Native America Calling

Courtney Jordan (Cherokee) is an attorney who built her expertise of federal Indian Law and tribal law serving in some of the highest levels of her profession. She is a former Assistant United States Attorney. She was also an Assistant Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation, and a Tribal Liaison for the State of Oklahoma. Her career was turned upside down after she was convicted of criminal charges and had her law license suspended following a hit-and-run and police chase in 2022. Her dogged advocacy for her own case exposed an undiagnosed medical condition even she was not aware of. After pleading guilty and serving her sentence, she was successful in having her license to practice reinstated. She founded her own law firm and has built a significant social media community breaking down complex legal cases into common-sense concepts. In this encore show, Jordan joins us for a conversation about her rise and fall and rise again in a demanding profession.

Eliza “Lyda” Conley was a strong, independent Wyandot woman who is credited with preserving the cemetery where her family and other tribal members were buried in the face of mounting commercial development pressure. Conley defended the Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas in the courts as well as from a makeshift shack where she and her sister took up residence with their father’s Civil War shotgun around the turn of the last century. In the process, she became the first Native woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Her story, and that of Wyandot removal, is told in the book, “Lyda Conley and the Fight to Preserve Huron Indian Cemetery”, and in a new art installation at the Wyandotte County Historical Museum.

Also in Kansas, a 10-foot tall, 28-ton sacred boulder is now on Kaw Nation land after a multi-year struggle. Kaw citizens revered the rock for centuries. Then Lawrence officials commandeered it 1929 for a monument to the non-Native city founders. That started the fight by the Kaw Nation — the state’s namesake tribe — to repatriate it to tribal control. The history of Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe is documented in a book, “Shokhí: A Kanza Relative, a Monument, and Rematriation”, and gives readers a glimpse into the politics and human influences along the way.

GUESTS

c. huffman (Kaw), dis/abled poet and theologian

Dr. Tai Edwards, director of the Kansas Studies Institute and professor of history at Johnson County Community College

Justine Smith (Wyandotte), film and multimedia instillation artist and part of the Omakyehstih Collective

Madeline Easley (Wyandotte), writer, artist, and cultural organizer



Break 1 Music: Totah (song) The Delbert Anderson Trio (artist) MANITOU (album)

Break 2 Music: Mountain by the Sea (song) Various Artists (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)

The Osage Nation’s Daposka Ahnkodapi language immersion school in Pawhuska, Oklahoma announced it is closing one week before the start of the new school year. Tribal leadership closed the school citing dire budgetary problems. Teachers and parents were left scrambling to find a place for the nearly 100 students. For some, Daposka Ahnkodapi was the only school they’d known. We’ll speak with parents about their next steps.

We’ll also speak with Richard Zane Smith, a Wyandot artist and language teacher who has spent years working to revitalize his tribe’s language. He has been actively working to bring back traditional songs preserved on wax cylinders dating to the 1910s. Now, he’s seeing renewed interest among younger people in his community who want to learn and study the language. We’ll discuss Wyandot language revitalization efforts, as well as his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.

GUESTS

Geneva Horsechief-Hamilton (Osage and Pawnee), parent of a Daposka Ahnkodapi student

Amy Shackleford (Osage and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), parent and homeschool teacher

Whitney RedCorn Hall (Osage), Osage Nation congress member

Richard Zane Smith (Wyandot), artist and language teacher



Break 1 Music: Osage Sovereignty Pow wow song (song) unknown artist (artist)

Break 2 Music: Mountain by the Sea (song) Various Artists (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)

After record-setting temperatures across the country, dangerous summer heat continues to spill into September. The number of heat-related deaths in the Phoenix area are on track to triple last year’s numbers. Schools, businesses, and events are shutting down across the Midwest from Iowa to Michigan. Institutions are also forced to close down in Pennsylvania and other states along parts of the Eastern Seaboard. Tribal officials are busy reacting to the current threat while also preparing for the likelihood that adapting to such conditions is a permanent concern. We’ll look at the affect on people and the environment as the heat moves in.

GUESTS

Caine Palone (Quechan), Tribal Employment Rights Office director and emergency manager for the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe

David Simeral, associate research climatologist for the Desert Research Institute and Western Regional Climate Center

Dr. Paul Charlton, emergency medicine physician and emergency department director for the Gallup Indian Medical Center



Break 1 Music: Bird Song (song) Joe Guachino, JR Holmes, & Wally Antone (artist) Bird Songs of the Colorado River (album)

Break 2 Music: Mountain by the Sea (song) Various Artists (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)

The eye-opening findings by researchers in Boston that 1 in 4 NFL players who died over a five-year span showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy is the latest in the growing understanding about the need to protect athletes at all levels. CTE is connected to repeated head injuries. The new study of hundreds of test subjects shines a light on the extent of the issue that is difficult to track. It’s an additional warning for high school, college, and recreational sports operations about the need for heightened vigilance to keep athletes safe and healthy. We’ll talk with Native athletes and sports medicine experts about how awareness around CTE is changing.

GUESTS

John Sunchild (Chippewa Cree), athletic trainer and cultural coordinator at the Mīyō Pimātisiwinkamik Youth Center

Alyssa Fredericks-Tafoya (Hopi), athletic trainer at Ignacio School District

Levi Horn (Northern Cheyenne), former NFL player, motivational speaker, and mental performance coach

Charlotte Luster, research program director of the HealthSpan Lab at Mass General Brigham

Break 1 Music: Northern Cheyenne Sun Dance Song (song) Phillip Whiteman, Tom Wooden Legs, Gilbert White Dirt, Harvey Whitman, Ross Teeth, James Red Cloud (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)

Break 2 Music: Mountain by the Sea (song) Various Artists (artist) Traditional Voices: Historic Recordings of Traditional Native American Music (album)