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Medicaid Renewal Letter—Navajo

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Medicaid Renewal Letter—English

Part 1 
Nuclear Colonialism with Leona Morgan (Dine’ Nation) is a three-part interview broadcasting over three consecutive episodes. The series focuses on our guest’s community work since 2007, which includes combating against many aspects of nuclear colonialism. Our guest not only helped prevent the construction of a new ISL (in situ leach) uranium mine in Eastern Navajo, but also, she has and continues to raise awareness about the extreme dangers of transporting high-level radioactive waste material by highway and railroad nearby & through “Indian Country,” along with the negative legacy of uranium mining & its unresolved impacts on the Dine’ & other Indigenous peoples. In addition, Leona Morgan provides an update on the unresolved issue of nuclear waste & how Holtec International is proposing to construct a high-level nuclear waste facility in southeastern New Mexico despite the opposition by numerous Native American nations. 

Moreover, our guest discusses: the Nuclear Energy industry's plans to build Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) – mini nuclear reactors - as a way to generate electricity' how the Nuclear Energy’s Greenwashing strategy of claiming nuclear energy as green energy places Indigenous peoples and Mother Earth at historical perils; the $1.7 trillion allocated for the US nuclear weaponry arsenal, and how Native Americans & nations future generations are at risk unless there is an immediate nuclear decolonialization.

Guest Leona Morgan (Tó dich’íí’nii, Tsé nahabiłnii, Kiyaa’áanii, Tó aheedlíinii) is a Diné activist and community organizer. Leona co-founded and works with the Nuclear Issues Study Group , Diné No Nukes, which contributes to the Haul No! initiative, and Radiation Monitoring Project. Our guest collaborates nationally with many groups and is part of the international campaign Don’t Nuke The Climate that focuses on nuclear energy as a global climate issue. 

Part 2 
In early 2023, only five Native American nations have constitutionally protected press freedoms. In terms of Native American self-determination and sovereignty, what does freedom of the press mean for Native American nations? What about Native American government owned media and the right to investigate & publish critical stories without being penalized? "Bad Press" is a new documentary premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2023 and the film tells the story about Angel Ellis just trying to do her job. She’s a reporter for Mvskoke Media in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and she wants to give her readers access to all the information relevant to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. But that’s not an easy task, given that Angel and her colleagues believe in truth and transparency and aren't afraid to challenge the integrity of some questionable tribal officials. Fast-forward to a confusing whirlwind of an emergency session at the National Council, where the 2015 Free Press Act is repealed, Mvskoke Media's independent editorial board is dissolved, and the newspaper is placed under the direction of the Secretary of the Nation and Commerce. Plus more. 

For more information about viewing the documentary in person or online, see the Sundance Film Festival website (https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/638a1ffad406b20f68f2e3f2).

Guests Becca Landsberry-Bakker (Muscogee Nation) and Joe Peeler co-directors of Bad Press (2023). 
Rebecca Landsberry-Baker is a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program grantee, Ford Foundation JustFilms grantee, and 2022 NBC Original Voices fellow. She is an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee Nation and the executive director of the Native American Journalists Association. 

Joe Peeler is a documentary editor and director whose work has appeared on Netflix, HBO, and FX. 

American Indian Airwaves is an all-volunteer collective and Native American public affairs program that broadcast weekly on KPFK FM 90.7 Los Angeles, CA from 7:00pm to 8:00pm on Thursdays.

Nuclear Colonialism, Part 1, Uranium Mining in the Dine’ Nation & "Bad Press" at Sundance

Nuclear Colonialism is one aspect of settler colonialism that remains highly censored in the American mass and digital media landscape. With approximately 11% of all abandon uranium mines located in “Indian Country,” nuclear power plants average life-span ranging from 40 to 50 years, the promotion of nuclear power as “green energy,” the United States Department of Defense endorsing the next generation of mini-nuclear power plants (small modular reactors) to power over 800 military bases throughout the world, the allocation of $1.7 trillion to reconstitute the U.S. nuclear weaponry system; and the permanent, unresolved, and enduring issue of addressing over 60 years of nuclear waste production, Native American nations continue to be on the front lines of nuclear colonialism and future generations are at risk unless there is an immediate nuclear decolonization across Mother Earth.

