Distributed by Native Voice One in partnership with WNYC, First America is a one-hour special marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Hosted by Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagle, it uncovers the Indigenous history at the heart of America's founding and how it continues to shape the nation today.

This summer our country will celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration has been described as many things, but chief amongst them, according to scholars, is a list of complaints. And the last entry, the climax in our founders’ reasons for rebellion against the Crown? It’s this: “He has excited… the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”

We have been told the Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But First America reveals the long-buried history behind the Revolution: What the founders were most angry about in our country’s most famous document was Indian affairs. Hunger for more Indigenous land was one of the biggest drivers of the Revolutionary War. How did generations of Americans miss this?

Hosted by Cherokee reporter Rebecca Nagle working in collaboration with leading Native historians, First America will unveil how the founders’ treatment of Indigenous nations—and their resistance—shaped US democracy, and, crucially, how our current political moment was 250 years in the making.

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Sounds, songs, and radio art from a variety of contributors. Tune in for something you've never heard before with familiar classics and transmission art mixed in.