Native America Calling

08/08/2025

Sitting Bull is remembered for strong leadership and resistance against the U.S. government, but a series of songs by and about him reveal another side to the renowned Lakota leader. Courtney Yellow Fat (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) has been sifting through oral and written history to identify the songs that are known to the tribe, but only recently attributed to Sitting Bull. Yellow Fat and others are recording those songs through the Densmore/Lakota Songs Repatriation Project.

And Hopi radio station KUYI is marking 25 years on the air. The celebration comes amid new uncertainty about the future of many public and tribal radio stations. We’ll talk with the station manager about the milestone for the station and the role community radio plays for Hopi citizens.

GUESTS

Courtney Yellow Fat (Hunkpapa Lakota), chief cultural consultant and co-producer with the Densmore/Lakota Songs Repatriation Project Makoché Studios

John Eagleshield Jr. (Hunkpapa Lakota), singer

Samantha Honani Molina (Hopi), KUYI Hopi Public Radio general manager

Sitting Bull is remembered for strong leadership and resistance against the U.S. government, but a series of songs by and about him reveal another side to the renowned Lakota leader. Courtney Yellow Fat (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) has been sifting through oral and written history to identify the son...

08/07/2025

Some Native Americans are already bracing for next year’s semiquincentennial with worries about how patriotism might cloud historical accounts from a Native perspective. Now, the Trump Administration is promoting a program to teach “the first principles of the Founding” in classrooms. The program uses money previously meant to help low-income and underserved students. It’s part of President Donald Trump’s push to end what he says is the “radical indoctrination” of public school students. We’ll talk about what’s being done to include Native voices into an accurate accounting of history.

GUESTS

Jason Dropik (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians), National Indian Education Association (NIEA) executive director

Julia Wakeford (Muscogee and Yuchi), NIEA policy director

Dr. Sandy Grande (Quechua), professor of political science and Native American and Indigenous studies at UConn Connecticut Humanities

Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton (Cherokee), member of the Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, Inc.

Some Native Americans are already bracing for next year’s semiquincentennial with worries about how patriotism might cloud historical accounts from a Native perspective. Now, the Trump Administration is promoting a program to teach “the first principles of the Founding” in classrooms. The prog...

08/06/2025

The summer of 1945 saw three nuclear explosions that ushered in a new era of experimentation, development, and fear when it comes to the potential for such a powerful weapon. Native people are among those suffering the most from the consequences of that path. The first test of the atomic bomb at the Trinity site in New Mexico, and the subsequent use of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, signaled the U.S. Government’s new push to develop nuclear weapons, fueled by millions of tons of uranium ore mined near Native land in New Mexico and Arizona. And ongoing nuclear tests exposed thousands of Native people in the Southwest and in Alaska to dangerous levels of radiation. We’ll explore the ongoing effects on Native people of nuclear weapons and power development.

GUESTS

Marissa Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), deputy director of Sovereign Energy and board member for Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE)

Loretta Anderson (Laguna Pueblo), co-sponsor of the Southwest Uranium Miners Coalition Post-71

Tina Cordova, co-founder and executive director of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium

The summer of 1945 saw three nuclear explosions that ushered in a new era of experimentation, development, and fear when it comes to the potential for such a powerful weapon. Native people are among those suffering the most from the consequences of that path. The first test of the atomic bomb at the...

08/05/2025

The Shinnecock Nation in New York is in an ongoing legal battle to have their fishing rights recognized. A lawsuit brought forward by a Shinnecock tribal citizen argues the tribe has never ceded their right to fish in any treaty or agreement. The tribe has no treaty with the federal government, but instead with British colonists from the 1600s. This case could possibly affirm the tribe’s unended aboriginal claim to fish in the Hamptons. We’ll talk with Shinnecock citizens about what’s at stake with the case as it moves forward in federal district court.

