A Historic November 🗳️
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The Ten News Season 3: Episode 13
In today's episode:
✔️ It’s Fact or Fiction Time: Guest Shaniqua McClendon from Crooked Media tells the truth about the midterm elections
đź“ť Honor Native American History Month by understanding the terms used by Indigenous people
❤️ Get an update from LizaBanks Campagna on the government’s work to rename areas to respect Indigenous Americans
đź“śTrivia with Tessa: What treaty has the US Government failed to honor on behalf of the Cherokee Nation?
Links
Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land
NAJA_Reporting_and_Indigenous_Terminology_Guide.pdf (najanewsroom.com)
Native American Heritage Month | NCAI
National Native American Heritage Month
How The Treaty Of New Echota Led to the Trail of Tears : Code Switch : NPR
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TRANSCRIPT:
Pamela Kirkland
We honor indigenous elders and culture bearers past, present, and future.
Ryan Willard
Whatcha doing, Pamela?
Pamela Kirkland
Hey, Ryan, it’s Native American Heritage Month. So, I'm writing an indigenous land acknowledgment.
Ryan Willard
Wait, what's an indigenous land acknowledgment?
Pamela Kirkland
Well, indigenous people were pushed off their ancestral rightful land. So, we want to acknowledge that and honor the people whose land we're on here at the Ten News studio.
Ryan Willard
Oh, yeah, we are working on indigenous land right now. Wait, how do you know whose land you're on?
Pamela Kirkland
That's a great question. It depends on where you live. So, if you live in New York City, you live on the traditional, ancestral, rightful home of the Lenape Nation. And if you live in San Francisco you live on Ohione, Ramaytush, or Muwekma land.
Ryan Willard
Cool, but what if Ten'ers ask me whose land they're on and I don't know the answer?
Pamela Kirkland
Tell the Ten'ers, they can visit the link in our show notes for a map of indigenous territories.
Ryan Willard
Ooh, it's exploration time.
Pamela Kirkland
But, also time to start the show. I'm Pamela Kirkland.
Ryan Willard
I'm Ryan Willard. It's Wednesday, November 16th. And this is the Ten News.
Sound Bit
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Pamela Kirkland
Maybe you've noticed a lot of strong feelings and strong language around the recent midterm elections. The results of the election had been called into question in some cases. So, what's true and what's not?
Ryan Willard
To be honest, I don't always know so we had to call an expert. Hey, everyone, we've got the VP of Politics at Crooked Media. Shaniqua McClendon who's joining us in the studio for this edition of the Ten News: Fact or Fiction. You ready, Shaniqua? Let's do this! Shaniqua McClendon, first of all, why should we trust you? And how do you check your sources? Or what do you do?
Shaniqua McClendon
So, I am a trustworthy person. But I say you should trust your own sources. And I can tell you some of the sources I use. Reputable newspapers or the New York Times, Washington Post, but there's a ton more out there. But really just checking to see if are these real journalists. Or is this like an opinion site, and then I worked on the Hill for some time? So if I'm looking into policy, I'll actually go to congress.gov, pull up the bill, and see what's in there. But it's really just about making sure that the source that you get your information from is reputable.
Ryan Willard
So you're saying I can go to congress.gov. And I can actually read the bills myself?
Shaniqua McClendon
Yes, you can. And another source that people don't tell you about. It's actually a congressional source. But if you Google Congressional Research Service report, and whatever issue you're looking up, that is the research service that lives within Capitol Hill. And that's what staffers rely on to get reports and summaries of some of those bills, or just a long history of a piece of legislation or policy.
Ryan Willard
Okay, so I can get the same information that the White House staff is using. Yep. All right. I believe I can trust you Shaniqua, so I'm going to throw out a bunch of different questions or statements, and you're going to tell me if they are Fact or Fiction. Okay. Question number one. This was a record-making midterm election.
Shaniqua McClendon
That is a fact. Typically, whoever is in the White House, which Democrats are in the White House right now, their party tends to lose pretty, pretty big during their first midterm election. And that did not happen. Democrats actually kept the Senate and it's not like they had a huge margin. They actually were split 50/50. And now they have 50 seats secured already, but might pick up another one. So that's, you know, the absolute opposite of what typically happens. And in the house, we don't have that sorted out yet. It's expected that Republicans will flip the house. But again, it's going to be by a very small margin, and just look back to 2018. Democrats flipped 40 seats in 2018. So, that's typically what you see when, when you have the midterms, the party in power, loses a lot. But, that is not the case this time.
