Native America Calling

Koahnic
  • 4.8 (171)
  • News
  • Updated Semiweekly

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

  1. 20h ago

    Tuesday, June 9, 2026 — Lawsuit threatens unique century-old Native Hawaiian land benefit

    A racial discrimination lawsuit by a non-Native resident of Hawaii threatens to dismantle a Native Hawaiian land benefit established by Congress more than a century ago. The suit challenges the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, a federal law reserving more than 200,000 acres of land in a public trust for Hawaii’s Native population. Residents need to prove they have a 50% blood quantum to qualify for 99-year lease. The plaintiff argues he was denied a lease based on an unconstitutional racial preference. It is one in a series of challenges for similar benefits including school admissions and a health studies scholarship, all giving preference for Native Hawaiians, who do not share the same political protections as Native Americans. We’ll discuss how the lawsuits brings issues of equity, blood quantum, and historic land dispossession to the forefront. GUESTS Robin Danner (Native Hawaiian), senior advisor to the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Association Elizabeth Ho’oipo Pa Nakea (Native Hawaiian), attorney, founding president of Hui Na’auao, and executive director of the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council Patrick Kahawaiolaa (Native Hawaiian), homesteader and elder Derek Kauanoe (Native Hawaiian), assistant professor of law at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa   Break 1 Music: Ke Aloha I Ka Pu’uwai / He ‘Ili ‘Ula Au a He Hawai’I (song) Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu (artist) Call It What You Like (album) Break 2 Music: Beauty Way (song) Summit Dub Squad (artist) The Beauty Way (album)

    57 min

  2. 1d ago

    Monday, June 8, 2026 — Confronting division with Pride

    Overall support for many key LGBTQ+ issues remains overwhelmingly high among Americans, but a new survey shows that support declining for the first time in years. Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey shows 69% of those surveyed favor same-sex marriage, for instance. But that is down from 71% two years ago. The new direction comes as more anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation are surfacing. A handful of cities and states are opting to show support for traditional families rather than back Pride events. At the same time, annual parades, events and public discussions show no signs of slowing down. We’ll get a view of what Pride means in 2026. GUESTS Dr. charlie amáyá scott (Diné), independent scholar, public speaker, and content creator Steven Barrios (Blackfeet), co-founder of the Montana Two Spirit Society; knowledge and wisdom keeper David Herrera (Mestizo), co-founder of the Montana Two Spirit Society Myk Mendez (Shoshone-Bannock), cultural activist and organizer, owner of Marvelous Beads, and a published comic book author Lenny Hayes (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), owner and executive director of Tate Topa Consulting, LLC   Break 1 Music: Common Feelings (song) Darksiderz (artist) Ancestors EP (album) Break 2 Music: Beauty Way (song) Summit Dub Squad (artist) The Beauty Way (album)

    57 min

  3. 4d ago

    Friday, June 5, 2026 — The life of Chief Powhatan and the fight to preserve his birthplace

    A major housing and retail development proposal in Virginia threatens to pave over the birthplace of one of America’s most influential historical leader. Paramount Chief Powhatan is the notable late-1500s leader who united local tribes into what became known as the Powhatan Confederacy to face the first waves of English settlers. He was the being father of Matoaka, also known as Pocahontas. The nonprofit organization Preservation Virginia placed the site on its 2026 list of most endangered places. Tribal leaders are actively working to halt the development project, saying it would be “an immeasurable loss to tribal communities and the Commonwealth of Virginia.” We’ll hear from tribal leaders about Powhatan’s birthplace and his enduring legacy. GUESTS Chief Kevin Brown (Pamunkey) Chief Frank Adams (Upper Mattaponi)   Break 1 Music: A Beautiful Darkness [Feat. Nadjiwen] (song) Sultans of String (artist) Break 2 Music: Trick Song (song) Battle River (artist) Hard Times (album)

    57 min

  4. 5d ago

    Thursday, June 4, 2026 — Telling the full story of Route 66

    As the nation commemorates the 100th anniversary of historic Route 66, some historians, scholars, and curators are offering a different perspective of the famed Mother Road. An exhibition just opened at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Okla. that gives the public a view of the people, culture, and influence arising from the tribal land the road cuts through. A Diné culture educator is giving live presentations of research into the detrimental effects on Native people that the highway brought with it. And the American Indigenous Tourism Association’s Route 66 campaign encourages visitors to look beyond the neon and 1950s pop culture that is synonymous with Route 66, and take time to learn about the ways it transformed Native Americans connection to the rest of the country for the first time. GUESTS Shawn Price (Diné), historian and director of the Dinétah Navajo Cultural Program Gail Chehak (Klamath Tribe), community and partner relations director for the American Indigenous Tourism Association Adrienne Lalli Hills (Wyandotte Nation), learning and community engagement director for the First Americans Museum Danyelle Means (Oglala Lakota), executive director of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture   Break 1 Music: Brown Eyed Handsome Man (song) The Wingate Valley Boys (artist) Navajoland U.S.A. Country Happening (album) Break 2 Music: Trick Song (song) Battle River (artist) Hard Times (album)

