Telecommunications Technology and Native

Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

August 1995

OTA-ITC-621
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).
iii

oreword

elecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges examines the potential of telecommunications

to improve the socioeconomic conditions of Native Americans—

American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians—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 telecommunications (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 telecommunications planning on Indian reservations and in Alaska Native villages and Native Hawaiian communities.

Prepared at the request of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, this is

the first federal government report on Native American telecommunications. 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 technology 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 accessible via OTA Online (http://www.ota.gov/nativea.html).

OTA appreciates the assistance of the project advisory panelists, a majority of whom are Native American, and federal agency workshop participants, as well as the many Native government, federal and state government, 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
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
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 of its

contents.
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 Director1

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

________________

1Through September 1994.
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
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
Summary

and

Policy

Implications

s the Internet, electronic mail, compact discs, and digital

telephones sweep through much of the United States, Native American activists are asking themselves whether

and how the new technology can empower Native communities. 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, village, or island level. Today’s Native Americans—American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians—are the descendants of these indigenous peoples.1 Over the last 200 years,

indigenous peoples have struggled to maintain their cultures, sovereignty, and self-determination in the face of population pressures 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 services vital to tribal well-being. Federal law and policy apply this

framework to the 550 federally recognized Indian tribes—in1Native Americans are defined in this report to include American Indians, Alaska Natives (Indian, Aleut, and Eskimo), and Native Hawaiians who are descendants of indigenous peoples who lived in geographic areas now comprising the United States.

| 1
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

aThe U S Census Bureau relies heavily on self-identification by respondents 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 inreformation 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 Americans, ” 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 experience of Native Hawaiians with those of American Indians and Alaska Natives provide a basis for

including Native Hawaiians within this framework.

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 conditions. The promise of telecommunications is by no

means assured, however. Indeed, if Native Americans, collectively, do not gain better understanding and control of this technology, the result could

be to further undermine Native culture, community, sovereignty, and self-determination.

No single technological solution will address

Native American needs. A variety of technologies, working together or complementing one

another, will best meet their diverse needs. Computer 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 purposes of this report, all of these technologies collectively 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 villages, 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 percent) or in metropolitan areas (about one-half).

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

During the course of this study, the Office of

Technology Assessment (OTA) has observed aremarkable increase in the level of interest in telecommunications by Native Americans (see appendix 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 Society, are including sessions on telecommunications or the information superhighway at annual

conferences and meetings. The tribal and community 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-
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 accessible 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 number and variety of Native American telecommunications 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 realizing 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 described below.

■ An Optimistic Year 2000 Scenario

Most Alaska Native villages, many American Indian 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 services not otherwise available or affordable. Telecommunications 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. TelecommunicaChapter 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 producing and distributing Native-oriented educational

materials and Native programming to widely dispersed Native Americans living in both metropolitan and rural areas.

Telecommunications helps stimulate economic

development in Native areas. Telecommunications proves to be a necessary, though not sufficient, condition for economic revitalization. In

this scenario, telecommunications is used to:

1) create jobs in Native-owned telephone, computer, broadcasting, and related companies;

2) market Native-produced arts and crafts electronically; 3) develop and promote tourist and recreational activities on or near Native lands; 4) pro-
4 Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Where applicable, the Uniform Resource Locator for use with Internet browsers is listed in parentheses.

■ 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.

■ 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.

■ 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 develop 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.

■ 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 activity, 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, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska (Native villages).

■ 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 locations.

■ 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 support from the Educational and Cultural Organization to Advance Restoration and Transition (ECOART),

also located in Waimanalo. Hawaii Online, in Honolulu, Hawaii provided Internet access.

■ 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.

■ 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., Chandler, Arizona; Ft. Mojave Telecommunications, Ft. Mojave, Arizona; and Tohono O’Odham Utility Authority, 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.
Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications 15

■ 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)

■ 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 business startups in Native areas; and 6) manage Native land and natural and financial resources.

Telecommunications technology allows Native Americans to share and broaden their culture

electronically within and among Native communities. Computer graphics, software, and multimedia help strengthen and disseminate Native art,

language, and dances. Native cultural materials

are shared electronically by community and cultural centers, libraries, and schools that serve Native 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 videoconferencing and computer networking to fageographically dispersed members. This same

technology helps strengthen intertribal collaboration and facilitates the participation of Native organizations in relevant activities of state and federal governments. Native governments receive

federal and state services electronically and deliver services electronically to tribal or village members 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.

❚ A Pessimistic Year 2000 Scenario

The inadequacies of rural Native American economies and telecommunications infrastructure

continue to prove too great to overcome. Under
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 reservations and in most Alaska Native villages, contributing to continuing family, health, and substance abuse problems. Most reservations and

villages still have weak economies that make generating or attracting investment capital difficult.

As a group, American Indians continue to be the

most disadvantaged in the United States with regard 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 improvements. 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 federations 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 telecommunications issues.

The absence of federal policy or coordination

on Native American telecommunications continues through the year 2000, thereby curtailing the

development of an appropriate and effective federal role. The Federal Communications Commision (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 expertise at the tribal, village, or community level.

While many agencies do support various individual projects, the sum is still less than the parts.

The lack of infrastructure, leadership, planning, funding, and policy means-under this pessimistic scenario—that many of the rural, remote

Native areas are left on the sidelines of the telecommunications revolution. These areas are unable to capture the potential educational, health,

economic, social, and cultural benefits of telecommunications applications. In this year 2000

scenario, Native Americans run the risk of being

exploited by, rather than controlling, the technology. Without meaningful and extensive Native involvement, telecommunications ends up further

undermining Native culture and values and disenfranchising, rather than empowering, Native

Americans.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Native American telecommunications policy and

activities are clearly lagging behind both: 1) other
Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications | 7

areas of Native American policy (e.g., self-governance, education, and health care); and 2) the telecommunications policy development and initiatives in the majority society. While Native

American telecommunications activities are increasing, the rate of change in the majority society

has accelerated markedly in recent years. This reflects the current emphasis on the national information superhighway, and the further transition of the United States into a post-industrial

information economy and society.

Absent some kind of policy interventions, Native Americans are unlikely to catch up with, and

probably will fall further behind, the majority society with respect to telecommunications. This

takes on greater importance given the likely benefits of telecommunications to Native Americans

that may be deferred, diminished, or foregone under the policy status quo. OTA has identified eight

major components to a comprehensive policy

framework on Native American telecommunications. The first four emphasize a lead role for Native groups and governments—the empowerment

of Native Americans in telecommunications—

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 Native values and sovereignty are strengthened, not

weakened.

❚ Empowering Native American

Telecommunications

Tribal, federal agency, and congressional actions

could focus on implementing these four essential

elements of an overall Native American telecommunications policy framework.

Grassroots Tribal/Village/Community

Empowerment

At the grassroots level, one key is developing local sources of telecommunications expertise.

Tribal and community colleges are important

sources of expertise, as are the small but growing

group of Native computer and telecommunications activists and grassroots groups. Nativeowned 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 telecommunications plan. Local tribal/village/community leaders could set up a telecommunications committee or task force, as has been done by, for

example, the Navajo Nation (Arizona/New Mexico/Utah) and the Affiliated Tribes of the Chehalis

(Washington). 

The committee, in consultation with community 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 providers—

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 telecommunications. 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 telecommunications2

could work with regional and national groups

such as the Alaska Federation of Natives, National

2Examples include the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Pacific Islanders in Communications, Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium, Intertribal Geographic Information Systems Council, Americans

for Indian Opportunity, and Indigenous Communications Association.
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 videoconferencing (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 providers (e.g., Alu Like) to set up formal committees

and develop a coordinated Native American telecommunications 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 universities would be logical focal points for telecommunications education and training. And Native 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 prospectively available to many rural Native communities are

insufficient to support development of the telecommunications infrastructure by multiple, indeshort supply. This makes it imperative that telecommunications 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 telecommunications infrastructure will be necessary in many

rural Native areas (see box 1-2) to match technology 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 basic telecommunications in the short- to mediumterm. A local high school, community college, library, community/cultural center, family wellness

clinic, multiservice delivery center, or tribal/village office could be designated as a community

communication center where a wide range of telecommunications equipment and services are

available to residents, including students and en4
Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications 19

Local

internet

provider

Native radio/TV

station

Tribal

Iibrary/

■ Telecommuting

museum

■ Videoconferencing Tribal

■ Local area networks college

● High-speed internet

■ Multimedia software

■ Online database TRIBAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

Tribal businesses and

enterprise zones

■ Electronic enterprise

■ Electronic funds transfer

■ Telemarketing

/

( telecommunications )

Tribal government and

multiservice providers

Tribal hospital/

Indian Health ■ Geographic information system

Service ■ Electronic benefits transfer

■ Bureau of Indian Affairs

\

telecommunications

■ Telemedicine

Tribal telecommunications or

public utility company

■

■

■

■

■

m

■

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 infracommunity telecommunications network (see fig- structure.

ure l-l). Either way, the intent would be to provide 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
10 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges .

businesses—is one of the best ways to: 1) develop

grassroots expertise and leadership in telecommunications; 2) create new jobs on Indian reservations and in Native villages and communities;

3) stimulate the Native economy; and 4) potentially open up new opportunities for Native businesses to compete in regional, national, and international markets. Success stories like the

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority

(South Dakota) demonstrate that Native-owned

and -operated telephone, cable TV, satellite broadcast TV, and cellular and wireless companies are

within reach. The same holds true for Nativeowned and -operated radio stations. But, again,

expertise and capital are limited at present. Federal grant and loan programs could be reviewed and

reprogrammed or restructured to place greater

emphasis and focus on supporting Native telecommunications entrepreneurs. Native leaders

could consider ways to apply some portion of tribal revenues to support telecommunications startup 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.

■ Refocusing the Federal Role

Consistent with empowering Native communities, Congress and appropriate federal agencies

could take action in the following areas to develop

a federal policy on Native American telecommunications policy, with the involvement of Native

American groups, leaders, and telecommunications 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 oversight 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), Administration for Native Americans (ANA), and National

Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), among others, could combine efforts to strengthen the telecommunications infrastructure in Native areas. Improvements in federal

agency telecommunications capabilities should
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 clearinghouses could be used to provide information on

relevant programs and projects, accessible by Native American leaders and technology activists as

well as federal personnel.

The strategy could be designed to: 1) help ensure that efforts to downsize and reinvent federal

agencies give appropriate weight to Native telecommunications needs and legitimate Native

projects; 2) encourage tribes, villages, and communities 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 mechanisms that pool resources and technical support.

Interagency coordination could help ensure

that best use is made of scarce federal dollars for

telecommunications education, training, pilottesting, and infrastructure development in Native

communities. Even under the best of circumstances, finding the funds for Native American

telecommunications will be difficult. Native

Americans need to make up for previous underinvestment in telecommunications at a time when

most traditional funding sources are under increasing pressure, and other basic needs such as

housing, food, roads, hospitals, and schools continue 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 telecommunications activists have asserted that federal telecommunications policy ignores or contradicts 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 applied 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 telecommunications 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 inquiries on Native American telecommunications, and

invite active participation from tribal governments, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian organizations, Native technology activists, state regulators, private companies, and the like. These

policy initiatives could address both the need for

and content of a government-wide policy statement and strategy, and specific topics like sovereignty 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 several options are possible. Tribal telecommunications 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 authority; others, especially the larger tribes, may

choose to establish their own tribal telecommunications agency or authority. The existing balance of federal-state relationships would need to

be adjusted to accommodate heightened tribal involvement. 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 spectrum). The FCC could set up an office of tribal or

Native American affairs, include tribal govern-
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, highcost rural areas with revenues from the high-volume, high-profit metropolitan areas and interstate

routes—thereby improving rural access. Many rural tribes and villages clearly have a continuing

need for universal service fund (USF) cross-subsidies, both directly to Native-owned and -operated

telecommunications companies and indirectly to

other rural telephone cooperatives and companies that serve tribal or village areas. Many rural

Native Americans would be further disadvantaged if the USF were weakened or discontinued.

The current universal service mechanism could

be strengthened by increasing the types and number of USF contributors, expanding the definition

of universal service, and possibly creating minimum set-asides for Native rural areas. The implications of universal service options for rural

Native areas could be explicitly addressed in ongoing 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, communities, 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 areas—or desiring to serve these

areas—could be urged, required, or given incentives to upgrade service. This could be done in collaboration 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 Utilities 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 rural Native groups and governments for infrastructure 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 telecommunications, as a handful are already doing,

and leverage gaming-related telecommunications

facilities for broader tribal applications.

Information Policy

Federal officials need to explicitly consider Native American perspectives when formulating information 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, spiritual, and ceremonial information transmitted electronically; and 2) protecting the integrity of the information content (e.g., Native artwork or

traditional healing) from alteration, misrepresentation, 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 States—

thus constitutional and federal issues such as privacy, 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-
Chapter 1 Summary and Policy Implications 113

ry authorities, commercial telecommunications

companies, and a range of public and private sector users. Native American leaders and advocates

will, in any event, need to participate more actively 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 Native American telecommunications. The report

builds, in part, on the work of Native American activists and researchers who have been among the

first to grasp the potential and risks of telecommunications (see box 1-3). Clearly, the field of Native

American telecommunications is still in its early

stages. While some policy decisions could be responsibly made today, future applications and

policymaking would benefit from significant, continued research on many of the topics discussed in

this report.

Also, development of cost estimates was beyond the scope of this report, and will not be feasible until more detailed infrastructure requirements and options are specified. The absence of

cost data need not delay strategic policy actions,

however. Nor does this report consider the telecommunications needs of Native Americans living on other Pacific Islands such as the U.S. territories of Guam and American Samoa and the U.S.

Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. An improved telecommunications infrastructure could help strengthen the ancestral, cultural, 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, CA1

“1 want to see a dream become reality. If any American Indian wishes to communicate to another individual 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 continue 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, NC2

“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, HI3

“Native Hawaiian peoples are in danger of being left behind in the telecommunications age., .[O]pportunities for employment, training, and ‘bridging the communications gap’. .. between Native Hawaiians because of our island geography (especially in rural locales) would be enhanced by establishment of a ‘Native Hawaiian Telecommunications Network.”

—Ku Kahakalau and Jim Hunt, Honoka’a, The Big Island, HI4

1 Dan Pacheco, "Circles of Light: Tribal Elders Finding Role for Wizardry of Internet, ” Denver Post, Mar 291995 p. 1F.

2AndreW Conseen Duff, “Community Initiative, ” statement prepared for the Americans for Indian Opportunity Ambassador Program, n.d. and “A Tradition of Information Gathering,” statement prepared for the National Information

Infrastructure hearings, Apr. 12, 1995, Santa Fe, NM

3Haunani Apoliona, “Toward Collective Action, ” Task Force on Hawaiian Services, Nov. 25, 1991, p 2, and “MultService Centers Demonstration Project, ” Alu Like Annual Report 1992, Honolulu, Hl, p 6

(continued)
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, AK5

“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, DC6

“The need to clarify matters of tribal and federal jurisdiction in the field of telecommunications and information 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, NM7

4Ku Kahakalau and Jim Hunt, “Native Hawaiian Telecommunications Network, ” n.d.

5

“Annual Report 1993 -1994,” North Slope Borough School District, Barrow, AK, p 5

6U.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)

7Randy 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 centers of telecommunications expertise in Native organizations and universities that serve Native

Americans. Federal agencies that support pilot

projects and infrastructure development for Native American telecommunications could be required 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 racial and ethnic groups and as Native Americans

collectively—with a special focus on demographics 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 American telecommunications needs and infrastructure

(see appendix C for an illustrative survey research

instrument on baseline infrastructure); 2) maintain 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 networking for Native Americans).
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.
Telecommunications

Technology and

Native American

Cultures

ulture—including language, spirituality or religion, creative expression, historical interpretation, traditions, values, and identity—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 society. This was true for American Indians in the contiguous 48

states; Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos in Alaska; and Native Hawaiians in Hawaii. Many of today’s social and economic problems 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 recognize the importance of Native American cultures.

Telecommunications technology—broadly defined to include

telephone, videoconferencing, computer networking, information systems, multimedia, radio/TV, and the like—offers considerable potential to help Native Americans reestablish and

strengthen their cultures. It offers new opportunities to save endangered Native languages, including traditional stories and histories, 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 historical interpretations) can be easily shared and distributed among

rural and metropolitan Native American communities. It also allows Native Americans, as individuals or through institutions, to

broaden public awareness of their cultures. Museums, libraries,

| 17
18 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

and schools would greatly benefit from telecommunications 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 service institutions would also benefit from readily

available cultural material, such as traditional

healing research or genealogical information systems.

While sharing cultural material may help

broaden public awareness, it also could work

against the promotion of Native American cultures if the material were nonauthentic. The ease

of transmitting and manipulating digitized material using telecommunication technologies could

exacerbate ongoing cultural problems, such as:

1) continuation of negative stereotypes of Native

peoples; 2) non-Native Americans posing as spiritual 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 information policies for access, freedom of speech, privacy, and security for both users and providers of information and cultural material. To ensure that the

technology empowers Native Americans in revitalizing their cultures, Native Americans will

need to have a central role in controlling, managing, and implementing these technology-enhanced cultural opportunities. If not, there is the

potential that non-Native Americans, knowingly

or unwittingly, might disseminate inaccurate information or perpetuate negative cultural stereotypes. 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 formulating an information policy, providing legal

protections for cultural property rights, and coordinating 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 communities 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 endured. 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 Americans show reverence for the environment, Mother

Earth and Father Sky, in everyday actions and decisions. Moreover, many are less concerned with

an individual’s role in the economy, a “job” or “career,” 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 social 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 dropout 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 population).

A recent Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) survey

concluded that BIA high school students “engage

in behaviors that put them at risk for significant

1Harold 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).
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 business 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 inaugurated 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 barbarous 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 Department’s response was, for Woodson, very gratifying. The Indians had to be restrained “from the indulgence 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.

1United 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 following: 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 impregnated someone; and 29 percent seriously considered 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 Hawaiian” divides Native Americans into separate

political groups. The problem stems from the fact

that authenticity is not just a matter of blood quantum, but is rooted in the unquantifiable notions of

spirituality and cultural or community affiliation.

Between 1980 and 1990, the U.S. Census measured a 38-percent increase in the American in

dian and Alaska Native population. This large increase has been attributed to two phenomena other

than real growth in the Native American popula2A 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).
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-Native Americans self-identifying themselves as Native 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 important not only for political and legal determinations of eligibility for entitlements or rights, but

also for the protection and development of spiritual and cultural values.

American Indians and Alaska Natives also face

major environmental problems on lands that include two-thirds of the nation’s uranium deposits,

significant deposits of oil and natural gas, and millions of acres of forests.3 Pollution from past industrial 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 Native Hawaiian communities, although accessible

byroads, are located in the outlying, more remote

areas and islands. Also, inter-island travel between 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, OTAENV-591 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1994).
Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures | 21

as is the case for most travel between Alaska Native villages.

As a consequence of rural isolation, and frequently 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 Americans 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 reservation Native Americans will likely affect urban

Native Americans at some later time, and vice versa 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 local services; 4) employment prospects and conditions; 5) environmental health; and 6) effectiveness and responsiveness of the tribal, village, or

community government leaders and elders.5 A

strong sense of the interconnectedness and interdependence of these components is central to Native concepts of well-being and cannot be overemphasized. The ability to communicate is critical to

maintaining these connections.

In many respects, mainstream society is beginning to recognize and incorporate Native American core values and notions of well-being. Education is now “lifelong learning.” The medical

profession has a growing awareness of how environment, 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 mining, 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 conflicts and tensions, scarce resources, and daunting

socioeconomic challenges. Partnerships, joint

ventures, and interagency councils are all attempts

to create the necessary links for community organizations 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 “honoring the earth” and “community interconnectedness.” 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 pictographically to maintain the tradition. For example, 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 re5 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 American Indian Affairs (New York, NY); Honor Our Neighbor’s Origins and Rights (Milwaukee, WI); Indigenous Environmental Network (Bemidji, 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 Association (Gaithersburg, MD); Northwest Renewable Resources Center (Seattle, WA); Solidarity Foundation (New York, NY); and United National

Indian Tribal Youth (Oklahoma City, OK).
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 AsI

sessment staff discussed this topic during numerous interviews and constructed the following representative 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. professional, 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 majority of Native Americans at some point in their lives. Moreover, declining costs and/or enhanced telecommunications such as videoconferencing and computer networking will promote ties and “community” regardless 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 reservations, 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 Indians, 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, communities, or associations Jack Utter, American Indians. Answers to Today’s Questions (Lake Ann, Ml National Woodlands Publishing Company, 1993), p 20

SOURCE Off Ice of Technology Assessment, 1995

--
Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures | 23

newal and strengthening-primarily to Native

peoples, but also to the mainstream society. Microcomputers and software offer new opportunities to record, teach, and utilize languages, in written, graphic, and oral forms.

Prototypes appear to be successful. For example, microcomputer keyboards, fonts, and operating system software have been adapted for the Native 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 programming 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 common and portable technology platform seems essential, given the large number of Native languages (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 copied via diskette, CD-ROM, or online. The Native

languages could be used in Native electronic bulletin 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 informal 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 Hawaiian to practice the language by creating anonline community of interest that includes Hawaiian

speakers locally and around the world. For example, Hawaiian speakers in California now use Leoki 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 Cornputers, Internet” The Honolulu Advertiser, Feb. 19, 1995, p. A5.
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 declined until 1978 when the State of Hawaii legally recognized it again Today, there are Hawaiian language 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 supported by the Hawaii Department of Education.

The use of computers and telecommunications in Hawaiian schools can greatly reinforce the learning process. Keola Donaghy, an Immersion teacher and computer consultant. modified computer keyboards 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 (Hawaiian Iexicon 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).

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 dictionaries), 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 developway 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 lanApache 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.
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 “Cyberspace” 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 prototype 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 comprise 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 applications 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 industry.

1 Information from the National Science Foundation FTP file server, ftp://nls.sf net/statistics/nsfnet/1995/n5f-9502.highlights.

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 stuThe 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 distributed 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 <your e-mail address>.”
26 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

gestures, and tones are conveyed in personal settings. 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 purposes, 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 importance of these sites and objects, and requires agencies to be sensitive to the effects of federal programs and activities on Native American religious

beliefs and practices. For example, federal law requires federal agencies and federally funded institutions (approximately 5,000) to compile inventories of burial remains—Native American

skeletons, funerary and sacred objects, and other

items of cultural importance—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 required 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 cultural 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 sensitive sites could be included in geographic information 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 information could be distributed to Native leaders

using computer networking. For example, the National 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 sanctity. Native groups would need to be involved from

the outset to ensure appropriate inventory (and

site) security and privacy. In some cases, sensitivity 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 numbers of artifacts. Computer networking has accelerated the rate of activity—meetings, conferences, rules-making, and decisionmaking—of

many concerned parties, while leaving others (notably non-networked Native Americans) uninformed 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 remote 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.
Chapter 2 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Cultures 127

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990 is the latest legislation 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 Archeological 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 permits 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 archeologists, and the Department of Defense, The permits module is updated with help from the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives.

The NAGPRA module features guidance on implementing NAGPRA. It provides the full text of NAGPRA 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 Protecting 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 Service, Archeological Assistance Division, “NADB Access” (pamphlet), Washington, DC, 1994

and hearings difficult or impossible. While face- record, develop, and share cultural resources. Nato-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/disRECORDING, DEVELOPING, AND played by radio, TV, or computer monitor. New

SHARING NATIVE CULTURES electronic works of art that reflect and inspire NaComputer 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
28 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

transmitted over any distance without loss of quality or integrity—for example, within a single tribe

or local community, among several tribes or villages across the country, or across regional or national networks of institutions and communication 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 technologies—for

recording, developing, and sharing—help bring

together the emerging Native American cultural

infrastructure.

Native leaders, elders, historians, artists, filmmakers, composers, storytellers, and advocates

feel a strong need to maintain and develop Native

cultures, and increasingly understand the potential of telecommunications technologies. Provision for Native programming must accompany

new wires and conduits. Native-language, Nativeproduced, 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 camcorders, digital audiotape recorders, and a multitude of

software applications for everything from desktop

publishing to computer animation.

Because many of these technologies are designed for personal use, home-grown productions

are proliferating. For example, students and professors at the Oglala Lakota College on the Pine

Ridge Reservation in South Dakota are “creating

CD-ROMs on everything from the Bigfoot Massacre in 1890 to the Wounded Knee Uprising in

1973 . . . [and] in Window Rock, Arizona, the Navajo tribe is creating a CD-ROM on their traditional 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 History of the White Earth Ojibwe.” This CD-ROM,

the result of a two-year effort to record oral histories 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

tribe—most couldn’t even pronounce Ojibwe

words [and] students had little understanding of

the culture and heritage that shaped their ancestors’ 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 Broadcasting Consortium, Institute of American Indian

Arts, Native American Producers Alliance, Aboriginal Film and Video Artists Alliance, and Pacific Islanders in Communications. Given the cultural 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

12Rayl, op. cit., footnote 6, p. 48.

13Peggy 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.
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 programmers appear to be innovative and high in quality.

For example, the Indigenous Broadcast Center, a

project of Alaska Public Radio Network, was recently awarded grants from the National Alliance

for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC) in Oakland, California, and the National Endowment for

the Arts (NEA) . 15 The NEA grant will create partnerships between Native radio producers and artists 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 residential hands-on workshop led by Alaska’s top

media professionals in radio, video, and journalism.

About 120 tribal and village museums or cultural centers focus on the history and culture of individual 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 Americans 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 Americans. 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 materials 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.
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-toreservation Internet “key pal” program.18 The students will be encouraged to learn language arts,

geography, Ojibwe culture, and computer technology. They will develop a database of American

Indian schools, along with their Internet addresses, which will be made accessible on the INFORMS 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, libraries are now accustomed to providing information using various media. They would likely be

ready users of new electronic cultural materials,

assuming, as with schools, that training and resource 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 financial and equipment grants from the J.M. Kaplan Foundation and Apple Computer, connected

five rural libraries and the Onondaga Indian Nation 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 electronic information.”20 Critical to the success of

the project was personalized support for participants. The barriers included high long-distance

telephone charges, limited access to points-ofpresence, and lack of awareness in the broader

community. These libraries were not specifically

involved in building a new library-wide information system, but the project did demonstrate successful use of resources on the Internet, considered to be the largest virtual library in the world.

In another application, Apple Computer sponsored 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 dilemma—to make

the audio recordings widely available while protecting 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 CDROM.

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 maintain 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 partnerships, libraries could avoid duplication of effort

by sharing their electronic databases through an

intertribal library computer network. Libraries

might also consider becoming community information 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

18Posting on the MINN-IND (Minnesota Indian) list server, Mar. 4, 1995. To subscribe to MINN-IND, send an e-mail request to dborn@maroon.tc.umn.edu.

19Charles 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).

20Ibid. p. 1.