Ryan Willard
And I heard Generation Z has its first Congress person, is that true or not true? Fact or fiction?
Shaniqua McClendon
Fact. I actually got to chat with Maxwell Frost this weekend. At an event I did and he is so inspiring. He even said it's not about him being the first because he won't be the last but the reason he ran for office is that he wanted to represent the community. He's been organizing for 10 years, but it is a fact and I'm really excited to see young people getting elected to Congress.
Ryan Willard
Okay, I have a very important one, a lot of people have said this in the past, there was widespread voter fraud, meaning people cheated while voting. There are broken machines, there are hacked machines. There are all sorts of weird things happening is that fact or fiction?
Shaniqua McClendon
That is fiction. This is, you know, you know, I'm just gonna call it a lie that we've been hearing for some time. You know, again, check your sources. People talk about voter fraud all the time, but they have no sources, there's not a lot that they can point to, to show that there's widespread voter fraud, there have been very few instances probably, like, you know, fewer than you can count on to two hands of people actually committing what they are calling voter fraud. And in a lot of these instances, people are confused, they're not maliciously going out to break the law. But by and large, our elections are secure and safe. And this is just something people who are upset, they lost say.
Ryan Willard
A very serious one, factor fiction, Generation Z did not vote, they simply played video games and made TikToks.
Shaniqua McClendon
You know that is false. You know, I will say maybe they weren't playing video games and making TikToks. But I saw a lot of voting TikToks. So they, you know, they went out and voted, there was a lot of, you know, just people assuming that Gen Z was not going to show up to vote. And I'm so happy that the opposite happened, that I think the results of the election on Tuesday, the results that we've still been getting for a week now are due in large part to Gen Z.
Ryan Willard
Okay, I'm gonna end this one with a very, very serious question that I feel like our audience might be wondering, if you are between the ages of 8 and 13 years old right now, it doesn't matter what happens in politics, since you're not old enough to vote, fact or fiction?
Shaniqua McClendon
It totally matters what happens. And honestly, you all are who young people, especially people under the age of 18, are who's going to be left with the decisions that lawmakers are making right now. You can't vote but you can have an impact on who does vote and tell all the adults I can't vote. But these things are important to me. So please take this seriously and show up.
Ryan Willard
That is everything I want it to hear and know right now. Shaniqua thank you so much for joining us and taking time out of your incredibly busy day.
Shaniqua McClendon
Absolutely, love being here.
Ryan Willard
Now you know the facts and you can spot the fiction. Thanks for the breakdown, Shaniqua. Ten'ers, if you have more questions about the election, check out associatedpress.com for the most up-to-date election coverage.
Pamela Kirkland
How's that map exploration going, Ryan?
Ryan Willard
It is so cool to see the names of thousands of indigenous nations and tribes in what we now call the US.
Pamela Kirkland
And speaking of names, I consulted the Native American journalists association to better understand the different terms that we hear when talking about indigenous groups. Or really, what did you learn? The term Native American generally represents all native people of the continental United States, and some in Alaska, cool. Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiian have preferred terms for Native people from the land now associated with those states. Nice. The term American Indian often used interchangeably with Native American and historically used by the federal government is actually becoming less acceptable to native peoples today. The word indigenous with a capital I is used to represent people who self-identify as native and in the US, refers specifically to those with tribal membership or citizenship did not know that.
Ryan Willard
Oh, and whenever possible, it's always best to refer to Native people by their tribal affiliation, or the specific tribes, nations, or communities they're connected to just remember that individuals have different preferences. So, if you're not sure, just ask. We've been talking about Native American Heritage Month.
Pamela Kirkland
But, what exactly is Native American Heritage Month?
Ryan Willard
Great question, Pamela. This month, also called American Indian and Alaskan Native Heritage Month is a celebration of the contributions and achievements of Indigenous Americans. And a big part of recognizing Indigenous Americans is being respectful of their culture. That led to a number of sports teams, universities, and towns changing their names. Here to tell us more is LizaBanks Campagna.