    57 min

  5. 6d ago

    Wednesday, June 3, 2026 — Native child welfare notches wins in a time of adversity

    A rule change in South Dakota opened a door that allowed a sizable increase in the number of eligible foster parents. It is a boon for places like the Oglala Sioux Reservation that declared an emergency in foster child placement as recently as three years ago. The Minnesota Supreme Court turned back another challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) as the legal justifications for such claims dwindle. And we’ll learn about a Pascua Yaqui tribal secretary who has opened her home to more than two dozen foster children over the years. GUESTS Nancy Marie Spears (Cherokee), Indigenous Children and Families reporter for The Imprint Susan Schrader (Oglala Lakota), director of the Child Protection Services and ICWA program for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, kinship caregiver, and an elder Toni Giago (Oglala Lakota), family developer for Oglala Sioux Tribe Child Protection Services Anna Evans (Chickasaw and Cherokee), mother   Break 1 Music: Children’s Honoring Song (song) Red Hawk Medicine Drum (artist) New Beginnings (album) Break 2 Music: Trick Song (song) Battle River (artist) Hard Times (album)

    57 min

  6. Jun 2

    Tuesday, June 2, 2026 — A focus on Native legal rights bears fruit

    Before a joint legal project between the Native American Rights Fund and the National Congress of American Indians started 25 years ago, tribes were losing 80% of their cases at the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, they are winning 70% of those cases. That’s from an analysis just put out by the Tribal Supreme Court Project in conjunction with its 25th anniversary. We’ll look at some of those wins and losses and what they add up to a quarter century later. We’ll also get updates on two important lawsuits in Oklahoma: a class action lawsuit claims the federal government owes as many as 10,000 Native land owners compensation for oil and gas development — and the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against a novel jurisdiction agreement between the Muscogee Nation and the city of Tulsa, Okla. GUESTS Hazel James (Chickasaw), plaintiff in Tyson v. United States Peggy Immohotichey (Chickasaw), plaintiff in Tyson v. United States Melody McCoy (Cherokee), senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund Jason Salsman (Muscogee), press secretary for the Muscogee Nation Jeffrey Nelson, partner of mctlaw, manager of the Indian Law Practice Group   Break 1 Music: Hatchet (song) Blaine Bailey (artist) Indian Country (album) Break 2 Music: Trick Song (song) Battle River (artist) Hard Times (album)

    57 min

  7. Jun 1

    Monday, June 1, 2026 — Alaska bears are the targets of a controversial management program

    The State of Alaska is moving forward with a program to kill brown bears across a 40,000-square-mile swath of land in southwest Alaska. The plan to shoot bears from helicopters aims to improve declining numbers of the Mulchatna Caribou Herd. Several local tribes and the Alaska Federation of Natives support the plan. Caribou are a subsistence food source. The herd peaked at over 200,000 in the 1990s, but plummeted to 12,000 by 2022. Conservationists oppose the bear control measures, arguing it lacks scientific evidence that it achieves what officials say it goes. We’ll explore the complexities of predator management in Alaska. GUESTS Janet Bavilla (Yup’ik), subsistence hunter and Platinum Traditional Village council member Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game   Break 1 Music: Bear Beats (song) Cheevers Toppah (artist) True Melodies (album) Break 2 Music: Trick Song (song) Battle River (artist) Hard Times (album)

    57 min

  8. May 29

    Friday, May 29, 2026 — The Menu: Dawn Butterfly Café, camas restoration, and the Indigenous food pyramid

    Taos and Skwah First Nation chef and entrepreneur Caprio “CJ” Bernal opened an expansion of their original coffee bar on Taos Pueblo. Dawn Butterfly Café is the new full-service cafe that grew from their starting concept in 2022. The name and energy that drives the project honors Bernal’s late sister. Camas, a wild purple flower with an onion-like bulb, has been an important plant for Native people, mainly in the northwest. This is the time of year for harvesting and cooking them. Some culture keepers are reconnecting with traditional teachings and recipes handed down across generations, but environmental and land use changes are setting up more access barriers. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is one tribe working to protect this significant plant through a series of projects. The Cultivating Culture reporting team created imagined an Indigenous version of the USDA’s food pyramid with plants and subsistence animals important to Native diets. It serves as a hub for an Indigenous food reporting project on how food and language fuels tribal sovereignty. The Menu is a regular feature on Indigenous food news and stories hosted by producer Andi Murphy. GUESTS Carpio “CJ” Bernal (Taos Pueblo and Skwah First Nation), owner and chef of Dawn Butterfly Café Jordan Mercier (Grand Ronde), cultural education coordinator at the Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center Shaun Griswold (Laguna, Jemez, and Zuni Pueblo), correspondent at High Country News and Native News Online   Break 1 Music: Horseback Riding Song (song) The Tewa Indian Women’s Choir (artist) The Tewa Indian Women’s Social Choir: Fun and Social Songs From San Juan Pueblo (album) Break 2 Music: Cauyaqa Nauwa [Where’s My Drum] (song) Pamyua (artist) Drums Of The North: Traditional Yup’ik Songs (album)

    57 min
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4.8
out of 5
171 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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