Native America Calling

Koahnic

Interactive, daily program featuring Native and Indigenous voices, insights, and stories from across the U.S. and around the world.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    Wednesday, February 11, 2026 – Route 66 changed tribes’ connections and culture

    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)

    57 min
  2. 6 FEB

    Friday, February 6, 2026 — New art exhibitions offer creative interpretations of Native survival and endurance

    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 Native Art Gallery Melissa Melero-Moose (Northern Paiute), artist and co-curator of “Paper Trails: Unfolding Indigenous Narratives” Dr. Meranda Roberts (Yerington Paiute Tribe and Chicana) 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)

    56 min

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Interactive, daily program featuring Native and Indigenous voices, insights, and stories from across the U.S. and around the world.

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