Native America Calling

Koahnic
  • 3.7 (12)
  • NEWS
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

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

  1. 1D AGO

    Tuesday, March 10, 2026 – Elections watchers prepare for Midterm complications

    Voting rights advocates say a bill to overhaul elections could disenfranchise millions of Americans, especially Native American and other minority voters.  Among other things, the SAVE Act requires all voters to prove their U.S. citizenship, either with a passport or a birth certificate. Numerous studies show Native Americans are less likely to have a valid passport or other documents readily available that prove their place of birth than other groups. It would have major implications for mail-in ballots. The bill passed the House. President Donald Trump added new pressure on members of his own party in the Senate, saying he will not sign any other legislation until the SAVE Act clears Congress. We’ll find out the details of the legislation and look ahead to how this and other measures might complicate the Midterm Elections. Allison Renville (Photo: video screen capture) We’ll also hear from Allison Renville (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota) about her decision to suspend her campaign for governor of South Dakota. Renville was running as an independent voice in the state that also elected Kristi Noem as governor. She cites the enormous cost of running a major campaign as a deterrent to welcoming diverse political voices. GUESTS Jacqueline De León (Isleta Pueblo), senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund Lenny Fineday (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians Jaynie Parrish (Diné), executive director and founder of Arizona Native Vote Allison Renville (Sisseton and Hunkpapa Lakota and Omaha and Haudenosaunee), activist and political strategist

    57 min

  2. 1D AGO

    Monday, March 9, 2026 – Surviving cancer

    For many Native American survivors, a cancer diagnosis is more than just a biological battle. It is a matter of balancing modern oncology with community and cultural context. American Cancer Society data show a historic 70% five-year survival rate across the general population, but Native Americans continue to face unique hurdles, from geographic isolation to chronic underfunding of the Indian Health Service. Despite these disparities, survivors are reclaiming their narratives by integrating traditional healing practices with cutting-edge science. We’ll hear from Native survivors in the context of the ongoing advancements in cancer diagnosis and treatment. GUESTS Shannon Martin (Gun Lake Potawatomi), cancer survivor Jamie Gomez (Tlingit and Haida), executive director of the Tlingit and Haida Foundation and American Indian Cancer Foundation board member Alicia Mitchell (Cherokee), Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention board member and American Indian Cancer Foundation board member Nicole Hallingstad (Tlingit), cancer survivor

    57 min

  3. 4D AGO

    Friday, March 6, 2026 — Notable events: Heard Museum art fair and Native culture in miniature

    A select few Native American artists choose to express their cultural and creative passions in miniature. An exhibition starting this month at the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures celebrates those artists who make distinctive pottery, baskets, and carvings on a decidedly downsized scale. The top Indigenous beaders, potters, painters, and weavers are headed to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz. for that institution’s 68th annual Indian Art Fair and Market. The Heard welcomes more than 600 artists from all over the world for what has become one of the must-go events for both artists and collectors. We’ll hear from organizers and artists from both of these events. GUESTS Marcus Monenerkit (Comanche descendant), director of community engagement at the Heard Museum Barbara Teller Ornelas (Diné), master Navajo weaver Aydrian Day (Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, Dakota and Lakota and an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation), artist Sydney Pursel (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska), curator at the Spencer Museum of Art and an advisory group member for the “Native Arts in Miniature” exhibition Amy McKune, curator and senior manager of collections at the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures   Break 1 Music: Crossroad Blues (song) Lakota John (artist) Lakota John and Kin (album) Break 2 Music: Digital Winter (song) Ya Tseen (artist) Stand On My Shoulders (album)

    57 min

  4. 5D AGO

    Thursday, March 5, 2026 — Taxes, roads, and law enforcement: how tribes are asserting their sovereign rights

    The Seneca Nation in New York is working to correct longstanding confusion over law enforcement on their land. A nearly 80-year-old federal statute handed the state control over certain crimes on Seneca Nation’s territory. A bill in Congress could chart a path to resolving that conflict. In Oklahoma, a Muscogee Nation citizen argues that those who work and live on the tribal land do not have to pay state income taxes. That argument could now be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue comes nearly six years after the landmark McGirt v. Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that confirmed Muscogee authority over criminal matters on tribal land. This current battle would extend that authority to civil cases. And the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe tribe in Wisconsin is facing off with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi over outside access to a road that traverses tribal land. Bondi backs an effort to force the tribe to reimburse a nearby town for fees to access the road. We’ll find out the potential implications of these cases. GUESTS J.C. Seneca (Seneca), president of the Seneca Nation Jonodev Chaudhuri (Muscogee), principal at Chaudhuri Law Jason Salsman (Muscogee), press secretary for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Richard Monette (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), professor emeritus and former director of the Great Lakes Indian Law Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School   Break 1 Music: Keep On Keeping On (song) Tall Paul (artist) The Story of Jim Thorpe (album) Break 2 Music: Digital Winter (song) Ya Tseen (artist) Stand On My Shoulders (album)

    57 min

  5. 6D AGO

    Wednesday, March 4, 2026 — Fighting to preserve hard-won gains in K-12 lessons about Native Americans