21Project 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).
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 histories, 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 Native cultural events, issues, and artists, and could

benefit from intertribal electronic distribution of

news and easy, affordable electronic access to cultural 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 Broadcasting funding.

in sum, electronic technologies can strengthen

the ability of Native artists, filmmakers, storytellers, and historians to produce cultural materials,

and make it easier for cultural institutions serving

Native Americans (e.g., museums, schools, li-
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 extensive three-year study on challenges critical to the development of tribal Iibraries and information services 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 technologies 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 technologies ..."2 Strategies put forth to address this problem Included

■ acquiring digital computing and telecommunications technology,

■ training native American Iibrarians, possibly through distance-learning activities with state library

agencies and graduate schools, and

■ establishing intertribal networking, resource-sharing, and the development of special databases

The Commission specifically recommended “that consideration should be given to a Iegislative initiative 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 Moreover, SLED computer servers wiII provide electronic databases such as library and government reference materials As remarked by Steve Smith, one of the creators of SLED, Iibraries do not want to become “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 important 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
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 effectively. Native museums can use computer networking and videoconferencing, for example,

both to improve communication and collaboration among themselves, and to form partnerships

with schools, libraries, and radio stations. The

portability of electronic cultural materials, whether 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 Native communities are short on technical expertise

and financial resources. Local schools, museums,

and libraries will need training, technical support,

and funding for equipment and telecommunications access, as well as local leadership, if the potential is to be realized. Second, some Native cultural 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 irreverent. Policies for defining and protecting Native

cultural privacy and integrity in an electronic environment need to be established by the Native

tribes, villages, and communities that are the original source of the cultural material.
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 National Museum of the American Indian22 (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 beginning to visualize electronic technologies as an important complement to the traditional means of

conveying culture and an effective way to extend

access to museum displays, exhibits, and programs far beyond the physical structures.

The NMAI is in the beginning stages of creating the Fourth Museum (so-called because it is the

fourth of four planned NMAI facilities). The

Fourth Museum is considering prerecorded audiotapes and videotapes, videoconferencing,

computer networking, electronic databases, and

interactive multimedia to disseminate Native programming 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 combined 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 media coverage, especially of American history, is

generally regarded as having been seriously incomplete and inaccurate (although some note a recently improving trend). New technologies and

declining costs present opportunities for Native

Americans to originate more material of high

quality, accuracy, and authenticity and to distribute that material locally and nationally.24 American Indian TV is but one example of local Native

programming (see box 2-8). Although such programming has rarely been distributed by mass media outlets, this may be changing as evidenced by

shifting viewer preferences25and 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 opportunities 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, Native-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 Programming 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 sixhour 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 premiere in June 1995.
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 because 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 interactive multimedia center or room could be added

at museums that do not otherwise have a significant Native American exhibition or collection. A

Native American interactive interpretative kiosk

might be tried at selected national parks, monuments, historic sites, and perhaps other federal

(and state) locations that have Native cultural or

historic significance. These kiosks could use Native-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 conferences, electronic bulletin boards, and the electronic distribution of Native cultural materials and

programming are all in use. Native American discussion groups are included on the major commercial and public computer conferencing networks. The several Native American electronic

bulletin boards and electronic information offerings should soon be referenced in federal and library 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 development of Native American culture, spirituality, and

values on computer networks is ethnic fraud—

non-Native Americans posing as elders, shamans,

medicine men/women, and the like. Although

these imposters are eventually discovered, they

frequently perpetrate cultural libel—putting forth

misinformation on sensitive cultural ideas and

values—for many months and then can easily

reappear under a new online name. Today, there is

no effective legal recourse for libel in public forums on computer networks. Some public computer network forums may have to be regulated

and/or mediated to better protect and serve the cultural interests of Native Americans. One could envision three classes of computer discussions—

private, regulated/mediated, and public—to serve

the different needs of Native Americans, including 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 dilemma. On the one hand, several key trends are coming together to present new opportunities for Native American cultural empowerment: 1) the shift

in federal policy that now encourages the reaffirmation 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 telecommunications. 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 include cultural property rights and legal protections, 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 counterfeiting and deceptive marketing practices by

imposing large penalities—up to $250,000 and

five years of incarceration for a first offense—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 LISTSERV@thecity.sfsu.edu. In the body of the message, type the following: subscribe triballaw <yourname>.
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 Angeles 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 searching 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 leaders such as Wilma Mankiller,

Chief of the Cherokee Nation; Oren Lyons, Chief of the Onondaga Nation, and Senator Ben Nighthorse

Campbell of Colorado. The program also features Indian entertainers such as Wes Studi, Floyd “Red

Crow” Westerman, and Gary Farmer. Despite a shoestring budget, AITV has managed to line up nonIndian celebrities such as Arnold Schwartzenegger, Steven Seagal, Jay Leno, Robert Duvall, and Paul

McCartney in connection with Indian-specific events and issues. in a humorous way, each show awards

a dubious honor to those who have gone out of their way to offend the Indian community—the “CusterHad-It-Coming-Award !”

SOURCE. Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, based on information from materials provided by Don Thornton, producer, AITV

April 1995

1 David Moore and Michael Wilson, “Staying Afloat in a Chaotic World A Conversation with Ray Young Bear,” Callaloo, vol. 17, No. 1, winter 1994, pp. 205-208.

those who knowingly violate the prohibition.28 strengthening of bonds with blood relatives. in

Protection and enforcement of such policies are formation systems that trace genealogies can help

difficult for online information, however, and individuals to verify ancestry, establish tribal or

some Native Americans may choose not to put Alaska village membership, strengthen knowlsensitive cultural material into electronic formats. edge of their-cultural roots, identify relatives, and/

Cultural empowerment might also include po- or create or renew feelings of belonging and purlicies that encourage the identification and pose. Policies for the development and use of

28 For further discussion, see Jack Utter, American Indians: Answers to Today’s Questions (Lake Ann, MI: National woodlands Publishing

Company, 1993). pp. 81-82.
Chapter 2 TelecommunicationsTechnology and Native American Cultures 137

genealogical information systems might include

decisions on which records could be put into electronic form, and on controlled access to records to

ensure the appropriate amount of confidentiality

-and privacy.

In Hawaii, art interagency task force comprised

of representatives from the Department of Health,

the State Archives, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs,

and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands addressed the issue of Hawaiian genealogy. 29 It discovered a large demand for genealogical services

and developed a plan for the Hawaiian Genealogy

Project with input from interested individuals and

organizations. The plan made recommendations

for legislation as well as administration and funding. The project will include the online Hawaii

Population Database (developed by the Genetics

Department of the University of Hawaii), which

contains primary records (birth, death, and marriage) collected from 1841 to the present, and secondary records such as the 1900 and 1910 Federal

Census files. Other potential secondary sources

include documents at the State Archives, libraries,

courts, and the Bishop Museum. The task force

recommended that information and assistance be

centralized at one-stop centers located on Kauai,

Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii, and that electronic information be shared through telecommunications linkages. The project was to have been

fully functional by 1995, but is less than one-quarter complete due to a lack of funding.

The federal role in recent years has been to support Native language30 renewal and cultural development. Financial support, however, is modest

and spread among several federal agencies and

programs. These include, for example, the AdTop: In Alaska, most colleges serving Native communities are

part of the University of Alaska system. Chukchi College

serves Kotzebue and other Eskimo villages in remote northwest Alaska. The Kotzebue public library is collocated with

Chukchi College. Bottom: The Kotzebue public Iibrary has a small collection of books and periodicals along with a CDROM station and online computer terminal that are available

to the local community

ministration for Native Americans* in the Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau

of Indian Affairs (Department of the Interior), National Park Service (Department of the Interior),

29 Hawaiian Genealogy Project Master Plan (Honolulu, HI: State of Hawaii Interagency Task Force, 1991).

30 On October 30, 1990, the Native American Languages Act, Title I of Public Law 101-477, declared federal policy “to preserve, protect,

and promote the rights and freedoms of Native Americans to use, practice and develop Native American languages,” as cited in Utter, op. cit..

footnote 28, p. 84. 31 "On Oct. 26, 1992, President Bush signed into law a legislative measure that will help counter the loss of Native languages. It authorizes

the Administration formative Americans to make grants to tribal governments and other groups to teach children, train educators and interpreters, and compile histories, develop teaching materials, and acquire equipment for language lessons” (Indian Country Today, Nov. 5, 1992),

as cited in Utter, op. cit., footnote 28, p. 83.
38 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Department of Education (various programs), National Museum of the American Indian (The

Smithsonian Institution), National Endowment

for the Arts, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Total funding appears to be a few million

dollars per year (excluding the NMAI construction costs), of which a significant part supports

telecommunications-related activities.

Because Native cultural programs are spread

among several agencies and lack an overarching

strategic plan or concept, an unintended consequence of overall federal budget cuts could be to

effectively dismantle some or all of these initiatives. The Administration for Native Americans

had concluded, in 1994, that Native cultural activities were underfunded.32 Budget increases appear impractical in today’s fiscal environment.

But some Native leaders and cultural activists are

urging consideration of new ways to preserve current funding or forestall disproportionate cuts.

Advocates believe that, while Native culture is the

primary responsibility of each individual tribe,

village, and community, the federal trust responsibility appropriately extends to providing some

modicum of financial support—especially in light

of many decades of federal efforts to undermine

Native cultures.

National tribal leaders, together with American

Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian cultural leaders, could work with a designated federal

agency, perhaps the Administration for Native

Americans, to inventory and disseminate online

all current federal programs for Native American

cultural activities, and develop both funding and

administrative options. Moreover, they could

work on further developing policy on cultural

property rights. The result could be an overall

strategy that would focus attention on Native

American cultural empowerment and coordinate

efforts to make best use of scarce financial resources.

32 Administration for Native Americans officials, personal communication, Nov. 18, 1994.
Telecommunications

Technology and

Native American

Community-Building

he community is a core value and basic institution of Native American cultures and societies. Until the last several

decades, federal policy had the effect of dispersing, weakening, or dismantling Native communities. The health

and well-being of Native Americans suffered as a result. Federal

policy now encourages community-building and empowerment,

but many Native communities face major socioeconomic challenges—including high unemployment and poverty, physical

isolation, poor health, and diminishment or loss of cultural identity. 

Telecommunications technologies can make significant contributions to the well-being of Native communities in the areas of

education, health care, economic development, environmental

protection, and governance. The technology can help strengthen

community-building efforts within and between rural Native

communities, and make it easier to share the lessons learned. One

can envision the use of videoconferencing, computer networking,

multimedia, and wireless links on many Indian reservations and

in many Native villages and communities in ways that are both

acceptable and adaptable to their cultures. Several Native American communities have already recognized the potential and are in

various stages of planning and implementing some of the first Native American telecommunications pilot projects. Others have

begun forming telecommunications committees to plan for future

community-wide infrastructure and policy.

To realize the full potential of telecommunications, however,

major hurdles must be overcome. Many Native areas have limited

or no telecommunications infrastructure, and lack the leadership,

knowledge, training, and funding needed to take advantage of

these technological opportunities. And federal policies de- | 39
40 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

signed for the majority society may inadvertently

overlook distressed rural Native American communities. These communities will need to consider the creation of publicly accessible telecommunications centers and community networks,

enabling them to share costs and resources and

gain community-wide acceptance.

TECHNOLOGIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

FOR COMMUNITY-BUILDING

❚ Key Technologies

Key technologies discussed here include videoconferencing, computer networking, multimedia,

and wireless links. It should be noted that more

complex technologies are built from combinations and variations of simpler technologies.

When technologies are combined in an application (to solve everyday social problems), they

form a system. Examples include public electronic

kiosks used for information dissemination or electronic benefits transfer, and computer information

systems, such as a Geographic Information System (GIS), that use specialized software, computers, and databases. 

Videoconferencing (also called interactive video) includes both one-way and two-way compressed or full-motion video and two-way audio.

The fully interactive approach uses both two-way

audio and two-way video, while one-way video

combines a single video channel—usually from

the speaker to a remote audience—with a regular

telephone or speaker phone circuit or the equivalent. Videoconferencing has been in active use for

about 15 years. Applications include business

conferencing, distance education, and telemedicine. The costs of studio equipment (e.g., cameras

and monitors) and transmission equipment (e.g.,

for uplinks and downlinks on satellites, or landline circuits) are dropping. Desktop videoconferencing uses personal computers or videophones

for videoconferences among individuals or small

groups.

Computer networking involves the transmission of messages, mail, images, and other information in electronic digital form between computers, regardless of location, connected by a

telecommunications link. Computer networking

began about 25 years ago in the days of timeshared mainframe computers, and took a grassroots, user-oriented turn about 15 years ago with

the advent of the relatively inexpensive microcomputer. Computer networking includes electronic bulletin boards, computer conferencing, list

servers (computers that send messages on specified topics to subscribers signed on to the list), and

so-called file servers (computers with remotely

accessible files of information)—many of which

can be accessed on a dial-up basis rather than

through a dedicated link.

Computer networks come in all sizes. They

span buildings, towns, regions, and countries. Local area networks (LANs), the smallest, are generally located within one building. Computers

joined over long distances are called wide area

networks (WANs). LANs and WANs can be connected to form internetworks. The largest internetwork today, spanning the globe, is the Internet

(see box 2-4). Computer networking, technologies, and users have matured to the point where

many private companies are viewing networking

as a major business tool and emerging consumer

market—well beyond the scientific and research

communities that fostered the first computer networks.

Computer software applications manipulate a

variety of formats such as numbers (e.g., spreadsheets), words (e.g., word-processing), pictures,

sounds, and video. Multimedia is the integration

of all these formats in one software application.1

The user can interact with multimedia programs in

flexible ways, for example, by cutting and pasting

1Discussions on hypertext markup language (html)—the language of multimedia home pages on World Wide Web sites (a type of computer

file server on the Internet)—are provided in Gary Welz, “New Dimensions: A Multimedia Revolution Is Unfolding on the Net,” Internet World,

March 1995, pp. 31-33, 36; and Mathew Gray and Eric Richard, “Make Multimedia Friendly,” Internet World, March 1995, pp. 26-28.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building

together pieces of songs and video clips to create

new works. Multimedia applications require microcomputers with special audio and video cards,

software called a “viewer” or “player,”2 and

. enough memory to store the multimedia files to be

viewed.