Nuclear Colonialism with Leona Morgan (Dine’ Nation) is a three-part interview that will broadcast over three consecutive episodes of American Indian Airwaves. The series focuses on our guest’s community work since 2007, which includes combating against many aspects of nuclear colonialism. 

Our guest not only helped prevent the construction of a new ISL (in situ leach) uranium mine in Eastern Navajo, but also, she has and continues to raise awareness about the extreme dangers of transporting high-level radioactive waste material by highway and railroad nearby and through “Indian Country,” as well as the continuing legacy of uranium mining and its unresolved impacts on the Dine’ people and other Indigenous peoples and nations. In addition, Leona Morgan provides an extensive update on the unresolved issue of nuclear waste and how Holtec International is proposing to construct a high-level nuclear waste facility in southeastern New Mexico despite the opposition by numerous Native American nations. 

Guest Leona Morgan (Tó dich’íí’nii, Tsé nahabiłnii, Kiyaa’áanii, Tó aheedlíinii; she/her) is a Diné activist and community organizer who has been fighting nuclear colonialism since 2007. Leona Morgan co-founded and works with the Nuclear Issues Study Group www.fb.com/NuclearIssuesStudyGroup), Diné No Nukes, which contributes to the Haul No! initiative (www.fb.com/HaulNo), and Radiation Monitoring Project (www.radmonitoring.org). Our guest collaborates nationally with many groups to address the entire nuclear fuel chain in the United States and is part of the international campaign Don’t Nuke The Climate (www.dont-nuke-the-climate.org) that focuses on nuclear energy as a global climate issue. 

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. 

American Indian Airwaves is an all-volunteer collective and Native American public affairs program that broadcast weekly on KPFK FM 90.7 Los Angeles, CA, Thursdays, from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.

Nuclear Colonialism Censored: PT 2 on Uranium Mining in the Dine’ Nation & Holtec's Nuclear Waste

Support KPFK and pick up the book at www.kpfk.org

When Mexico moved to abolish slavery, Texas seceded in 1836-in a replay of 1776-- in order to perpetuate enslavement of Africans forevermore. Until 1845 Texas was an independent nation and moved to challenge the U.S. for leadership in the odious commerce of the African Slave Trade: Texas also competed vigorously with the U.S. in the dirty business, dispossessing Indigenous peoples and nations of their lands and denuding Mexico by snatching California in the race to the Pacific and domination of the vaunted China market. But Texas could not withstand pressure from abolitionist Mexico and revolutionary Haiti and joined the U.S. as a state-under questionable legal procedures-in 1845. Thereafter Texas' enslaved population increased exponentially along with land grabs targeting Comanches, Caddo and Kiowa-and other Indigenous nations-leading to staggeringly violent bloodshed.

Black troops helped to foil this deviltry but, alas, during the Reconstruction era-1865-1876-these same soldiers were at the tip of the spear as Indigenes were being pounded in West Texas as Black people were being pounded by the Ku Klux Klan in East Texas. Texans were also in the vanguard during the scandalous 6 January 2021 insurrection on Capitol Hill and promises to be in the forefront as a unique U.S. fascism seeks to rise. 

Join us today on American Indian Airwaves to hear Dr. Gerald Horne highlight important excerpts from his book, The Counter Revolution of 1836: Texas Slavery & Jim Crow and the Roots of U.S Fascism, and how it relates to the international geopolitical forms of settler colonial violence impacting Indigenous peoples, African Americans, and more and the formation and roots of American fascism, plus more. 

Guest: Dr. Gerald Horne is an eminent historian who is Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. An author of more than thirty books and one hundred scholarly articles and reviews, his research has addressed issues of racism in a variety of relations involving labor, politics, civil rights, international relations, war and the film industry.

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. 

American Indian Airwaves is an all-volunteer collective and Native American public affairs program that broadcast weekly on KPFK FM 90.7 Los Angeles, CA, Thursdays, from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.

