Episode 793
American Abilities Columbus Day
Why watch: Explore Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day — the history, differing perspectives, and hearing-health concerns of Indigenous communities.
Episode 793 marks Columbus Day by exploring the national conversation around the holiday and Indigenous Peoples' Day. The program follows the movement to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day and its growing approval, revisits a 1960 Mell-O-Toons animation of Christopher Columbus, and shares VOA News and VOA Learning English perspectives on why some celebrate the day and others find it divisive. Sound Tips™ during the broadcast looks at hearing health among Indigenous Peoples — Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and tribal communities from children to adults. For viewers and families, the program offers a thoughtful way to understand a holiday many observe in different ways, told accessibly. For educators, tribal and community partners, broadcasters, sponsors, and funders, it continues AATV's holiday tradition of pairing the stories of the season with the hearing-health questions of the people who live them.
In this program
- Changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day Gains National Approval
- Christopher Columbus (1960) Mell-O-Toons Animation
- Holiday Honors Indigenous People Instead of Christopher Columbus
- Learn English with VOA News — Columbus Day: Some Love It, Others Not So Much
- Understanding Indigenous Peoples' Day — VOA News
- US Columbus Day Celebration Still Viewed by Many as Divisive
Sound Tips™ Companion
Sound Tips™ for this Columbus Day broadcast looks at hearing health among Indigenous Peoples — Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and tribal communities, from children to adults, including members of the Tongva tribe. Research shows hearing loss affects American Indian and Alaska Native adults more often than non-Hispanic white adults — roughly 6.5% to 10.4% versus 3.7% to 6.7% of adults 45 and older — and hearing loss in these communities often travels with other health concerns. Ear infections and middle-ear disease are a major reason: studies of Native children, from mass surveys on the Navajo Nation to research in rural Alaska and among First Nations school children, have repeatedly found high rates of middle-ear disease and hearing loss — in one First Nations school study, more than 20% of children. Tips for families and tribal communities: treat ear infections early and completely, keep up regular hearing screenings for children and adults, and ask a school, clinic, or Indian Health Service provider for a full hearing evaluation if a child or elder seems to struggle to hear.
- Source: Hearing-Related Health Among Adult American Indians From a Pacific Northwest Tribe (American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2017)
- Source: Prevalence of Childhood Hearing Loss in Rural Alaska (Ear and Hearing, 2023)
- Source: Occurrence of Otitis Media and Hearing Loss Among First Nations Elementary School Children (CJSLPA, 2007)
- Source: NIDCD Quick Statistics About Hearing
Watch American Abilities: Sundays 10 AM ET · CW-WHAM Spectrum 16/1212 · WHAMDT2 (CW) 13.2 On the Air · DirecTV Ch. 14