Microcomputers increasingly use compact

disk-read only memories (CD-ROMs) and include an internal CD-ROM reader to accommodate large and/or numerous text, image, or multimedia files. CD-ROMs are based on the same

technology as compact disks (CDs), used for music, and videodisks, used for movies. Each CDROM, a thin 4.75-inch-diameter disk, can hold

about 200,000 pages of text, an hour of audio, or a

few minutes of video. Other high-density memory

options, in various electronic, magnetic, and optical formats, are being developed and markettested.

Wireless technologies span a wide frequency

range-from the low frequencies used for AM radio to the high frequencies used for satellite and

microwave communication. Radio and television

broadcasting has been providing Americans with

entertainment, education, and information for decades. Satellites have long been used to span the

continent and link countries for transmitting

phone calls, television programs, and data. Microwave links are used by telephone companies to

carry phone calls, and by private companies and

public utilities to monitor and manage gas pipelines, railroads, and the electric grid.

Today, the number of wireless applications and

markets is exploding as more technologies are developed for the business and consumer markets.

Advances in digital technology (replacing older

analog techniques), coupled with new markets,

have resulted in lower costs and greater access/use

by individuals and small businesses. For example,

I 41

lop: Radio station KOTZ serving the Eskimo village of Kotzebue, Alaska. The station originates some programming Iocally

and retransmits national programming picked up from satelIite feeds. Bottom: Radio station KEYA serving the Turtle

Mountain Indian Reservation, Be/court, North Dakota. Tribal

radio stations play a vital role in providing culturally sensitive

educational, entertainmant, and news programs.

the 26 Native radio stations can use a satellite link

to receive Native programming through the

American Indian Radio on Satellite (AIROS)

project. AIROS subleases a satellite channel from

the National Public Radio satellite system. Cellular phones and paging services are adding thousands of users each day; computer companies are

developing low-power, short-link wireless net2 For a discussion on file formats, viewers, and players for still-video (image), motion-video, and audio files, see Richard W. Wiggins,’’Files

Come in Flavors: Finding and Using Viewers and Players,” Internet World, March 1995, pp. 52-53,55-56. 3 For discussions of wireless technologies and their role within the larger context of the National Information Infrastructure, see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Wireless Technologies and the National Information Infrastructure, in progress.
42 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

works using frequencies that do not require a license; and personal communication services will

soon allow people to make and receive phone calls

from almost any point on the globe.

❚ Systems

Videoconferencing, computer networking, multimedia, and wireless are generic technologies that

can be considered at both the technical and general

applications levels. As a rule, the technology base

of modern telecommunications and computers includes microfabricated semiconductor electronics, or “chips”; digital communications; and electro-optics such as fiber optics and lasers.

Scientists and engineers are most concerned with

the technical descriptions of technology that are

based on engineering, materials science, and

physics. Policymakers, business people, and the

public are more interested in general descriptions

and applications, not the technical detail.

When specific technologies are combined in an

application, they form a system. In health care,

common systems might include telemedicine,

community health information networks, or clinical information systems; and in education, distance learning and interactive multimedia training

are examples. Other systems include telecommuting, telemarketing, televillages, electronic democracy, personal communication systems, video-on-demand, and groupware. At the systems

level, design principles extend beyond the purely

technical aspects to include human preferences

and work habits, as well as plans for manufacturing, marketing, installation, and operation.

The “information system” is a generic term for

a combination of one or more electronic databases

and software to manipulate the information from

the database. Information systems may be included in networks of computers or simply in

stand-alone computers. The hundreds of different

types of information systems include, for example, executive information systems, clinical information systems, online library card catalogs,

and accounting systems.4 Service agencies, in

particular, use information systems to track multiple services provided to each client for as long as a

lifetime. Some large commercial information systems include airline computer reservation systems, automated teller machines, and real estate

multiple-listing services.

Electronic kiosks are essentially microcomputers with user-friendly multimedia software. They

are usually located in public places such as libraries, supermarkets, and community centers.

Most kiosks tested or in use provide a range of information about federal, state, and/or local government services. Some have limited transactional capability, such as issuing a receipt or short

printed document, accepting a credit card payment, or renewing a driver’s license. Future

kiosks may offer a wide range of informational

and transactional services. Several federal, state,

and local government agencies are pilot-testing

various applications with the intent of eventually

using kiosks to deliver many government services

electronically.5

Electronic benefits transfer (EBT) is the use of

cards similar to credit or debit cards to qualify for

and receive various government benefits. Several

federal and state agencies are pilot-testing and, in

some cases, operating EBT systems for the delivery of welfare benefits, food stamps, unemployment compensation, social security payments,

and/or child and maternal health support (e.g., the

federal Women, Infants, and Children program).

EBT might also be used to provide eligible recipients with credit for education and training pro4For a discussion of library information systems, see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Informing the Nation: Federal Information Dissemination in an Electronic Age, OTA-CIT-396 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, October 1988); and for a

discussion of scientific and technical information systems, see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Helping America Compete:

The Role of Federal Scientific and Technical Information, OTA-CIT-454 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, July 1990).

5For further discussion, see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal

Services, OTA-TCT-578 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1993).
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building | 43

grams, issue health insurance reimbursements,

and disburse government grants and contracts,

among other services. The current Administration

has announced the goal of implementing nationwide EBT to deliver federal benefits within five

years.6

One system that is important to many Native

American tribes and villages is the Geographic Information System. GISs integrate several types of

hardware, software, and electronic databases, and

are used for a wide variety of geographic information-dependent purposes such as land and natural

resource management, demographic modeling,

business marketing, and environmental research.

Each GIS can be configured to best accomplish a

unique set of goals, usually using a specialized database. The major commercial GISs are now converging and are widely applicable to Native

American communities.

❚ Telecommunications Infrastructure

Potentially large cost-savings could be realized by

organizing telecommunications technologies

around a community telecommunications center

such as a school, library, tribal office, health clinic, or multiservice center. The requisite technologies would be collocated at one or a few centrally

accessible community centers, rather than in

homes and offices. Such centers could form part

of a two-tier technology infrastructure in which a

basic low-bandwidth7 level of telecommunications service is provided to homes and perhaps offices (e.g., telephone,8 dial-in capability with modem to electronic bulletin boards, and cable,

broadcast, or satellite TV/radio), and a more advanced medium-bandwidth level is provided to

selected community centers (e.g., computer networking, including access to online information

databases, using higher speed modems or direct

connections). An even more advanced high-bandwidth level and range of services might be defined

for major medical centers, colleges, or businesses;

or for geographically centralized Native businesses where additional economies of scale may

apply, such as a Native business park, incubator,

or enterprise zone.

The telecommunications infrastructure needed

to provide a basic level of service to Native American homes will vary depending on geographic,

demand, and market considerations. Some of the

most remote areas will require wireless technologies. For example, most Alaska Native villages

depend on satellite-based delivery because the villages are out of reach of cellular radio or broadcast

(except satellite-linked). In the villages, small rural telephone and cable (and some local radio)

companies serve the so-called last mile.

Many Native Hawaiian rural communities, by

comparison, are linked (or could be linked) by

both telephone and cable landlines (provided by

large telephone and cable companies or their subsidiaries), with microwave and fiberoptic cable

for inter-island hops and satellite links or undersea

cable to the mainland. Most of these communities

are within current or potential range of broadcast

and cellular radio.

American Indian reservations vary in their degree of similarity to remote Alaskan villages and

rural Hawaiian communities. Some reservations

are within a few miles of major transcontinental

6Ibid.

7The term bandwidth is a technical word indicating the amount of data, audio, or video information traveling through a conduit in a given

time. Fiberoptic cables can carry data at bandwidths a million times larger than copper wire twisted-pairs used for most telephone lines. While

the transmission medium has an inherent upper-bandwidth limit, other system components—such as terminal equipment that sends or receives

the data, known as modems (modulator-demodulators)—may create bottlenecks in the transmission system.

8According to a May-June 1992 poll of seven areas served by Native American public radio stations, telephone penetration was very low.

The percentages of households with a telephone were as follows: KIDE, Hoopa, CA (70 percent); KSHI, Zuni, NM (63 percent); WOJB, Hayward, WI (55 percent); KSUT, Ignacio, CO (54 percent); KNNB, Whiteriver, AZ (51 percent); KTDB, Pine Hill, NM (39 percent); and KABR,

Alamo, NM (26 percent). Who Listens to Native American Public Radio, prepared by Dr. E. B. Eiselein for the CPB Native American Listening

Data Project (Kalispell, MT: A & A Research, 1992).
44 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

telephone trunk lines, while others depend on rural telephone and cable companies for minimal

service. Many Native Americans living in rural

areas still do not have basic telephone service because it is too expensive or unavailable. Only four

tribes own and operate telephone companies, and

a few are considering or are in the process of buying exchanges. There are about 26 tribal radio stations and the number is increasing (see box 3-1

and table 3-1). About 12 tribes own and operate

broadcast or cable TV companies (see box 3-2).

At a more aggregated market level, community

communication centers could be located in community colleges, high schools, libraries, hospitals

or clinics, and tribal/village government offices.

The smallest Native communities may be able to

justify only one or two centers, most likely located

at an educational and/or health care facility. Larger communities may be able to set up a “community network”9 that links the various schools, health

clinics, multiservice centers, tribal offices, and the

like. The key is to aggregate demand to make the

communication centers or community networks

as cost-effective and affordable as possible.

Opportunities to apply key technologies and

systems in Native American communities exist in

education and research, health care, economic development, environmental protection, and governance.

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Educators, researchers, and educational administrators are learning and developing new concepts

for telecommunications-based education systems, including telecourses via videoconference

or radio/television broadcast, CD-ROM databases, online databases, interactive multimedia

training, software applications such as computer

art and desktop publishing, electronic student records, and school/campus information systems.10

The key technologies—videoconferencing, computer networking, multimedia, and wireless

links—underlie these systems. While some of

these systems (e.g., electronic student records and

college/university information systems) have

been widely deployed throughout the United

States, others (e.g., telecourses and interactive

multimedia training) are still under development

and/or unaffordable. Pilot projects are testing their

effectiveness and efficiency and gauging their affordibility. Native American education professionals will want to do the same—based on their

own criteria for effectiveness, efficiency, and affordability.

❚ Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing could be used for distance

learning for K-12, university, vocational, trade,

and adult education.11 Schools in smaller tribes,

villages, and communities rarely have the critical

mass of students, let alone the resources, to offer

a full range of courses. Videoconferencing could

be used to supplement onsite offerings and help

diversify the curriculum, and as a vehicle for continuing teacher education. The American Indian

Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) has these

goals, among others, in mind for tribal colleges 

9Sources of information about community networking include the National Public Telecomputing Network, Moreland Hill, OH,

info@nptn.org; Center for Civic Networking, Washington, DC, rciville@civicnet.org; and The Morino Institute, Reston, VA, info@morino.org.

The Morino Institute also has a comprehensive inventory of public-access networks at their World Wide Web site, http://www.morino.org/.

10For general discussions of telecommunications and other technologies for education, see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Linking for Learning: A New Course for Education, OTA-SET-430 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November

1989); and U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Teachers and Technology, OTA-EHR-616 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government

Printing Office, April 1995).

11One distance-learning electronic mailing list is DEOS-L, the Distance Education Online Symposium (The Pennsylvania State University). To subscribe, send an e-mail message to listserv@psuvm.psu.edu. Also, Usenet News has the alt.education.distance newsgroup.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building 145

in the Sioux language, radio is described as words that fly through the air “-Frank Blythe

Today, there are 11,767 radio stations in the United States)1 with 93 offering regular native programming

(typically one to three hours per week).2 But “Native Radio” is considered to be the 25 to 30 predominantly

Native-owned and -operated stations, only four of which are commercial, whose primary mission is to deliver native programming-largely local news, Native-relevant Information, Native-language programming,

and Native-produced music, information, talk shows, and news.

Since the first Native Radio station began broadcasting in 1971, Native Radio has slowly but steadily

grown in Indian Country (see table 3-1). Why did it take so long? Largely, Indian tribes were uninformed,

discouraged, and battling unemployment and poverty. Most Native stations required startup funds from

state or federal grants, as well as technical assistance and Institutions for training managers, broadcasters, and programmers. Lastly, the stations needed ongoing funding for operations and development of Native programming. They had Iittle experience in any of these areas.

Today, however, the situation has changed. native stations have learned the business. They are supported by volunteers, fund drives, underwriting by corporations and foundations, federal grants, and training programs set up in local schools. Operating costs, Including salaries, are frequently paid by school

boards or tribal councils. The Institution of “Native Radio” has gone national with the formation of the indigenous Communications Association (lCA) and the ability to deliver Native programming nationwide through

the American Indian Radio on Satellite (AIROS) project—a joint effort of ICA and the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium (NAPBC), Native programming is further supported by the NAPBC and Pacific

Islanders in Communication, in turn supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

There IS now a pipeline of up-and-coming young native radio managers, broadcasters, technicians, and

programmers. Six more stations wiII begin broadcasting within a year The experiences of once Isolated

radio stations are now being shared through the ICA. The future, however, is still uncertain Most stations

feel they are barely surviving. The problems are not changing lack of money, Inadequate staffing and training, 3 lack of Native-language skills, lack of native programming, tribal interference, poor facilities and

equipment, and in some cases, competition. “Lack of money” is an understatement. Most of these stations

serve some of the most Isolated areas of the country where poverty is the rule, in 1971, the Navajo Pine HiII

(station KTDB) community had only a 2 percent telephone penetration rate and, because of the lack of

electricity, KTDB distributed 500 portable radios. Electricity just came to the Navajo Alamo reservation (station KABR) in 1982 and telephones in 1986.

Despite the problems, native visionaries are planning for the future, With help from ICA, stations are

finding new ways to raise money, especially from tribal governments, and are applying for more grants

The ICA Itself, with the expiration of supporting grants from CPB, must find new support to survive What

little native programming that does exist is now widely available through NAPBC’s library. Stations are

striving to upgrade facilities to Implement new Digital Audio Broadcasting and Tape (DAB and DAT)

technology, as well as to install dishes to receive broadcasts through AIROS (currently 15 stations have

dishes). native broadcasters are questioning their role in the National Information Infrastructure (Nil). While

radio broadcast is generally overlooked in the Nll debate, it is very Important for rural reservations, especially those areas without phones or electricity or access to any other information source.

