Native America Calling

Rising consumer costs and cuts to subsidized food programs are increasing the pressure on organizations that deliver food assistance. Native American food pantries are trying to forge new partnerships and develop additional tribal resources — like farms and meat processors — to meet the demand, all while reducing the stigma for those seeking help putting food on their tables. We’ll hear about how Native organization in Denver is doing to meet increasing demand.

Twelve years since a handful of tribes signed a cross-border agreement to restore bison, the signatories to the Buffalo Treaty are assessing their progress in that time. Over the decades, Native American operations have helped boost bison populations from near extinction to more than 25,000. The tribes just gathered in South Dakota to share knowledge about land acquisition, animal processing, and raising cultural awareness as a way to create a sustainable future for bison.

A new flour mill on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation will be both an tribal economic boost and a processor for local farmers. We’ll hear about what is in store for the new 27,000-square-foot facility.

GUESTS

Monica Rattling Hawk (Oglala Lakota), tribal liaison for the World Wildlife Fund and a representative of the Oglala Sioux Tribe

Dawn Sherman (Lakota, Shawnee, and Delaware), executive director of the Tanka Fund

Lisa Ansell Frazier (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe), founder and director of Buffalo Youth Nation Project

Susan Bower, project manager for Cairnspring Mills and business development manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s Department of Economic and Community Development



Break 1 Music: Halloween (song) Blood Dance (artist) Halloween (album)

Break 2 Music: I Saw the Witch Cry (song) Anasazi (artist) I Saw the Witch Cry (album)

The first woman to hold the Navajo Nation Council Speaker post is now vying to become the tribe’s first female president. Navajo voters will decide November 3 whether Crystalyne Curley or her opponent, attorney Jason Jones, will lead the country’s largest tribe for the next four years. The two candidates edged out current President Buu Nygren in the primary election. The Navajo election is one of major tribal elections going on at the same time as the national midterm elections. We’ll hear about the Navajo race and others that could set new directions for some tribes in the coming years.

We’ll also reflect on the legacy of legendary labor leader and civil rights advocate Dolores Huerta, who died at age 96.

GUESTS

Geri Hongeva (Diné), master of ceremonies of the 2026 Presidential Forum on the Navajo Economy and owner of Native Moto Tours

Lisa Marie Byrd (Diné), president of the Upper Fruitland Navajo Nation Chapter house

Twyla Baker (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara), president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College

Charlene DeCicco, owner, producer and host of Community Spotlight TV

Chuy Martinez, cultural activist and member of the New Mexico Sí Se Puede Committee



Break 1 Music: Leadership Song [Naaí’áanii Biyiin] (song) Radmilla Cody (artist) K’é Hasin (album)

Break 2 Music: I Saw the Witch Cry (song) Anasazi (artist) I Saw the Witch Cry (album)

The Trump administration’s intervention in the U.S. Senate race in Alaska indicates the high stakes — and the scrutiny that comes with them — in the November 3 election. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, is one of two candidates hoping to make history as the first Native woman to be elected to the Senate. The Department of Justice is trying to block election results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses by a narrow margin. Voting rights advocates in Alaska and elsewhere are urging people go to the polls early to help offset any complications or challenges to election results. And Native voter organizations are deploying hundreds of observers to polling locations across the country in anticipation of potential interruptions that include worries about voting machine seizure and immigration raids.

We’ll also get an update on severe flooding on and around the Navajo Nation and other tribal land in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Heavy rains displaced hundreds of residents, damaged homes, and washed out critical infrastructure.

GUESTS

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

Samantha Blencke, senior staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund

OJ Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux), co-executive director of Four Directions Native Vote

Lisa Byrd (Diné), president of the Upper Fruitland Navajo Nation Chapter house



Break 1 Music:  Get Up Stand Up (song) Bailey Wiley, Che Fu, King Kapisi, Laughton Kora, Maisey Rika & Tiki Taane (artist)

Break 2 Music: I Saw the Witch Cry (song) Anasazi (artist) I Saw the Witch Cry (album)

A mining company unleashes an evil entity as the Arctic village of Chukchi falls into polar night in “It Looks Like You in the Dark“, the debut horror novel from Mathilda Zeller. It’s among several new books by Native writers that are especially fitting during the annual spooky season. Dr. Mat RudeWalker’s story, “Party at the Alvarez Ranch”, is included in the horror anthology, “Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II”. We’ll discuss these titles and others in keeping with the Halloween spirit.

GUESTS

Dr. Mat RudeWalker (Chickasaw), lecturer at Spelman College

Mathilda Zeller (Iñupiaq), author

Johnnie Jae (Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw), founder of Red Pop! News



Break 1 Music: Episodio (song) Hocico (artist) Aquí Y Ahora En El Silencio (album)

Break 2 Music: I Saw the Witch Cry (song) Anasazi (artist)

A new analysis by the Brookings Institution tallies nearly $470 million in federal funding taken from tribes and Native organizations early last year by the Department of Government Efficiency. Advocates at the Piikani Lodge Health Institute worked hard for years to secure an $8.5 million USDA grant to support local producers in and around the Blackfeet community. DOGE cut those funds before the tribe could use it. The cuts have far-reaching implications. More than half of de-obligated funds were for natural resources and environment work followed by agriculture. The Brookings analysis finds they disproportionately affect Native communities and concludes they violate the government’s trust and treaty obligation.

GUESTS

Robert Maxim (Mashpee Wampanoag), fellow at the Brookings Institution

Kim Paul (Blackfeet Nation), founder and co-executive director of Piikani Lodge Health Institute

James Meggesto (Onondaga), partner and the head of Native American practice at Holland & Knight



Break 1 Music: Intertribal (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Confederacy Style (album)

Break 2 Music: I Saw the Witch Cry (song) Anasazi (artist)