Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges August 1995 OTA- ITC- 621 1 Recommended Citation: U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges, OTA- ITC- 621 (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, August 1995). 2 iii oreword elecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportuni-ties and Challenges examines the potential of telecommunications to improve the socioeconomic conditions of Native AmericansP American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native HawaiiansP living in rural, remote areas, and to help them maintain their cultures and exercise control over their lives and destinies. The report discusses the opportunities for Native Americans to use tele-communications (including computer networking, videoconferencing, multimedia, digital and wireless technologies, and the like) in the realms of culture, education, health care, economic development, and governance. It also explores the challenges and barriers to realizing these opportunities, notably the need to improve the technology infrastructure (and access to it), technical training, leadership, strategic partnerships, and telecommunica-tions planning on Indian reservations and in Alaska Native villages and Na-tive Hawaiian communities. Prepared at the request of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, this is the first federal government report on Native American telecommunica-tions. It provides a framework for technology planning and policy actions by Congress and relevant federal agencies, as well as by Native leaders and governments. Native Americans were involved throughout the study. OTA made site visits to six states and consulted with Native leaders and technolo-gy experts in about two dozen other states. Computer networking was used extensively for research and outreach, and OTA developed the Native American Resource Page for this study, a World Wide Web home page ac-cessible via OTA Online (http:// www. ota. gov/ nativea. html). OTA appreciates the assistance of the project advisory panelists, a ma-jority of whom are Native American, and federal agency workshop partici-pants, as well as the many Native government, federal and state govern-ment, library, educational, business, and other groups and individuals who participated in the study. OTA values their perspectives and comments; the report is, however, solely the responsibility of OTA. ROGER C. HERDMAN Director 3 v dvisory Panel David Iha, Chairperson Provost Kauai Community College Lihue, Kauai, HI Haunani Apoliona President Alu Like Honolulu, HI George Baldwin Professor California State University at Monterey Bay Seaside, CA Manley Begay Executive Director American Indian Economic Development Project John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Cambridge, MA Ann Bishop Assistant Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign Champaign, IL Connie Buffalo President Electronic Pathways Vice President Mind Extension Institute Jones Interactive Inglewood, CO Steve Cisler Senior Scientist Advanced Technology Group Apple Computer, Inc. Cupertino, CA Nedra Darling Director Reel Indian Productions Santa Fe, NM Gary Garrison Telecommunications Project Manager American Indian Higher Education Consortium Lincoln, NE Willie Hensley Commissioner Economic Development Alaska Department of Commerce Juneau, AK Russell Huffman, Jr. Public Health Director Yukon- Kuskokwim Health Corp. Bethel, AK 4 vi Rio Lara Bellon Telecommunications Network Project Extension Indian Reservation Program Washington State University and Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Rochester, WA Joseph Orozco Producer California Indian Radio Project Indigenous Communications Association Hoopa, CA Randy Ross Telecommunications Consultant Rapid City, SD Joan Timeche Program Director Center for American Indian Economic Development Co- Executive Director National Executive Education Program for Native American Leadership Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ Charles Trimble President Red Willow Institute Omaha, NE Dave Warren Vice President Media Resources Associates, Inc. Santa Fe, NM Madonna Peltier Yawakie Tribal Nations Market Manager US West Communications Minneapolis, MN Note: OTA appreciates the valuable assistance and thoughtful comments provided by the advisory panelists. The panel does not, however, necessarily approve, disapprove, or endorse this report. OTA assumes full responsibility for the report and the accuracy o! f its contents. 5 vii roject Staff Peter Blair Assistant Director OTA Industry, Commerce, and International Security Division Andrew Wyckoff Program Director OTA Industry, Telecommunications, and Commerce Program James W. Curlin Program Director 1 PRINCIPAL STAFF FRED B. WOOD Project Director Stephanie Gajar Analyst Karla Breitbach Research Assistant Jean E. Smith Project Editor CONTRIBUTING STAFF David Butler Analyst Denise Dougherty Program Director Ray Williamson Senior Associate CONTRACTORS Karen Funk and Sandra Ferguson, Esq. Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker Washington, DC Pat Spears Consultant Aberdeen, SD ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Liz Emanuel Office Administrator Karry Fornshill Secretary Diane Jackson Administrative Secretary Karolyn St. Clair PC Specialist PUBLISHING STAFF Mary Lou Higgs Manager Denise Felix Production Editor Bonnie Sparks Electronic Publishing Specialist Chris Onrubia Senior Graphic Designer ________________ 1 Through September 1994. 6 ix 1 Summary and Policy Implications 1 Opportunities and Challenges 2 Policy Implications 6 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures 17 Native American Cultural and Community Challenges 18 Renewing and Strengthening Native Languages 21 Protecting Sacred Sites and Objects 26 Recording, Developing, and Sharing Native Cultures 27 Broadening Public Awareness of Native Cultures 34 Developing a Native Cultural Empowerment Strategy 35 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community- Building 39 Technologies and Infrastructure for Community- Building 40 Education and Research 44 Health Care 54 Economic Development and Environmental Protection 58 Governance 65 Telecommunications Access for Community- Building 68 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications Policy 73 Historical Context: American Indians and Alaska Natives 74 Historical Context: Native Hawaiians 77 Indian Law and Telecommunications 80 Federal Indian Policy Potentially Applicable to Telecommunications 83 FCC Policies on Minorities 87 ontents 7 x 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications 91 Need for a Policy Framework 92 Empowering Native American Telecommunications 95 Refocusing the Federal Role 104 APPENDICES A Computer Networking for Native Americans 123 B OTA on the Internet: The Native American Resource Page 127 C Native American Telecommunications Infrastructure: Survey Instrument 139 D Reviewers and Contributors 143 E Boxes, Figures, and Tables 153 INDEX 155 8 Summary and Policy Implications s the Internet, electronic mail, compact discs, and digital telephones sweep through much of the United States, Na-tive American activists are asking themselves whether and how the new technology can empower Native com-munities. Or will the new technology of telecommunications and computers serve only as a modern- day version of the telegraph and railroad that ran right through Indian lands with little benefit to the tribes? Will the technology serve to bring together or further disconnect Alaskan and Hawaiian Natives from their continental and island homelands? At the time of the American Revolution, what is now the United States was home to hundreds of indigenous peoples with a variety of forms of self- government, organized at the tribal, vil-lage, or island level. Today's Native AmericansP American In-dians, Alaska Natives, and Native HawaiiansP are the descen-dants of these indigenous peoples. 1 Over the last 200 years, indigenous peoples have struggled to maintain their cultures, sov-ereignty, and self- determination in the face of population pres-sures and ever- expanding national and state governments. The established framework of federal Indian law recognizes tribal sovereignty, a federal trust responsibility for those tribal lands and resources ceded to or taken by the United States, and a commitment to tribal self- determination over programs and ser-vices vital to tribal well- being. Federal law and policy apply this framework to the 550 federally recognized Indian tribesP in-1 Native Americans are defined in this report to include American Indians, Alaska Na-tives (Indian, Aleut, and Eskimo), and Native Hawaiians who are descendants of indige-nous peoples who lived in geographic areas now comprising the United States. |1 9 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges Native Americans Population (total estimated 1990 population) a American Indians 1,875,000 Alaska Natives 86,000 (52% Eskimo, 12% Aleut, 36% Indian) Native Hawaiians 211,000 Grand total 2,172,000 Native Americans living in rural or semi- rural areas American Indians Reservations and trust lands 437,000 Tribal Jurisdictional Statistical Areas (Oklahoma) 201,000 Tribal Designated Statistical Areas 54,000 Other rural/ semirural areas (est.) 250,000 Alaska Natives Alaska Native Village Statistical Areas 47,000 Native Hawaiians Rural/ semi- rural areas (est. ) 70,000 Grand total rural/ semi- rural 1,059,000 a The U S Census Bureau relies heavily on self- identification by respon-dents to obtain Information on race and ethnicity American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages vary in how they determine tribal membership, typically based on family lineage and/ or blood quantum Native Hawaiians are variously defined as having a family lineage and/ or a specified blood quantum traceable to 1778, the time of Captain James Cook's arrival on Hawaiian shores SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, based on in-reformation from the 1990 Census of Population in the following U. S., Bureau of the Census documents Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1994 (Washington, DC U S Government Printing Office, 1994); County & City Data Book, 1994 (GPO, 1994); 1990, Social and Economic Characteristics. Hawaii, 1990 CP- 2- 13 (GPO, September 1993), and "We the First Amer-icans, " September 1993 cluding about 220 Alaska Native tribal or village governments (Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo). Federal policy on Native Hawaiians is more ambiguous, although the United States has apologized for its role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The strong parallels between the history and expe-rience of Native Hawaiians with those of Ameri-can Indians and Alaska Natives provide a basis for including Native Hawaiians within this frame-work. Telecommunications technology offers many opportunities to help Native Americans deepen their cultural roots, empower their communities, strengthen Native governments, and address daunting challenges such as very high unemploy - ment and poverty rates and poor health condi-tions. The promise of telecommunications is by no means assured, however. Indeed, if Native Ameri-cans, collectively, do not gain better understand-ing and control of this technology, the result could be to further undermine Native culture, communi-ty, sovereignty, and self- determination. No single technological solution will address Native American needs. A variety of technolo-gies, working together or complementing one another, will best meet their diverse needs. Com-puter networking, satellite videoconferencing, computers and software, telefacsimile, digital switching, broadcast radio, cable TV, and cellular or wireless communications all have a role to play. Even the basic telephone is important because many (perhaps as much as one- half) rural Native homes do not have a telephone today. For pur-poses of this report, all of these technologies col-lectively are referred to as telecommunications technology. This report focuses primarily on the one- third of Native Americans who are residents of tribal reservations and trust lands, Alaska Native vil-lages, and Native Hawaiian communities located in rural, remote areas (see table 1- 1). The report also has implications for other Native Americans who live in rural or semirural areas (about 15 per-cent) or in metropolitan areas (about one- half). OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES During the course of this study, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) has observed are-markable increase in the level of interest in tele-communications by Native Americans (see ap-pendix A for a partial list of Native computer networking). Some major organizations, such as the National Congress of American Indians and the American Indian Science and Engineering So-ciety, are including sessions on telecommunica-tions or the information superhighway at annual conferences and meetings. The tribal and commu-nity colleges that serve Native Americans in the contiguous 48 states, Alaska, and Hawaii have taken a strong leadership role in developing and demonstrating new telecommunications applica- 10 tions. Various grassroots groups, from Americans for Indian Opportunity to Pacific Islanders in Communications, are advocating Native use of telecommunications- from the development of - Native- oriented programming to operation of computer networks. OTA's own Native American home page, developed for this study and accessi-ble via the Internet (see appendix B), has attracted widespread interest among Native American technology activists and advocates. OTA also has observed an increase in the num-ber and variety of Native American telecommu-nications pilot projects and demonstrations (see box l- l). Exemplary projects identified during the OTA study span the country east to west from the Oneida Nation's fiberoptic wired community in upstate New York, to the Navajo Nation's tribal telecommunications initiative in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, to the North Slope Borough's use of distance learning in Alaska above the Arctic Circle, to the Hawaii community college system's two- way videoconferencing among several rural island locations. Despite these positive signs, Native Americans face significant barriers and challenges in realiz-ing the potential of telecommunications. At this time, it is difficult to predict whether the ultimate outcome will be more positive than negative for Native Americans. Two possibilities are de-scribed below. n An Optimistic Year 2000 Scenario Most Alaska Native villages, many American In-dian reservations, and some Native Hawaiian communities are geographically isolated. Under an optimistic scenario, distance education and telemedicine provide widespread access to a range of educational and medical information and ser-vices not otherwise available or affordable. Tele-communications facilitates the shift to disease prevention and health promotion, not just health care and treatment, as the long- term strategy for overcoming serious Native health challenges. Schools, libraries, community service centers, and family wellness clinics broaden access to technology- enhanced services. Telecommunica- Chapter 1 Summary and Policy implications | 3 Top: Molokai High School on Molokai lsland, Hawaii. Bottom: Molokai High School students using personal computers in the classroom. tions improves the economies of scale for produc-ing and distributing Native- oriented