LizaBanks Campagna
Deb Holland made history when she was sworn in as the United States Secretary of Interior. It's a pretty cool job overseeing the use and conservation of federal land. Holland became the first Native American Cabinet Secretary in US history and she continues to make history. I bring my perspective and I bring a very strong priority to ensure that other native voices are heard. One of her big moves as a department head was to launch a task force to remove derogatory which means disrespectful names from federal land. The task force took submissions from the public and now nearly a year later, over one thousand recommendations were submitted for name changes. And Deb Holland announced the commonly used native word has been officially classified as derogatory because of its historical use as an offensive slur for Indigenous women. Over 600 locations were renamed because of the removal of the word, with some locations being renamed to reflect the local indigenous language and tribes that are native to the regions. The department consulted with nearly 70 tribal governments to come up with the new names of locations that are mostly in the Southwest in Arizona, Nevada, California, and even Alaska. Excellent. This is a great step in the right direction, but there's still plenty of work to be done. The department is now addressing name changes on a case-by-case basis. Holland said I feel a deep obligation to use my platform to ensure that our public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming. That starts with removing racist and derogatory names that have graced federal locations for far too long. This is where my family is. This is where my history is. We've been here for tens of thousands of years. And we want to make sure that we're defending this land for future generations.
Ryan Willard
Wow. Thanks so much, LizaBanks.
Pamela Kirkland
That's so cool. Ten'ers, you can check out more Native American Heritage Month resources, including an indigenous film festival with kid-friendly shorts at the link in our show notes.
Tessa Flannery
Welcome to the trivia room.
Shaniqua McClendon
Thank you so much for having me here. This is absolutely amazing.
Tessa Flannery
Welcome, Shaniqua. Feel free to take a seat on the trivia throne for today's trivia question. You ready?
Shaniqua McClendon
I'm ready.
Sound Bit
What is going on here?
Tessa Flannery
It's Native American Heritage Month. And today's trivia is about broken treaties. Way back in 1835, the US government signed a treaty with the Cherokee Nation, but to this day have not honored it. Do you know what the government promised but failed to deliver? Is it a) a seat in Congress, b) statehood, or c) their own navy? Ten'ers, did you guess it? Shaniqua, what's your answer?
Shaniqua McClendon
I feel like I'm a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire right now. Okay, so my approach, their own navy doesn't make sense, because they can just utilize the resources of the United States. And statehood is not something I've ever understood to be promised to Cherokee Nation. So, I'm gonna go with a) a seat in Congress.
Tessa Flannery
The answer is a) a seat in Congress! The Treaty of New Echota led to the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal from Georgia to Oklahoma. In the terms of the treaty, in addition to promising the Cherokee nation money and land, the US government also promised the Cherokee nation a non-voting seat in the House of Representatives. But this never happened. Now, Cherokee Activists are pressing Washington to honor the treaty and appoint their representative. Although they won’t be able to vote on legislation, they will be able to introduce new laws and be on committees, giving the Cherokee Nation a voice in Congress. Ten'ers, do you want to sit on the trivia throne and share your trivia knowledge? Visit thetennews.com/contact to get in touch and we might have you on the show.
Pamela Kirkland
Well, Ryan, it's been another great day at the Ten News.
Ryan Willard
And now we're gonna give special Ten News snaps to some of our listeners.
Pamela Kirkland
But, before we do, here's a quick note for the grownups.
Ryan Willard
Okay, now it's time for Ten News snaps. From Apple podcasts we have a comment from I'mtheAwesomeKid who said "Oh, my dog, best podcast ever, so good! Ryan is so funny. And Pamela is such a good host. That is the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me. Thank you, AwesomeKid.
Pamela Kirkland
Thanks to MomSlice1 who wrote us an Apple Podcast Review! It was great to read that your 8 year old says that “they really get kids”.
Ryan Willard
And TottiVirginia said the easy and thoughtful way to introduce kids to events happening around the world. Thank you so much and thanks for listening to the Ten News. Ten Things You Need to Know drops every Tuesday and our in-depth reports drop every Wednesday. But if you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten'ers Club on our website or on Apple podcasts.
Pamela Kirkland
The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts.
Ryan Willard
The Ten News creative team is looking up whose land they're on and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, and Tessa Flannery. Special thanks to Shaniqua McClendon and LizaBanks Campagna for contributing to this episode.
Pamela Kirkland
Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle. And our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.
Ryan Willard
I'm Ryan Willard.
Pamela Kirkland
And I'm Pamela Kirkland and thanks for listening to the Ten News!