SOURCES Off Ice of Technology Assessment, 1995, with information from Michael C Keith, Signals in the Air: Native Broadcasting

in America (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1995), and Michael C Keith, Communication Department, Boston College, Boston

MA, personal communications, February 1995

1 Broadcasting and Cab/e, Mar 6, 1995, p 73

2 A total of 93 stations reported offering Native programming in 1992 Broadcasting and Cab/e Yearbook (New Providence NJ: R.R. Bowker, 1994), p B575

3 The Alaska Public Radio Network’s Indigenous Broadcast Center IS the only national training center specifically for

Native Americans
46 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

First

Station aired Location Power Population Language Supporters

1971

1972

1973

1975

1975

1975

1976

1978

1978

1980

1981

1982

1982

1983

1983

1983

1984

1990

1990

Bethel, AK

Pine Hill, NM

Kotzebue, AK

Belcourt, ND

(Nushagak Bay) AK

Barrow, AK

4,500

2,000

Yup'ik

Navajo

Inupiaq

Etwaychik

Yup'ik

Inupiaq

State, CPB

School Board

Village

Tribe

School Board

Local, state,

CPB, DoC-NTIA, Corp.

Tribe, College

Owned by Catholic

Mission

Tribe, CPB

Tribe, DoC-NTIA

KYUK

KTDB

KOTZ

KEYA

KDLG

KBRW

10 KW

19 KW

10 KW

10 KW

10,000

Ignacio, CO

(Rosebud) SD

450 W

57 KW

2,300+ Ute

Lakota

KSUT

KINI

10,000

1,800+

5,000

3,800

11,000

37,400

3,000

1,300

Zuni

Hoopa

-NoneOjibwe

Apache

Lakota

Mandan

Navajo

KSHI*

KIDE*

KSKO#

WOJB

KNNB

KILI

KMHA

KABR

Zuni, NM

Hoopa, CA

McGrath, AK

Hayward, WI

Whiteriver, AZ

Porcupine, SD

New Town, ND

Alamo, NM

100 W

195 W

10 KW

100 KW

630 W

100 KW

100 KW

Low

Tribe

Tribe, HUD, DoC-NTIA

Tribe

School Board,

DoC-NTIA,

DoED-OIE

Some Advertising,

Canada

CKON (Akwesasne) NY 350 w Mohawk

100 w

100 w

10 w

Apache

Navajo

Cup’ik

KCIE

KGHRˆ

KCUK

Dulce, NM

Tuba City, AZ

Chevak, AK

School Board, DoC-NTIA

School Board, State, Fed.

16,000

KDLG repeater stations:

KSDP Sandpoint, AK

KIAL Unalaska-Dutch Harbor, AK

KUHB Saint Paul-Pribilof Islands, AK

KNSA Unalakleet, AK

Other repeaters or translators:

KBRW reported having 5 translators via satellite.

KSUT reported having 6 translators.

KSKO reported 2 repeaters. —

NOTES

A “repeater” rebroadcasts a signal at the same frequency, while a “translator” rebroadcasts at a different frequency

Language refers to any amount of Native language programming

Supporters IS an Incomplete Iist and does not imply amount or type of support

() Names in parenthesis are reservations

Only radio in region

# KSKO may alternate majority control of its governing body from Native to Anglo ^ KGHR IS owned by the high school board and operated by high school students

(It IS a National Public Radio repeater station from KNAU in Flagstaff, AZ )

DoC-NTIA U S Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (Public Telecommunications Facilities Program)

CPB Corporation for Public Broadcasting

HUD U S Department of Housing and Urban Development

DoED-OIE U S Department of Education, Off Ice of Indian Education

Corp. Specifically Shell 011, ARCO, and BP Exploration

Fed Unspecified federal grant

SOURCES: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, with Information from Michael C Keith, Signals in the Air: Native Broadcasting in

America (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1995); E.B. Eiselein, Who Listens to native American PUbliC Radio?, Report of the CPB

Native American Listening Data Project (Kalispell, MT: A&A Research, June 1992), and Michael C Keith, Communication Department, Boston College, Boston, MA, personal communications, February 1995
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building 147

While Native radio has hobbled along since 1971 (see box 3-l), Native television is virtually nonexistent. The primary barrier to participation is high costs, but lack of experience and training is also a

problem Some Native Americans are also wary of television’s potential to culturally assimilate and

erode Native values. This fear is lessened when stations are Native-owned and broadcast some measure of native programming

Michael C Keith, in the course of his research on native broadcasting, identified only a few native

owned and -operated TV and cable stations. As sketched below, these stations (and a few others identified by the Off Ice of Technology Assessment) serve specific communities and offer Native programmin—glocal news, Native-relevant information, Native-language programming, and Native-produced

music, information, talk shows, and news

Cable TV Stations

■ Navajo Nation TV 5 (Arizona)

Programming: Public Broadcasting System (PBS) programming and five hours weekly of NavajoIanguage features

Plans to offer signal on UHF band to avoid cable hookup. Currently has 5,000 subscribers

■ Sioux Satellite Cable (serving Lower Brule and West Brule Reservations, South Dakota)

Programming Locally produced information, children’s shows, and Native-language features

Founded in 1991 Broadcasts five days per week

■ Cherokee Cable Vision (Eastern Band of Cherokee Reservation, North Carolina)

Programming. Monthly live telecast of tribal council meeting. People call in during the meeting

■ Blackfeet Tribe TV (Montana)

● WSBC Seminole Cable TV (Florida)

■ Choctaw Cable WHTV (Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Pearl River Reservation, Mississippi)

Programming. Affiliated with The Learning Channel and carries live coverage of tribal events and

American Indian-oriented news and documentaries. in the process of expanding to SIX other

Choctaw reservations nearby

Over-the-Air TV Stations

■ KYUK in Bethel, Alaska

Programming English and Yup’ik-language programming for a mixed audience.

■ Navajo Nation “Purple Cow” TV (serving Rock Point Reservation)

Programming PBS and two hours per week of news, documentary, and educational training features produced by students and staff at the Sauer and Rock Point Community Schools

Founded in 1987 Plans to build new studios with help of schools and the Navajo Nation

Other Native-owned and -operated TV stations have been supported by grants from the Commerce

Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), through NTIA’s PubIic Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP),1 One of the largest PTFP awards is the American

Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) distance-learning network, which links 29 U.S.-based tribal colleges using satellites. Many native American PTFP public television grantees are participants in

the AIHEC grant The PTFP awards Include

PTFP Grants for Over-the-Air Public Television

● Three grants (1984, 1985, 1986) to Navajo Community College (Arizona) to establish a system of SIX

low-power television stations to transmit locally produced programming (AIHEC member)

(continued)

1 National Telecommunications and Information Administration, “PTFP Native American Awards July 1994 “
48 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

A 1982 grant to Ojibwa Community College (Michigan) to construct a translator to bring public television to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Reservation

A 1982 grant to Dull Knife Community College (Montana) to establish a low-power television station

to serve the Cheyenne Reservation. A 1985 grant provided a translator. (AIHEC member)

A 1986 grant to Salish-Kootenal College (Montana) to establish a low-power television station to bring

a PBS signal to the Flathead Indian Reservation via the Rural Television Service, Inc. (RTS) based in

Carson City, Nevada A 1992 grant activated a translator to extend the signal to the Reservation communities of Arlee, Evaro, and Dixon (AIHEC member)

Note SKC TV today is a UHF station offering PBS service to most of the Flathead reservation, but soon

wiII face competition from the University of Montana, Missoula, which plans to construct a full-power

VHF PBS station with an NTIA/PTFP grant

A 1985 grant to Browning Public Schools (Montana) to establish a low-power television station to bring

a PBS signal to the Blackfeet Reservation via the RTS system

A 1985 grant to the Mescalero Apache Tribe (New Mexico) to establish two low-power television stations to bring a PBS signal to that reservation via the RTS system. A 1989 grant Improved studio equipment for local programming.

Three grants to Rogers State College (Oklahoma) to construct (1 985), improve (1 988), and extend PTV

service to the native American population of northeast Oklahoma with greater transmission power

(1990)

PTFP Awards for Nonbroadcast Television

■

■

■

■

A 1980 grant to Metlakatla Indian Reservation (Alaska) for a video production studio to produce Native

programming for the local cable TV

A 1992 grant to Northern Arizona University for duplex microwave distance- learning systems from the

Flagstaff campus to Mojave Community College, Mojave Indian Reservation (Arizona) and Northland

Pioneer Community College, connected to Iearning centers at the Fort Apache Reservation A 1993

grant extended the system to two towns on the Navajo Reservation and to one location on the Hopi

Reservation

Grants in 1979 and 1982 to Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina) to construct a cable

TV system for the reservation

A 1993 grant to Standing Rock College (North Dakota) to activate a distance-learning system interconnected via telephone Iines between its main campus, a remote-learning center on the Reservation, and the University of North Dakota (AIHEC member)

Based on this Information, OTA estimates that there are at least six Native-owned and -operated cable

TV stations and about the same number of over-the-air, low-power television stations

SOURCES Off Ice of Technology Assessment 1995, with information from Michael C Keith, Signals in the Air: Native Broadcasting

in America (Westport CT: Praeger Publishers 1995), and Michael C Keith, Communication Department, Boston College, Boston,

MA personal communication February 1995

I

(see box 3-3). With a three-year National Tele- ogy. If successful, this technology could be excommunications and Information Administration tended to Native American K-12 schools, and to

planning grant and a follow-on demonstration non-Native colleges and universities with Native

12 grant, AIHEC plans to deploy and demonstrate a American populations. AIHEC is also considervideoconferencing system using satellite technol- ing a role for the network as part of tribal commu12Facts and figures on 200 colleges and universities with Native American students have been compiled for the first time in AISES Annual

College Guide for American Indians 1994-1995 (Boulder, CO: American Indian Science and Engineering Society, 1994).
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building 149

■

■

■

■

■

■

The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) comprises 29 tribal colleges Three are fouryear institutions and the rest are two-year community colleges The colleges are located in 12 states distributed as follows, Montana (7), North Dakota (5), South Dakota (4), New Mexico (3), Wisconsin (2), Minnesota (2), and one college each in Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington, California, and Arizona.

Over FY 1992-94, Congress made available to the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) a total of $1 million ($250,000 in 1992 and again in 1993,

and $500,000 in 1994) to help AIHEC plan how best to use telecommunications technologies to fulfill

its mission The project takes the form of a cooperate agreement between NTIA and AIHEC and is being administered by NTIA’s Public Telecommunications Facilities Program.

Consultants for the AIHEC planning grant include Nebraska ETV in Lincoln, the native American Public

Broadcasting Consortium (NAPBC), and two experts in telecommunications. Nebraska ETV developed

and operates the AG*SAT Network and cofounded the SERC Network. NAPBC has experience in radio

and television production as well as program acquisition and distribution Moreover, NAPBC has a

strong reputation working with and for Native American public broadcasting. The expert individuals

have experience in developing distance-learning networks that are successfully up and running.

The first-year report recommended that that the first phase of equipment purchase should consist of a

C/Ku-Band satellite receive-only antenna and classroom video equipment for each AIHEC school and

the AIHEC Washington, DC, headquarters The estimated cost IS $600,000. The second-year report recommended that each school be equipped with a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite uplink/

downlink with a compressed video attachment and a video origination classroom Furthermore, a network-switching center would presumably complete the AIHEC network. This equipment would cost $39

million, phased in over four years

When fully Implemented, the AIHEC network wiII allow AIHEC to help Native Americans participate in the

emerging National Information Infrastructure in the future, the AIHEC network might also be used as

an on-ramp to computer networks such as the Internet

in spring 1995, AIHEC expanded the scope of the project to include assisting tribal colleges in the development of local telecommunications infrastructure. With AIHEC and tribal college help, communities

can more broadly deploy and use computer networks.

SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, with information from "The AIHEC Telecommunications Development Project,

June 29, 1994, ” unpublished document, “American Indian Higher Education Consortium Telecommunications Network: Building Our

Future as a People Through Telecommunications” (pamphlet), and Gary Garrison, Telecommunications Project Manager, AIHEC, Lincoln, NE, private communications, March 1995

nity communications centers located at tribal col- en the range of their offerings with courses proleges.

Moreover, if videoconferencing partnerships

could be formed between tribal and non-Native

colleges, learning and research could be enhanced

in a multitude of academic areas, including anthropology, linguistics, Native American studies,

alternative medicine, and subsistence/sustainable

economics. Universities with Native populations

might want relevant educational programming

and real-time courses produced and taught by Native Americans, such as the AIHEC system could

provide. And tribal colleges might seek to broadvided by large universities.

Tribal colleges also might want to participate in

nationally available videoconferences. For example, the JASON project—administered by the JASON Foundation for Education but supported by

an alliance of public, private, government, and

nonprofit institutions—allows school children to

observe scientific researchers working in remote

geographic areas and ask them questions during

real-time videoconferences. Founded in 1989 by

the discoverer of the R.M.S. Titanic, Dr. Robert

Ballard, the JASON Project hopes to achieve high
50 I TelecommunicationsTechnology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Left: Students using a personal computer laboratory at the Little Big Horn College on the Crow Indian Reservation, Crow Agency

Montana. Rlght: The Little Big Horn College encourages students to use computers for doing class projects and homework. AJl

students have access to computer laboratories.

visibility among scientists, educators, and students throughout the United States and participating countries.13

Videoconferencing has wide potential for Native Americans’ education. Successful projects

are under way in, for example, the North Slope

Borough School District in northernmost Alaska,

the Lower Yukon and Kuskokwim School Districts in the delta region of Alaska, and the University of Hawaii’s community college system.

