Welcome to the 21st season of Native Report.

I'm Rita Carpin.

Production for Native Report is made possible by grants from the Blandon Foundation, the generous support from viewers like Jack and Sharon Kemp, and viewers like you.

In many rural native communities, radio remains a vital lifeline, connecting people to news, culture, and one another.

For more than four decades, WJB radio has served as a trusted voice, sharing information, music, and community stories across northwestern Wisconsin.

We sat down with the station's general manager to learn why this work matters, how the station continues to adapt, and what it takes to keep community radio on the air.

WJB88.9 FM.

This is Native Tuesday.

I'm your host DJ Will aka Cloud Man.

Thanks for tuning in.

If you're just tuning in, the uniqueness of the voice that we provide to the community.

There's nowhere you're going to get anything like this.

You know, sure there's other media in the US and other native media, but radio is really important, especially when you get in a rural community like this.

For a lot of people here, radio is all they have.

I mean, there's there's a lot of dead zones around here.

You have no cell service.

You definitely have no cable TV.

I mean, you might not even have electricity, but you can have a battery or solar powered radio.

And people rely on us for, you know, closings, weather information, emergencies, and entertainment and uh and education, news.

It's it's just it's so vital, especially when you get into the rural communities.

It's uh that's why I think that there there will always be a place for WJB.

My name is Carl Hobik.

I'm general manager of WJB radio broadcasting from the Ludere reservation in reserve Wisconsin which is a community in the northwestern part of the state.

We are 100,000 m radio station and uh we serve an area approximately 100 miles in diameter.

We've been on the air 43 years.

We're very proud of what we're do and we consider ourselves uh the voice of our tribe, those of the curray band and uh I'm happy to be part of it.

I've been the general manager for since 2021.

However, I began uh my experience.

I started as a volunteer with the church with the radio station in 2008 and I uh was an on air personality on air volunteer DJ what's going on now with our funding regardless we're here to stay and uh this isn't going to stop us.

We've got a lot of support in the community.

We're a lot of people appreciate what we do and uh you know you kind of realize that over the years and you can see it but now when things become difficult you really you really appreciate the uh the love from uh not just our local community but all over the world really.

I mean, we we received donations from virtually around the globe and uh people know what we're doing here in Northwestern Wisconsin and uh they truly appreciate it and uh we appreciate their support.

You know, we have to absorb that.

We have to uh try to make things better, move on.

And uh you know it's it's it's a constant change and uh in our community virtually anybody is invited to speak if they if they have something significant to speak.

If it's not uh if it's going to be informative and educational and uh something that the community should be aware of then by all means they can come on and and say what they want.

Well, up here, you know, we we uh a lot of our programming is from uh National Public Radio, uh PBS, uh Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, uh in-house presentations like uh Monkey Tong Show is very popular.

Our Native Tuesday show, POW music, coverage of our various POWs, our veterans pow of the earth pow, all that would be gone.

and uh actually live people talking on the air.

There's no other radio stations around here that have have actual voices behind a microphone that are actual human beings sitting there as much as we do.

It's just everything now is canned and automated and and uh that's something that would be gone if WJB was gone, but something to think about.

Uh when we first got the news, of course, it was uh very devastating and and uh I'm not going to lie, I I panicked a little bit and and thought, "Oh no, what are we going to do?

This is u you know easy to calculate is approximately 40% of our funding when how can we recover this cuz we work so hard now to maintain what we have and and the last thing I wanted to do was cut personnel and I want our people to you know I don't want to cut their wages I don't want them to lose their jobs and uh you know all this stuff started going through my head and then it was immediately ly before we even said anything, before we even made a plea to the community, donations started rolling in.

For an example, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, who is typically helping, you know, urban communities, they reached out to us and gave us a phenomenal donation.

And that was one of the first ones we got.

I thought, "Wow, if uh if if this is the reaction we're getting, I'm going to have no worries."

And uh and they did.

They started to subside and and now, you know, a few months down the road, uh we've got funding, we received some funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Uh I've talked to Native Public Media, who's an organization that uh re represents uh a lot of tribal radio stations and television stations.

