, ending his long time practice of abstention so that a new government might close the “gap between First Nations people and Canadians.”
Aboriginal Canadians are a higher percentage of the population than voters in the states — representing 4.3 percent of the country’s population.
All four major parties have Native candidates running for parliament. According to the nonpartisan IndigiPoll: Twenty-two Native people are standing for office representing the New Democrats, 18 as Liberals, 9 as Greens and 5 conservatives. In a parliamentary form of government, the parties elect the national leader.
One concern about this election is a new voter law that may make it difficult for First Nations residents. The law requires two forms of identification, including one with an address and that’s a thorny problem when many reserves do not have street names.
Canada’s election is October 19th.
One election in Canada (or the US for that matter) won’t automatically improve lives. But it can be a way to turn out a government that’s been hostile to Native issues. And at least start the framework for a better structure.
I am Mark Trahant reporting from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