■ Computer Networking

Computer networking is becoming a key research

tool for students and faculty to access various remote databases and documents, exchange draft

materials for collegial review, or arrange participation in academic conferences. These applications should be equally helpful in the Native

American educational and research environment,

especially for exchanging information with other

Native American researchers and for accessing the

growing number of electronic bulletin boards, file

servers, and list servers on Native American topics (see appendix A for a more detailed discussion).

Electronic mail and, to a lesser extent, desktop

computer conferencing are becoming more commonplace as a complement to traditional teaching

methods, and allow students as young as 3rd grade

to reach out electronically to other communities

and even nations. These systems offer real potential for helping Native students indifferent tribes,

13 The JASON Project maintains several list server discussion groups, a Gopher server, and a World Wide Web home page (http: //seawifs.gsfc.naaa.gov/scripts/JASON.html). Until 1995, interactive satellite broadcasts were watched from Primary Interactive Network Sites

(PINS) such as NASA-AMES Research Center, Denver Museum of Natural History, Maui High Performance Computing Center, Bell Museum

of Natural History in Minnesota, The Williams Companies in Oklahoma, University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and the National Geographic

Center, as well as several other sites. This year, for the first time, people around the world were able to participate in the JASON VI Expedition

live via the Internet (videoconferencing on the Internet uses MBONE technology).
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building | 51

villages, and communities to interact electronically with each other and perhaps become computer

pen pals, especially if travel to other areas and

meeting face-to-face is prohibitively expensive.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has, for

many years, operated the Educational Native

American Network (ENAN). ENAN allows

teachers, BIA Office of Indian Education Programs officials, and students to communicate using electronic mail. ENAN was created to serve

the BIA school system as a communications hub

to facilitate math/science curricula development

and discussions on applications of educational

technology. ENAN is accessible either by dialing

in or through a direct connection to the Internet

(using remote login, also called Telnet). The majority of ENAN users do not have direct connections, and thus they dial in to ENAN using a modem. Low-quality phone lines frequently cause a

major problem; they may slow transmission

speeds or be entirely ineffective for accessing the

network.

ENAN has several pilot projects to offer more

advanced services. In some cases, it serves as an

Internet provider by offering SLIP/PPP connectivity (Serial Line Interface Protocol/Point-toPoint Protocol, a service that allows computers to

become Internet nodes with nondigital telephone

lines). Access with SLIP/PPP is critical in order to

use World Wide Web browsers such as Mosaic and

Netscape, and more exotic applications such as Internet Relay Chat (IRC). In the near future, ENAN

will be able to offer Internet access through Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lines,

digital lines offered by telephone companies.

Moreover, ENAN now maintains an Internet

World Wide Web home page.14 Finally, ENAN is

helping to develop new technology by serving as a

Beta tester for eSoft company’s Internet Protocol

Adapter (IPAD), a networking technology.

ENAN is a four-person operation with advanced technical capability, but without adequate

resources (or a mandate) to provide technical assistance to tribes. Nevertheless, it has allowed

many educators and students to become familiar

with the technology and has encouraged planning

for future development of computer networking.

ENAN provides as much technical assistance as it

can with its limited resources. Unfortunately, the

queue for technical assistance is long.

The American Indian Science and Engineering

Society (AISES), a national Native American student and professional organization with chapters

at colleges and universities nationwide, maintains

the AISES Information System (AIS) and AISESnet for its members.15 AIS, by arrangement with

New Mexico Technet, an Internet provider, is a

“1-800” dial-in “on-ramp” to the Internet for

which AISES members are allocated 10 hours per

month free use. AIS supports such well-known Internet applications as Gopher (menu-based user

interface to electronic databases), Telnet (to log in

to other computers), electronic mail (e-mail), and

dial-up capability to bulletin board services

(BBSs). It does not, however, support a World

Wide Web browser such as Mosaic. AISESnet, in

contrast to AIS, is an Internet-accessible Gopher

server with information such as a resume database, four moderated discussion groups (also

called list servers), and a World Wide Web home

page.16 AISESnet is not an on-ramp, but a destination for information and an electronic forum for

discussion.

14The ENAN World Wide Web home page can be accessed at http://oiep.unm.edu:/enan/home.html.

15Emo Notah, Computer Technician, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Boulder, CO, personal communication, April

1995.

16The AISESnet discussion groups can be subscribed to by sending an e-mail request to listproc@listserv.umt.edu with the message “subscribe <list name> <your name>” in the body. There are four lists—AISESnet_General, AISESnet_Discussion, AISESnet_Drum, and AISESnet_Alcohol. AISESnet_Alcohol is an anonymous list; e-mail addresses of participants are not revealed. The AISESnet World Wide Web home

page can be accessed at http://bioc02.uthscsa.edu/aisesnet.html.
52 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

The National Science Foundation (NSF), long

a supporter of telecommunications infrastructure

for science and education, funded a Native American Telecommunications Forum17where, for the

first time, telecommunications issues and strategies were explored by a group of Native American

experts and advocates. NSF has, in addition,

awarded the Electronic Pathways Alliance a planning grant to develop a national Native American

center for telecommunications technical assistance.

Another NSF program related to Native Americans is the All Nations Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP), administered by Montana State

University. AMP awards have been made to FondDu-Lac Community College (Minnesota) to encourage students to attain undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science and engineering,

and to Sinte Gleska University (South Dakota) to

develop teacher leadership in mathematics and

science education for more than 1,000 American

Indian elementary students. NSF also supports the

Rural Systemic Initiatives (RSI), all but one of

which directly involve or impact Native Americans. RSI grants have been awarded to the “four

corners” Navajo reservation region of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico (the UCAN project); the Alaska Federation of Natives; and a

group of California and Nevada tribes. In all, between FY 1991 and FY 1994, NSF has provided

more than $6 million in direct support to 12 tribally controlled colleges.18

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), another independent federal science and technology agency, supports a few projects that benefit Native Americans. Foremost is

the American Indian Science and Technology

Education Consortium initiative that has created

partnerships between six off-reservation universities—including Oklahoma State University,

which has a large Native American student

body—and five tribal colleges. The goals are to

help the universities serve the tribal colleges as a

resource for institution-building, and to develop

culturally relevant model programs for math/science education for Native American students of

all ages from preschool to graduate school. The

telecommunications goals are to create an online

database, accessible through the Internet, for curriculum models and to provide Internet access and

computers to the tribal colleges. Another NASA

project connects the Sequoyah High School and

the W.W. Keeler Complex of the Cherokee Nation

of Oklahoma to the Internet through the NASA

Science Internet. The Cherokee Nation plans to

develop a network for all its offices in a 14-county

area.

The Department of Defense (DOD) recently

expanded the Infrastructure Support Program for

HBCUs/MIs (Historically Black Colleges and

Universities/Minority Institutions) to include

tribal colleges. This program, funded at about $15

million per year since 1992, received another $10

million in 1995 to extend grants and contracts to

tribal and women’s colleges. This program is

managed by the Army Research Office, but includes funds from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Naval Research, and Advanced Research Projects Agency. The program is

intended to promote collaborative research in major laboratories; strengthen programs in engineering, science, and math; fund instrumentation purchases; and provide technical assistance to

enhance the ability of minority institutions to successfully compete for future DOD funding.

The National Indian Policy Center, at George

Washington University in Washington, DC, uses

computer networks to disseminate commissioned

Native American research and policy analysis reports, as well as other information such as census

17First Native American Telecommunications Forum: Final Report, prepared for the National Science Foundation (Bernalillo, NM: Americans for Indian Opportunity, February 1994).

18Nora Sabelli, Program Director, Networking Infrastructure for Education, National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, personal communication, April 1995.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building

data and treaties. One of the center’s purposes is

“to serve as an information clearinghouse for Native Americans.”19 This online database is funded

by the Administration for Native Americans (Department of Health and Human Services).

Overall, Native students, teachers, researchers,

and educational leaders are embracing computer

networking and other new educational technologies with good results. Many K-12 schools, community colleges, and libraries have received pilotproject funds for computer networking. However,

on the downside, funding is inadequate to allow

the majority of schools, and noninstitutional educators in general, to participate. And Native policies for use and access are generally nonexistent.

Moreover, without proper supervision and informed use, Native educators are concerned that

computer networking could expose Native youth

to undesirable and potentially harmful information (e.g., exposure to personal lifestyles and perspectives that run counter to Native values, as is

the case with some television shows).

■ Multimedia

Multimedia offer potential for recording and presenting Native cultures, histories, and concepts of

health and wellness, and for representing and explaining Native communities and peoples. The

development of multimedia software by and for

Native Americans, overall, is in the very early

stages. The potential market is likely to be significant, based on results of pilot tests and experience

to date. K-12 and community college students and

teachers have demonstrated their ability to effectively use computers and computer software when

given the opportunity (i.e., equipment, time, encouragement, and training). This appears to be the

case across the spectrum of American Indian,

I 53

Top: Applied Science Building at the Oglala Lakota College

on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Kyle, South Dakota.

This building houses the colleges instructional technology

center Bottom: Videotape collection available to teachers

and students at the Oglala Lakota College.

Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities

that have experimented with computers in the

classroom.

For example, Apple Computer funded the Pine

Ridge High School on the Pine Ridge Reservation

and the Nazlini Boarding School on the Navajo

Reservation through its Crossroads Educational

l9 The other two purposes to commission Native American research and policy analysis, and to sponsor seminars and conferences on

issues of concern to American Indians and Alaska Natives. Research grants are awarded in seven areas: cultural rights and resources, economic

development, education, health and human services, law and administration of justice, natural resources and environmental protection, and

tribal governance. National Indian Policy Center pamphlet Washington, DC, 1994.
54 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Grant program.20 Digitized images, animation,

art and music composition, and communications

with Austria and Australia became reality for Pine

Ridge High School students after they received

Apple computers and network access. The Oglala

students shared pow-wow dancing, Lakota legends, and video introductions of themselves with

computer pen pals. Students could find information for essays using a multimedia encyclopedia.

One student wrote a summary of Darwin’s theory

of evolution. Another student used multimedia

computer art to show two dolphins swimming and

one emerging to become a seagull. Students were

motivated to search for a wide variety of information to include in their own multimedia compositions.

The positive experience of these Native Americans, ranging from grade-schoolers to thirtysomethings (not unusual in tribal colleges), is indicative of the future potential for Native

American multimedia. If Native Americans are to

have a major role in the actual development and

marketing of Native American multimedia, a concerted entrepreneurial initiative (with education,

training, and funding elements) will be needed.

HEALTH CARE

Health care professionals are learning and developing new concepts for telecommunicationsbased health care systems, including telemedicine,21community health information networks,

electronic patient records, clinical information

systems, and electronic claims-processing. These

systems are still in development and their full potential is unknown. However, pilot projects indicate that a profound change could occur in the delivery of health care via telecommunications over

the next decade.22 Native American health care

professionals have their own concepts for Native

health. They will want to pursue the development

of health care delivery systems that are culturally

acceptable and adaptable to the groups they serve.

❚ Videoconferencing

Telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services

and information between sites. Two-way videoconferencing is a key technology component of

telemedicine systems. Telemedicine combines videoconferencing with the informational capabilities of computers. The remote location of many

Native communities means that medical and

health care services are limited. Primary health

care provided to Indian reservations, Alaska Native villages, and Native Hawaiian communities

through remote health clinics and small hospitals

has improved in recent years. Access to medical

specialists, however, continues to be limited.

Telemedicine could facilitate remote consultations between onsite providers and specialists at

major medical centers in metropolitan areas, supported by the electronic transmission of diagnostic x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

scans, and the like (known as teleradiology). It

also could increase the opportunities for medical

and health personnel at remote locations to participate in continuing medical education without

having to leave their communities. These benefits

might also extend to family health counselors, social workers, nutritionists, and other professionals

working in the community to help improve Native

American health. To be cost-effective, a videoconferencing facility might be shared for medical,

social, and educational purposes.

20Cindy Hamilton, “Combining High-Tech with Lakota Legend: Pine Ridge Students Utilize Computers To Communicate Their Culture,”

Winds of Change, summer 1993, pp. 34-36.

21Jane Preston, M.D., F.A.P.A., The Telemedicine Handbook: Improving Health Care with Interactive Video (Austin, TX: Telemedicine

Interactive Consultative Services, Inc., 1994).

22For discussions about telecommunications and information technologies in health care, see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Information Technology and the Health Care System, in progress; and James S. Logan and David G. Swartz, Aberdeen Area Indian Health

Service: Telemedicine Assessment Final Report (Oklahoma City, OK: Logan & Associates, Inc., Mar. 30, 1995).
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building | 55

A good example of shared use of telecommunications infrastructure is the Distance Delivery

Consortium headquartered in Bethel, Alaska. The

consortium is a partnership of medical, education-

. al, and governmental organizations and telecommunications companies with the shared objective

of developing effective telecommunications applications, such as telemedicine and distance

learning, in this part of rural Alaska. Distancelearning applications include high school courses,

health education, and teacher in-service training.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. hopes that

telecommunications will play a key role in promoting preventive health and community wellness strategies.

■ Computer Networking

Computer networking is another key component

of telemedicine in general, and of community

health information networks, computerized patient records, clinical information systems, and

electronic claims-processing in particular. Computer networks can be used to exchange patient records among various providers and locations;

conduct remote searches of medical and health databases; file health insurance claims (e.g., using

electronic data interchange); and receive payments for medical services and insurance reimbursements (e.g., using electronic funds transfer). 23 These applications are being extensively

researched in the general health care community,

and seem particularly appropriate for Native

health care facilities located considerable distances from tertiary care providers, medical specialists and researchers, and insurance companies.

