Native America Calling

Indigenous-owned businesses like The Rez Life, The NTVS, OXDX, and Section 35 help drive casual Native fashion by turning out jackets, shorts, and beanies stitched with Native art and shirts splashed with words and phrases like “Land Back”, “Resilient”, and “Skoden.” Streetwear is casual fashion that draws from the aesthetic elements of sportswear, hip-hop, punk, and skateboard - and mixes in community vibes and coolness. Indigenous fashion shows include the latest in streetwear and...

The nation’s only live, call-in radio show devoted to Native issues and from a Native perspective is approaching its 28th year on the air. There have been many changes over the years, but one constant vision: to amplify the Native voices who are most needed when it comes to Native issues. Today on a special edition of Native America Calling, we hear from some of the people who make this program possible that you may not have heard from before and look to the future.

As Muslims prepare for the holy month of Ramadan, a small number of Native Americans are among them. Whether they’ve converted to Islam or it was brought into their culture by marriage, Native people who practice Islam often have to seek out fellow Muslims. Today on Native America Calling, we examine the intersection of Islam and Native culture with Ashley Wolford (Choctaw), community organizer and participant of the Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS) project; NAIMS...

Listen to the full ceremony audio above or watch the video.  Koahnic Broadcast Corp. Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 20, 2023 Native America Calling, produced by Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, receives National Humanities Medal Anchorage, Alaska – Koahnic Broadcast Corporation is pleased to announce that its daily public affairs show Native America […]

The Indian Child Welfare Act is more than a legal argument. The law, now more than 40 years old, is an important element in individual child development, family structure, and the continuation of culture. A decision is pending from the U.S. Supreme Court that could determine the fate of ICWA. Supporters of the law worry the decision could erode the most important legacy it has forged over the decades. Today on Native America Calling, in a special live broadcast from Washington, D.C., Shawn...

YVHIKV (Mvskoke) and Hayatheus make up the group T H R O N E and they're out introducing audiences to their latest single "Eels in the Water//Night". Since their debut album "Lionfish," released last year, T H R O N E has been garnering a big following on social media with their soulful and melodic sound. Pete Sands (Diné) & the Drifters keep releasing new singles and even ended up on the popular series "Yellowstone". The band says it embodies the true spirit of the term "Dirt Floor Honky...

Peterson Zah is known as the first president of the Navajo Nation and a leader with foresight and intelligence that ushered in a new era for his people. Zah died at the age of 85 and was laid to rest at his birthplace in Low Mountain, Ariz. after a memorial service and funeral procession. His legacy includes starting a permanent fund that has reached into the multiple billions and advocacy that dramatically boosted the number of Navajo students in higher education. Today on Native America...

Representatives from the National Congress of American Indian (NCAI) Youth Commission say they are ready to pick up the torch on critical issues like climate change, missing and murdered Indigenous people, tribal consultation, and health disparities. The two co-presidents of the commission expressed their enthusiasm for tackling Native issues during NCAI’s State of Indian Nations Address event. Today on Native America Calling, we hear from NCAI Youth Commission Co-Presidents Yanenowi Logan...

The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is one of those programs that flies under the radar for a lot of tribal citizens. But as much as $1 billion is going out to states and tribes right now to help pay household heating and cooling costs. Program administrators say many of the people who are eligible neglect to sign up or they might not even know it exists. Today on Native America Calling, find out if you can get some financial help for those soaring utility bills with LIHEAP...

President Joe Biden is expected to designate Avi Kwa Ame a national monument, but the action will have to wait. Tribes and environmental organizations pushed for the federal designation for a number of years before President Biden expressed his intentions to protect the 450,000 acre site last November. The White House announced he would make the trip to the Nevada location to formally make the designation this week, but subsequently cancelled those plans. Today on Native America Calling, we...