    Advocates working to accurately portray Native Americans in the K-12 education system in Texas scored a victory when the State Board of Education renewed a curriculum that was years in the making. The approval came at a time when the Trump administration and state officials pushed hard to scrub any hint of diversity from public school classrooms. Among other things, opponents of the Texas Native Studies course worried instruction about the Catholic Church’s role in Indian Boarding Schools might demoralize Christian students. We’ll look at what saved the Texas lessons and get a status update on some other states wrestling with efforts to accurately depict Native Americans throughout history. GUESTS Cheyenne Rendon (Apache and Navajo), senior policy officer for the Society of Native Nations, a member of American Indian Movement of Central Texas Stephen Silva-Brave (Sicangu Lakota), parent, licensed social worker, and Ph.D student Sashay Schettler (Hidatsa and Nueta from the MHA Nation), assistant director in the office of Indian and Multicultural Education for the North Dakota Office of Public Instruction and a member of the National Johnson-O’Malley Association board of directors representing Region 5 Dr. Sherry Johnson (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), education director for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate   Break 1 Music: Groove Warrior (song) Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) Manitou (album) Break 2 Music: Digital Winter (song) Ya Tseen (artist) Stand On My Shoulders (album)

    57 min

  6. MAR 3

    Tuesday, March 3, 2026 — Proximity and family outreach hold promise for tribal addiction treatment

    Two new healing centers count on location, cultural practice, and family connections to break the destructive effects of substance abuse. In Lodge Grass, Mont., organizers plan an integrated foster care facility to complement a campus designed to support families affected by addiction. The non-profit organization behind the center estimates that number reaches as high as 60% of residents in the small town on the Crow Reservation. The Pawnee Nation in Oklahoma is also expanding adult residential and outpatient services close to home, as well as support for children whose lives are disrupted. We’ll hear about a promising focus on cultural treatment options, harm reduction, and strengthening families to break addiction’s generational cycles. GUESTS Mary Blackowl (Cheyenne and Arapaho, Pawnee, and Comanche), tribal opioid response prevention specialist for the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma Karaya Fritzler (Apsáalooke, Aaniiih, and Lakota), certified behavioral health peer specialist for the Mountain Shadow Association Megkian Doyle, executive director of the Mountain Shadow Association Mike Ortiz, program coordinator for the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma’s substance abuse program   Break 1 Music: Buc Wild Intertribal (song) Buc Wild (artist) Oneida Powwow: 40th Anniversary (album) Break 2 Music: Digital Winter (song) Ya Tseen (artist) Stand On My Shoulders (album)

    56 min

  7. MAR 2

    Monday, March 2, 2026 — Native crews help solve the growing marine trash problem

    A crew from Chevak, Alaska recover a submerged boat, part of the marine debris created by Typhoons Merbok (2022) and Helong (2025). (Photo: Richard Tuluk) Typhoon Merbok swept buildings, boats, and tons of trash into the sea off the west coast of Alaska in 2022. The city of Chevak is one of many coastal Alaska Native communities tasked with helping to find and recover that and other marine debris clogging the coastal waters and shorelines. With federal funding help, the ongoing cleanup is aimed at making the waterways safe for people and marine animals. A similar project is underway in Hawai’i, where the non-profit Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project works year-round, pulling tons of debris from around the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a place sacred to Native Hawaiians. Coastal tribes are an important piece of the puzzle for solving the growing problem of derelict nets, ropes, boats, and other trash that threaten marine ecosystems. In this program, we’ll talk with some of the people involved in the cleanup about what it takes to rid marine areas of unsightly and dangerous debris. GUESTS Richard Tuluk (Cup’ik), project manager for the City of Chevak Jacquie Foss, commercial fisherman and works with Alaska Sea Grant and the Alaska Center for Marine Debris Grant Ka’ehukai Goin (Kānaka ʻŌiwi), cultural specialist and lead marine debris tech for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project   Break 1 Music: Heavy (song) Kee’ahn (artist) For Me, For You EP (album) Break 2 Music: Digital Winter (song) Ya Tseen (artist) Stand On My Shoulders (album)

    57 min

  8. FEB 27

    Friday, February 27, 2026 — Native Playlist: Cary Morin and Status/Non-Status

    Acclaimed singer-songwriter Cary Morin (Crow/Assiniboine) is back with a new album featuring more of his introspective lyricism, soulful singing and skillful fingerstyle guitar playing. The new album, “Pocket of Time“, captures memories and slices of everyday life on the Crow Reservation in Montana. It is a calm, mellow listen and another refreshing entry in his expansive catalogue that spans folk, blues, reggae, and “Native Americana” genres. “Big Changes” is the forthcoming album from Status/Non-Status, a Canadian indie-rock band led by Anishinaabe musician Adam Sturgeon. It is the third studio record, following up on 2022’s “Surly Travel”, which was named one of Exclaim! Magazine’s top albums of the year. Beautiful vocals stretch overtop fat guitar chords and incidental sound effects like the unmistakable chime of jingle dress cones. Sturgeon says he never set out to represent all Indigenous musicians, but he feels a responsibility to Indigenize his own music.   Break 1 Music: Everything To Me (song) Cary Morin (artist) Pocket of Time (album) Break 2 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

    57 min
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Ratings & Reviews

3.7
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Koahnic
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    300
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Koahnic Broadcast Corporation - All rights reserved - Contact nola@nv1.org for permission
  • Show Website
    Native America Calling

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