Native America Calling

Musician Kole Galbraith (Peoria Tribe) has spent nearly a decade perfecting his unique blend of electronic and acoustic instrumentation and field recordings to create his signature drone-doom sound. Galbraith’s musical roots are grounded in metal, noise, free jazz, and musique concrète. He is earning praises from audiences from the Pacific Northwest to Eastern Europe for his honed sound that finds the beauty in dark and abrasive tones.

Composer and violinist Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) calls her approach to music “sculpting sound.” She often composes for visual art exhibitions and multimedia performances. Like Galbraith, Ortman blends field recordings with her own masterful violin playing, which Vogue has described as “transcendent” and “eccentric.” Her music has taken her to stages throughout Europe and led to collaborations with acclaimed Diné ballet dancer Jock Soto, Diné Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Raven Chacon, and many others. She joins us to talk about her live performances, honoring her Apache heritage, and her unique approach to composing.



Break 1 Music: Live from Skaņu Mežs, Latvia [EXCERPT] (song) Laura Ortman (artist) Live from Skaņu Mežs, Latvia (album)

Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

Julian Lang is an elder, artist, and dedicated language teacher. He has spent decades talking with elders and poring over documents — including deciphering cryptic field notes from an anthropological linguist a century ago — to help rebuild the structure of his Karuk language. Now, a master-apprenticeship program he helped found is being recognized by linguists as a successful example of language revitalization. Similarly, Jesse Little Doe Baird, a Mashpee Wampanoag language advocate, dedicated years to building a language program that is earning praise for its effectiveness. Her work included analyzing a 1663 Bible in the Wampanoag language. We’ll hear from them and others about building these programs from the ground up.

GUESTS

Julian Lange (Karuk, Wiyot, and Shasta), language teacher and artist

Sandra Hernandez (Tejon Indian Tribe/Kitanemuk) Language and Culture Coordinator for Kern County, Calif.; language learner.

Jessie Little Doe Baird (Mashpee Wampanoag), co-founder of the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project



Break 1 Music: Generations (song) P. Town Boyz (artist) P. Town Boyz (album)

Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

A new report by the Native American Rights Fund finds rejections increased for both ballots and voter registration forms sent by mail from places with high Native populations from 2020 to 2024. NARF’s analysis also documents generations of efforts to suppress or hinder Native voters. The report comes as both Congress and the courts are turning back several President Donald Trump’s most significant attempts to alter how people vote or how their votes should be counted. But Native voting advocates remain vigilant for ways the federal government may seek to interfere with the midterm elections in November.

GUESTS

Dr. Megan Gall, principal at Blockwell Consulting

Jaynie Parrish (Diné), executive director of Arizona Native Vote

Michelle Sparck (Qissunamiut Tribe of Chevak), director of Get Out The Native Vote

Calvin Hedrick (Mountain Maidu), director of policy, training and tribal relations for the California Native Vote Project



Break 1 Music: Buc Wild Intertribal (song) Buc Wild (artist) Oneida Powwow: 40th Anniversary (album)

Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

A diverse team of mainly Alaska Native talent spent nearly nine years building the operatic version of a historic battle in the early 1800s. “Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”, a combination of music, writing, anthropology, and culture, is now on stage in Juneau, offering audiences a Tlingit perspective that is frequently dismissed in historical accounts. The presentation in the high art of opera adds a uniquely dramatic setting to a conflict that forever defined commerce, colonization and Tlingit autonomy in Alaska. We’ll hear from some of the talent behind the opera as well as the events from more than 200 years ago that inspired it.

GUESTS

Madeline Sayet (Mohegan), stage director for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”

Vera Starbard (Tlingit and Dena’ina), writer and librettist for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”

Shaakindustoow Ed Littlefield (Lingit), composer and musical director for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”

Dr. X̱’unei Lance Twitchell (Lingít, Haida, Yup’ik, and Sámi), professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska-Southeast, translator and cultural consultant



Break 1 Music: First Battle (song) Ed Littlefield (artist) Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles (album)

Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

A proposed overhaul of the federal process that protects cultural heritage sites and resources is fueling considerable pushback from tribes. They are concerned about how recommended changes to the National Historic Preservation Act might diminish tribal input on matters such as development projects in known sensitive areas. Critics say the changes have the potential to permanently destroy any remaining cultural treasures in the path of commercial development. At the same time, historians and others are worried about the pending closure of two federal archive facilities containing documents from the Indian Boarding School Era. Archivists worry there is no clear answer about what happens to these records if the facilities shut down.

And we’ll discuss the possible damage from border wall construction at Big Bend National Park in Texas. The Mescalero Apache Tribe is among those that spent years developing a framework to avoid irreparable damage to important spiritual and cultural sites. Current construction efforts are not following that framework.

GUESTS

Ira Matt (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), executive director for the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers

Heather Hostler (Hupa), executive director at California Indian Legal Services

Fallon Carey (Cherokee), digital archives director at the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

Holly Houghten, tribal historic preservation officer for the Mescalero Apache Tribe



Break 1 Music: Wake Up Song (song) Voices of Salish & Ped d’Oreille Women (artist) Heart of the Bitterroot (album)

Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)