Native America Calling

Inuit siblings Ukaleq and Sondre Slettermark are competing for Greenland in the biathlon at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. In addition to making their mark in elite athletic competition, they have used their platform to speak out against the Trump administration’s threats to take over their homeland. The Slettermarks are among the handful of Indigenous athletes at this year’s Winter Games. Other athletes include a Métis luge competitor and a Māori freestyle skier. We’ll get insights from Indigenous journalists and athletes keeping up with the high level competition in Milan. GUESTS Dan Ninham (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), freelance reporter for ICT News and director of the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame Naomi Lang (Karuk Tribe), former Olympic ice skater and first Native American woman to represent the United States in the Winter Olympics Eric Varderman (Cherokee Nation), founder and president of the Tulsa Curling Club Break 1 Music: Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby (song) Link Wray (artist) Rumble! The Best of Link Wray (album) Break 2 Music: Taste Of Red Bull [Crow Hop] (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Horse Dance – Mistamim Simoowin (album)

Moses Wiseman (Yup’ik) always knew he wanted to be a leader. Specifically, one with qualities that Wiseman learned from elders and other community members in the Village of Chefornak. At 24 years old, he is pursuing an MBA in strategic leadership at Alaska Pacific University, while also helping to create a Yup’ik glossary for health care providers. He and five other young, emerging Native leaders from all parts of the country have been selected for this year’s Center for Native American Youth’s Champions for Change. The program recognizes young people who exemplify leadership, taking steps to build positive outcomes in their communities. We’ll hear about these young people’s passions and what drives them to serve others. GUESTS Summer Wildbill (Confederated Tribes of Umatilla), 2026 Champion for Change McKaylin Peters (Menominee), 2026 Champion for Change Moses Wiseman (Yup’ik), 2026 Champion for Change Kaylah Toves (Kanaka Maoli and Acoma Pueblo), 2026 Champion for Change Break 1 Music: Generations (song) P. Town Boyz (artist) P. Town Boyz (album) Break 2 Music: Taste Of Red Bull [Crow Hop] (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Horse Dance – Mistamim Simoowin (album)

Long before it was fully paved, the road that became Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif., was designated as one of the nation’s original numbered highways 100 years ago. Crossing vast stretches of Native American land in places like Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona, it eventually delivered a steady stream of mobile customers to enterprising Native merchants selling everything from trinkets to fine jewelry and textiles to frybread. The signature eye-popping billboards and kitschy neon signs that defined the route are mostly gone, but a few hold-out examples of 50s road-trip culture remain. And a number of new businesses are expecting to cash in with renewed interest in an old highway. GUESTS Ron Solimon (Laguna Pueblo), owner of Solimon Business Development and Strategy, a board member for the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, and chair of the Laguna Community Foundation Delene Santillanes (Diné), marketing and projects coordinator for the City of Gallup tourism department and a new board member of the New Mexico Route 66 Association Dr. Troy Lovata, professor of archaeology in the University of New Mexico honors college Break 1 Music: Brown Eyed Handsome Man (song) The Wingate Valley Boys (artist) Navajoland U.S.A. Country Happening (album) Break 2 Music: Taste Of Red Bull [Crow Hop] (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Horse Dance – Mistamim Simoowin (album)

Millions of Americans will get a bigger tax refunds this year thanks to an array of new tax breaks, including a larger standard deduction and a child tax credit for those eligible. There is also the elimination for taxes on tips and a larger deduction for elders. But there are some things to look out for, including the move away from paper checks, which will require some additional work for those without traditional bank accounts, and a sizable reduction in the IRS staff, which could make for a more difficult time getting answers if you need help. GUESTS Chelsi Tsosie (Diné), Chistine A. Brunswick Public Service fellow with the DNA-People’s Legal Services low-income tax payer clinic Leslie McLean, low-income tax payer clinic director for DNA People’s Legal Services Break 1 Music: Coffee (song) James Bilagody (artist) Near Midnight (album) Break 2 Music: Taste Of Red Bull [Crow Hop] (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Horse Dance – Mistamim Simoowin (album)