Indigenous Peoples, the Counter Revolution of 1836: Texas Slavery, Jim Crow, & U.S Fascism

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

Trump 2.0 is causing mass anxiety throughout “Indian Country” and across Turtle Island so far in 2025. As of mid-June 2025, the Trump Administration’s proposed Fiscal 2026 federal budget calls for nearly $1 billion in cuts to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and other federal Native American programs. In addition, President Trump signed “Birthright Citizenship” Executive Order 14160 on January 20th, 2025, where the Trump Administration believes it could denaturalize Native American U.S. citizenship, especially if the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. CASA, Inc. agrees with the Trump Administration.

But Native America nations have an extra-constitutional relationship with the United States government, and this extra-constitutional relationship is the result of more than 380 signed and ratified treaties between Native American nations and the U.S. government – an approximate similar number of treaties were signed but never ratified. The U.S. government, however, must legally and adhere to its “Trust” responsibilities its treaty obligations. 

Enduring questions are guest addresses: Do the Trump Administration’s proposed budget cuts along with the DOGE cuts to federal programs violate the Treaties between Native American nations and the Trust Doctrine? In addition, does President Donald Trump’s Birthright Citizenship executive order place Native Americans in real threat of losing their U.S. citizenship contrary to the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924? Lastly, does the combined actions of the Trump Administration plausibly suggest the possibility of new “Terminations” reminiscent of the 1950s?

Today on American Indian Airwaves, our guest for the hour provides an in-depth description and analysis on the Trump 2.0 Administrations actions within the context of the understanding the legalities and constitutionality of the treaties between the Native American nations and the U.S. federal government. Today’s interview was conducted prior to the four recent SCOTUS and lower court decisions on the Birthright Citizenship executive order.  


Guest:
David E. Wilkins, a citizen of the Lumbee Nation, is a political scientist specializing in federal Indian policy and law. He is the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies in the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies and professor emeritus of the University of Minnesota. He studies Indigenous politics, governance, and legal systems, with a particular focus on Native American sovereignty, self-determination, and diplomacy. 

Professor Wilkins is the author of numerous books including, but not limited to: Indigenous Governance: Clans, Constitutions, and Consent (2024), Of Living Stone: Perspectives on Continuous Knowledge and the Work of Vine Deloria, Jr. (2024), Documents of Native American Political Development, 1933 to Present (2019), Red Prophet: The Punishing Intellectualism of Vine Deloria, Jr.(2018), Dismembered: Native Disenrollment and the Battle for Human Rights (2017), American Indian Politics and the American Political System, second edition, 2017, Hollow Justice: A History of Indigenous Claims in the United States (2013), The Hank Adams Reader (2011), The Legal Universe: Observations of the Foundations of American Law (2011), Documents of Native American Political Development, 1500 to 1933 (2009),  On the Drafting of Tribal Constitutions - Felix S. Cohen (2006), Native Voices: American Indian Identity and Resistance (2003), Uneven Ground: American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Law (2002), and Tribes, Treaties, and Constitutional Tribulations (2000).
 
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.


Bad Actors, & Treaty & Trust Doctrine Violations in Trump 2.0

Today on American Indian Airwaves (AIA), listeners will hear from the Climate Justice Organizer of the Pueblo Action Alliance, an Indigenous women and femme-led grassroots organization, which has been actively building both a community and a movement to resist false solutions being pushed across New Mexico and on Pueblo lands.

In collaboration with the New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition, they successfully defeated eight state legislative bills promoting false solutions—including those advancing carbon capture, hydrogen, brackish and reclaimed water projects, and the reclassification of natural gas as renewable energy. The PAA’s intent is to keep this coalition growing and continue building power across the state. With this year’s turnout, Pueblo Action Alliance—alongside the No False Solutions Coalition—is setting the bar and offering a blueprint for how to build, empower, and uplift communities to defend the sacred from carbon colonialism. Listeners will hear this and more about the various successful campaigns of the PAA in defending the sacred in a “just transition”. 

Guest:
•	Alicia Gallegos, (Laguna Pueblo & Acoma Pueblo Nations), Climate Justice Organizer of the Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA). 

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 Mother Earth, No False Solutions, & Uplifting Indigenous Communities and Nations

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.

KAI is a Native American owned, woman-owned, small business that delivers innovative solutions for government and commercial clients. Our expertise spans diverse specialty areas, including public health, education, and economic development. We work closely with federal, tribal, state, and regional governments; associations; foundations; and private-sector businesses.

New tracks tagged #alaska natives