December 29th of every year marks another anniversary of the Wound Knee Massacre of 1890 and the Occupation of Wounded Knee occurred from 02/27/1973 to 05/08/1973. The Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 is the result of the United States (U.S.) 7th Calvary stopped Miniconjou and Lakota Ghost Dancers and community members from returning home to Pine Ridge in what is now known as South Dakota. The Would Knee Massacre took place near the Wounded Knee Creek during a time when the United States government essentially banned all Native American traditions and ceremonies. Shortly thereafter the initial encounter, a scuffle ensued which resulted in the U.S. 7th Calvary open firing and killing over 300 Indigenous women, children, and men.     
The Occupation of Wounded Knee from 02/27/1973 to 05/08/1973 is the outcome of over 200 members of the American Indian Movement and supporters occupying Wounded Knee (Lakota Nation) in response to a call to action from traditional Lakota residents whose civil, human, and treaty rights were constantly being violated by corrupt Indigenous and United States government officials. The Wound Knee Occupation resulted in a 67-day military standoff with U.S. government officials and quickly drew international and domestic support from people, organizations, and foreign governments throughout the world.
Today’s show on American Indian Airwaves is comprised of sound from two principal sources: The Pacifica Radio archives and the documentary A Tattoo on My Heart: The Warriors of Wounded Knee 1973. The Pacifica Radio Archives include original reports from Pacifica’s-affiliate station, KPFA in Berkeley, CA which covered live the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation. In addition, sound from the documentary A Tattoo on My Heart: The Warriors of Wounded Knee 1973 includes reflective testimonies of the Wound Knee Indigenous activist such as Lenny Foster, Bill Means, Madonna Thunderhawk, and narrated by the late Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman, plus more.
American Indian Airwaves regularly broadcast every Thursday from 7pm to 8pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 in Los Angeles, CA; FM 98.7 in Santa Barbara, CA; FM 99.5 in China Lake, CA; FM 93.7 in North San Diego, CA; FM 99.1 KLBP in Long Beach, CA (Tuesdays 11am-12pm); and on the Internet at:  www.kpfk.org. 

Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Tunein, YouTube, and more.

Wounded Knee, 133 Years: Spirit, Resistance, and Remembrance

Today on American Indian Airwaves we go to the Barbareño band of the Chumash Nation in the Santa Barbara County area to a Chumash sacred site respectfully known as Shalawa. Approximately three-acres of Shalawa remains and to non-Native American peoples, the place is commonly referred to as “Hammonds Meadow” and “Sea Meadow”. 

Since Spanish colonialization beginning, Shalawa has always been threatened by settler colonial violence. However, in 1985 the United Chumash Council, the Barbareño Chumash Tribal Council, the Board of Supervisors in Santa Barbara, CA, to name just a few parties, executed an agreement to protect Shalawa. In addition, several documents were produced by various parties re-stating the laws and commitments to protecting this sacred site. 

Today on American Indian Airwaves listeners are joined by David Bluewolf Diaz (Chumash Nation) and Marcus Lopez (Barbareño band of the Chumash Nation), co-host and executive producer of American Indian Airwaves. Both individuals have been tirelessly working to protect Shalawa for more than 35 years and on today’s program listeners will hear how both Indigenous community activists  clearly demonstrate how the current Hammond Meadow – Shalawa Preservation and Restoration Plan, is rife with government malfeasance – from the local to national levels -, gross negligence, and if the restoration plan is fully executed, it will result in the ultimate desecration of Shalawa. Tune in, to learn the history of land, the historical and contemporary struggles to protect Shalawa, and what people can do to stop this settler colonial violence. 

Guest:
•	David Bluewolf Diaz (Chumash Nation) and Marcus Lopez (Chumash Nation and the Barbareño Chumash Tribal Council of Santa Barbara, https://bctcsb.com/).  

Archived AIA programs are on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more.