educational materials and Native programming to widely dis-persed Native Americans living in both metropol-itan and rural areas. Telecommunications helps stimulate economic development in Native areas. Telecommunica-tions proves to be a necessary, though not suffi-cient, condition for economic revitalization. In this scenario, telecommunications is used to: 1) create jobs in Native- owned telephone, com-puter, broadcasting, and related companies; 2) market Native- produced arts and crafts elec-tronically; 3) develop and promote tourist and rec-reational activities on or near Native lands; 4) pro- 11 4 Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges Where applicable, the Uniform Resource Locator for use with Internet browsers is listed in paren-theses. n Oneida Nation Telecommunications Infrastructure Development (Oneida, New York) Fiberoptic wiring to government offices, community centers, and new houses. Internet access provided by NYSERNet, Inc. First tribal home page (http:// nysernet. org/ oneida/) tells the Oneida story of culture and community development. n Cherokee Nation Telecommunications Activities (Oklahoma) In one project, the Cherokee Nation developed a financial information system for the Department of the Interior's Office of Self- Governance. In another project, in partnership with NASA (National Aeronautical and Space Administration) Science Internet, the Sequoyah High School and the W. W. Keeler Complex will be connected to the Internet for scientific and educational use. In the future, the Cherokee Nation is planning to link all Cherokee Nation offices. n Navajo Nation Telecommunications Partnerships and Planning (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah) Individual projects include Internet access through the Crownpoint Pilot Project and the Information Technology Office's development of the Technology and Information Resource Plan. Partnerships to de-velop telecommunications human resources and infrastructure are forming with Crownpoint Institute of Technology, Navajo Community College, National Aeronautical and Space Administration, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of New Mexico, and Northern Arizona University, among others. n Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Telecommunications Committee (Oakville, Washington) The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis formed the five- person Communication, Information, and Technology Committee two years ago, after a series of demonstrations and training from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Extension Indian Reservation Program. Spurred by this activi-ty, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) in Portland recently created a similar committee, the Telecommunications and Technology Committee. The ATNI has 50 member tribes from Montana, Ore-gon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska (Native villages). n North Slope Borough Distance Education Delivery (Barrow, Alaska) This two- way videoconferencing program originates from a high school studio in Barrow. Video, text, and graphics are transmitted to the North Slope's remote schools via a full- time dedicated satellite link. Courses such as trigonometry and Inupiat studies/ language are now available at schools in remote loca-tions. n Nation of Hawai'i Home Page This home page (http:// hawaii- nation. org/ nation/), supporting the restoration of the Nation of Hawai'i, was put together by the executive administration of the Nation of Hawai'i in Waimanalo, Hawaii, with sup-port from the Educational and Cultural Organization to Advance Restoration and Transition (ECOART), also located in Waimanalo. Hawaii Online, in Honolulu, Hawaii provided Internet access. n Hawaiian Language Revitalization The Komike Hua'oleo (Hawaiian Lexicon Committee) is creating several hundred new Hawaiian words for technology (e. g., modem, hard drive, font, format, left justification, export text, computer monitor, and bulletin board service). Keola Donaghy, an immersion teacher and computer consultant, working with Hale Kuamo'o, the Hawaiian Language Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, developed the "Leoki" electronic bulletin board service interconnected through Hawaii FYI, a free state dial- in network. n Tribal Telephone Providers The Office of Technology Assessment located four tribes with telephone companies: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority, Eagle Butte, South Dakota; Gila River Telecommunications, Inc., Chan-dler, Arizona; Ft. Mojave Telecommunications, Ft. Mojave, Arizona; and Tohono O'Odham Utility Author-ity, Sells, Arizona. The San Carlos Apache Tribe, San Carlos, Arizona, is waiting for a loan approval from the USDA Rural Utilities Service to buy its local telephone exchange. 12 Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications 15 n A Sample of Telecommunications Support Organizations Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium, Lincoln, Nebraska Pacific Islanders in Communications, Honolulu Intertribal Geographic Information Systems Council, Pendleton, Oregon BIA Geographic Data Service Center, Lakewood, Colorado United Native American Network, Burlington, Washington Americans for Indian Opportunity, Bernalillo, New Mexico supporter of the INDIANnet BBS Electronic Pathways Alliance, Santa Fe (http:// hanksville. phast. umass. edu/ defs/ independent/ ElecPath/ elecpath. html) n A Sample of Online Information Resources (see appendix B for complete list) BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) Division of Energy and Mineral Resources, Golden, Colorado (http: // snake2. cr. usgs. gov/) Indian Health Service (http:// www. tucson. ihs. gov/) USDA Extension Indian Reservation Program (gopher:// 134.121.80.31: 70/ 1/ eirp/ eirp. 70) Sioux Nation (http:// www. state. sd. us/ state/ executive/ tourism/ sioux/ sioux. html) Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (http:// hanksville. phast. umass. edu/ defs/ independent/ PCC/ PCC. html) Heard Museum (http:// hanksvillephast. umass. edu/ defs/ independent/ Heard/ Heard. html) Navajo Community College (http:// hanksville. phast. umass. edu/ defs/ NCC. html) American Indian Science and Engineering Society (http:// bioc02. uthscsa. edu/ aisesnet. html) American Indian College Fund (http:// hanksville. phast. umass. edu/ defs/ independent/ AICF. html) Native American Rights Fund (http:// hanksville. phast. umass. edu/ miSc/ NARF. html) National Indian Policy Center (gopher:// gwis. circ. gwu. edu.: 70/ 11/ Centers% 2c% 20Institutes% 2c% 20and% 2OResearch% 2Oat %20GWU/ Centers% 20and% 20Institutes/ National% 20Indian% 20policy% 20 Center) SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995. vide expertise and competitive skills to Native cilitate participation and consultation with their entrepreneurs; 5) provide infrastructure for busi-ness startups in Native areas; and 6) manage Na-tive land and natural and financial resources. Telecommunications technology allows Na-tive Americans to share and broaden their culture electronically within and among Native commu-nities. Computer graphics, software, and multi-media help strengthen and disseminate Native art, language, and dances. Native cultural materials are shared electronically by community and cul-tural centers, libraries, and schools that serve Na-tive Americans. Native- produced TV and radio programming is distributed over Native- owned cable and radio stations and via other stations that reach Native American populations. Native governments- whether at the tribal, village, or community level routinely use vi-deoconferencing and computer networking to fa- geographically dispersed members. This same technology helps strengthen intertribal collabora-tion and facilitates the participation of Native or-ganizations in relevant activities of state and fed-eral governments. Native governments receive federal and state services electronically and deliv-er services electronically to tribal or village mem-bers where appropriate. When federal and state governments are "reinvented," Native Americans use telecommunications to influence the outcome so it is sensitive to their values and visions for the future. z A Pessimistic Year 2000 Scenario The inadequacies of rural Native American econ-omies and telecommunications infrastructure continue to prove too great to overcome. Under 13 6 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges Left: Satellite earth station at the Salish Kootenai College on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana. The college downloads video programming via satellite for classroom use. Right: American Indian video programming is provided to students and the tribal community via the Iow- power public television station Iocated at the Salish Kootenai College. this pessimistic scenario, unemployment rates still exceed 50 percent on many Indian reser-vations and in most Alaska Native villages, con-tributing to continuing family, health, and sub-stance abuse problems. Most reservations and villages still have weak economies that make gen-erating or attracting investment capital difficult. As a group, American Indians continue to be the most disadvantaged in the United States with re-gard to basic telephone service. In the year 2000, about one- half of American Indian homes in rural areas still do not have any telephone service, far below nationwide averages, reflecting continuing infrastructure deficiencies, low family income, and, in some cases, cultural preferences. In this scenario, the lack of Native leadership on telecommunications continues to limit efforts to plan for and implement infrastructure improve-ments. The vast majority of tribes, reservations, villages, and island communities still do not have a telecommunications strategy or a process in place for developing a strategy or plan. Nor do any of the major nationwide Native American federa-tions or intertribal organizations. This places the Native American community at a disadvantage because many other segments of the United States have long since fully mobilized on telecommu-nications issues. The absence of federal policy or coordination on Native American telecommunications contin-ues through the year 2000, thereby curtailing the development of an appropriate and effective fed-eral role. The Federal Communications Commis-ion (FCC) still does not have a Native American policy, nor has it applied the framework of federal Indian law to telecommunications. The federal agencies that serve Native Americans have yet to develop an interagency approach to meeting the telecommunications requirements of Native Americans and building telecommunications ex-pertise at the tribal, village, or community level. While many agencies do support various individ-ual projects, the sum is still less than the parts. The lack of infrastructure, leadership, plan-ning, funding, and policy means- under this pes-simistic scenario that many of the rural, remote Native areas are left on the sidelines of the tele-communications revolution. These areas are un-able to capture the potential educational, health, economic, social, and cultural benefits of tele-communications applications. In this year 2000 scenario, Native Americans run the risk of being exploited by, rather than controlling, the technolo-gy. Without meaningful and extensive Native in-volvement, telecommunications ends up further undermining Native culture and values and disen-franchising, rather than empowering, Native Americans. POLICY IMPLICATIONS Native American telecommunications policy and activities are clearly lagging behind both: 1) other 14 Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications | 7 areas of Native American policy (e. g., self- gover-nance, education, and health care); and 2) the tele-communications policy development and initia-tives in the majority society. While Native American telecommunications activities are in-creasing, the rate of change in the majority society has accelerated markedly in recent years. This re-flects the current emphasis on the national in-formation superhighway, and the further transi-tion of the United States into a post- industrial information economy and society. Absent some kind of policy interventions, Na-tive Americans are unlikely to catch up with, and probably will fall further behind, the majority so-ciety with respect to telecommunications. This takes on greater importance given the likely bene-fits of telecommunications to Native Americans that may be deferred, diminished, or foregone un-der the policy status quo. OTA has identified eight major components to a comprehensive policy framework on Native American telecommunica-tions. The first four emphasize a lead role for Na-tive groups and governmentsP the empowerment of Native Americans in telecommunicationsP with the federal government in a supportive role. The second four emphasize the need to rethink and refocus federal policy strategies to recognize and strengthen Native American telecommunications infrastructure and sovereignty. These require a major federal government role, but also extensive Native American participation to ensure that Na-tive values and sovereignty are strengthened, not weakened. z Empowering Native American Telecommunications Tribal, federal agency, and congressional actions could focus on implementing these four essential elements of an overall Native American telecom-munications policy framework. Grassroots Tribal/ Village/ Community Empowerment At the grassroots level, one key is developing lo-cal sources of telecommunications expertise. Tribal and community colleges are important sources of expertise, as are the small but growing group of Native computer and telecommunica-tions activists and grassroots groups. Native-owned telephone and cable companies and radio stations could provide expertise, especially if the small number now operating could be increased. Another key is developing a grassroots telecom-munications plan. Local tribal/ village/ communi-ty leaders could set up a telecommunications com-mittee or task force, as has been done by, for example, the Navajo Nation (Arizona/ New Mexi-co/ Utah) and the Affiliated Tribes of the Chehalis (Washington). The committee, in consultation with communi-ty leaders and members, could develop a plan or vision of how telecommunications could best meet local Native educational, health, economic and social development, cultural, and other needs. The plan could encourage technology- enhanced collaboration among Native service providersP the integrated delivery of services could be a key goal. A grassroots, bottom- up approach would help assure responsive, culturally sensitive, and self- empowering Native American telecommu-nications. The support of local tribal, village, and community leaders is essential to success. National Native Leadership To complement a grassroots emphasis, another key is strengthening Native American leadership on telecommunications at the national level. The groundwork is already in place. Groups that are in the forefront on Native telecommunications 2 could work with regional and national groups such as the Alaska Federation of Natives, National 2 Examples include the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Pacific Island-ers in Communications, Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium, Intertribal Geographic Information Systems Council, Americans for Indian Opportunity, and Indigenous Communications Association. 