Computer networking potentially offers an effective means to collect and exchange information on

Native health perspectives and practices. The use

of computerized patient records for Native

Americans would require attention to the same

23Ibid,

Top: Videoconferencing room at Tripler Army Medical Center

Honolulu. The U.S. Army and Department of Veterans Affairs,

in collaboration with the University of Hawaii School of Medicine, intend to use telecommunications to improve patient

care for military personnel and veterans throughout the Pacific Basin-including Oahu, the neighbor islands, Guam, and

American Samoa. Bottom: Prototype desktop videoconferencing system at Tripler Army Medical Center

privacy and security concerns raised by medical

consumer advocacy groups.24

Like other areas of technology discussed, it will

be helpful for Native American groups to participate in the wide range of current or future pilot

tests and demonstrations. In this way, the potential

benefits and problems can be understood from a

Native American perspective.

24 For a discussion, see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Protecting Privacy in Computerized Medical Information, OTATCT-576 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1993).
56 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

❚ Multimedia

Multimedia is a key technology in medical information and training systems that could benefit

Native Americans. For example, multimedia offers the potential to record and present detailed information on the human body, simulate medical

procedures, model human physiology, and use

computer-aided design tools to design prosthetic

devices. With multimedia software, computerized

patient records could include images, videos, and

audio recordings as well as text to describe a patient’s symptoms, diagnoses, treatment, and overall health history and condition.

The Visible Human Project is an example of a

multimedia application that will improve the

education of health care professionals nationwide,

including Native American professionals and

those that serve Native Americans. This project is

funded through the federal High Performance

Computing and Communications Program as one

of its “Grand Challenges.” The project will create

an electronic “image library” of three-dimensional images of the male and female body that will be

accessible through computers and computer networks. Computerized tomography (CT), MRI,

and cryosection images at one millimeter separation will be stored on 70 to 80 CD-ROMs and will

likely be available via the Internet.25

❚ Wireless

Many Native American telemedicine systems will

need to use wireless technologies to meet the demands of weather, terrain, and remote locations.

Videoconferencing and computer networking depend on microwave and satellite links to reach the

most remote facilities. In the future, personal

communications systems may play an important

role.

One of the earliest telemedicine demonstrations (started in 1972), Space Technology Applied

to Rural Papago Advanced Health Care (STARPAHC),26 linked a medical van to two hospitals

via analog two-way microwave television and audio transmissions. STARPAHC was a joint project of NASA, Lockheed Missiles and Space Co.

(now Lockheed/Martin), Indian Health Service

(IHS), Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now Health and Human Services), and the

Papago Tribe (now Tohono O’Odham). The lessons learned for telemedicine were the necessity

for advanced planning, including early development of an evaluation plan, clear definition of objectives, and the active involvement of the community.27

A recent telemedicine project carried out by the

IHS and NASA used satellite technology to link

one IHS facility on the Pine Ridge Reservation

(Oglala Sioux) in South Dakota with the Mayo

Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The objectives

were twofold: “1) to determine the technical requirements for a large group practice to provide

professional education and clinical consulting

services to a geographically-remote Indian reservation, and 2) to determine whether these services

are perceived as useful by the health care professionals, the community health representatives,

25National Library of Medicine, “The Visible Human Project,” Fact Sheet, April 1993.

26R. Bashshur, Technology Serves the People: The Story of a Co-operative Telemedicine Project by NASA, the Indian Health Service, and

the Papago People (Tucson, AZ: Indian Health Service, 1979).

27“Through active participation in the STARPAHC project, the Papago have demonstrated a very serious interest in what this technology

can offer their people. The tribal representatives who were members of the Executive Health Staff diligently participated in all the preparatory

design meetings pertaining to this project, learning the basic terminology to deal intelligently with each issue put before them on the discussion

table, be it related to the design of the mobile health unit, power generation for the relay stations, or the broadband/narrowband choices in transmission and display equipment. . . . The Papago insisted on, and they achieved, an explicit acknowledgment of their own primary health objectives, namely, to live as a people in harmony with nature, as the primary objective of STARPAHC. The evaluation plan developed for STARPAHC recognized the Papago objective as the project’s basic objective.” Ibid., p. 55.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building | 57

Top left: Aircraft parked at the Red Dog Mine, about IOO air miles above the Arctic Circle. The dirt airstrip and propeller-driven

planes are typical of remote Alaska locations that are otherwise inaccessible. Bottom left: Red Dog Mine, a joint venture of an

Alaska Native corporation and a private company Top right: Satellite dishes at the Red Dog Mine. All telecommunications must

be via satellite; land line connections are not feasible. Bottom right: The Red Dog Mine is heavily dependent on telecommunications for administrative, inventory scheduling, ordering, payroll, personnel, and other purposes.

and the patients of the reservation.”28 Based on a

questionnaire filled out by employees of the Pine

Ridge Hospital, community health representatives, and Mayo Clinic participants, the project

was considered technologically successful, feasible, and useful. Costs could be reduced by using

the telecommunications line for both health

education and patient care. Other savings might

accrue by using telemedicine to identify patients

who could be treated in Pine Ridge rather than in a

distant medical facility, which would incur transportation costs. Indirect savings might accrue

through more effective and efficient treatment

plans, and through early identification of health

problems. The lessons of this project were not

meant to be generally applicable to all tribes. Even

for the Oglala Sioux tribe, affordability, regulatory, and political barriers to permanent deployment

were not addressed.

Native Americans on reservations and in Alaska villages will require special use of wireless

links to reach the most remote locations. Wireless

computer networking could offer Native American communities access to free or low-cost medical and health information databases. Health institutions around the country may benefit from better

28 Thomas E. Kottke, Leonard Little Finder, Mary Alice Trapp, and Laurel Panser, "The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation/ Mayo Clinic /

NASA Telemedicine Project: A Feasibility Study;" abstract, Second International Conference on the Medical Aspects of Telemedicine and

Second Annual Mayo Telemedicine Symposium, Apr. 6-7, 1995, p. 2.
58 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

communications with Native communities, for

example, in conducting research on holistic health

methods. However, Native leaders and medical

specialists need to be included in the design, testing, and implementation of these new systems if

they are to be accepted and meet Native needs.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Businesses, entrepreneurs, community services,

and government offices—in areas such as economic development, housing, infrastructure, land

use, or environmental protection—are increasingly using telecommunications, forming or encouraging telecommunications businesses, or developing telecommunications infrastructure. Native

American communities are generally behind the

mainstream economy in the deployment of telecommunications and the ownership of telecommunications companies, but are increasingly

aware of the potential benefits. Economic development in Native American communities, villages, and tribes is generally predicated on a requirement to protect the environment and honor

the earth. Geographic Information Systems allow

Native American communities to take care of their

land and natural resources in culturally relevant

and sustainable ways. In general, Native American businesses and regulators can emulate or

adapt mainstream uses of telecommunications.

❚ Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing could be a useful tool to Native Americans for job-related training and career

exploration. A videoconferencing capability in

Native communities would help to open up access

to the already extensive teletraining opportunities

in numerous job, career, and skill areas. Native

American groups may be able to negotiate more

favorable package rates when acting collectively.

Also, Native groups may be able to collectively

achieve a critical mass that can support the development or adaptation of training materials specifically for Native Americans.

Beyond training, videoconferencing offers opportunities for Native business people to consult

with financiers, suppliers, and customers in major

metropolitan areas (and potentially overseas) as

part of Native product development, financing,

and marketing efforts.

❚ Computer Networking

Computer networking is rapidly becoming an important tool of successful businesses in the major

metropolitan areas and telework centers. This is

likely to be true as well for Native-owned and -operated businesses, especially those located in remote areas. Illustrative applications include tracking private-sector business opportunities using

computerized trading, sales, and marketing databases; monitoring government contracting opportunities via the Commerce Business Daily and

other federal agency announcements available online; exchanging market leads with other Native

enterprises; identifying venture capital, banking,

and government funding sources for minority enterprises; and marketing Native products and services over the rapidly growing electronic enterprise networks.

Effective use of computer networking by Native business people would require significant

training on both the conceptual and technical levels. Providing affordable access to the technology

and resolving intellectual property issues (e.g.,

copyright and trademark protection) that concern

electronic entrepreneurs would also need to be addressed.

Many other tribal businesses may want to use

an information system or establish a local area network to support company operations. Commercial systems for small businesses without inhouse technical expertise are increasingly

available at declining costs. Tribal companies

may also consider connecting to wide area networks, such as the Internet, for electronic commerce or telemarketing. While this currently requires technical assistance, in the future it should

be as easy as establishing and using a telephone

connection—given a modern telecommunications infrastructure.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building | 59

Computer networking,29especially the Internet, has become an increasingly important business tool in the last few years. The exchange of

business forms using electronic data interchange

is widely available, including on the Internet.

Hundreds of businesses now have multimedia

home pages on the Internet that advertise their

wares and services or provide online consulting.

The number of commercial domains (a domain is

a local area network with at least one host computer connected to the Internet) on the Internet is now

greater than 25,000 and is increasing by about

1,000 per month.30 The strongest growth is coming from computer, publishing, and financial

companies. As a result of enormous growth and a

high profile, people across the United States are

asking how they can get on the Internet (see box

3-4). The answer is not straightforward because

the Internet industry is changing rapidly, and is

still quite complex for the layperson.31

Importantly, several major electronic commerce and digital cash projects currently under

way are working on privacy and security problems32 as well as marketing concerns. For example, CommerceNet33 in California’s Silicon

Valley is a government-sponsored project of Enterprise Integration Technologies, with participation by WestRen, the operator of the Bay Area Regional Research Network (BARRNET), and

Stanford University. Similarly, the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. (MCC),

a government-supported consortium of approximately 80 companies, is developing the Enterprise Integration Network (EINet), a business network that will run applications over the Internet.

The high-speed data networking services will be

provided by Sprint. Directory, encryption, and

eventually electronic funds transfer services will

be available.

❚ CD-ROM Databases

CD-ROM optical storage allows more than

200,000 pages of text or 10,000 images to be

stored on one 4.75-inch-diameter disk. Large

numbers of historical, legal, business, and other

records can be archived more easily and made

available using CD-ROM technology for storage.

For example, the Zuni Tribe in New Mexico, in

conjunction with the Institute for the North American West, has proposed the Zuni Watershed CDROM Project. It would make about 70,000 pages

of reports and maps and 500 historical

photographs available to Zuni planners, managers, officials, and students.34 Between 1970 and

1990, the Pueblo of Zuni collected historical documents and expert testimony to support its bid to

recover aboriginal lands illegally taken, as well as

for compensation for the severe soil erosion

caused by logging, over-grazing, and other activities detrimental to the Zuni watershed. In 1990,

based largely on these documents, the Zuni Tribe

29For a broad discussion on the potential and challenges of telecommunications and information technologies for U.S. business and the

economy, see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Electronic Enterprises: Looking to the Future, OTA-TCT-600 (Washington,

DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1994).

30“Commercial Domains Break 25,000 Mark,” The Internet Letter, vol. 2, No. 3, Dec. 1, 1994.

31For a discussion about electronic commerce on the Internet, establishing a World Wide Web presence, and accessing the World Wide Web,

see Larry Press, “Commercialization of the Internet,” Communications of the ACM, vol. 37, No. 11, November 1994, pp. 17-21.

32See U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Information Security and Privacy in Network Environments, OTA-TCT-606

(Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1994) and Issue Update on Information Security and Privacy in Network Environments, OTA-BP-ITC-147 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, June 1995).

33A general discussion of the future of electronic commerce is presented in Jeff Ubois, “Wheels of Commerce: An Interview with CommerceNet’s Cathy J. Medich and Jay M. Tenenbaum,” Internet World, April 1995, pp. 62-64, 66, 68.

34Roger Anyon, Director, Heritage and Historic Preservation Office, Pueblo of Zuni, Zuni, NM, fax to Office of Technology Assessment,

U.S. Congress, Washington, DC, Oct. 14, 1994.
60 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

‘(How do we get Internet access?” This IS a question being heard with Increasing frequency in Indian

Country. The answer is not simple. The foremost requirement is having an Internet access or service

provider nearby. Required hardware includes a computer and a modem for a regular phone Iine, or a

terminal adapter for a digital Iine such as Switch 56 or Integrated Services Digital Network, or a direct

connection through a local area network (LAN) or campuswide network. Required software includes

communications software and at least one applications software package, for example, for electronic

mall, file transfers, remote log-in to another computer, or browsing menus and home pages. in some

situations, applications software will be on the Internet provider’s computer to which your computer is

connected. This is the case for commercial services such as America Online, Prodigy, and CompuServe The exact hardware and software required will depend on the Internet provider and data-rate

Iimitations imposed by noisy phone Iines. There are numerous books and magazines that guide Internet

beginners 1

; however, finding a computer-savvy friend helps significantly, See box 2-4 for a description

of the Internet.

Commercial provision of Internet access began sometime after 1985. in that year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) encouraged the Internet to expand beyond university- and laboratory-based

networks A few years later, plans were made to privatize the regional Internet networks and the NSF

backbone All NSF subsidies to the backbone ended in April 1995 The transition has not been smooth,

a competitive shakeout is in progress even as the market is emerging. Costs, pricing strategies, future

needs, and the regulatory environment are all uncertain. Currently, rates and services vary considerably. A barrier to affordability occurs when the user requires a Iong-distance, rather than a local phone

call to reach the Internet host computer, as is the case in many rural areas.

Today, there are public and private providers of Internet, including.

■ the original Internet regional networks,

■ some online consumer services such as America Online, Prodigy, and CompuServe (these currently

provide electronic mail through the Internet, but plan to offer Internet browser services),

■ numerous community networks such as the Blacks burg Electronic ViIlage, Virginia; Taos Telecom -

munity, New Mexico, Big Sky Telegraph, Montana, Prairienet, Illinois, and Boulder Community Network, Colorado,

(continued)

1 See, e.g., The Internet Unleashed (Indianapolis, IN: Prentice Hall Computer Publishing, 1994) See also Internet

World, Wired or Boardwatch magazines

settled its claim for damages against the United CD-ROM technology to make historical and other

States for $25 million. tribal records available.