They're raising a lot of money on their own, which uh you know, the it's been pretty much decided that the BA funding will carry us over for this year.

uh next year native of public media plans to jump on board where they can distribute their funds if they need to be which will be almost equivalent to what we've lost from the uh corporation for public broadcasting funding.

Otherwise, the BIA is has also talked about continuing this indefinitely where they can provide the 9, 10, 11 million dollars that u that native stations need every year to function.

There's been a a tremendous outflow of support and uh you know, I don't know what to say.

I I I I write a lot of thank you letters.

I talked to a lot of people in person and thank them and just the uh you know and I think that the the organizations like yourself that ask these kind of questions that let people know exactly what we're all about and exactly why there's a need to keep what we have going.

We got about four songs left in this punk rock set.

We're going to go to MXPX for Let's Ride.

We're going to go to Pennywise, the band, not the clown for Revolution.

Then we're going to go to Misha and the Spanx for I Want Fire.

Misha and the Spanx were on earlier in the program.

Indigenous band coming to us out of Canada.

And then we're going to go to Dice Spits for Pop Punk Anthem and close the set out.

Take a listen here on WJB Native Tuesday.

Here is MXPX with Let's Ride.

You know, we can adjust a little bit.

We can, you know, we can afford to lose a few thousand dollars here and there, but you know, nothing gets cheaper.

Our our electric bills don't get any cheaper.

You know, people people's wages, you know, need to we be adjusted for cost of living.

We're more fortunate than uh than a lot of other stations I'm aware of.

There's there's other stations that are in more rural communities than we are.

they have to rely on the BIA funding and uh they don't have the ability to really uh produce a a functioning business model that's sustainable just because of their you know the demographic there where they live and they don't have a lot of people that are listening.

I mean, there's there's radio stations in Alaska that serve 300 people, 500 people, but it's it's a rural community and that's all they have.

And that's what these people rely on for daytoday.

And they're they try to do the same thing we do.

And uh they don't have the the luxuries that we have.

And that's that that kind of worries me and makes me sad.

But uh and that's why I thank the BIA and I think organizations like Native Public Media that are reaching out and really doing something on a national level that uh that really needs to keep us going and helps keep us united as well.

And uh volunteers are huge.

They're a huge part of what goes on here.

They make a uh make up a lot of our uh our air time and they come in and uh you know almost a little nervous at first and train them in on the board and ask them you know what they're what kind of genre they prefer or what they prefer to do and uh they get thrown into the fire and so that's one thing that uh like I said that's one of the reasons why we have to keep on keep on going because it's so important to the community that I can't imagine and I'm not alone in this being without WJB.

Despite ongoing challenges, Ojiway Radio continues to move forward with the support of its listeners, volunteers, and community partners.

As funding models change and technology evolves, the station's mission remains the same, to inform, connect, and amplify local voices.

It's a reminder of the powerful role community radio plays, especially where it's needed most.

Pneumonia is an infection of the air sacks in one or both lungs.

The air sacks are called Lvli and are normally filled with air.

The human body is amazing and there are about 300 million to 500 million LVLI in our lungs.

If they get filled with fluid or pus, that fluid can get infected.

This causes a cough, fever, and difficulty breathing.

Other symptoms can include sweating, shaking, chills, fatigue, confusion, and chest pain with coughing or breathing.

Pneumonia can range from mild to life-threatening.

A physical exam, blood tests, and X-rays or CT scans are used to detect pneumonia.

Pneumonia is most serious for the very young, the very old, and those with weakened immune systems or other health problems.

Community acquired pneumonia is the most common type of pneumonia.

This is from germs that are present in everyday life and our immune systems normally fight off.

These are bacteria most often, but some viruses that cause cold and flu can cause pneumonia.

Sometimes fungal infections can cause pneumonia.

Pneumonas that happen in hospitals or healthcare facilities can be caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and can be more severe.

Aspiration pneumonia happens when you inhale food, liquid, vomit, or saliva into your lungs.

Most of the time we're good at protecting our lungs, but sometimes brain injuries or swallowing problems or alcohol and drugs can compromise that function.

