Native America Calling

The Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe failed to stop the federal government from rounding up hundreds of wild horses this summer from public land next to their reservation at the California-Nevada border. It’s part of the government’s larger plan to remove about 14,000 wild horses from public lands in several western states in 2026. Wild horse roundups are a controversial issue that has tribes weighing environmental health, animal wellbeing, and horse culture. We’ll talk with Native advocates about the challenges wild horses are up against in the face of drought and environmental changes.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Indian National Finals Rodeo. The annual event gathers the best Native rodeo athletes from across the Americas who are vying for fastest time and big scores. Randy “The Cherokee Cowboy” Taylor (Cherokee) joins us for an update from the 50th INFR in Las Vegas.

GUESTS

Ronda Kauk (Mono Lake Kutzadika’a Tribe), executive director for the Indigenous Wild Horse Society and a cultural monitor for the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe

Rana Saulque (Utu Utu Gwaitu Benton Paiute), vice chair of the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation and co-founder of the Indigenous Wild Horse Society

Jason Smith (Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs), owner of Jason Smith Ranch

Randy Taylor (Cherokee), Cowboy, professional rodeo announcer, and host of our sister program “Word with a Champ”



Break 1 Music: My Horse (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)

Break 2 Music: KuuPua (song) The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Incarnadine (album)

Before Indian self-determination became federal law, a cohort of angry and disillusioned Native college students, including a young Ponca student named Clyde Warrior, helped lay the foundation for the Red Power movement and inspire the American Indian Movement. Warrior became a pivotal co-founder of the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC), an activist group that protested federal termination policies and rejected assimilation and government paternalism. He and other members participated in the March on Washington and the fish-ins in the Pacific Northwest, and met with U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-New York, to discuss Native education. Through fiery speeches, Warrior inspired Dennis Banks and others to become activists and take pride in their Native identity. We’ll talk about the late Clyde Warrior and the groundwork laid by NIYC.

GUESTS

Della Warrior (Otoe-Missouria), former chairperson of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, president and CEO of the Multi-Indigenous Community Action (MICA) Group, and wife of the late Clyde Warrior

Darius Lee Smith (Diné), executive director of the National Indian Youth Council

John Redhouse (Diné and Ute), longtime Native American activist



Break 1 Music: Ponca War Dance Song 1 (song) Albert Waters, Alice Cook, Harry Buffalohead, Joe H. Rush, Lamont Brown, Louis Yellow Horse, Lucy C. F. Ribs, Russell Rush (2), Stella Yellow Horse, Sylvester Warrior (artist) War Dance Songs Of The Ponca – Vol. I (album)

Break 2 Music: KuuPua (song) The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Incarnadine (album)

Across the country, tribes are coming up against resistance to having their voices heard on issues involving water. In California, tribes say they feel betrayed by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s vetoes of legislation that would have given the tribes more say in access to the state’s dwindling surface water supply. The Karuk Tribe and the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians were instrumental in drafting the legislation. On the East Coast, tribes just pulled out of a coalition planning a clean-up strategy for the Chesapeake Bay. After a year of negotiation, the tribes say the other regional elected leaders refused to give them equal status in the clean-up talks.

We’ll also hear from attorney Fatima Abbas, the first director to lead the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Tribal and Native Affairs, which aims to streamline tribes’ access to federal funding and economic development.

GUESTS

Chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery (Karuk)

Frankie Myers (Yurok), CEO and co-founder of Fix the World Consulting and former vice chairman of the Yurok Tribe

Fatima Abbas (Haliwa-Saponi), attorney and former director of U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Tribal and Native Affairs

Melissa Ann Ehrenreich, executive director of the Indigenous Conservation Council



Break 1 Music: Klamath River Water Song (song) Franklin Thom (artist)

Break 2 Music: KuuPua (song) The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Incarnadine (album)

A handful of tribes just finalized an agreement with the National Park Service, clearing the way for foraging in the Yosemite National Park. Tribal members will collect acorns, yarrow, wild onions, and numerous other plants for food and medicine on land their tribes have always been connected to. It’s the latest agreement since a 2016 law cleared the way for more traditional plant collections by tribal members on land that was previously restricted. We’ll hear about how tribes in California, southern Arizona, and Washington state are utilizing access to National Park land.

GUESTS

Mary Cruz (North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California), culture bearer

Tanisha Tucker Lohse (Tohono O’odham), Saguaro harvester

Andrew Gobin (member of the Tulalip), director of treaty rights and government affairs for The Tulalip Tribes



Break 1 Music: Edge of The Rez, Part 2 (song) The Blue Stone Project (artist) Blue Stone (album)

Break 2 Music: KuuPua (song) The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Incarnadine (album)

The new poetry collection “Cloud Runner” from Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) is the culmination and curated expression of her own personal grief. The poems spring from the aftermath of her daughter’s death in 2023 and range from devastating to hopeful. Harjo, musician, artist, and the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, explores a mother’s anguish and the time and work it takes to reconcile it. Harjo’s talent for expressing that grief in the most personal way is an instrument in the process that connects the writer with the reader. Along the way, she considers how art and culture can transform historical and collective wounds. On Indigenous Peoples Day, we’ll hear from Harjo about “Cloud Runner” and her many other creative projects.



Break 1 Music: Rabbit (song) Joy Harjo (artist) Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace (album)

Break 2 Music: KuuPua (song) The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (artist) Incarnadine (album)