Thursday, November 13, 2025 – Educational outcomes are about more than just grades for Native American students

A relentless offensive against minority student recruiting and retention threatens more than Native American participation in school. Advocates for such outreach say it affects community well-being and even the health of Native citizens. We’ll hear from proponents for Native student achievement about President Donald Trump’s “Compact for Higher Education” and the latest trends in Native enrollment. L. John Lufkins (Bay Mills Ojibwe) led a daring rescue of fellow fishermen the same night as the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Photo: by Ellie Katz/Points North) Also in our discussion today is a harrowing story of survival. As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the storied wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior, there is another remarkable account of a group of Native fishermen caught in the same storm that day. We’ll hear from Interlochen Public Radio reporter Ellie Katz who talked to some of the men for the Points North podcast. GUESTS Emma Grellinger (Stockbridge Munsee and descendent of the Oneida Nation), current president of the Association and medical student at UCSF Andrew Curley (Diné), associate professor at the School of Geography, Development, & Environment at the University of Arizona Regis Pecos (Cochiti Pueblo), co-founder and co-director of the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute and former Governor of Cochiti Pueblo Ellie Katz, reporter for Points North and Interlochen Public Radio   Break 1 Music: A Turtle’s Honour Song [NDN Jazz] (song) Mwalim (artist) Break 2 Music: Only A Whisper (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)