People with asthma, heart disease, and COPD are at greater risk for pneumonia.

People with weakened immune systems are at higher risk.

These include chemotherapy, HIV, long-term steroid therapy, and organ transplant patients.

Sometimes pneumonia can be treated with a course of antibiotics you can take at home.

More severe illness requires hospitalization and IV antibiotics.

Bacteria in the lungs can spread to your bloodstream and cause other organs to be affected.

Sometimes being in the intensive care unit on a ventilator is necessary.

If fluid accumulates around the lungs, it will need to be drained with a chest tube or by surgery.

There are ways to help prevent pneumonia.

Vaccines are available to prevent some types of pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses.

Washing your hands regularly or using an alcohol-based sanitizer is very easy to do and is very important.

Getting enough sleep, regular exercise, and a healthy diet will help keep your immune system strong.

Don't smoke.

Smoking affects your lungs natural defenses and puts you at higher risk.

Listen to your healthcare provider and see them regularly.

They have your best interest at heart.

Remember to call an elder.

They've been waiting for your call.

I'm Dr.

Arie Vineo and this is Health Matters.

A group of artists working collectively with All My Relations Gallery is using performance art to explore identity, community, and belonging.

Their work blends storytelling, visual design, and movement to create an experience centered on connection to family, to culture, and to one another.

So all my relations collective is a group of artists who came together to work in a shared set of values and we um are all interdicciplinary and we work um in many different mediums primarily in live performance um and we do very community centered work.

So the story evolves around courage and love and togetherness and family and as a writer these are some themes that I often write about um including chosen family because I think it's really important that we are you know all together gathered around Jim my understanding originally came from uh Tai defo he's the solo performer in this and there is this idea of a journey of a person who's looking at the world wondering what their place in it how is it that they fit it in relationship to not just the world itself but their family to the things that are around us.

And I think most of us as human beings go through those moments of questioning.

Where do I come from?

What is the meaning and why am I here?

Where am I going?

What is my purpose?

All of those things occur to us at different times in our life.

Especially so when we're younger and just beginning to figure out who we are in relationship to who all these other people are that have demands and want us to learn or to be in a certain way.

And it's often times there's some voice inside of you at moments of your life that wonders is there more and that wondering can take us to really interesting places.

I met folks at the Great Lakes Lifeways Institute um building a GMON um at one of stops as I do as an artist and all of a sudden um Blood Memory, ancestral memory started to come back to me as I started building and remembering that my family uh the Defo in Northern Territory um also built Jim.

And so it was sort of a reoccurring theme that kept coming up including water um and also including um really thinking about mental health health awareness uh with youth and for families and how can we engage and begin a dialogue through story through um talking to each other to feeling each other.

Um and so that sort of became the the heart of the story the heartbeat of the story.

So, we have a big team.

Um, it might just be like one person on stage, Tai, and like all of the characters um that he brings to life.

Um, but there are so many human beings that go into doing that work.

Um, from the creative producers, um, but also we have folks backstage.

Um, we have uh the folks in the booth that are like pressing the buttons and such, but we have all of the designers.

And then we also have the folks from the Great Lakes Lifeways Institute who we've been collaborating with for a very long time and they um dreamed up our sort of reverse engineer Jim Luwasi Jim um as well as the birch bark mask and as well as the turtle shell for grandma turtle activist.

So when our audiences come to see it and they're sitting in the theater, um they're going to see a reverse engineered Gimon because it's a skeleton canoe and it's a canoe that has been under the water for hundreds and hundreds of years that gets revived.

So it's really exciting is watching some of youth youth recognize some of this the symbols that we're trying to get out there.

Um, you'll see the king fisher, a bird um that's often seen along the rivers, have a a miniature roach on its head that one might see at a pow-wow celebration.

So, it's a little miniature um roach on top of the head to really give the effect of like a punk rocker that this bird has been there and is um you know, really protesting for life.

I feel like there's a lot of moments where projection, lighting, sound, and tie we just there's a couple moments in the show that really gives me goosebump moments cuz you see all the elements well blended together and you be like, "Wow, this is happening."