Under Threat, Desecration, and Protecting Shalawa in the Chumash Nation

The idea of Indigenous Peoples Day originated in 1977, in Geneva, at the first International NGO Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the America. The conference was attended by Indigenous peoples throughout world and by the conclusion of the conference, a list of recommendations was drafted, outlining a course of action to support Indigenous peoples right to self-determination, a formal rebuttal was declared to Doctrine of Discovery or Dominion, and Indigenous peoples stated their intention “to observe October 12, the day of so-called ‘discovery’ of America, as an International Day of Solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.”

Thereafter in the United States, cities and states started observing Indigenous Peoples Day including for example, in 1989 South Dakota adopted Native American Day; on 10/22/91, the Berkely, CA city council adopts Indigenous Peoples Day. In the City of Los Angeles, CA, the city council declared the second Monday of October Indigenous Peoples Day and in 2019, CA Governor Gavin Newsom declared Indigenous Peoples’ Day a California holiday. 

To date, it is estimated that a little over 150 cities celebrate or observe Indigenous Peoples Day out of 19,502 incorporated cities, towns, and villages in the United States. Presumably, in cities with large or semi-large Native American/Indigenous communities. At the state level, 28 states observe Indigenous Peoples Day, but only three states, Maine, Nebraska, and New Mexico deem it a state holiday. The Washington DC district also considers it a holiday. 

At the federal level, in October 2021, President Biden designated the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day and The Indigenous Peoples’ Day Act (SB 2970) which if passed would replace Columbus Day as a federal holiday and designate the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day was introduced in Congress in 2021 and reintroduced in Congress in 2023 with no traction since then. 

As of 2024, for the few cities and states that observe Indigenous Peoples Day with celebrations, they still acknowledge Columbus Day as the default, often, paid holiday. There are many contradictions to celebrating and participating in Indigenous People Day celebrations at the city and state levels and today on American Indian Airwaves we have a round-table discussion on what is Indigenous Peoples Day? Our discussion panel includes Fidel Rodriguez of Chumash Nation and host of the former KPFK Divine Forces Radio and Marcus Lopez, of Barberieno band of the Chumash Nation and executive producer and host American Indian Airwaves, and me. We begin today’s program with the question of what Indigenous Peoples Day mean to you with Marcus Lopez first and followed by Fidel Rodriguez second. And the now the Contradictions of Indigenous Peoples Day here on American Indian Airwaves. 

Guests:
o	 Marcus Lopez, (Barbareño Band of the Chumash Nation), executive producer of American Indian Airwaves, Fidel Rodriquez (Chumash Nation) and former host of KPFK’s Divine Forces Radio, and Larry Smith (Lumbee Nation).

Archived AIA programs are on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd,

The Contradictions of Indigenous Peoples Day

Since President Abraham Lincoln established observing the Thanksgiving Day holiday in 1863 to heal a fractured country amid the American Civil War (1861-1865). Consequentially, Americans for generations have believed in and centralized their national identity within several mythologies, including the propaganda surrounding the purported first thanksgiving between the Wampanoags and the pilgrims. 

Today on American Indian Airwaves, our guest from the Aquinnah Wampanoag nation joins us for the entire hour to discuss in-depth the origins of the Thanksgiving Day Holiday, the settler colonial perpetrators of violence and fabrication regarding this mythology that traces back to 1620s, the National Day of Mourning, the censorship of Frank “Wamsutta” Jame’s speech in 1970 for the 350th Anniversary of the Mayflower’s landing, who are the Wampanoag peoples along with their cultural and traditional practices, and more. 

Guest:
o	Linda Coombs (Aquinnah Wampanoag) is an author and historian from the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah, and lives in the Wampanoag community of Mashpee on Cape Cod, MA. In addition, our guest worked for over 30 years in the Wampanoag Indigenous Program (WIP) of Plimoth Plantation, including 15 years as the WIP’s Associate Director; and worked 9 years at the Aquinnah Cultural Center. She is the recent author of the remarkable book: Colonization and the Wampanoag Story (2023)

Archived AIA programs are on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more. 