The past year has seen Leonard Peltier’s release from prison, record revenue from casinos and other economic development, and the addition of a new federally recognized tribe. It is also seen major upheaval in federal funds and staff that directly affect Indian Country. Looking ahead, tribes are navigating the potential loss of lucrative federal contracts and indications that consultation and treaty rights are taking a back seat. We’ll get the annual status update from National Congress of American Indians President Mark Macarro. GUEST Dr. Renae Ditmer (Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians), journalist and independent economic development consultant Break 1 Music: Intertribal (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Confederacy Style (album) Break 2 Music: Taste Of Red Bull [Crow Hop] (song) Cree Confederation (artist) Horse Dance – Mistamim Simoowin (album)

As the country gears up to commemorate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, several galleries are exploring the enduring strengths of Native Americans through both traditional and contemporary works. “Paper Trails: Unfolding Indigenous Narratives” at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art in Santa Fe, N.M. aims to stretch the boundaries of the paper medium while also examining Native cultural survival in the face of colonization. “Constellations of Place” at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College is centered on a visual history of Native people in Colorado. And Seattle’s Tidelands Gallery compiles a narrative inspired by “Lushootseed Creation Stories”. We’ll talk with artists and curators about how art inserts itself into the narratives being told about the origin of America. We’ll also hear about the year-long streaming Native film festival, “Everything is Connected”, developed by Vision Maker Media. GUESTS Alana Stone (Sičhą́ǧu Lakȟóta and Diné), curatorial specialist at Vision Maker Media Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip), author, photographer, and CEO of Tidelands Melissa Melero-Moose (Northern Paiute), artist, independent curator, and co-curator of “Paper Trails: Unfolding Indigenous Narratives” Dr. Meranda Roberts (Yerington Paiute Tribe and Chicana), independent curator and guest curator for “Constellations of Place” Break 1 Music: Atomic Drop [feat. Northern Cree] (song) The Halluci Nation (artist) Path of the Heel (album) Break 2 Music: Wahzhazhe (song) Scott George (artist) Killers of the Flower Moon Soundtrack (album)

An Iñupiaq village on Alaska’s North Slope is suing after the Trump administration removed protections for an area important to subsistence hunting. The suit by Nuiqsut Trilateral Inc. says the action is in response to a move to expand oil drilling beyond what is in a Biden-era agreement for the Willow project. Another fight pitting caribou and oil drilling is resurfacing over increased momentum to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where Gwich’in people express concern over the declines of the Porcupine caribou herd — the state’s largest — which is down to a quarter of what it was two decades ago. We’ll look at the factors that affect Alaska’s caribou and what Alaska Native people who depend on them are doing about them. We’ll also hear about Indigenous climate activist Daria Egereva (Selkup) who is facing terrorism charges in Russia after testifying at the United Nation’s COP30 summit in favor of including Indigenous women in climate negotiations. GUESTS Rosemary Ahtuangaruak (Iñupiaq), former Mayor of Nuiqsut Aivana Enmynkau (Chukchi), climate activist Luda Kinok (Yupik), Indigenous rights activist Break 1 Music: Reindeer (song) Pamyua (artist) Caught in The Act (album) Break 2 Music: Wahzhazhe (song) Scott George (artist) Killers of the Flower Moon Soundtrack (album)

College Native American Studies courses are engines for Native-led research in addition to serving as a welcoming academic home for Native students. As it is, Native students are already the most under-represented group on college campuses. Their numbers declined in the decade before the Covid pandemic. There are indications that the 2023 Supreme Court decision upending Affirmative Action and the Trump administration’s focus on unraveling Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are doing further damage to all minority enrollment. As the American Indian Studies Association convention gets underway, we’ll assess the power and challenges of college programs focusing specifically on Native issues. GUESTS Dr. Souksavanh Keovorabouth (Diné), assistant professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Northern Arizona University and president of the American Indian Studies Association Mario Atencio (Diné), Native American Studies Ph.D candidate at the University of New Mexico Allison Shaddox (Cherokee), Native American Studies Ph.D. student at the University of New Mexico Kelly Nalani Beym (Diné), Ph.D. candidate in geography at the University of Kansas Break 1 Music: Manitou (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album) Break 2 Music: Wahzhazhe (song) Scott George (artist) Killers of the Flower Moon Soundtrack (album)