And it truly feels like magic to in my opinion.

We are not prescriptive in how we work.

We all have a lot of experience coming from different backgrounds.

Um, and we're all working artists.

Um, I'm also an educator.

Um, so we're bringing a lot of different parts of ourselves to this space.

We are also functioning as creative producers.

And one of the reasons that we're doing that is because we want to make sure all of the decisions and the process are aligned with our values.

All my relations collective is a a collective of individuals that are dedicated towards um narrative justice and storytelling.

And I feel like it's so important to work with groups of people.

You know, one of our Anishnab teachings, not one person knows everything, but together we know a lot.

And I really do feel that way when working in collective.

Someone's holding down the design of the piece as we're putting it on stage.

Someone else is holding down story.

Someone's holding down community relations.

Another person is holding what it might sound and look like.

um including being very thoughtful with some of the materials we're using as as people.

Um the clothing that I'm wearing on the stage down to the shoes to the socks to some of the earrings to the um the denim that I'm wearing um in is all inclusive of native people.

So working with the collective it's like having several brains.

This is the first time I did a a children's show which uh I As an adult, I hear a lot of stories when I was a kid and then um now doing this production and seeing like a similar story again gives me a very different perspective and uh there's a lot of things to think and I I I feel like it's although it's a child show, it's not just for children.

Long ago there was a birch bark in something I find particularly wonderful about working with all my relations collective is that we don't really privilege one form of expression over any other.

Um, in a lot of different spaces, the written word is sort of king.

But for us, who are many different interdisciplinary artists that are working in different ways, the the words and the story um are at the same level of artistic value as the lights and the costumes and the visual effects that are happening and the movement um and the intention that's coming through.

And with skeleton canoe, it goes so deep because the materials have a complete life of themselves and they sort of lead where the story is going.

Um, with the wigwasi, the birch bark, that's the primary character and the inspiration and the relationship with the water.

So that was sort of the seed of skeleton canoe.

And then Nabin came from there.

And the relationship between Nabin and Jim um brings us through this story that brings us back to community and back to home.

By bringing together many forms of expression, this collective shows how storytelling can open space for dialogue, healing, and understanding with native and non-native youth, adults, and elders.

Their work reminds us that no single voice carries a story alone, and that when creativity is shared, it can help guide us back to community and connection.

Larry always said it's it's not just a privilege to be an Indian.

It's a responsibility.

You have a responsibility to give back to our ancestors for the sacrifices they made so we can continue on as nations.

So I was born in 1954 and the Indian Freedom and Religious Act did not come into effect until 1978.

Growing up I can at about 5 years old.

The only POW I'd gone to as a young child was in Sawyer and it was at night and the only lighting there was a the fire and headlights and it was quite secluded and not realizing that it was out in the woods and hidden for a reason.

Didn't figure that out until that I learned that native spirituality, American Indian spirituality was outlawed until 1978. looking back at that first paw and being so young, you know, probably five years old and being but remembering it clearly.

The only one I can remember being on the drum was um an old man by the name of Skinnol Prairie.

Skinno was his reser name.

Lewis was his real name.

And the only reason I knew that is because he lived in a little shack, little one room shack by the church on the res.

and his mailbox was at next to the steps at the church, Louisis Le Prairie.

That's the only reason I knew his real name.

Um, and thinking on, you know, later on going to POW House, the things that had changed.

Today, what they might call a traditional POW is really not a traditional POW.

They call it that because in part it is, but there's all these vendors and selling things and it's different than a big drum ceremony where you go there and it's teachings.

It's not the same.

You don't have the vendors.

uh you're there to listen and and participate when asked to uh and learn.

It's teachings other than what they might call a traditional powo is really a social power and it's a good thing because it brings people from all around their beautiful regalia or just dancing and enjoying themselves being Indian and being okay with it cuz there you can be yourself.

If you missed a show or want to catch up online, find us at nativereport.org.

And don't forget to follow us on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for behindthescene updates.

Drop a comment on social media if you enjoyed the show.

Thank you for spending time with your friends and neighbors from across Indian country.

I'm Rita Carpin, and we'll see you next time on Native Report.