GUESTS

Taobi Silva (Shinnecock), fisherman

Riley Plumer (Red Lake Nation), attorney

Randy King (Shinnecock), former chairman of the Shinnecock Indian Nation Board of Trustees

Ashley Dawn Anderson (Cherokee Nation), Tribal Water Institute Fellow at the Native American Rights Fund

The Shinnecock Nation in New York is in an ongoing legal battle to have their fishing rights recognized. A lawsuit brought forward by a Shinnecock tribal citizen argues the tribe has never ceded their right to fish in any treaty or agreement. The tribe has no treaty with the federal government, but....

08/04/2025

Heavy workloads, low pay, and increasing political pressures are among the contributing factors leading to a rise in teacher burnout. A survey by the University of Missouri of 500 public school teachers found 78% of them have considered quitting the profession since the 2020 pandemic. We’ll talk with Native educators about what it will take to recruit and retain Native teachers in the face of these growing pressures.

GUESTS

Jerad Koepp (Wukchumni), Native student program specialist for North Thurston Public Schools and 2022 Washington State Teacher of the Year

Lynette Stant (Diné), third grade teacher at Salt River Schools and 2020 Arizona Teacher of the Year

Laurie Harper (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), director of education at Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Brad Lopes (Aquinnah Wampanoag), Mashpee Wampanoag Education Department Native American Teacher Retention Initiative program manager and former classroom teacher

Josie Green (Oglala Lakota), executive director of Teach For America South Dakota

Heavy workloads, low pay, and increasing political pressures are among the contributing factors leading to a rise in teacher burnout. A survey by the University of Missouri of 500 public school teachers found 78% of them have considered quitting the profession since the 2020 pandemic. We’ll talk w...

07/31/2025

Canada, Norway, Denmark, and the U.S. are among the handful of countries with land above the Arctic Circle. Each of those has significant Indigenous populations with their own cultures built around the land, sea, and ice that they have always inhabited. We’ll hear from some of those Indigenous people who are working across borders to learn from, advocate for, and work with their counterparts in other countries. We’re broadcasting live from the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage, Alaska.

GUESTS

Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer (Iñupiaq), member of the board for the Arctic Encounter Symposium

Dr. Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon (Iñupiaq), Indigenous researcher and Arctic Fulbright Scholar

Dr. Liza Mack, board member for the Aleut International Association and the village infrastructure program manager for the Denali Commission

Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam, member of the Greenlandic Parliament

Canada, Norway, Denmark, and the U.S. are among the handful of countries with land above the Arctic Circle. Each of those has significant Indigenous populations with their own cultures built around the land, sea, and ice that they have always inhabited. We’ll hear from some of those Indigenous peo...

07/30/2025

Muscogee Freedmen are closer to tribal citizenship than ever before. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court ruled the tribe must extend the rights of citizenship to the descendants of slaves who also have Muscogee lineage. We’ll hear from Freedman who welcome the ruling, but warn there are likely more hurdles ahead.

We’ll also talk with an Alaska Native engineer working on building clean water systems for rural villages and inspiring Native girls to consider careers in science along the way.

And we’ll hear from both U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and the tribal chairman about Sec. Kennedy’s visit to the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho to tout the Trump administration’s commitment to food sovereignty.

GUESTS

Marilyn Vann (Cherokee Nation), president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Tribes

Eli Grayson (Muscogee), radio host, Muscogee Nation Hall of Fame inductee, and a Freedmen descendant

Charitie Ropati (Yup’ik and Samoan), climate justice advocate, water engineer, and North America Regional Facilitator at the Youth Climate Justice Fund

Shannon Wheeler (Nez Perce), chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe Executive Committee

Muscogee Freedmen are closer to tribal citizenship than ever before. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court ruled the tribe must extend the rights of citizenship to the descendants of slaves who also have Muscogee lineage. We’ll hear from Freedman who welcome the ruling, but warn there are like...

07/26/2025

What happens when Native stories are at risk of being silenced? We speak louder.
The rescission of over $1 billion in public media funding has already begun to impact organizations like Koahnic — a nonprofit media organization that exists to amplify Indigenous voices across the U.S. through national shows like National Native News and Native America Calling.

