Native America Calling

Tribes in Washington State and Vancouver, British Columbia are presenting their culture and history to soccer fans all over the world. The Puyallup Tribe’s partnership with FIFA is the first time an Indigenous nation is formally represented at the World Cup for the games in host city, Seattle. The Musqueam Indian Band and Squamish Nation also have hosting and planning agreements in Canada. They are all contributing cultural events, visual arts, and music during the matches that are attracting fans from all over the world.

At the same time, Native victims advocates like the Seattle Indian Health Board are preparing resources to combat the expected increases in Indigenous human trafficking that inevitably accompanies such large, high-profile events.

GUESTS

Jamin Zuroski (ʼNa̱mǥis First Nation, Polish, Ukrainian), artist

Tamia Overes (səlilwətaɬ [Tsleil-Waututh Nation]), artist

Chelsea Hendrickson (citizen of the Northern Arapaho Nation, and Cup’iq), survivor leader

Hope Sandstrom (Puyallup), digital media manager for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians

Abigail Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), executive vice president of Seattle Indian Health Board and director of Urban Indian Health Institute

A site of tragedy for the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation has become a place of renewal and promise. The tribe has worked for the past seven years to revitalize the land of the 1863 Bear River Massacre. By eradicating invasive species, reviving native plants, and returning water canals to their natural paths, the tribe is significantly boosting both water quality and flow of the river. It is one of the biggest sources of water for the Great Salt Lake, and officials say the tribe’s efforts could be part of a solution to preventing the iconic body of water from disappearing amid an increasingly dry climate. And in Montana, The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes continue work as part of a historic compact to revitalize the Jocko River. We’ll discuss how Indigenous knowledge is providing promise against a troubling trend.

GUESTS

Brad Parry (Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation), vice chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation

Seth Makepeace, hydrologist for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Donella Miller (Yakama), fish science manager for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Hannah Freeze, Great Salt Lake deputy commissioner



Break 1 Music: Prayer Song (song) Salish Spirit Canoe Family (artist) Keep Singing, Keep Dancing (album)

Break 2 Music: Beauty Way (song) Summit Dub Squad (artist) The Beauty Way (album)

As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases its 20-year dredging plan for the Columbia River, tribes say they want more of a say in how the operation affects their fishing and cultural priorities. The Corps acknowledges that its ongoing work to maintain the 43-foot deep channel is detrimental to salmon and other species. The Trump administration, which cancelled a historic river co-management agreement with tribes, now wants to facilitate larger, more powerful shipping barges on the river that already transports more than 26 million tons of grain a year. But the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Cowlitz Tribe, and others say the waterway is more than just a highway for agricultural exports. They want their voices reflected in future river dredging decisions.

GUESTS

Roger Amerman (Choctaw), geologist and ethnogeologist

Virgil Lewis (Yakama), fish commissioner for Yakama Nation with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Erik Holt (Nez Perce), chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe Fish and Wildlife Commission



Break 1 Music: To Keep the World We Know (song) Bruce Cockburn (artist) O Sun O Moon (album)

Break 2 Music: Beauty Way (song) Summit Dub Squad (artist) The Beauty Way (album)

A racial discrimination lawsuit by a non-Native resident of Hawaii threatens to dismantle a Native Hawaiian land benefit established by Congress more than a century ago. The suit challenges the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, a federal law reserving more than 200,000 acres of land in a public trust for Hawaii’s Native population. Residents need to prove they have a 50% blood quantum to qualify for 99-year lease. The plaintiff argues he was denied a lease based on an unconstitutional racial preference. It is one in a series of challenges for similar benefits including school admissions and a health studies scholarship, all giving preference for Native Hawaiians, who do not share the same political protections as Native Americans. We’ll discuss how the lawsuits brings issues of equity, blood quantum, and historic land dispossession to the forefront.

GUESTS

Robin Danner (Native Hawaiian), senior advisor to the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Association

Elizabeth Ho’oipo Pa Nakea (Native Hawaiian), attorney, founding president of Hui Na’auao, and executive director of the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council

Patrick Kahawaiolaa (Native Hawaiian), homesteader and elder

Derek Kauanoe (Native Hawaiian), assistant professor of law at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa



Break 1 Music: Ke Aloha I Ka Pu’uwai / He ‘Ili ‘Ula Au a He Hawai’I (song) Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu (artist) Call It What You Like (album)

Break 2 Music: Beauty Way (song) Summit Dub Squad (artist) The Beauty Way (album)

Overall support for many key LGBTQ+ issues remains overwhelmingly high among Americans, but a new survey shows that support declining for the first time in years. Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey shows 69% of those surveyed favor same-sex marriage, for instance. But that is down from 71% two years ago. The new direction comes as more anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation are surfacing. A handful of cities and states are opting to show support for traditional families rather than back Pride events. At the same time, annual parades, events and public discussions show no signs of slowing down. We’ll get a view of what Pride means in 2026.

GUESTS

Dr. charlie amáyá scott (Diné), independent scholar, public speaker, and content creator

Steven Barrios (Blackfeet), co-founder of the Montana Two Spirit Society; knowledge and wisdom keeper

David Herrera (Mestizo), co-founder of the Montana Two Spirit Society

Myk Mendez (Shoshone-Bannock), cultural activist and organizer, owner of Marvelous Beads, and a published comic book author

Lenny Hayes (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), owner and executive director of Tate Topa Consulting, LLC



Break 1 Music: Common Feelings (song) Darksiderz (artist) Ancestors EP (album)

Break 2 Music: Beauty Way (song) Summit Dub Squad (artist) The Beauty Way (album)