Wampanoag Voices: Demystifying the Legacy of the Thanksgiving Day Holiday Propaganda

December 29th of every year marks another anniversary of the Wound Knee Massacre of 1890, and the Occupation of Wounded Knee occurred from 02/27/1973 to 05/08/1973. The Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 is the result of the United States (U.S.) 7th Calvary stopping Miniconjou and Lakota Ghost Dancers and community members from returning home to Pine Ridge in what is presently known as South Dakota. The Wounded Knee Massacre took place near the Wounded Knee Creek during a time when the United States government essentially banned all Native American cultural traditions, ceremonies, and “religious” practices. Shortly thereafter the initial encounter, a scuffle ensued which resulted in the U.S. 7th Calvary open firing and killing over three hundred Indigenous women, children, and men.     

The Occupation of Wounded Knee from 02/27/1973 to 05/08/1973 is the outcome of over 200 members of the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and supporters occupying Wounded Knee (Lakota Nation) in response to a call to action from traditional Lakota residents who’s civil, human, and treaty rights were constantly being violated by corrupt Indigenous and United States government officials. The Wound Knee Occupation resulted in a 67-day military standoff with U.S. government officials and quickly drew international and domestic support from people, organizations, and foreign governments throughout the world.

Today’s show on American Indian Airwaves is comprised of sound from two principal sources: The Pacifica Radio archives and the documentary A Tattoo on My Heart: The Warriors of Wounded Knee 1973. The Pacifica Radio Archives include original reports from Pacifica’s-affiliate station, KPFA in Berkeley, CA which covered live the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation. In addition, sound from the documentary A Tattoo on My Heart: The Warriors of Wounded Knee 1973 includes reflective testimonies of the Wound Knee Indigenous activist such as Lenny Foster, Bill Means, Madonna Thunderhawk, and narrated by the late Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman, plus more.
American Indian Airwaves regularly broadcast every Thursday from 7pm to 8pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 in Los Angeles, CA; FM 98.7 in Santa Barbara, CA; FM 99.5 in China Lake, CA; FM 93.7 in North San Diego, CA; FM 99.1 KLBP in Long Beach, CA (Sundays 11am-12pm); FM 90.7 FM in Oregon on KBOO; and on the Internet at:  www.kpfk.org. 

Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Tunein, YouTube, and more. 


Wounded Knee, 134 Years Later: Spirit, Resistance, and Remembrance

Today on American Indian Airwaves, listeners will hear extensive update on why 31st Anniversary of the Beginning of the War Against Oblivion, the armed uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) on January 1st, 1994, against the colonial state of Mexico and global capitalism, was placed on hold.

On January 1st, 1994, the Mayan peoples’ traditional homelands were recovered after the 12-day armed uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) against state violence and a legacy of settler colonial oppression. The EZLN’s actions are concrete evidence of how Zapatismo in Chiapas has improved the living conditions of the communities based on organization, autonomy, and self-determination. 

Tune in to hear about how the systemic and increased organized crime violence is having on Indigenous peoples throughout Chiapas, MX. Also, listeners will hear a recap of the major 2024 events for Indigenous peoples throughout the settler colonial state of Mexico such as the 50th anniversary of the important 1974 Indigenous Congress in Chiapas, convened by the late Bishop Samuel Ruiz, whose 100th birthday would have been in 2024. Moreover, hear about the 2024 elections such as with the MORENA party reelected by a landslide; and how Claudia Sheinbaum replaces AMLO, cementing MORENA monopoly on power and what that means for Indigenous and Mayan peoples. The MORENA party corruption means more extractive industry expansion, displacement of Indigenous peoples without free, prior, and informed consent, and the violent repression of Indigenous protests and resistance against megaprojects, plus more. 

Guest:
•	Richard Stahler-Sholk, a retired Professor of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University, and community activist involved with the School of Chiapas which is an organization of grassroots activists and communities working to support the autonomous, indigenous Zapatista communities of Chiapas, Mexico. Schools for Chiapas was created the mid-1990’s by individuals searching for ways to make the world a better place and working to create a world where all worlds fit.

Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more. 


The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) 31st Anniversary Suspended: Cartel & State Violence Escalations in Chiapas

The interview with today’s guest, Laura Shamas (Chickasaw Nation) on her world premiere play Four Women in Red happened several days before the Los Angeles Fires (i.e., Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Kenneth Fire, and the Hurst Fire). The play was originally scheduled to premiere on January 17th, 2025, at the Victory Theatre Center in Burbank, California where performances were supposed to continue through February 23. 

As of January 11th, 2025, the Victory Theater Center announced that “With members of the cast, creative team and audience impacted by the wildfires, The Victory Theatre Center has canceled the previously announced January 17 opening of Four Women in Red, a new play by Laura Shamas about the current crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. A revised performance schedule will be announced at a later date.”
 
Four Women in Red is about four resilient Native American women searching for missing friends and relatives in the face of apathetic sheriffs and dwindling clues. Touching on variety if critically important issues such as MMIW, settler colonial violence, and this moving new play celebrates the power of community as the women seek answers against all odds.

While the interview references the January and February theater dates for the play, American Indian Airwaves is releasing the program because the fires are profoundly impacting all living relations (human and non-human), including Indigenous peoples involved with Four Women in Red and Indigenous throughout the region. The following are some support organizations providing relief and support for Indigenous peoples impacted by the fires. 
•	UAII headquarters, 1453 W Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90026, is asking for the following items to be donated: Water, diapers, Snacks, N95 masks, Zip ties, Gauze, Saline flushers & Syringes for insulin, Band aids, Sharps containers, Tampons & pads, batteries, flashlights, Pet food, Jackets & Blankets, Hygiene products, and First Aid Supplies.
•	Spoon Fed Company, owned by Jacob Spoonhunter, is “making small food care packages (on Friday, Jan. 10) to those who were effected [sic] by the fires as well as the first responders,” according to the company’s Instagram. Spoonhunter is Northern Arapaho, Navajo, and Seminole. Go to the Instagram page for any donations or email: spoonfedco@gmail.com.
•	Chef Stephanie Pyet DeSpain, Prairie Band Potawatomi and winner of “Next Level Chef,” told her Instagram followers that she and other chefs will be doing a pop-up to feed community members. A plan will come out in the next few days, she said. Pyet announced on Jan. 10 on Instagram that she is teaming with Island Smoke N Grill through Go Fund Me to distribute meals for first responders and displaced families. If anyone wants to donate, volunteer, or needs some food to eat, direct message her on Instagram or email: info@pyetsplate.com. 
•	Meal + Donations for Our Indian Firefighter Crews. Suggested Donation Items: Chapstick, Body Wipes, Tylenol, Liquid in Powers, Protein Shakes or Bars, Nutritional Bars, Meat Sticks, Nuts (Trail Mix), and other nutritional snack items easily portable. Contact: Tencha (626) 409-7895 or Cheryl (562) 229-2005.

Guest:
Laura Shamas (Chickasaw Nations), is an accomplished Native American author, essayist, poet, journalist, playwright, and the recent recipient of the Los Angeles New Play Project (LANPP) grant for the play Four Women in Red which was first developed by Native Voices, the only Actors’ Equity theater company in the country dedicated to developing and producing new plays by Native artists.

Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more.

Sacred Stage: Talks with Native Playwrights and Artist with Laura Shamas

Today’s program (originally broadcasted on 2/20/2025) is on Protecting the Remaining Pre-Colonial, Genetic Buffalo Relations. Listen for the hour as our guest provides listeners with an extensive update on the last remaining buffalo relations in and around the Yellowstone National Park region continue to be attacked, prodded, coerced and killed as result of the Yellowstone National Park Services buffalo management practices and the state of Montana’s deceptive claims that killing more buffalo relations is necessary for ecologically sustainable purposes, all that and more. In since 2024 and up to March 2025, ~487 buffalo relations have been taken. 

