Arts Archives » Native America Calling

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy won 17 Academy Awards and its legacy endures nearly 25 years after the first film’s release. The trilogy’s success has put its filming location, New Zealand, on the industry map. The motion picture business contributes at least $2.12 billion a year to New Zealand’s economy. That’s also been a boon for Indigenous cinema. Māori film critic and programmer Leo Koziol calls it a “renaissance". The recent Māori-led film The Convert, directed by Lee Tamahori, is garnering critical acclaim. We’ll talk with Koziol and hear from Māori creatives who worked on Lord of the Rings about progress on Māori representation in film since then. This is an encore show and we won't be taking live calls from listeners. 

The acrobatic dance style known as "Breaking" started almost a half century ago with the hip-hop culture on the streets of the Bronx. Among its most enduring features is the influence of powwow fancy dance steps. Breaking’s debut at the Paris Olympics propelled awareness of the current skill and athleticism that goes into it. We’ll talk with noted Native b-boys and b-girls about the origins and future of breaking.

Distinctly Native American artwork, fashion, and films converge again for the annual Santa Fe Indian Market, with at least 1,000 booths and somewhere around 100,000 visitors. Native America Calling is live from Santa Fe, hearing from Southwestern Association for Indian Arts representatives, 2023 Best In Show winner Jennifer Tafoya, curators from the Native Cinema Showcase, and others to get a preview of the largest juried Native art market in the world.

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy won 17 Academy Awards and its legacy endures nearly 25 years after the first film’s release. The trilogy’s success has put its filming location, New Zealand, on the industry map. The motion picture business contributes at least $2.12 billion a year to New Zealand’s economy. That’s also been a boon for Indigenous cinema. Māori film critic and programmer Leo Koziol calls it a “renaissance". The recent Māori-led film The Convert, directed by Lee Tamahori, is garnering critical acclaim. We’ll talk with Koziol and hear from Māori creatives who worked on Lord of the Rings about progress on Māori representation in film since then.

Blackfeet actor Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American to win a Golden Globe for best actress. She acknowledged the "allies" that supported her win for her role as Mollie in “Killers of the Flower Moon”. In her acceptance speech she spoke Blackfeet and dedicated the award to every "little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid out there who has a dream". We’ll talk to some of the people inspired by Gladstone’s words and some of the people who inspired her along her artistic journey.

A new year offers a sense of promise. But that promise this year comes with the backdrop of lingering division that infects our personal and professional relationships. Heated political discourse is at the top of the list and permeates everything from how we protect our own health to how we approach international security. Today on Native America Calling, we’ll speak with Theda New Breast (Blackfeet), master trainer and facilitator for the Native Wellness Institute and board member of the Sovereign Bodies Institute; James Anderson (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe), motivational speaker and success trainer; and D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas (Odawa Nation), motivational storyteller, bestselling author, and owner of Native Discovery Inc., about bridging divisions and avoiding the traps that drive wedges between us.