High school and college basketball seasons are culminating at state tournaments all over the country. Native ballplayers, with their families, fans, and sometimes whole Native communities in tow, are among those traveling to tournaments for high-stakes games. Today on Native America Calling, we speak with Zachary Eastman (Crow), head coach for the Lapwai High School varsity boys basketball team; Andrea Nield (Koyukon Athabascan), Assistant Director of Testing and Student Support for the...

The only comic convention from an Indigenous standpoint returns in-person in a big way. IndigiPopX reemerges in person at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City after a hiatus because of the pandemic. The slate of events includes Indigenous super heroes, cosplayers, artists, and Indigenous panel discussions on representation in media and entertainment. Today on Native America Calling, we visit with IndigiPopX organizers and participants Dr. Lee Francis IV (Laguna Pueblo), CEO and...

How the Sand Creek Massacre is remembered has changed over the years. The original narrative described the attack as a battle victory for the U.S. Army led by Col. John Chivington. But a more accurate and sinister account soon emerged that described a deplorable attack on mostly women, children, and elders from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes. Today on Native America Calling, we learn how organizers of the new exhibit "The Sand Creek Massacre: The Betrayal that Changed Cheyenne and Arapaho...

Two adolescent cousins—one from the city and one from the rez—bond during a summer herding sheep on their grandmother's Navajo Nation ranch in the 1990s. They learn about their family's past and themselves. That’s the story told in a new Native-led indie comedy Frybread Face and Me. Writer and director Billy Luther (Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo) creates a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story starring Martin Sensmeier. Today on Native America Calling, Billy Luther takes your calls along...

The federal government is mulling a plan to extend the height of the Shasta Dam in California. That would raise the level of the reservoir, permanently submerging even more of the sacred land cherished by the Winnemem Wintu and other tribes upstream. It also further diminishes hopes of restoring salmon runs to the levels the tribes once counted on as sustenance and ceremony. A new podcast A Prayer For Salmon explores the tribal connections to the rivers and documents efforts to not only halt...

Kahulehele Farmstead on the Oneida Nation reservation in Wisconsin is developing a traditional food bartering system. Bleu Adams (Mandan/Hidatsa/Diné) joins a list of 80 volunteer chefs working with the U.S. State Department's American Culinary Corps to build diplomatic connections around the globe through food. Shinnecock ambassador Lance Gumbs (Shinnecock) explains his tribe's mastery of the ubiquitous Northeast staple: the lobster roll. And, by popular demand, a Navajo-owned bakery...

The Biden Administration is set to sign off on the beginning phases of an oil drilling plan in Alaska that promises big dividends for Alaska Native corporations and the state. Willow could ultimately produce 180,000 barrels a day and perhaps 300 long-term jobs. But, in addition to the other potential environmental damages, the drilling comes in the same place where climate change is melting permafrost and villages are having to move out of the way of rising sea levels. Today on Native...

Larry Casuse was shot to death by Gallup, NM police in 1973 as he carried out a desperate, radical act to try and help his people. Casuse was still a teenager, trying to call attention to unscrupulous business practices at a bar that was the epicenter of a disproportionate number of Native American deaths. His frustration boiled over when the bar’s owner—the city’s mayor—kept getting rewarded instead of punished by elected leaders. Today on Native America Calling, we learn about this...

New Mexico just joined the growing list of states to cap loan interest rates at 36%. While still onerous compared to conventional bank loans, it’s a far cry from the up to 175% annual interest rates some store front businesses were charging. In New Mexico, proponents of the interest rate limit noted that 60% of the high interest establishments were within 10 miles of Native reservation boundaries. Today on Native America Calling, we find out about how interest rate caps work and what...

Fifty years later, it’s hard to paint an adequate picture of the injustice, corruption, oppression, and chaos that led up to and pervaded the occupation of Wounded Knee, SD starting on February 27, 1973. Afterwards, as he dismissed misconduct charges against AIM leaders Russell Means and Dennis Banks, Federal Judge Fred Nichol famously said the FBI had “polluted the waters of justice.” Today on Native America Calling, we hear from people who were there and discuss what the event means a half...