15 8 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges An affordable deployment of telecommunications infrastructure in rural, remote Native areas might include three levels or tiers of service: Tier 1: Basic telephone service (with digital switching), single- party line with touchtone and dial- up access (with modem) to computer networks and Internet gateways; cable, broadcast, and/ or satellite TV/ radio; wireless/ cellular telephone where appropriate. For: Individual Native homes, small businesses, and schools. Tier 2: Tier 1, plus high- speed modem or direct connection to computer networks/ lnternet; one- way full motion videoconferencing (with two- way audio) or slow scan/ compressed two- way video via land lines/ satellite. For: Community communication centers, tribal and Native governments (if separate from community centers), tribal and community colleges, some larger businesses. Tier 3: Tiers 1 and 2, plus very- high- speed data communication links and two- way, full- motion video-conferencing (fiberoptic trunk lines to fiber or satellite backbone). For: Major medical centers, universities, business parks, or enterprise zones. SOURCE :Office of Technology Assessment, 1995. Congress of American Indians, and appropriate pendent groups. Both funds and expertise are in Native Hawaiian support groups and service pro-viders (e. g., Alu Like) to set up formal committees and develop a coordinated Native American tele-communications strategy. This eventually could lead to a "Native American Telecommunications Association" or the equivalent. Also, Native organizations could work with universities to develop leadership programs in telecommunications. The Universities of Alaska and Hawaii (and their associated rural campuses and community colleges) seem well suited for this role, as would various universities with American Indian programs. Community colleges and uni-versities would be logical focal points for tele-communications education and training. And Na-tive organizations could work with the private sector, as well as educators, to establish local and regional telecommunications technical assistance centers and programs. Integrated Infrastructure Development The financial resources currently and prospective-ly available to many rural Native communities are insufficient to support development of the tele-communications infrastructure by multiple, inde- short supply. This makes it imperative that tele-communications investments be for technologies and systems that are compatible, complementary, user- friendly, and cost- effective. Pilot projects are important for assessing the potential benefits, costs, and problems associated with tribal/ village use of telecommunications, and provide a basis for sound decisions on infrastructure investment and development. A two- or three- tier telecommu-nications infrastructure will be necessary in many rural Native areas (see box 1- 2) to match technolo-gy and services with needs on an affordable and practical basis. The concept of a community communication center warrants serious consideration, especially in Native areas where it is unrealistic for most homes and offices to have anything more than ba-sic telecommunications in the short- to medium-term. A local high school, community college, li-brary, community/ cultural center, family wellness clinic, multiservice delivery center, or tribal/ vil-lage office could be designated as a community communication center where a wide range of tele-communications equipment and services are available to residents, including students and en-4 16 Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications 19 Local internet provider Native radio/ TV station Tribal Iibrary/ n Telecommuting museum n Videoconferencing Tribal n Local area networks college l High- speed internet n Multimedia software n Online database TRIBAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK Tribal businesses and enterprise zones n Electronic enterprise n Electronic funds transfer n Telemarketing / ( telecommunications ) Tribal government and multiservice providers Tribal hospital/ Indian Health n Geographic information system Service n Electronic benefits transfer n Bureau of Indian Affairs \ telecommunications n Telemedicine Tribal telecommunications or public utility company n n n n n m n Basic telephone service Lifeline and 91 I service Enhanced telephone service (e. g., voice mail, call waiting) Digital switching Internet access Electronic mail Cable television Wireless/ cellular High- bandwidth trunks SOURCE: Madonna Peltier- Yawakle, July 20, 1994, and Office of Technology Assessment, 1995 trepreneurs. A slightly expanded version would economies of scale by aggregating demand for include several key community buildings in a and use of a common telecommunications infra-community telecommunications network (see fig- structure. ure l- l). Either way, the intent would be to pro-vide videoconferencing, computer networking, Native Entrepreneurial Activity multimedia, and other services sooner than would The formation of Native- owned and -operated otherwise be possible, and to achieve considerable businesses and especially telecommunications 17 10 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges . businesses is one of the best ways to: 1) develop grassroots expertise and leadership in telecommu-nications; 2) create new jobs on Indian reserva-tions and in Native villages and communities; 3) stimulate the Native economy; and 4) potential-ly open up new opportunities for Native busi-nesses to compete in regional, national, and in-ternational markets. Success stories like the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority (South Dakota) demonstrate that Native- owned and -operated telephone, cable TV, satellite broad-cast TV, and cellular and wireless companies are within reach. The same holds true for Native-owned and -operated radio stations. But, again, expertise and capital are limited at present. Feder-al grant and loan programs could be reviewed and reprogrammed or restructured to place greater emphasis and focus on supporting Native tele-communications entrepreneurs. Native leaders could consider ways to apply some portion of trib-al revenues to support telecommunications start-up ventures. Above: The OTZ Telephone Cooperative serves the 3,000 residents of Kotzebue, Alaska, 35 miles above the Arctic Circle. Left: Digital switching center at the OTZ Telephone Cooperative. Digital technologies are essential to modern telephone service. n Refocusing the Federal Role Consistent with empowering Native communi-ties, Congress and appropriate federal agencies could take action in the following areas to develop a federal policy on Native American telecommu-nications policy, with the involvement of Native American groups, leaders, and telecommunica-tions activists. Interagency Strategy and Funding Dozens of federal agencies provide some support for Native American telecommunications, but these efforts are uncoordinated and fragmented. The executive branch, with the support and over-sight of Congress, could develop an interagency strategy to provide direction and coordination. This could include an interagency task force or working group. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Indian Health Service (IHS), Administra-tion for Native Americans (ANA), and National Telecommunications and Information Adminis-tration (NTIA), among others, could combine ef-forts to strengthen the telecommunications infra-structure in Native areas. Improvements in federal agency telecommunications capabilities should 18 Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications | 11 be viewed in the context of tribal, village, and community infrastructure development needs. Local and federal initiatives should complement each other where possible. Electronic clearing-houses could be used to provide information on relevant programs and projects, accessible by Na-tive American leaders and technology activists as well as federal personnel. The strategy could be designed to: 1) help en-sure that efforts to downsize and reinvent federal agencies give appropriate weight to Native tele-communications needs and legitimate Native projects; 2) encourage tribes, villages, and com-munities to assume self- direction and control where they have the interest and capability; and 3) establish new mechanisms for interagency and Native government- federal- state partnerships, for example, by crafting more creative and effective interagency agreements and coordinating mecha-nisms that pool resources and technical support. Interagency coordination could help ensure that best use is made of scarce federal dollars for telecommunications education, training, pilot-testing, and infrastructure development in Native communities. Even under the best of circum-stances, finding the funds for Native American telecommunications will be difficult. Native Americans need to make up for previous underin-vestment in telecommunications at a time when most traditional funding sources are under in-creasing pressure, and other basic needs such as housing, food, roads, hospitals, and schools con-tinue unabated. Only recently have Native groups begun to take advantage of grant or loan programs that, for example, provide support for educational technology, rural telephony, rural public radio, and grassroots computer networking. These are among the programs vulnerable to budget cuts. Telecommunications Policy Over the past two years, Native American tele-communications activists have asserted that fed-eral telecommunications policy ignores or con-tradicts the principles of Indian law and federal Indian policy. Based on its research, OTA reached a similar conclusion. The federal agencies with major responsibility for telecommunications policy, such as the FCC and NTIA, have not ap-plied Indian law to telecommunications policy. The agencies with lead responsibility for Indian and other Native programs, such as the BIA, IHS, and ANA, do not have a Native American tele-communications policy, nor are they effectively engaged in the wider telecommunications policy debate. The federal government does not have a coherent focus on telecommunications policy as it relates to Native Americans. The FCC and NTIA could initiate policy inqui-ries on Native American telecommunications, and invite active participation from tribal govern-ments, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian orga-nizations, Native technology activists, state regu-lators, private companies, and the like. These policy initiatives could address both the need for and content of a government- wide policy state-ment and strategy, and specific topics like sover-eignty and self- determination, universal access, and strategic partnerships. Sovereignty and self- determination At present, sovereignty is primarily applicable to Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages, and sev-eral options are possible. Tribal telecommunica-tions law is in its infancy. Precedents from Indian law suggest that those tribes that wish to assume some degree of telecommunications authority and responsibility now vested in the states and the FCC could legally do so. Some tribes may wish to operate under current state and/ or federal author-ity; others, especially the larger tribes, may choose to establish their own tribal telecommu-nications agency or authority. The existing bal-ance of federal- state relationships would need to be adjusted to accommodate heightened tribal in-volvement. A fundamental question is the extent of tribal authority over telecommunications on tribal lands (e. g., physical infrastructure) and in the air over tribal lands (e. g., frequency spec-trum). The FCC could set up an office of tribal or Native American affairs, include tribal govern- 19 12 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges ments that so desire in regulatory proceedings on a basis similar to states, and over time develop a regulatory policy specifically on Native American telecommunications. Universal access Since 1934, federal telecommunications policy has, in effect, cross- subsidized low- density, high-cost rural areas with revenues from the high- vol-ume, high- profit metropolitan areas and interstate routesP thereby improving rural access. Many ru-ral tribes and villages clearly have a continuing need for universal service fund (USF) cross- subsi-dies, both directly to Native- owned and -operated telecommunications companies and indirectly to other rural telephone cooperatives and compa-nies that serve tribal or village areas. Many rural Native Americans would be further disadvan-taged if the USF were weakened or discontinued. The current universal service mechanism could be strengthened by increasing the types and num-ber of USF contributors, expanding the definition of universal service, and possibly creating mini-mum set- asides for Native rural areas. The im-plications of universal service options for rural Native areas could be explicitly addressed in on-going FCC and NTIA policy inquiries. Tribes could be represented on the joint federal- state board that helps determine USF procedures and allocations. Strategic partnerships Strategic partnerships with tribes, villages, com-munities, and Native service providers could be encouraged by the FCC, NTIA, and Congress. Bell operating companies and other local phone companies, cable TV companies, long- distance carriers, competitive access carriers (including electric power utilities), computer companies, and rural telephone cooperatives serving or adjacent to Native American areasP or desiring to serve these areasP could be urged, required, or given incen-tives to upgrade service. This could be done in col-laboration with Native leaders or even in formal partnership with newly created Native- owned telecommunications companies. The Native telecommunications infrastructure could be given higher priority under the Rural Uti-lities Service (RUS) guaranteed or subsidized telephone loan programs and technical assistance activities. Native- owned companies are eligible, but few tribes or villages have the expertise or awareness to take advantage of RUS programs. A portion of NTIA and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting grant funds could be allocated to ru-ral Native groups and governments for infrastruc-ture development. These funds could be limited to loans, or some mix of loans and grants (including various forms of matching and incentive grants). The few tribes with significant gaming revenues could invest some portion of net profits into tele-communications, as a handful are already doing, and leverage gaming- related telecommunications facilities for broader tribal applications. Information Policy Federal officials need to explicitly consider Na-tive American perspectives when formulating in-formation policy. Native concerns about privacy and about cultural and intellectual property rights on the information superhighway are similar to those of other users. Two specific problems are: 1) controlling access to sensitive religious, spiri-tual, and ceremonial information transmitted elec-tronically; and 2) protecting the integrity of the in-formation content (e. g., Native artwork or traditional healing) from alteration, misrepresen-tation, or misuse. As Native governments make more extensive use of telecommunications and computers, they will need to address a wide range of information policy issues. Indian tribes already have significant authority to set rules and regulate use of information on their own reservations. However, tribal members are citizens of both the