The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe just held an event to commemorate 25 years since the landmark legislation outlining a historic co-stewardship agreement between the tribe and the National Park Service in Death Valley. The tribe’s name is on the entrance sign to the park. At the same time, the Trump administration is calling for the removal of informational plaques in the visitor center that tells the tribe’s story. The sign’s removal is one of almost 20 at National Park sites around the country, including Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument, the site of the allied tribes’ decisive victory over George Armstrong Custer and U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment. We’ll talk to tribal representatives about how the information in National Parks was developed and what message removing it sends. GUESTS Dorothy FireCloud (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), retired assistant director of Native American affairs for the National Park Service Otis Halfmoon (Nez Perce), retired National Park Service employee Mandi Campbell (Timbisha Shoshone), tribal historic preservation officer for the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe John Murray (Blackfeet), tribal historic preservation officer for the Blackfeet Tribe Break 1 Music: This Land (song) Keith Secola (artist) Native Americana – A Coup Stick (album) Break 2 Music: Wahzhazhe (song) Scott George (artist) Killers of the Flower Moon Soundtrack (album)

The Oglala Lakota tribal president banned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Red Lake Band of Ojibwe officials say ICE can’t operate on their Minnesota reservation without prior consultation. A number of tribes are waiving tribal ID fees and reaching out to secure their members’ citizenship documents. Dozens of tribes are offering guidance for Native Americans who encounter ICE agents. The actions are part of the response by tribes and prominent Native organizations as more stories surface of Native residents tangling — and even being detained — in the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis and elsewhere. GUESTS Lenny Fineday (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians Beth Margaret Wright (Laguna Pueblo), senior staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund Frank Star Comes Out (Oglala Lakota), president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe

Ya Tseen pushes the boundaries of the musical collaboration’s signature psych-pop sound with their latest album, “Stand on My Shoulders.” It’s the second full-length album led by musician, visual artist, and totem carver Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂) under the Seattle-based Sub Pop Records label. The music features diverse collaborations from the indie rock group Portugal. The Man, famed singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, and the experimental hip hop artist Pink Siifu. It explores themes of kinship and collectivism but also pays homage to Galanin’s late father – lauded Tlingit silver carver and musician Dave Galanin. Cochemea Gastelum‘s latest offering, “Vol. III: Ancestros Futuros“, completes an album trilogy that explores dreams, oral history, memories (both real and imagined), and Gastelum’s Yaqui identity. The new recording brings together the fruits of Gastelum’s 25 years in the music business performing with the likes of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp, and the popular rap-duo Run the Jewels.

Do Native Americans need more encouragement to consume saturated fats? Native nutritionists are wondering how the new federal dietary guidelines just unveiled by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. intersects with decades of scientific research urging the population with the highest rates of heart disease to limit their saturated fat intake. The new federal food pyramid shows up in recommendations for programs like Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Head Start, Indian Health Service, and the National School Lunch Program. Tribes in the Pacific Northwest are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to seals taking a bite out of the salmon populations they worked decades to preserve. The seals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. They feast on fish that on which the tribes rely. We will look at how this situation affects tribal treaty rights and what tribes are doing in response. A handful of organizations are working to strengthen traditional connections between urban Native residents and buffalo. Organizers in Chicago and Denver are among those working to put the animals closer to Native people who might not otherwise have exposure to a significant traditional source of food. GUESTS Dr. Tara Maudrie (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), assistant professor at the University of Michigan in the School of Social Work Ceclia Gobin (Tulalip), conservation policy analyst with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Dnisa Oocumma (Eastern Band of Cherokee), community engagement coordinator for the American Indian Center Dr. Valarie Jernigan (Choctaw), professor of medicine and director of the Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy at Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Sciences Carley Griffith-Hotvedt (Cherokee), executive director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative

Thaioronióhte Dan David (Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk) launched the news department for Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). In doing so, he gave Indigenous voices a national public platform they did not previously have. He started his career with the CBC covering the Yukon Territory. He reported on the Oka Crisis, among many other historic events. After establishing APTN News, he spent a decade reshaping a national newsroom in post-apartheid South Africa. We’ll speak with David’s family, friends and colleagues about his many accomplishments and the importance of putting Indigenous voices front and center in news coverage. We’ll also hear from a founder of the Lakota Times newspaper on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The independent weekly newspaper ceased publication this month after decades in operation, leaving a blank space for Native news in the Great Plains region. GUESTS Marie David (Kanien’kehá:ke Mohawk), sister to Dan David Karyn Pugliese (Pikwàkanagàn First Nation), host and producer Nation to Nation of APTN News Drew Hayden Taylor (Curve Lake First Nation), playwright and author Bruce Spence (Opaskwayak Cree Nation), producer at APTN National News Sylvia Vollenhoven, journalist and filmmaker Amanda War Takes Bonnett-Beauvais (Oglala Lakota), public education specialist at the Native Women’s Society of the Great Plains and former editor and publisher at the Lakota Country Times Break 1 Music: Stomp Dance (song) George Hunter (artist) Haven (album) Break 2 Music: Mahaha: Tickling Demon (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Legends (album)

President Donald Trump appears to have backed off his most urgent rhetoric, for now, around acquiring Greenland against the will of nearly every European nation and the vast majority of Americans. But the threat of a potential takeover of Greenland and other sovereign nations remains, with Trump officials also putting Cuba, Columbia, and even Canada and Mexico on notice for what Trump himself refers to as the “Donroe Doctrine”, a reference to the 200-year-old foreign policy asserting America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The momentum for such imperialistic rhetoric is a reminder of a dark time for Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples potentially in Trump’s path. GUESTS Dr. Sara Olsvig (Inuk from Greenland), chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and holds a Ph.D in Arctic studies Andrea Carmen (Yaqui), executive director of the International Indian Treaty Council Tillie Martinussen (Inuit), former member of Parliament of Greenland Malu Rosing (Inuit), advisor on Arctic and global governance for the International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs Break 1 Music: Tikitaummata (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album) Break 2 Music: Mahaha: Tickling Demon (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Legends (album)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says he is taking a “sledgehammer” to a federal program that many tribes and tribal businesses rely on. He is referring to the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program that extends contract priorities to disadvantaged business owners. Hegseth uses words like “fraud” and “scheme” to describe what he says is an outdated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative. His is part of an overall scrutiny of the program by the federal government. Hundreds of Native small businesses have accessed the program over the past 60 years, and some Alaska Native corporations have multi-million dollar contracts. GUESTS Jon Panamaroff (Native Village of Afognak), co-chair of the Native American Contractors Association and CEO of Command Holdings Kevin Allis (Forest County Potawatomi), founder and president of Thunderbird Strategic and former CEO of the National Congress of American Indians Nick Grube, investigative reporter at Honolulu Civil Beat Break 1 Music: Shawnee Stomp Dance (song) Little Axe Singers (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album) Break 2 Music: Mahaha: Tickling Demon (song) PIQSIQ (artist) Legends (album)

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (Sicangu Lakota and Ponca) mistook her first interaction with racism — a separate gas station outhouse reserved for “Indians” — as a privileged courtesy for her and her people. It is one of the “Special Places, Sacred Circles” that she recalls in the account of her life on the dry, windy plains of South Dakota. She tells of the Great Depression, grandmothers who taught her the power of words, and the navigation of a literary world that embraced her. Sneve was one of the first authors to offer an alternative to children’s literature flush with stereotypes. Her insightful writing took her from her home along Ponca Creek to a presidential honor at the White House. We’ll hear Sneve talk about her life as a writer and public school educator. Break 1 Music: Song of Encouragement (song) Porcupine Singers (artist) Alowanpi – Songs of Honoring – Lakota Classics: Past & Present, Vol. 1 (album) Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)