Once numbering 30-60 million, bison were hunted to near extinction in the late 1800s. Men would shoot them through train windows for purpose for sport or the hide trade and left them to rot on the plains of Mother Earth. Entire herds were wiped out and the buffalo relations were slaughtered to gain control over Indigenous peoples who relied on bison for food, clothing, shelter, tools, cultural and spiritual practices, and more. Settler colonial knew this, and their strategy to eliminate buffalo relations was equivalent to eliminating Indigenous peoples traditional and cultural practices.

By 1890, there were less than 1,000 bison with only twenty-three surviving in Yellowstone’s Pelican Valley. Today, there are around 6,000 pre-colonial genetically intact buffalo relations living throughout the region who are constantly under threat from the state of Montana, hunters and ranchers, and the Yellowstone National Park’s buffalo management practices that could result in the substantial reduction of the buffalo population with its most recent proposal and with support of state of Montana. 

Guest:
•	Mike Mease, co-founder of the Buffalo Field Campaign.
 
Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more.


Defending the Remaining Pre-Colonial, Genetic Buffalo Relations

Today on American Indian Airwaves, tune in and hear William I. Robinson speak on his book, War, Global Capitalism, and Resistance (2024), the systematic militarization against immigrants in the United States, global capitalism’s crisis and how the transnational capitalist class structures predatory mechanisms of settler colonial violence against Mother Earth, Indigenous peoples such as in Palestine, working peoples, and ecological systems as we know it. In addition, tune in to hear about how the legacy of capitalism’s violence through digital technologies are producing cheaper labor (“surplus humanity”), and how the capitalist system forms the basis for the non-renewable resource extractive industries comportment with the Green Economy and Green Capitalism. All this and more on today’s AIA program. 

Guest: 
William Robinson, professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), affiliated with the Latin American and Iberian Studies Program, and with the Global and International Studies Program at UCSB. He is the author of several books, including War, Global Capitalism, and Resistance (2024), Global Civil War: Capitalism Post-Pandemic (2022), and The Global Police State (2020), Global Capitalism and the Crises of Humanity (2014) and We Will Not Be Silenced (2017). Robinson joins us for the first part of three-part interview on his brand-new book, Global Civil War: Capitalism Post-Pandemic (2022). 

Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more.


War, Global Capitalism, and Resistance on Mother Earth

Today on American Indian Airwaves, listeners will hear extensive update on the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) newest and creative forms of resistance and rebellion throughout the Chiapas, Mexico region. The EZLN recently underwent internal changes to reflect a more localized community structure and revised their ideas of land ownership in attempting to align with Indigenous or Mayan ways of life. Listeners will hear about the Mayan art as expressed form of creative resistance and rebellion, and refusal of mega development projects threatening their traditional homelands, as well as the increased violence perpetrated against U.S. immigrants in time of rising Authoritarian Fascism with the Trump 2.0 Administration.   

Guest:
Richard Stahler-Sholk, a retired Professor of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University, and community activist involved with the School of Chiapas which is an organization of grassroots activists and communities working to support the autonomous, indigenous Zapatista communities of Chiapas, Mexico. Schools for Chiapas was created in the mid-1990’s by individuals searching for ways to make the world a better place and working to create a world where all worlds fit.

Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp

American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more.


Indigenous Art, Resistance, & Rebellion, Trump 2.0 & the Rise of US Authoritarian Fascism

American Indian Airwaves (AIA), an Indigenous public affairs radio porgram and, perhaps, the longest running Native American radio program within both Indigenous and the United States broadcast communication histories. Also, AIA broadcast weekly every Thursday from 7pm to 8pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 Los Angeles (http://www.kpfk.org).  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiacr


American Indian Airwaves is produced in Burntswamp Studios and started broadcasting on March 1st, 1973 on KPFK in order to give Indigenous peoples and their respective First Nations a voice about the continuous struggles against Settler Colonialism and imperialism by the occupying and settler societies often referred to as the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Latin and South America countries located therein.

American Indian Airwaves operates as an all-volunteer collective with no corporate sponsorship and no underwriters.

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