tribe and the United StatesP thus constitutional and federal issues such as pri-vacy, security, freedom of speech and press, and the like are relevant. Also, to the extent that tribal information flows electronically on an intertribal or interstate basis, Native American groups will need to collaborate with federal and state regulato- 20 Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications 113 ry authorities, commercial telecommunications companies, and a range of public and private sec-tor users. Native American leaders and advocates will, in any event, need to participate more active-ly in federal and state information policymaking to ensure that Native views are fully considered. Further Research and Evacuation This is the first federal government report on Na-tive American telecommunications. The report builds, in part, on the work of Native American ac-tivists and researchers who have been among the first to grasp the potential and risks of telecommu-nications (see box 1- 3). Clearly, the field of Native American telecommunications is still in its early stages. While some policy decisions could be re-sponsibly made today, future applications and policymaking would benefit from significant, con-tinued research on many of the topics discussed in this report. Also, development of cost estimates was be-yond the scope of this report, and will not be feasi-ble until more detailed infrastructure require-ments and options are specified. The absence of cost data need not delay strategic policy actions, however. Nor does this report consider the tele-communications needs of Native Americans liv-ing on other Pacific Islands such as the U. S. terri-tories of Guam and American Samoa and the U. S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Is-lands. An improved telecommunications infra-structure could help strengthen the ancestral, cul-tural, and economic ties between Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander Americans. "For reasons which may become apparent over time, I have become a scout or a runner in this Internet. I drop songs as my offerings as I seek along this new migration path, the Cyber- Bearing Crossing, a new route for singing, a new trail for the dust of our clinging to the tribal contract with this sacred creation. " Turtle Heart (Ojibway Indian), Johannesburg, CA 1 "1 want to see a dream become reality. If any American Indian wishes to communicate to another indi-vidual or tribe, that the capability to do so is available, so we can perpetuate our ways, language, and people into the far reaches of the future... As Sequoyah was included in history for his attempts, let us con-tinue the good struggle for equality in communication, so we can all have a voice and be heard " Andrew Conseen Duff (Eastern Band of Cherokee), Cherokee, NC 2 "Let us move forward to the future carrying with us the best from the past. The time has arrived for the revitalizing and reawakening of our community... Behind the project lies this vision: Native Hawaiians wiII be able to obtain Information and referral to Hawaiian and other social services from a single point of access on each of the major Hawaiian Islands, " Haunani Apoliona, Alu Like (" working, striving together, Natives of Hawai'i"), Honolulu, HI 3 "Native Hawaiian peoples are in danger of being left behind in the telecommunications age., .[ O] pportu-nities for employment, training, and 'bridging the communications gap'. .. between Native Hawaiians be-cause of our island geography (especially in rural locales) would be enhanced by establishment of a 'Na-tive Hawaiian Telecommunications Network." Ku Kahakalau and Jim Hunt, Honoka'a, The Big Island, HI 4 1 Dan Pacheco, "Circles of Light: Tribal Elders Finding Role for Wizardry of Internet, " Denver Post, Mar 291995 p. 1F. 2 AndreW Conseen Duff, "Community Initiative, " statement prepared for the Americans for Indian Opportunity Am-bassador Program, n. d. and "A Tradition of Information Gathering," statement prepared for the National Information Infrastructure hearings, Apr. 12, 1995, Santa Fe, NM 3 Haunani Apoliona, "Toward Collective Action, " Task Force on Hawaiian Services, Nov. 25, 1991, p 2, and "Mult-Service Centers Demonstration Project, " Alu Like Annual Report 1992, Honolulu, Hl, p 6 (continued) 21 14 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges "More than twenty years ago, when the North Slope Borough was first formed, we dreamed of a locally controlled school system where our children would be able to obtain high school diplomas without ever leaving the North Slope... Who would have predicted that one day our students would shrink distances even further through the use of computers and sophisticated video networks?" Pat Aamodt, Superintendent, North Slope Borough School District (86 percent Inupiat Eskimos), Barrow, AK 5 "Over the centuries, American Indians have not enjoyed the benefits of social and economic progress. Now poised at the beginning of an information revolution, we must ensure that Indians have access to the communications technologies that will enable them to participate in this revolution. " Bambi Kraus (Tlingit), National Indian Policy Center, Washington, DC 6 "The need to clarify matters of tribal and federal jurisdiction in the field of telecommunications and in-formation policy is now reaching a critical point... lf tribes do not participate at this juncture, then tribes WI I be omitted entirely and will spend infinite resources to backpedal into this fast moving field. " Randy Ross (Otoe- Missouria Tribe), Rapid City SD, and Ellen R. Kemper, Esq., Santa Fe, NM 7 4 Ku Kahakalau and Jim Hunt, "Native Hawaiian Telecommunications Network, " n. d. 5 "Annual Report 1993 -1994," North Slope Borough School District, Barrow, AK, p 5 6 U. S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Indian Affairs, Oversight Hearing To Examine the Feasibility Of Creating a Permanent Indian Research Center, S. Hrg. 103- 161, 103d Congress, 1st sess. (Washington, DC U S Government Printing Office, May 20, 1993) 7 Randy ROSS and Ellen R. Kemper, "Datafication in Tribal America, " paper prepared for the Aberdeen Area (SD) Tribal Chairmen's Health Board, July 25, 1994. SOURCE Off Ice of Technology Assessment, 1995 Federal policy could redirect agency research programs and encourage the development of cen-ters of telecommunications expertise in Native or-ganizations and universities that serve Native Americans. Federal agencies that support pilot projects and infrastructure development for Na-tive American telecommunications could be re-quired to include an evaluation component. The Office of Management and Budget could require the federal statistical agencies to improve the collection of data on American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians as individual ra-cial and ethnic groups and as Native Americans collectively with a special focus on demograph-ics and telecommunications in rural Native areas. Also, an appropriate federal agency, university research center, and/ or Native organization could, for example: 1) conduct surveys of Native Ameri-can telecommunications needs and infrastructure (see appendix C for an illustrative survey research instrument on baseline infrastructure); 2) main-tain and update the Internet- accessible Native American Resource Page developed by OTA for this study (see figure 1- 2 and appendix B); and 3) help the Native American research community make best use of the already significant range of telecommunications resources available to them (see box 1- 1 and appendix A on computer net-working for Native Americans). 22 Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications | 15 Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges Project Information: The Office of Technology Assessment's Industry, Telecommunications and Commerce program is in the process of conducting a study entitled Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges. This study was requested by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and will address Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiians. For further information about this study, the Telecommunications and Native Americans project proposal and summary can be found on the Office of Technology Assessment's ftp server. OTA Homepage URL: http:/ www. ota. gov/ OTA ftp server URL: ftp:// otabbs. ota. gov/ On- line Resource Categories: Government Resources Art and Cultural Resources Academic Resources Organizations and Networks See appendix B for further details. SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995. 23 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures ultureP including language, spirituality or religion, cre-ative expression, historical interpretation, traditions, val-ues, and identityP is a cohesive force in Native American society. For much of U. S. history, federal policy had the effect of subjugating Native cultures to that of the majority soci-ety. This was true for American Indians in the contiguous 48 states; Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos in Alaska; and Native Ha-waiians in Hawaii. Many of today's social and economic prob-lems are generally believed to have been caused or exacerbated by the erosion and loss of culture. Thus, renewing and strengthening Native cultures is considered by Native Americans and others to be a necessary condition for rebuilding healthy Native American communities. In recent decades, federal policy has shifted to rec-ognize the importance of Native American cultures. Telecommunications technologyP broadly defined to include telephone, videoconferencing, computer networking, informa-tion systems, multimedia, radio/ TV, and the likeP offers consid-erable potential to help Native Americans reestablish and strengthen their cultures. It offers new opportunities to save en-dangered Native languages, including traditional stories and his-tories, and to perpetuate language with new educational software and greater opportunities to converse with other Native speakers. Using telecommunications, cultural information (including art, songs, stories, dances, research findings, genealogies, and histor-ical interpretations) can be easily shared and distributed among rural and metropolitan Native American communities. It also al-lows Native Americans, as individuals or through institutions, to broaden public awareness of their cultures. Museums, libraries, |17 24 18 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges and schools would greatly benefit from telecom-munications technologies. They routinely share cultural information and try to promote broader understanding of Native cultures among the U. S. population at large. Culturally sensitive social ser-vice institutions would also benefit from readily available cultural material, such as traditional healing research or genealogical information sys-tems. While sharing cultural material may help broaden public awareness, it also could work against the promotion of Native American cul-tures if the material were nonauthentic. The ease of transmitting and manipulating digitized mater-ial using telecommunication technologies could exacerbate ongoing cultural problems, such as: 1) continuation of negative stereotypes of Native peoples; 2) non- Native Americans posing as spiri-tual leaders and elders in public forums; and 3) the difficulty of protecting sacred information, such as sacred sites of worship and rituals, from both the general public and unauthorized community members. Realizing the benefits will require leadership, training, and adequate funding. Mitigating the problems will require tribal and public informa-tion policies for access, freedom of speech, priva-cy, and security for both users and providers of in-formation and cultural material. To ensure that the technology empowers Native Americans in re-vitalizing their cultures, Native Americans will need to have a central role in controlling, manag-ing, and implementing these technology- en-hanced cultural opportunities. If not, there is the potential that non- Native Americans, knowingly or unwittingly, might disseminate inaccurate in-formation or perpetuate negative cultural stereo-types. If Native Americans do not take an active role, federal and state information policies may not be sensitive to the cultural values of Native American communities. An overall strategy to strengthen Native cultures might include formu-lating an information policy, providing legal protections for cultural property rights, and coor-dinating efforts to use scarce financial resources by distributing them effectively among many competing projects. NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CHALLENGES For years, Native American cultures and commu-nities have been subjugated by federal and state laws and policies of assimilation (see box 2- 1). However, despite years of repression, Native American values, cultures, and religions have en-dured. Traditional core values include honoring the Earth, according children and elders a very high level of respect, and living a balanced life in which the needs of community, family, and self are all attended to. And traditional Native Ameri-cans show reverence for the environment, Mother Earth and Father Sky, in everyday actions and de-cisions. Moreover, many are less concerned with an individual's role in the economy, a "job" or "ca-reer," than with living a life that reflects valued traditions. These core values have been difficult to pursue in recent times. Many Native American communities face so-cial and economic challenges far greater than most of the United States. High- school dropout rates, suicide, alcoholism, unemployment, and poverty within Native American communities are among the highest in the United States. Specifically, 1 the suicide rate for American Indians is more than twice the rate for all other nonwhites; American Indian youth have the highest high- school drop-out rate of any minority group; the poverty rate for American Indian families is 24 percent compared with 10 percent for the general population; and the poverty rate for several Indian tribes is more than 40 percent (quadruple that of the general popula-tion). A recent Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) survey concluded that BIA high school students "engage in behaviors that put them at risk for significant 1 Harold L. Hodgkinson, with Janice Hamilton Outtz and Anita M. Obarakpor, The Demographics of American Indians: One Percent of the People; Fifty Percent of the Diversity (Washington, DC: Institute for Educational Leadership, Inc., Center for Demographic Policy, 1990). 