This moment calls for more than reflection. It calls for action. Native-led media matters now more than ever. Our shows tell the stories that others overlook. We ask the hard questions, uplift Indigenous perspectives, and connect people across generations and geographies.

We’re still standing — and moving forward. But we can’t do it alone.
Help us carry Native voices further:
🔹 Donate at bit.ly/GiveKoahnic
🔹 Or text KOAHNIC to 41444

Every contribution, large or small, helps keep Native perspectives on the public airwaves.
Together, we’ll rise stronger.

07/25/2025

Missoula, Mont. is the setting for the inaugural festival of literature, music, and other arts known as Indigipalooza. Musician and former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) headlines the list of talent offering their perspectives on the state of Indigenous storytelling.

We’ll also hear from filmmaker Adam Piron about his curated selection of films screened in New York highlighting Native American urban relocation.

And we’ll get context for President Donald Trump’s demand that sports teams return to their offensive names and mascots.

GUESTS

James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe), author and speaker

Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz (Lumbee Tribe), assistant professor at the University of Iowa and director of the Native Policy Lab

Chris La Tray (citizen of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians and a descendent of the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians), author, Poet Laureate of Montana, and a coordinator for IndigiPalooza

Adam Piron (Kiowa and Mohawk), filmmaker and film curator

Larry Wright Jr. (Ponca), executive director of the National Congress of American Indians

Missoula, Mont. is the setting for the inaugural festival of literature, music, and other arts known as Indigipalooza. Musician and former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) headlines the list of talent offering their perspectives on the state of Indigenous storytelling. We’ll also hear from f...

07/24/2025

The Crow Tribe is marking the 200th anniversary of their treaty with the United States. It is a document whose limits have been tested over that time, but still defines the tribe’s relationship with the federal government. This year also marks 170 years since the treaty ratifying the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indians' official relationship with the U.S. We'll examine these important historical and legal milestones and how they fit in with the extensive and complicated history of treaties.

GUESTS

Heather Whiteman Runs Him (Apsáalooke), associate clinical professor and the director of the Tribal Justice Clinic at University of Arizona Law

Stephen Selam (Yakama Nation), executive secretary of Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation tribal council

Jeanine Gordon (Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation), special assistant to the president for Native American outreach for Whitman College

Jim Real Bird (Apsáalooke), horse hand and co-organizer of the 1825 Crow Tribe Treaty commemoration

Lanny Real Bird (Apsáalooke), educator, consultant, and Native language advocate

The Crow Tribe is marking the 200th anniversary of their treaty with the United States. It is a document whose limits have been tested over that time, but still defines the tribe’s relationship with the federal government. This year also marks 170 years since the treaty ratifying the Confederated ...

07/24/2025

We spoke with Native language teachers on today’s show about new tools they’re developing. Joel and Dena’ina language advocates are almost done with their language app. Listen back via the NAC podcast.

07/23/2025

Education advocates are launching a multi-year program to develop a game and to teach the Denaakk’e language in schools. That and another language teaching apps come at a time when almost all federal funding for language revitalization is eliminated. We’ll also talk with a man about his personal journey learning the Cherokee language, an undertaking that inspired him to learn more about his tribal language’s history and importance in maintaining culture.

GUESTS

Joel Isaak (Dena’ina from the Kenaitze), director of language and culture for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe

Mariah Pitka (Louden Tribe), executive director for the Doyon Foundation

Dr. Benjamin Frey (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), assistant professor of Cherokee language and culture at UNC Asheville

Jamie Jacobs (Tonawanda Seneca, Turtle Clan), managing curator for the Rock Foundation collections at the Rochester Museum & Science Center

Education advocates are launching a multi-year program to develop a game and to teach the Denaakk’e language in schools. That and another language teaching apps come at a time when almost all federal funding for language revitalization is eliminated. We’ll also talk with a man about his personal...