A recent agreement between a gold mining company and the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation is being called “historic” by its chairman. The mining company president says the agreement follows the standards set by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and gives the tribe a share of the profits from the mine. The company and tribal officials are optimistic this will set a precedent for how mining companies partner with tribes. At the same time as the agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposes to severely limit the power of tribes to interfere with construction of oil and natural gas pipelines and resource-guzzling data centers. GUESTS Chairman Brian Mason (Shoshone Paiute) Maranda Compton (Delaware Tribe of Indians), founder and president of Lepwe Kate Finn (Osage), founder and director of the Tallgrass Institute James Grijalva, professor of law at the University of North Dakota School of Law Melissa Kay, Tribal Water Institute fellow at the Native American Rights Fund Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album) Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)

In Los Angeles, Chicago, and now Minneapolis, activists, community leaders, and concerned neighbors have organized loose-knit networks of support for what they believe will be a protracted resistance effort against the crackdowns by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The Powwow Grounds Coffeehouse in Minneapolis is among the locations collecting food, cash, and other support for those filling the streets with whistles, drums, and their own voices. Doing so carries risk. ICE agents shot and killed one person. Many more are injured. At least one Minneapolis restaurant fended off ICE agents who attempted to enter. We’ll hear from Native organizers in cities around the country about what they expect in the weeks and months ahead. GUESTS Robert Rice (White Earth Nation), owner of Pow Wow Grounds Courtney Cochran (Anishinaabe), artist, filmmaker, and community organizer Jennifer Marley (San Ildefonso), community organizer and a member of the Total Sovereignty Working Group Eva Cardenas (Mexica Chicana of Mazahua and Zapotec descent), director of organizing for the NDN Collective Joel Garcia (Huichol), artist, cultural organizer, and director of Meztli Projects Break 1 Music: Hope [Featuring Werner Erb] (song) Sihasin (artist) Never Surrender (album) Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)

The village of Kwigillingok, Alaska is at a crossroads after flooding, fueled by a serious Bearing Sea storm, washed away 50 houses, killing three residents. The storm is one of the increasingly frequent and increasingly severe storms to pummel the area. Combined with thawing permafrost and rising sea levels, village leaders are pushing to move — a plan that state and Native regional corporation officials reject. Recent flooding in Washington State also has tribal officials assessing their options. There too, major flooding — what used to be a once-in-a-lifetime event — threatens residents’ lives and property and the natural viability of the rivers than once sustained life for local tribes. We’ll get updates about the effects of increasing floods and the difficult choices tribal officials face. GUESTS Daniel Paul (Yup’ik), tribal president for the Village of Kipnuk Gavin Phillip (Yup’ik), tribal administrator for the Village of Kwigillingok Darrel John (Yup’ik), community school advocate Joseph Pavel (Skokomish), director of natural resources for the Skokomish Indian Tribe Guillaume Mauger, Washington state climatologist and research scientist at the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group Break 1 Music: Uangilaa (song) Susan Aglukark (artist) The Crossing (album) Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)

This year is the 60 anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the federal law that promised equal access to voting regardless of race or religion. The document was a milestone in the movement championed by Martin Luther King, Jr. Among the actions that prompted the legislation was a series of violent confrontations between protestors and officials intent on preventing their progress, including law enforcement officers’ attack on hundreds of marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. Many civil rights advocates say the country is now dismantling the progress that King devoted his life to that has helped Native Americans and so many others. GUESTS Dr. Sandy Grande (Quechua), professor of political science and Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Connecticut Nick Tilsen (Oglala Lakota), founder and CEO of the NDN Collective Wenona Singel (Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians), associate professor of law and director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center at Michigan State University Caroline LaPorte (Little River Band of Ottawa Indians descendant), staff attorney with the Indian Law Resource Center and associate judge for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Break 1 Music: Leadership Song [Naaí’áanii Biyiin] (song) Radmilla Cody (artist) K’é Hasin (album) Break 2 Music: Elle Danse [Boogat Remix] (song) Mimi O’Bonsawin (artist)