25 Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures 119 in the 1890s, Captain A E Woodson brought remarkable energy to his job as an Indian agent When he arrived at the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation in Oklahoma, he found the Indians "indulging m the grass dance and enjoying the medicine feasts without molestation. " Accordingly, his '( first act was to forbid dances and feasts..." Once begun, Woodson launched himself wholeheartedly into the busi-ness of forbidding. He undertook to prohibit the practices of medicine men or shamans, the custom of sharing goods with relatives, traditional forms of marriage, and visits to other reservations. When the Cheyenne and Arapaho people resisted [Captain Woodson's] interference in their lives, their defiance only convinced Woodson that he was in the right. "An agent must sacrifice any desire to be popular, " Woodson wrote, "if he be Inspired to do his whole duty." 1 When the Cheyenne and Arapaho people resisted his orders and hired another white man to pursue his removal, Woodson wrote to the Department of the Interior, explaining his struggle with his charges. The Indians, he said, showed "a rebellious spirit in opposition to the methods which have been inaugu-rated with the sanction and approval of your office..." This resistance had gone as far as "an open expression of disapproval of my regime, which IS distasteful to the old men who are wedded to barba-rous customs..." Woodson [explained that he] had simply "endeavored to institute newer, and in my opinion, better methods tending to the improvement of the condition of these people..." The Depart-ment's response was, for Woodson, very gratifying. The Indians had to be restrained "from the indul-gence in any practices which tend to continue them in barbarism. ," [wrote the Department]. SOURCE Excerpted from Patricia Nelson Limerick, Ph. D., "The Repression of Indian Religious Freedom, ''NARFLega/ Revlew, native American Rights Fund, n d Bracketed material provided by OTA for clarity. 1 United States Office of lndian Affairs, Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1895 (Washington, DC U S Government Printing Office, 1895), p 229, and Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 7898 (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1898), p 234 mortality, morbidity, disability, and social prob- Underlying these social problems is frequently lems which extend from youth into adulthood." 2 Some statistics from this report include the fol-lowing: 13 percent of students reported carrying guns during the previous 30 days; 51 percent were involved in a physical fight during the previous 12 months; 10 percent were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property during the past 12 months; 43 percent had five or more drinks in a row in one day during the past 30 days; 12 percent reported that they had been pregnant or had im-pregnated someone; and 29 percent seriously con-sidered attempting suicide during the past 12 months. a lack of strong cultural identity at the individual, tribal, and pantribal levels. The question of who is an "Indian, " "Alaska Native," or "Native Ha-waiian" divides Native Americans into separate political groups. The problem stems from the fact that authenticity is not just a matter of blood quan-tum, but is rooted in the unquantifiable notions of spirituality and cultural or community affiliation. Between 1980 and 1990, the U. S. Census mea-sured a 38- percent increase in the American in dian and Alaska Native population. This large in-crease has been attributed to two phenomena other than real growth in the Native American popula-2 A total of 5,217 BIA high school students at 45 BIA high schools responded. Charles Geboe, Lana Shaughnessy, and John Reimer, 1994 Health Risk Behaviors of High School Students Attending Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools (Washington, DC: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Indian Education Programs, 1994). 26 20 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges . Top: Eskimo Village of Kotzebue, Alaska, as seen from the air Located about 600 air miles northwest of Anchorge, the village is inaccessible by land and surrounded on three sides by water that is frozen most of the year. Bottom: A single runway serving Kotzebue provides the only year- round access. tion mixed- blood Native Americans changing their affiliation to Native American; and non- Na-tive Americans self- identifying themselves as Na-tive American. Perhaps the positive portrayal of Native Americans in the mass media in the last decade is partly responsible for this change. These shifts have brought into sharp focus the lack of consensus on a definition of Native American or a mechanism to determine authenticity of cultural identity. The determination of authenticity is im-portant not only for political and legal determina-tions of eligibility for entitlements or rights, but also for the protection and development of spiritu-al and cultural values. American Indians and Alaska Natives also face major environmental problems on lands that in-clude two- thirds of the nation's uranium deposits, significant deposits of oil and natural gas, and mil-lions of acres of forests. 3 Pollution from past in-dustrial and extraction activities and dumping of waste materials persist on several reservations. And some reservations and Alaska Native villages are struggling with sanitation problems. 4 Many Native communities must cope with a high degree of physical isolation. Most Alaska Native villages are reachable year- round only by air, have limited access by water (during the brief summer), and have no road connections. Many American Indian reservations are in remote rural areas, several hours or more away by car from the nearest small city or metropolitan area. Many Na-tive Hawaiian communities, although accessible byroads, are located in the outlying, more remote areas and islands. Also, inter- island travel be-tween Hawaiian communities is primarily by air, 3 Some enviironmental initiatives include: l) Niiwin, a coalition of Wisconsin tribes facing off with the Exxon Corp. over a metallic- sulfide mine adjacent to the Mole Lake Reservation; 2) California Indians for Cultural and Environmental Protection, working to atop sewer sludge dumping on rancherias in southern California 3) Citizen Alert Native American Program, opposing a national radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, a sacred site; 4) Eyak Rain Forest Preservation Fund, protecting land, water, and forests in Alaska's Prince William Sound. the site of the Exxon Valdez disaster, 5) Snoqualmie Falls Reservation Project, defending a sacred site at Snoqualmie Falls from an expanded hydroelectric facility; and 6) Native Action, protecting the sacred Sweet Grass Mountains of Montana where a moratorium on gold mining will soon expire. David Tilsen, electronic mail posted on the aisesnet general list server, Apr. 25, 1995. 4 For a discussion of the geographic, social, and economic settings of remote Alaska Native villages and the problems providing safe water and waste sanitation systems, see U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, An Alaskan Challenge: Native Village Sanitation, OTA-ENV- 591 (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, May 1994). 27 Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures | 21 as is the case for most travel between Alaska Na-tive villages. As a consequence of rural isolation, and fre-quently a lack of jobs on the reservations, Native Americans may make several major moves to and from reservations or rural areas as they balance economic necessity with their desire to maintain family and cultural ties. Thus, although this report primarily addresses the needs of Native Ameri-cans who live in rural areas or reservations, the distinction between a "rural" and "urban" Native American will become blurred over time (see box 2- 2). Policy designed today to help rural and reser-vation Native Americans will likely affect urban Native Americans at some later time, and vice ver-sa for policy designed to affect urban Native Americans. The well- being of Native Americans and their communities is a function of their: 1) cultures and core values; 2) physical, spiritual, and mental health of individuals and families; 3) quality and level of education, health care, and other vital lo-cal services; 4) employment prospects and condi-tions; 5) environmental health; and 6) effective-ness and responsiveness of the tribal, village, or community government leaders and elders. 5 A strong sense of the interconnectedness and inter-dependence of these components is central to Na-tive concepts of well- being and cannot be overem-phasized. The ability to communicate is critical to maintaining these connections. In many respects, mainstream society is begin-ning to recognize and incorporate Native Ameri-can core values and notions of well- being. Educa-tion is now "lifelong learning." The medical profession has a growing awareness of how envi- ronment, cultural traditions, and family support contribute to physical and mental health. The very notion of "health" includes feelings of well- being. Some Native beliefs, such as opposition to min-ing, run counter to the mainstream. Others, such as protecting the environment against pollution, are shared by the mainstream society and are an important public priority. In reality, often the components of community do not work well together because of political con-flicts and tensions, scarce resources, and daunting socioeconomic challenges. Partnerships, joint ventures, and interagency councils are all attempts to create the necessary links for community orga-nizations to share resources and interact to solve problems. In general, federal policies for Native Americans need to consider Native American concepts of culture and community, such as "hon-oring the earth" and "community interconnected-ness." Successful policies are most likely to result from significant Native American participation. RENEWING AND STRENGTHENING NATIVE LANGUAGES Native Americans have a rich oral tradition that continues today. The written form of most Native languages developed after the arrival of European settlers. However, to this day, some Native stories and histories are communicated only orally or pic-tographically to maintain the tradition. For exam-ple, some nations of the Iroquois Confederacy have maintained rituals of storytelling that have never been written down. State and federal policy, after decades of Native language suppression, now recognizes the importance of language re-5 A number of nonprofit organizations provide cultural and community services and resources. See, e. g., Americans for Indian Opportunity (Bernalillo, NM); American Indian College Fund (New York, NY); American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation (New York, NY); American Indian Resource Council (Oakland, CA); American Indian Science and Engineering Society (Boulder, CO); Association on Ameri-can Indian Affairs (New York, NY); Honor Our Neighbor's Origins and Rights (Milwaukee, WI); Indigenous Environmental Network (Bemid-ji, MN); Indigenous Women's Network (Lake Elmo, MN); Institute of American Indian Art (Santa Fe, NM); Native American Council (New York, NY); Native American Rights Fund (Boulder, CO); Native California Network (Bolinas, CA); North American Indian Women's Associa-tion (Gaithersburg, MD); Northwest Renewable Resources Center (Seattle, WA); Solidarity Foundation (New York, NY); and United National Indian Tribal Youth (Oklahoma City, OK). 28 22 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges "At the moment, the question (How are they doing) can just barely be asked of American Indians, in that the information about them is so uncoordinated and fragmented." "The 1980 census data on the 'demographic, social, and economic characteristics of American Indian tribes' were only released in a Census Bureau publication dated February 7, 1990, a full decade after the last census was finished!" "At a time when policy makers are beginning to rely on demographic data for decision- making and program planning, it is a disgrace that data on American Indians are so scarce. " 1 Approximately two- thirds of Native Americans live away from reservations and rural hometowns many to go to school or work in more urban areas. 2 This statistic, however, does not indicate the frequency of back and forth movements or the underlying forces at work. Two factors shape this dynamic: a strong need I to maintain familial, cultural, and religious ties; and employment opportunities. Office of Technology As- I sessment staff discussed this topic during numerous interviews and constructed the following representa-tive scenario of Native American mobility. Many native Americans spend their youth and retirement predominantly m their homelands Many first ' leave the reservation to attend a boarding school or college. Others leave to attend a vocational. profes-sional, or graduate school. Still others may first leave to attend a professional conference or meeting A I large number of Native American youth are growing up in urban areas, yet maintain close ties with relatives by visits and participation in religious and cultural activities. Some may even spend the summer months with relatives or friends to learn traditional ways and participate in activities such as farming, hunting ranching, cooking, and a wide variety of arts including crafts, weaving, and pow- wow dancing Many I I adults find employment off the reservation. This could be a few miles or a few hundred miles away from I home, Those far away must and do make extraordinary efforts to visit friends and family, visit sacred sites, and participate in religious rites and ceremonies. in retirement years, many may make a final move back to I the reservation. Others may move back temporarily or permanently to take care of aging parents. This picture has two Important implications. First, there is not a static division between those who choose to live on or away from reservations and villages, but rather a strong back- and- forth mobility This means that telecommunications infrastructure on reservations and in rural villages will Iikely benefit the ma- jority of Native Americans at some point in their lives. Moreover, declining costs and/ or enhanced telecom-munications such as videoconferencing and computer networking will promote ties and "community" re-gardless of space and time. Second, the balance between "cultural pull" and "employment push" might be significantly changed by telecommunications applications that spur economic development on reserva-tions, For example, employment in teleservices, electronic commerce, telecommunications companies and Native programming are all opportunities that reservations and rural areas might embrace to increase the number of jobs, On the other hand, these opportunities are already available off the reservations and are motivating new college graduates and other wage- earners to leave the reservations 1 Harold L. Hodgkinson, with Janice Hamilton Outtz and Anita M Obarakpor, The Demographics of American In-dians, One Percent of the People, Fifty Percent of the Diversity (Washington, DC Institute for Educational Leadership Inc., Center for Demographic Policy, 1990), pp. iv- 1. 2 The 1990 census reported that 437,431 American Indians and Alaska Natives (22.3 percent) out of a total of 1,959,234 Iive on reservations or associated trust lands. Another 200,789 (1 O 2 percent) live within former reservation areas in Oklahoma, "Tribal Jurisdiction Statistical Areas, " where tribes retain certain types of tribal jurisdiction. Another 47,244 (2.4 percent total, or 55 percent of Alaska Natives) live on Alaska's one reservation, the Annette Islands Reserve or in an "Alaska Native Village Statistical Area, " which delimits Iiving areas of tribes, bands, clans, groups, villages, com-munities, or associations Jack Utter, American Indians. Answers to Today's Questions (Lake Ann, Ml National Wood-lands Publishing Company, 1993), p 20 SOURCE Off Ice of Technology Assessment, 1995 -- 29 Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures | 23 newal and strengthening- primarily to Native peoples, but also to the mainstream society. Mi-crocomputers and software offer new opportuni-ties to record, teach, and utilize languages, in writ-ten, graphic, and oral forms. Prototypes appear to be successful. For exam-ple, microcomputer keyboards, fonts, and operat-ing system software have been adapted for the Na-tive Hawaiian language 'Olelo Hawai'i (see box 2- 3). And students on the Hualapai Reservation in Arizona and the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota are learning their Native languages via multimedia programs that allow them to check their pronunciations with the computer voice. 6 Software flexibility and new computer pro-gramming tools facilitate the development of educational language applications. Multimedia technology, moreover, allows inclusion of audio, video, pictures, and icons to make the application "user- friendly." The development of standardized hardware and software tools would reduce the cost and increase the availability of applications that help record and teach Native languages. A com-mon and portable technology platform seems es-sential, given the large number of Native lan-guages (187 in North America by one estimate). 7 Once Native languages are put into electronic form, they would then be suitable for a variety of other electronic applications. Electronic Native language dictionaries could be prepared and co-pied via diskette, CD- ROM, or online. The Native languages could be used in Native electronic bul-letin boards (e. g., the Leoki Hawaiian language bulletin board), and in Native audio, video, and film material prepared for educational and cultural purposes. Learning a Native language requires more than classroom instruction; it is reinforced through in-formal everyday use. The Leoki bulletin board Top: Honokaa High School located in the rural community of Honokaa, The Big Island, Hawaii. Bottom: A Honokaa high school teacher demonstrates use of personal computers for Native Hawaiian language instruction. Computer software offers new opportunities for students to learn Native language and culture. provides an opportunity for those learning Ha-waiian to practice the language by creating anon-line community of interest that includes Hawaiian speakers locally and around the world. For exam-ple, Hawaiian speakers in California now use Leo-ki to connect with Hawaiian speakers in Hawaii. 6 A. J. S. Rayl, "New Technologies, Ancient Cultures," Omni, vol. 15, No. 10, August 1993. p. 48. 7 In North America, 149 out of 187 languages (80percent) are no longer being taught to children. Catherine Gysin, "The Horizon" Utne Reader, vol. 57, May/ June 1993, pp. 23- 24. Leanne Hinton of the University of California at Berkeley estimates that there are between 200 and 250 Native languages in North America and 500 of them are in California. Tino Ramirez, Hawaiian Language Is Flourishing Via Corn-puters, Internet" The Honolulu Advertiser, Feb. 19, 1995, p. A5. 30 24 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges "I am proud to be Hawaiian. I learn hula, we sing Hawaiian songs, and I Iike to listen to Hawaiian music on the radio. I like to help people and I like being one 'ohana and sharing things with others. I also like to eat Hawaiian food. "1 Kelsey, age 8 'Olelo Hawai'i became a written language when missionaries arrived in Hawaii in the early 1800s Until the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, newspapers flourished and both native Hawaiian and missionary children were bilingual in 1896, 'Olelo Hawai'i was outlawed, and the language de-clined until 1978 when the State of Hawaii legally recognized it again Today, there are Hawaiian lan-guage Immersion programs such as the Punana Leo Hawaiian language preschool program (six schools on five Islands), and the Kula Kaiapuni Hawai'i program for elementary school children sup-ported by the Hawaii Department of Education. The use of computers and telecommunications in Hawaiian schools can greatly reinforce the learn-ing process. Keola Donaghy, an Immersion teacher and computer consultant. modified computer key-boards and software Working with Hale Kuamo'o, the Hawaiian Language Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Donaghy developed the Leoki electronic bulletin board service (BBS) with an Hawaiian language graphical user interface (GUI). Donaghy has created Hawaiian fonts, translated programs into Hawaiian and is working on translating a computer operating system The Komike Hua'oleo (Ha-waiian Iexicon committee) is creating several hundred new Hawaiian words for technology (e g mo-dem, hard drive, font, format, left justification, export text, computer monitor, and bulletin board ser-vice). The Leoki BBS has greatly benefited teachers and students alike. It offers electronic mail, public conferences, chat sessions, online references (e. g., English- Hawaiian and Hawaiian- English dictio-naries), and online periodicals (e. g , the Hawaiian Language Center publishes a monthly newspaper in Hawaiian An online voting booth allows polls to be taken on important issues Teachers can order books, videos, audiotapes, and other learning materials with online forms Use of Leoki has resulted in tremendous savings in U. S. mail and Inter- island phone charges For now, Leoki is interconnected through the Hawaii FYI network, but in the future it will be an on- ramp to the Internet and a bridge to native Hawaiians on the mainland, as well as students enrolling in Hawaiian language courses in high school, college and adult continuing education classes throughout Hawaii. 1 Joyce Ahuna- Ka'ai'ai (ed.), He Alo A He Alo Face to Face: Hawaiian Voices on Sovereignty (Honolulu, HI: American Friends Service Committee, 1993), p 99 SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, based on information from Keola Donaghy, "'Enehana Kamepiula Technology for a Hawaiian Speaking Generation, " Ties That Bind 1994 Conference Proceedings (Cupertino CA Apple Computer 1994) pp. 71- 80 Radio and television broadcasting are another The Apache tribe is also in the process of develop-way to reinforce Native language learning. For ex- ing an Apache- language TV station. 8 ample, tribal radio station KNNB, on the Fort Advocates for the survival of endangered lan-Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, runs guages can join list servers and online discussions XI- second spots in Apache language instruction. 8 Ronnie Lupe, "Chairman's Corner," Fort Apache Scout, vol. 33, No. 26, Apr. 14, 1995, pp. 2- 3. 31 Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures 125 An internetwork is a computer network of interconnected computer systems and networks that can seamlessly communicate. The Internet is the largest such global internetwork, estimated to have about 48 million users (assuming 10 users per host computer) in more than 146 countries (electronic mail connectivity) The global internetwork has many names such as the "Net," the ' { Matrix," or "Cyber-space" in February 1995, about 48,000 networks (4.8 million host computers) worldwide made up the Internet. And these numbers are growing very fast. The Internet began in 1969 with ARPANET, the first wide area network (WAN) that was a project of the U. S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency. ARPANET was a defense pro-totype to demonstrate uninterrupted communications with packet- switching technology, as might be necessary during wartime. in 1985, the National Science Foundation (NSF) installed a new national backbone (i. e., a high- capacity link between regional networks). For several years, the Internet primarily served the information, computing, and communications needs of scientists and engineers. The first applications were remote use of computers, file transfers, and electronic mail (e- mall) Since 1985, NSF's open interconnection policy has catalyzed network expansion beyond defense and research networks to include government, education, and commercial networks, and beyond the United States to include the whole world. This expansion was fostered by an established transmission protocol, the Internet Protocol (1P), that all new entrants agreed to use (85 countries now have full IP backbone connectivity). Today, there are many IP internetworks in addition to those that comprise the Internet. Altogether there are thousands of individual applications running on the Internet, but the top 10 com-prise about 97 percent of the traffic. Some of the most- used applications, in terms of percent of total bytes of traffic in February 1995 on the NSF backbone, are the Gopher search application (2.6 percent), telnet remote computer use (3.2 percent), smpt electronic mail (5 percent), netnews news service (9 percent), World Wide Web browser (20 percent), and FTP file transfers (27 percent). 1 in the future, even more growth is expected, most of it from new commercial traffic Business ap-plications such as electronic data interchange and electronic cash are newly available, and electronic commerce pilot projects such as CommerceNet in California's "Silicon Valley '' are in the works This change in orientation from research to commerce will present new challenges, but has the potential to turn the Internet into the nation's premier economic resource, serving government, academia, and in-dustry. 1 Information from the National Science Foundation FTP file server, ftp:// nls. sf net/ statistics/ nsfnet/ 1995/ n5f- 9502. high-lights. SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995. on the Internet (see box 2- 4). 9 Large commercial tion has grown up not speaking their traditional subscription networks and smaller electronic bul- languages. Many elders are now trying to revive letin board services also provide forums for online their languages by teaching their grandchildren or discussions of Native languages. going into the schools to speak with language stu-The challenge of renewing Native languages dents. Most believe that language and lore can should not be underestimated. An entire genera- only be taught in person where facial expressions, 9 For example, the Australian National University maintains an Internet list server (an electronic forum whereby electronic mail is distrib-uted to all subscribers to the "list") on endangered languages. To subscribe, send electronic mail to majordomo@ coombs. anu. edu. au. in the body of the message, type "subscribe Endangered- Languages- L ." 32 26 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges gestures, and tones are conveyed in personal set-tings. The elders are in the best position to teach and pass on language and traditional cultures. If elders are encouraged and assisted in the use of the technology to record the language and work with software developers, the resulting language and culture applications will greatly benefit from their knowledge and wisdom. Without the guidance of elders on technology use for Native cultural pur-poses, students will be primarily exposed to, and will likely adopt, the language and culture of the mainstream. PROTECTING SACRED SITES AND OBJECTS Native Americans accord great importance and reverence to sacred land sites and objects, and instruments for religious, ceremonial, and burial purposes. 10 Federal policy recognizes the impor-tance of these sites and objects, and requires agen-cies to be sensitive to the effects of federal pro-grams and activities on Native American religious beliefs and practices. For example, federal law re-quires federal agencies and federally funded insti-tutions (approximately 5,000) to compile invento-ries of burial remainsP Native American skeletons, funerary and sacred objects, and other items of cultural importanceP and to repatriate these items when requested by the tribe or village of origin, in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA). 11 Increasingly, these groups are re-quired to consult with Native leaders as part of their scientific research (e. g., for permits to study collections or to pass completed studies to tribal councils for prepublication review) or for land- use planning to ensure that Native religious and cul-tural values are considered and sacred sites and objects protected. Computer information systems with electronic databases are ideally suited for keeping track of information on millions of artifacts and sacred sites through initial inventories and continuing updates from Native groups, scientists, and land managers. The description and location of sensi-tive sites could be included in geographic in-formation systems maintained directly by tribes and other Native groups, or by relevant federal agencies (tribal access and integrity would need to be ensured). Electronic inventories and timely in-formation could be distributed to Native leaders using computer networking. For example, the Na-tional Park Service announces NAGPRA review committee meetings on the Internet and maintains the National Archeological Database (see box 2- 5). Privacy is a concern, however, because some sacred sites may be so sensitive that widespread public knowledge could compromise their sancti-ty. Native groups would need to be involved from the outset to ensure appropriate inventory (and site) security and privacy. In some cases, sensitiv-ity may be so high that online dissemination would be too risky. The pace of reclamation and repatriation is also a concern; many tribes do not have the resources to handle and store large num-bers of artifacts. Computer networking has accel-erated the rate of activityP meetings, confer-ences, rules- making, and decisionmakingP of many concerned parties, while leaving others (no-tably non- networked Native Americans) unin-formed and without reasonable opportunities to participate. Videoconferencing could be used to facilitate Native consultations with federal land managers. Tribes and villages are frequently located in re-mote areas that are far from the federal regional headquarters offices, making travel to meetings 10 See Todd Wilkinson, "Ancestral Lands," National Parks, vol. 67, No. 7- 8, July 1993, pp. 30- 35. 11 See Virginia Morell, "An Anthropological Culture Shift," Science, vol. 264, April 1994, pp. 20- 22; Ellen K. Coughlin, "Returning Indian Remains," Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 40, No. 28, Mar. 16, 1994, pp. A8- A9, A16; and June Camille Bush Raines, "One Is Missing: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act: An Overview and Analysis," American Indian Law Review, vol. 17, No. 2, 1992, pp. 639- 664. To subscribe to an electronic forum on NAGPRA, send the message "subscribe nagpra- l" to majordomo@ world. std. com. 33 Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures 127 The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990 is the latest legisla-tion in a series of laws that protect Native American archeological artifacts, culture, and/ or religious freedom, Including the American Antiquities Act of 1906, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978, the Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, and the National Museum of the American Indian Act (NMAIA) of 1989. 1 Another bill, the Native American Cultural Protection and Free Exercise of Religion Act, was considered in 1994, but was not enacted. NAGPRA has created a great need for computer information services and databases. Museums must inventory collections and notify tribes (including Alaskan and Hawaiian villages). And tribes are being swamped with paper inventories sent to them from hundreds of museums. The Department of the Interior's National Park Service, with funds authorized by Congress, created the online National Archeo-logical Database (NADB) to gather, as well as disseminate, information related to preserving America's archeological heritage. NADB assists the implementation of NAGPRA policy with a special NAGPRA module. NADB also features a reports module with 100,000 citations of archeological investigations, a per-mits module with federal excavation permits issued before 1984, and mapping capabilities at the state and local levels. The Park Service works in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies, professional societies, and educational and scientific organizations to keep NADB records up to date. The reports module is updated with help from state historic preservation officers, state arch-eologists, and the Department of Defense, The permits module is updated with help from the Smithso-nian's National Anthropological Archives. The NAGPRA module features guidance on implementing NAGPRA. It provides the full text of NAG-PRA as well as regulations. It identifies contacts for Indian tribes and federal agencies and reports on activities and meetings, including the NAGPRA review committee. The NADB- Reports and NADB- NAGPRA databases are now available via modem, remote Iogin, or Internet. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers can access NADB through its automated network, CEAP. 1 For a detailed discussion of federal legislation and regulations, including how cultural resources management and tribal religious values can be integrated into the review process established by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), see Dean B Suagee, "American Indian Religious Freedom and Cultural Resources Management Pro-tecting Mother Earth's Caretakers, " American Indian Law Review, vol. 10, No 1, 1983, pp. 1- 58 SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, based on information from the U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Ser-vice, Archeological Assistance Division, "NADB Access" (pamphlet), Washington, DC, 1994 and hearings difficult or impossible. While face- record, develop, and share cultural resources. Na-to- face interaction may be preferable, the elec- tive activities, traditions, sites, and sounds can be tronic equivalent may be a more effective substi- stored on videotape, videodisc, and CD- ROM; tute than telephone or mail. transmitted by radiowaves, copper telephone lines, and fiberoptic cables; and broadcast/ dis-RECORDING, DEVELOPING, AND played by radio, TV, or computer monitor. New SHARING NATIVE CULTURES electronic works of art that reflect and inspire Na-Computer and communication technologies are tive cultures are possible in multimedia formats. revolutionizing the ability of Native Americans to When digitized, these electronic materials can be 34 28 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges transmitted over any distance without loss of qual-ity or integrityP for example, within a single tribe or local community, among several tribes or vil-lages across the country, or across regional or na-tional networks of institutions and communica-tion outlets that reach Native Americans. Also, unlike a phonograph record or analog audiotape, CD- ROMs do not wear out. However, like records and record- players, CD- ROMs and CD- ROM players may become obsolete over time, replaced with cheaper, higher capacity, or smaller versions. Nevertheless, these advanced technologiesP for recording, developing, and sharingP help bring together the emerging Native American cultural infrastructure. Native leaders, elders, historians, artists, film-makers, composers, storytellers, and advocates feel a strong need to maintain and develop Native cultures, and increasingly understand the poten-tial of telecommunications technologies. Provi-sion for Native programming must accompany new wires and conduits. Native- language, Native-produced, and Native- relevant programming is an effective response to the onslaught of mass media that Native activists and scholars decry as a key contributor to cultural erosion. New technologies for Native programming include video camcord-ers, digital audiotape recorders, and a multitude of software applications for everything from desktop publishing to computer animation. Because many of these technologies are de-signed for personal use, home- grown productions are proliferating. For example, students and pro-fessors at the Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota are "creating CD- ROMs on everything from the Bigfoot Mas-sacre in 1890 to the Wounded Knee Uprising in 1973 . . . [and] in Window Rock, Arizona, the Na-vajo tribe is creating a CD- ROM on their tradi-tional world view." 12 Recently, the Ojibwe K- 9 schools on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota started using a Native- made CD- ROM entitled "Culture and His-tory of the White Earth Ojibwe." This CD- ROM, the result of a two- year effort to record oral histo-ries and scan historical documents and photographs, was supported by a $50,000 grant from the Blandon Foundation. Before it was created, "teachers had little information about the tribeP most couldn't even pronounce Ojibwe words [and] students had little understanding of the culture and heritage that shaped their ances-tors' lives." 13 The number of advocacy and Native media arts centers that train or support Native programming is small. There is only one national training center, the Indigenous Broadcast Center, for Native Americans in public radio broadcasting. Other groups include the Indigenous Communications Association, Native American Public Broadcast-ing Consortium, Institute of American Indian Arts, Native American Producers Alliance, Ab-original Film and Video Artists Alliance, and Pa-cific Islanders in Communications. Given the cul-tural imperative and limited monetary support, these centers have learned to "do more with less." Because of the broadcast nature of media arts and the ability to easily share digitized multimedia, support for Native programming will help to maintain, develop, and share Native cultures. As noted by Native filmmaker Loretta Todd, one of 12 Rayl, op. cit., footnote 6, p. 48. 13 Peggy Healy Stearns, "History Comes Alive: A School District Creates Its Own CD- ROM on Local Native American Culture," Electronic Learning, vol. 13, No. 2, October 1993, pp. 8- 9. 35 Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures | 29 Left: Cultural Center of the Oneida Nation, New York. The Center houses Native art galleries, educational facilities, and a gift shop for visitors and tourists. Right: An Oneida Nation computer specialist demonstrates the first home page implemented by an Indian tribe. The home page provides information on the history and culture of the Oneida Nation. The Oneida Nation believes that making cultural information available to other tribes and the general public through the Internet will help promote the rebirth and understanding of the Oneida culture. The home page is accessible via the Oneida World Wide Web site (see appendix B for details). the key concerns of Native filmmakers "is the need to heal our community. . . the practical side to this means getting access to equipment, to broadcasting opportunities." 14 Current efforts to train new Native program-mers appear to be innovative and high in quality. For example, the Indigenous Broadcast Center, a project of Alaska Public Radio Network, was re-cently awarded grants from the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC) in Oak-land, California, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) . 15 The NEA grant will create part-nerships between Native radio producers and ar-tists to produce feature- length radio arts pieces. The NAMAC grant will be used to conduct the fourth annual award- winning Alaska Native Youth Media Institute, an intensive eight- day resi-dential hands- on workshop led by Alaska's top media professionals in radio, video, and journal-ism. About 120 tribal and village museums or cul-tural centers focus on the history and culture of in-dividual Native groups. 16 Few use electronic technology today, but tribal cultural centers could be future users of electronic cultural materials. Several commercial CD- ROMs on Native Ameri-cans are available for tribes that lack the resources to create their own. 17 Exposure to multimedia CD- ROMs could stimulate greater local interest in producing materials. Telecommunications technology could benefit local schools and community colleges that serve areas with high concentrations of Native Ameri-cans. Many such schools and colleges already make at least some use of instructional technology (including educational software, film, video, and/ or distance- learning videoconferencing), and thus seem to be good candidates for new electronic ma-terials as part of history, culture, and language courses. For example, the Red Lake Elementary 14 Sally Berger, "American Indians: The Films of a Native Daughter," Interview, vol. 23, No. 4, April 1993, p. 113. 1 5 "IBC Receives Specialized Training and Institute Institute Grants," Tundra Times, vol. 34, No. 5, Jan. 18, 1995, p. 5. 16 Morell, op. cit., footnote 11, p. 22. 17 For example, "The American Indian: A Multimedia Encyclopedia" is available for $295 from Facts on File, a company based in New York City. Vicki Wood, "Reflections on History: The American Indian," Electronic Learning, vol. 13, No. 2, October 1993, p. 35. 36 30 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges and High Schools in Minnesota received an award from the INFORMS (Internet for Minnesota Schools) program to establish a reservation- to-reservation Internet "key pal" program. 18 The stu-dents will be encouraged to learn language arts, geography, Ojibwe culture, and computer tech-nology. They will develop a database of American Indian schools, along with their Internet address-es, which will be made accessible on the IN-FORMS Gopher and World Wide Web servers. Technology could, likewise, assist libraries and information centers that serve Native American communities, whether stand- alone or collocated with another institution such as a school or service center. Although historically paper- based, li-braries are now accustomed to providing informa-tion using various media. They would likely be ready users of new electronic cultural materials, assuming, as with schools, that training and re-source issues could be resolved. Many libraries now maintain record, tape, video, and software collections, as well as CD- ROM database systems and computer networks. In a recent project, NYSERNet, Inc., with fi-nancial and equipment grants from the J. M. Ka-plan Foundation and Apple Computer, connected five rural libraries and the Onondaga Indian Na-tion in New York to the Internet. 19 The premise of the project was "that the public library can serve as the intermediary, or 'linking agent, ' between the rural population and the evolving network of elec-tronic information." 20 Critical to the success of the project was personalized support for partici-pants. The barriers included high long- distance telephone charges, limited access to points- of-presence, and lack of awareness in the broader community. These libraries were not specifically involved in building a new library- wide informa-tion system, but the project did demonstrate suc-cessful use of resources on the Internet, consid-ered to be the largest virtual library in the world. In another application, Apple Computer spon-sored Project Jukebox through its Apple Library of Tomorrow grant program. 21 The goal of Project Jukebox was to record oral histories. The project team encountered a common dilemmaP to make the audio recordings widely available while pro-tecting the rights of the interviewees. Users of Project Jukebox are now required to acknowledge that they have read the release agreement before proceeding (see box 2- 6). A scaled- down database will be provided to the National Park Service, presumably for use by tourists in national parks. The database will also be archived using digital audiotape and, in time, will be available on CD-ROM. No one is certain what the library of the future will look like, or what role it will play in the emerging National Information Infrastructure (see box 2- 7). Tribal libraries may want to main-tain electronic databases pertaining specifically to Native American issues, or even to specialize in one area such as Indian law. They may choose a dominant role in cultural protection, support of self- governance, or public outreach. In partner-ships, libraries could avoid duplication of effort by sharing their electronic databases through an intertribal library computer network. Libraries might also consider becoming community in-formation and communication centers, especially in remote and economically depressed areas that lack adequate access to residential telephones. Native newspapers and newsletters could be strengthened through use of telecommunications 18 Posting on the MINN- IND (Minnesota Indian) list server, Mar. 4, 1995. To subscribe to MINN- IND, send an e- mail request to dborn@ ma-roon. tc. umn. edu. 19 Charles R. McClure, Waldo C. Babcock, Karen A. Nelson, et al., The Project GAIN Report: Connecting Rural Public Libraries to the Internet, project evaluation report prepared for NYSERNet, Inc., Feb. 15, 1994 (Manlius, NY: Information Management Consultant Services, Inc., 1994). 20 Ibid. p. 1. 21 Project Jukebox was a project of the Elmer R. Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. An early description with preliminary results is described in Steve Cisler (ed.), Apple Library of Tomorrow 1990 to 1992 (Cupertino, CA: Apple Library, 1993). 37 Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures 131 Without clicking on the acknowledge button "1 have read the release agreement, " a user of Project Jukebox (sample screen shown here) cannot listen to audio recordings of culturally sensitive oral histo-ries, or view and print photos and text from the transcript, The release agreement holds a user liable for any subsequent misuse of the information. Audio Cards -I have read the release agreement. Project Jukebox University of Alaska Fairbanks The Elmer E. Rasmuson Library Fairbanks, Alaska 99775- 1005 Oral History Gift and Release Agreement I, Howard Luke, of Chena Camp grant, convey, and transfer to the University of Alaska Archives and Manuscript Collections, an educational institution, all my right, title, interest, and literary property rights in and to the SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, based on material in Steve Cisler (ed.), Apple Library of Tomorrow 1990 to 1992 (Cupertino, CA. Apple Library, 1993), p 8 technology. About 300 newspapers and newslet- on the 26 tribal radio stations. It is co- sponsored ters, mostly small and very- low- budget, cover Na-tive cultural events, issues, and artists, and could benefit from intertribal electronic distribution of news and easy, affordable electronic access to cul-tural materials. Radio and TV stations (including cable TV) also can use satellite links to receive and send Native programming, and thus better serve Native communities. A leading example is the American Indian Radio on Satellite (AIROS) project designed to increase Native programming by the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium and Indigenous Communications Association, with Corporation for Public Broad-casting funding. in sum, electronic technologies can strengthen the ability of Native artists, filmmakers, storytell-ers, and historians to produce cultural materials, and make it easier for cultural institutions serving Native Americans (e. g., museums, schools, li- 38 32 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges in Indian America we have two major information problems; others have little accurate information about us from our perspective, and we have poor access to reformation from others which could benefit us. "- James May (Cherokee) The U S National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) conducted an exten-sive three- year study on challenges critical to the development of tribal Iibraries and information ser-vices for native Americans 1 More than 130 tribes and villages participated in hearings, site visits, and surveys The study addressed issues such as the role of new information technologies, the special problems of cultural and language preservation as oral traditions erode; and the role of Iibraries in all areas of Native Iife, especially to provide access to tools, technologies, literacy and basic job skills training, and resources to successfully enter the Information Age. Two of 10 challenges Identified by the Commission are to develop museum and archive technolo-gies and to encourage application of newer information network technologies. Ironically, tribal Iibraries are trying to preserve cultural traditions and wisdom of the past while forging new paths into the future The Commission found that "with a few exceptions Indian reservations are deplorably bereft of the equipment, expertise, and knowledge necessary to employ the new Iibrary and information technolo-gies ..." 2 Strategies put forth to address this problem Included n acquiring digital computing and telecommunications technology, n training native American Iibrarians, possibly through distance- learning activities with state library agencies and graduate schools, and n establishing intertribal networking, resource- sharing, and the development of special databases The Commission specifically recommended "that consideration should be given to a Iegislative ini-tiative to establish a National Native American Electronic Network enabling the tribes and villages to communicate, cooperate, and share information services and materials rapidly The Network should be designed to address the multiplicity of special library and information needs of Native Americans and have the capability to interface with other national library and reformation networks and databases "3 Tribal, state, and federal policy makers can learn from initiatives such as Alaska's Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED) SLED IS providing Internet access to every public Iibrary in Alaska More-over, SLED computer servers wiII provide electronic databases such as library and government refer-ence materials As remarked by Steve Smith, one of the creators of SLED, Iibraries do not want to be-come "custodians of book warehouses "4 This feeling IS shared by Native Americans in the wake of the federal policy of self- determination, tribes are finding that the tribal library is assuming increasingly im-portant roles as both an archive and an up- to- date information source for culture, education, business, law, governance and tribal policy 1 U S National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, Pathways to Excellence: A Report on Improving Library and Informaflon Services for Native American Peoples (Washington, DC December 1992) 2 Ibid, p 20 3 Ibid, p 14 4 Lee Dye Alaskans To Use SLED on Information Highway, " Los Angeles Times, July 5, 1994, p 5 SOURCE Off Ice of Technology Assessment, 1995 39 Chapter 2 TelecommunicationsTechnology and Native American Cultures | 33 Left: Little Big Horn College at the Crow Indian Reservation, in Crow Agency Montana. Tribal colleges typically provide library and information services as well as education for the local Indian community Right: The Iibrary at the Little Big Horn College is full of books, periodicals, and electronic media- including the CD- ROM station shown here. braries, the media) to reach more people more ef-fectively. Native museums can use computer net-working and videoconferencing, for example, both to improve communication and collabora-tion among themselves, and to form partnerships with schools, libraries, and radio stations. The portability of electronic cultural materials, wheth-er on diskette or CD- ROM or transmitted online, increases their potential reach, not only to Native Americans living on or near Native communities, but to those who live in the major metropolitan areas. Two major caveats are in order. First, most Na-tive communities are short on technical expertise and financial resources. Local schools, museums, and libraries will need training, technical support, and funding for equipment and telecommunica- tions access, as well as local leadership, if the po-tential is to be realized. Second, some Native cul-tural material may be sensitive and not suitable for electronic dissemination, such ascertain religious rites or ceremonies. Many songs and dances are tied to spirituality. Their sanctity derives from the real- life performance within a defined context such as at a sacred site or with certain spiritual leaders. When taken out of context (displayed on a computer terminal, for example), or if altered (by using computer software), sacred songs and dances could be considered disrespectful or irrev-erent. Policies for defining and protecting Native cultural privacy and integrity in an electronic en-vironment need to be established by the Native tribes, villages, and communities that are the orig-inal source of the cultural material. 40 34 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges BROADENING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF NATIVE CULTURES Several national or regional museums specialize, or have a major subfocus, on Native cultures. These include the Smithsonian Institution's Na-tional Museum of the American Indian 22 (NMAI) in Washington, DC and New York City; Heard Museum in Phoenix; Southwest Museum in Los Angeles; and Bishop Museum in Honolulu. The museum administrators and curators are begin-ning to visualize electronic technologies as an im-portant complement to the traditional means of conveying culture and an effective way to extend access to museum displays, exhibits, and pro-grams far beyond the physical structures. The NMAI is in the beginning stages of creat-ing the Fourth Museum (so- called because it is the fourth of four planned NMAI facilities). The Fourth Museum is considering prerecorded au-diotapes and videotapes, videoconferencing, computer networking, electronic databases, and interactive multimedia to disseminate Native pro-gramming and to put the museum's collections and cultural programs online. A secondary goal is to raise public awareness of the status of the other three NMAI facilities. Currently, an exhibit is open at the U. S. Customs House in downtown New York City. A Cultural Resource Center in Maryland is scheduled to be completed in 1997, and a Mall Museum near the National Air and Space Museum is scheduled for completion in 2001. Some skeptics, pointing to a lack of basic telecommunications on many reservations, scoff at the notion that the Fourth Museum will reach and benefit many Native Americans. Programs produced by Native Americans com-bined with new electronic outlets could, over time, provide a better balance to the conventional U. S. textbook, film, and news media treatment of Native American cultures and history. 23 Past me-dia coverage, especially of American history, is generally regarded as having been seriously in-complete and inaccurate (although some note a re-cently improving trend). New technologies and declining costs present opportunities for Native Americans to originate more material of high quality, accuracy, and authenticity and to distrib-ute that material locally and nationally. 24 Ameri-can Indian TV is but one example of local Native programming (see box 2- 8). Although such pro-gramming has rarely been distributed by mass me-dia outlets, this may be changing as evidenced by shifting viewer preferences 25 and a new Native American radio talk show. 26 As a consequence, the major production companies, media outlets, and cultural institutions may take more notice. Technology- based cultural awareness opportu-nities include the use of Native electronic cultural materials (especially software, videos, and films) to support U. S. history and culture courses at the K- 12 and college levels, in public libraries, and in areas of the country that do not have significant concentrations of Native Americans. Also, Na-tive- produced audio programming could be 22 The NMAI was established by the National Museum of the American Indian Act, Public Law 101- 185, Nov. 28, 1989. 23 See, e. g., Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr., The White Man's Indian: Images of the American Indian from Columbus to the Present (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1978). 24 One catalog indexes and describes more than 175 Native American programs produced for public television and available on videotape to public television stations, schools, libraries, and educational users. Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium, Catalog of Program-ming 1993- 94 (Lincoln, NE: 1994). 25 In 1993, cable entrepreneur Ted Turner launched a year- long series of shows about Native Americans, including several movies, a six-hour documentary series, and a 20- part series of reports. Richard Zoglin, "Ted Turner Goes Native," Time, vol. 142, No. 24, Dec. 6, 1993, pp. 86- 87. 26 Native America Calling, coproduced by the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium and the Alaska Public Radio Network, will be the first nationally distributed, live call- in radio talk show. It will be distributed by the AIROS satellite network and is scheduled to pre-miere in June 1995. 41 Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures | 35 played on commercial and public radio stations in the major media markets. And Native- produced video programming could be used on cable and public television stations. Cable is well suited be-cause of the large number of channels, including public and educational access channels, offered in the medium to large markets. Interactive multimedia centers, or kiosks, have a significant future role. A Native American inter-active multimedia center or room could be added at museums that do not otherwise have a signifi-cant Native American exhibition or collection. A Native American interactive interpretative kiosk might be tried at selected national parks, monu-ments, historic sites, and perhaps other federal (and state) locations that have Native cultural or historic significance. These kiosks could use Na-tive- produced multimedia and videos. Computer networking is now being used by Native Americans, researchers, and the general public to discuss Native cultural topics and issues. Electronic mail, electronic "chat" sessions or con-ferences, electronic bulletin boards, and the elec-tronic distribution of Native cultural materials and programming are all in use. Native American dis-cussion groups are included on the major com-mercial and public computer conferencing net-works. The several Native American electronic bulletin boards and electronic information offer-ings should soon be referenced in federal and li-brary directories. About 75 electronic bulletin boards are Native American owned/ operated and pertain to Native American issues (see appendix A for a partial listing). A current threat to the promotion and develop-ment of Native American culture, spirituality, and values on computer networks is ethnic fraudP non- Native Americans posing as elders, shamans, medicine men/ women, and the like. Although these imposters are eventually discovered, they frequently perpetrate cultural libelP putting forth misinformation on sensitive cultural ideas and valuesP for many months and then can easily reappear under a new online name. Today, there is no effective legal recourse for libel in public fo-rums on computer networks. Some public com-puter network forums may have to be regulated and/ or mediated to better protect and serve the cul-tural interests of Native Americans. One could en-vision three classes of computer discussionsP private, regulated/ mediated, and publicP to serve the different needs of Native Americans, includ-ing privacy, protection against fraud, and free speech (this is also true for the majority society). DEVELOPING A NATIVE CULTURAL EMPOWERMENT STRATEGY The Native American community faces a dilem-ma. On the one hand, several key trends are com-ing together to present new opportunities for Na-tive American cultural empowerment: 1) the shift in federal policy that now encourages the reaf-firmation and strengthening of Native culture rather than its repression, 2) the resurgence in grassroots Native interest in cultural history and activities, and 3) the considerable potential of tele-communications. On the other hand, developing overall strategies is difficult, in part because of the cultural diversity of Native Americans and the fragmentation of activities and funding sources. The absence of an overall strategy becomes more critical, however, in times of fiscal austerity. The basis for cultural empowerment might in-clude cultural property rights and legal protec-tions, such as those provided by NAGPRA and the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA) of 1990, 27 and emerging Native policies for copyright, security, and privacy of Native information. The IACA is intended to promote commerce and reduce coun-terfeiting and deceptive marketing practices by imposing large penalitiesP up to $250,000 and five years of incarceration for a first offenseP to 27 An online open forum for discussion of Indian law and policy is the "triballaw" list server. To subscribe, send an e- mail message to LIST-SERV@ thecity. sfsu. edu. In the body of the message, type the following: subscribe triballaw . 42 36 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges "I am here for a purpose, and that purpose is to continue on to be my grandmother's messenger, to disseminate pieces of our culture. That is what my grandmother told me to do. She would often tell me, 'Please let the greater world outside know what is going on here- of who we are and where we come from. . . " 1 --- Ray Young Bear (Mesquakie) American Indian IV (AITV) is a monthly half- hour program distributed in southern California to about 2.25 million cable subscribers, including about 100,000 Native Americans in the metropolitan Los An-geles area. The program goals are to dispel myths and negative images about Indians by showcasing Indians in contemporary settings lndian rappers, opera singers, attorneys, surgeons, ballet dancers, and skateboard champions and to build Indian community and outreach The program IS largely the effort of one man, Don Thornton (Cherokee), who may spend as much as 80 hours a week for the "sheer joy of producing a show he believes in " The program began as a simple community access health show funded by a grant from the Indian Health Service. The American Indian Clinic provides a small production studio. AITV is currently search-ing for ways to expand to a broadcast UHF or VHF channel and to produce the show weekly. To date, AITV has archived 90 hours of programming for a year and a half of work, and has traveled to a dozen states. A monthly newsletter with a calendar of events and viewing times currently reaches 2,000 homes, Using an upbeat format, the program highlights community issues and promotes Indian performers, leaders, role models, and organizations, It has featured national Indian lea