The primary goal of the CD-ROM project is to

make the document collection available to those ❚ Geographic Information Systems

involved in sustainable development, history, and Many tribes today are concerned with sustainable

culture of the Zuni Tribe. A secondary goal is to land development, environmental protection, and

create a model for other tribes interested in using obtaining accurate land records.35 To plan for

35For tribes, whose entire place in the federal system is based on the historical question of land—who owns it and who has given it up or has

had it taken—land records are crucial and GIS is a much-needed and valuable tool.” Phil lip Martin, Chief, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Philadelphia, MS, fax to Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress, Washington. DC, May 2, 1995.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building 161

■ utility, 2 cable, 3 and software4 companies;

■ government programs such as the Extension Indian Reservation Program (Department of Agriculture,

Extension Service), ETAnet (Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration), and the

Tribal Technical Assistance Program (Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration),

■ local and long-distance phone companies, and

● hundreds of Internet resellers.

Several mergers and buyouts among commercial providers are currently under way. For example, in

November 1994, America Online bought Advanced Network Services, a joint venture established by

MCI, IBM, and the University of Michigan to operate the NSFNet and sell Internet access to organizations At about the same time, MCI announced a service that combines Internet access, electronic mail,

and electronic shopping. BBN Internet Services Corp. recently bought Nearnet and BARRNET, regional

Internet service providers in the northeast and San Francisco Bay Area, respectively. 5 The market is

likely to be quite volatile over the next few years.

How one gets Internet access depends on whether the user IS an individual or organization, small or

large business, public or private, and so forth. Most large educational Institutions, government agencies, and businesses are creating their own local area networks that are, in turn, being connected to the

Internet. Primary and secondary schools are slowly getting Internet access, some through a grant or

service subsidy from the telephone company. North Carolina has a statewide initiative to hook up all

schools government offices, health care clinics, and research facilities The key is to find a person or

organization with similar needs and circumstances, and follow in their footsteps.

SOURCE Off Ice of Technology Assessment, 1995

2 “Electric Company Plans Unlimited T-1 Internet Access at $1995 a Month, ” The Internet Letter, Feb. 1, 1995, pp.

1-2

3 John McQuillan, “Reinventing the Internet for Broadband?” Business Communications Review, March 1995, pp.

12,14

4 “Microsoft Plans Wide Range of Internet Services Microsoft Network To Provide Billing in 19 Currencies, ” The Internet Letter, Feb. 1, 1995, p 3

5 Reports of mergers from Joanne Cummings and Fred S Knight, “Internet Service Providers To Ride a Familiar Roller Coaster, ” Business Communications Review, January 1995, pp. 67-68

business development, housing developments, Systems can play a key role in assisting tribes,

utilities, environmental protection, parks, and

wildlife areas, the tribes first require detailed

maps of their reservations, including information

on natural resources and terrain. Many reservations, trust lands, and Native Hawaiian homelands

are poorly mapped out and have uncertain boundaries. The last comprehensive reservation survey

measurements were made in 1949 by the Bureau

of Land Management. Geographic Information

Alaska Native villages, and Native Hawaiians

with their own land management responsibilities.

Today, about 50 tribes run their own GISs and

have formed a consortium, the Intertribal GIS

Council, to share their concerns and knowledge.

Most of these tribes received early exposure, consulting services, and training through the BIA’s

Geographic Data Service Center (GDSC) .36 The

tribes can buy GIS software at government rates.

36Information from interviews with the four-person staff and contractors at the BIA Geographic Data Service Center in Lakewood. CO,

Nov. 18, 1994.
62 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Basic GIS technology is now more user-friendly

and can run on many types of computers. Advanced GISs require faster computers, more

memory, and high-bandwidth networking. While

this makes GIS more useful, it also adds considerably to the cost.

Tribes are struggling with long-distance, dialin charges and looking for affordable ways to implement wide area networks to keep the costs of

GIS networking down. Some tribes are dependent

on a single person who is knowledgeable enough

to make use of and maintain a tribal GIS. But if

that person should leave, the tribe must train or

hire another person—not always easy to do. Although GDSC policy encourages tribes to be selfsufficient, smaller tribes frequently fall back on

GDSC training and consulting.37

One type of useful data is remotely sensed

imaging using satellite or airborne imagers,

coupled with coordinate information from a Global Positioning System. Acquiring such information can be expensive, but if important enough,

even small tribes might pay.38

John Goes In Center, president of Innovative

GIS Solutions, develops GISs for Native Americans. His experiences indicate that most GISs lack

a “cultural layer of data” that Native Americans

want.39 Moreover, he believes that GISs are not

being fully used because of a lack of culturally

relevant needs assessments and problems getting

traditional tribe members and tribal councils to

recognize the potential. Tribes are understandably

reluctant to invest in technology whose benefits

are not clearly understood.

❚ Telecommunications Infrastructure

Native-owned telecommunications and other

technology-based companies are an important

source of economic development and job creation.40 Many such companies today are as easily

located on a reservation as in a city. For example,

a Turtle Mountain tribal company in North Dakota, Uniband, Inc., has contracts with the Treasury

Department, Internal Revenue Service, Indian

Health Service, and North Dakota Fish and Game

Department to develop electronic information

systems and perform data entry and network management. Companies such as Uniband are creating

new market demands for an advanced telecommunications infrastructure.

Gaming operations also drive the development

of telecommunications infrastructure. The Oneida

Indian Nation of New York,41 for example, uses

computer networks and information systems for

managing its gaming enterprises, and is investing

some earnings in advanced communications to

serve community needs such as health care,

education, cultural centers, and other business enterprises. The new business enterprises, in turn,

37Beth Wenstrom, Cartographer, Land Titles and Records Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Sacramento, CA, personal communication, May

1995.

38Gary Emery, GIS Analyst, Forestry Division, Hoopa Valley Tribal Council, Hoopa, CA, personal communications, May 1995. For background discussions, see OTA, Helping America Compete: The Role of Federal Scientific and Technical Information, op. cit., footnote 4; U.S.

Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Remotely Sensed Data from Space: Distribution, Pricing, and Applications, Background Paper

(Washington, DC: Office of Technology Assessment, July 1992); and U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Remotely Sensed

Data: Technology, Management, and Markets, OTA-ISS-604 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1994).

39As expressed in a presentation given at the 1994 National Congress of American Indians conference in Denver, CO, Nov. 13-18, 1994.

40See, for example, a discussion of five industries identified to present immediate, feasible opportunities for Indian reservations: manufacturing (including telecommunications equipment), telecommunications and information services, and three industries that are heavy users of

telecommunications and information technologies (environmental services, tourism, and retail) in National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, Growing Market Opportunities for Indian Reservation Enterprises, prepared by UIDA Consulting Group (Mesa, AZ: April

1991).

41The Oneida Indian Nation of New York was the first Indian Nation to establish a home page at http://nysernet.org/oneida/. This home page

chronicles the ongoing community development, including its community-wide use of computer networking.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building | 63

further drive infrastructure development with

additional needs for computer networking, telemarketing, and information systems.

Other gaming operations have driven demand

-for satellite broadcasts and “1-800” telephone service capability. For example, in 1991, MegaBingo

was broadcast live via satellite every evening for

15 minutes from the Creek Nation Bingo Hall in

Tulsa, Oklahoma, to 47 sites in 10 states and 31

reservations. 42 The Coeur D’Alene Tribe in Idaho

is waiting for approval to conduct a lottery with

toll-free “1-800” calls from 36 states and the District of Columbia (where lotteries are legal). Payments would be made via credit cards.43 The major investor, Denver-based Unistar Entertainment,

Inc., is paying for a lottery office on the reservation to be equipped with high-speed computers,

fiberoptic phone lines, and perhaps a microwave

radio hookup.44

Several Native entrepreneurs have developed

small software development and computer/network consulting companies. For example, Jim

Bradley (Tlingit) has developed two telecommunications companies-United Native American

Network (UNAN), a nonprofit corporation with a

Native American board of directors, and United

Native American Telecommunications (UNAT), a

for-profit sole proprietorship (see box 3-5). Although the market for services on reservations is

currently limited, these businesses have telecommunications, software, and computer engineering

expertise that will be assets if markets develop in

the future. Many Native entrepreneurs want to

move back to the reservation and are looking for

opportunities to serve Native American communities. Some could develop telework and information businesses similar to Uniband, provided the

telecommunications infrastructure is available.

Top: Uniband, a data processing company located on the

Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, North Dakota. Bottom:

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority in Eagle

Butte, South Dakota.

Others, such as UNAN or UNAT, can provide or

drive the infrastructure.

Industries such as banking and insurance also

drive the development of telecommunications infrastructure to support computer networking and

information systems. For example, the Native Indian Alliance Insurance Company45 serves only

42 National Center for American Indian Enterpricse Development, op. cit., footnote 40, p. 71.

43 See Bunny Anquoe, “Attomeys General Attack Lottery” and “Gaming War of Words Continues on the Hill,’’ Indian Country Today, Apr. 6,

1995. 44 “Coeur D'Alene's Lottery Plans Attract Investment Partners,” Fort Apache Scout, Apr. 14, 1995.

45 Darrel A. Fitz, President, Native Indian Alliance Insurance Co., Anadarko, OK, at the National Congress of American Indians conference.

Denver, CO, personal communication, Oct. 17, 1994.
64 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Telecommunications industries that were once separate are converging as each abandons older

analog technologies and adopts digital technologies For example, telephone companies are replacing

analog switches with digital switches, which allow the companies to offer fast data communications and

computer networking And cable TV companies now have the technology to offer new digital phone

services Cellular phone, radio, and broadcast TV industries are currently developing digital technologies for the future, Within the past decade, new companies have formed to offer computer online services, electronic databases, videoconferencing, paging services, and access to computer networks

such as the Internet The legislative and regulatory arenas for telecommunications Industries are likewise changing and converging. Congress is trying to create a smooth transition to a level regulatory

playing field for all competitors in the digital age.

Amidst these telecommunications technology and regulatory changes, Jim Bradley (Tlingit) has

founded two telecommunications companies that could serve as models for Native American telecommunications entrepreneurship.

Jim Bradley first founded United Native American Telecommunications (UNAT), which today offers

long-distance, interLATA (Local Access Transfer Area), and local telephone and data communications.

UNAT competes with Iong-distance providers such as AT&T and MCI, Alaska providers including Alascom (recently bought by AT&T) and GCI, and some local telephone companies (here, UNAT operates

as a Competitive Access Provider). UNAT has a long-distance, common-carrier Iicense from the Federal Communications Commission, a Washington State Public Utilities Commission Intrastate Iicense, and

an Alaska business license. Its Alaska business derives mostly from Department of Defense contracts

UNAT is also providing telecommunications Internationally, for example, in Botswana. Although it is a

sole proprietorship, the company policy broadly promotes native American telecommunications, it actively hires Native Americans and provides scholarships and training to students who aspire to careers

in telecommunications.

Bradley’s second business, United Native American Network (UNAN), is a 501 c nonprofit corporation offering videoconferencing and computer networking services to Native American educational and

health organizations It IS financed with 25 percent of the profits from UNAT and has an all-lndian board

of directors A new facility under construction (close to the Swinomish, Skagit, and Lummi Indian reservations in Washington State) will house six distance-learning production studios and a videoconferencing room UNAN aspires to be an Information hub and telecommunications services resource for all

Native American educators and health care providers, including social services such as substance

abuse prevention programs. Some specific goals include developing a computerized patient records’

database and Interactive distance-learnlng programs for adult education Both UNAT and UNAN were

founded and operate without federal grants or loans.

SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, with information from Jim Bradley, President and CEO, United native American

Telecommunications, Burlington, WA, personal communications, April 1995

tribes, and underwrites auto and burial insurance There is currently a chicken-and-egg dilemma

o meet the regulations and cultural needs of each on many reservations regarding the supply and detribe. The company plans to use computer net- mand of data communications. Commercial proworking for marketing and transactional pur- viders will not invest in infrastructure until there is

poses, and will likely use flexible computer soft- demand, and demand will not develop in the abware configurations to tailor information systems sence of supply. One solution is for Native tribes/

to company specifications. villages/communities to work closely or partner
Chapter 3 Telecommunications TechnoIogy and Native American Community-Building

with telecommunications companies or to form

their own companies or cooperatives to develop

local telecommunications infrastructure.

-GOVERNANCE

Tribal governments, including Alaska Native village governments, vary widely in form and function. Some carry out limited activities and rely

heavily on state and federal governments. Others

are variously responsible for: roads, water, sewer,

electricity, housing, telecommunications, law enforcement, courts, emergency services, social services, education, health care, environmental

protection, and economic development. Whatever

the level of activity, tribal governments are engaged in maintaining govemment-to-govemment

relationships with federal and state governments;

working to uphold prior treaties and laws; and developing future laws and agreements. Current issues that Native American governments are pursuing at the federal and/or state levels include

federal/state recognition; jurisdiction for taxation

and criminal prosecution; recovery of lands taken

pursuant to broken treaties; religious freedom;

control over lands and resources held in trust;

education, health care, and social services; the

regulation of gaming; land use such as hunting,

fishing, and grazing; and water rights.

Tribal governments are beginning to recognize

and assume responsibility to plan for, encourage,

and regulate the myriad uses of telecommunications in their communities. They are following the

lead of many state and local governments that are

developing telecommunications infrastructure,

using or supporting new telecommunications applications for governance and commmunitybuilding, and regulating telecommunications.

Projects include, for example, statewide highbandwidth telecommunications infrastructure for

schools, health facilities, and government offices;

electronic town halls; online dissemination of reg-

| 65

Top: Maui Research and Technology Center located in Kihei

on Maui Island, Hawaii. Bottom: MRTC houses the Maui Supercomputing Center, various economic development and

educational offices, and several small business start-up companies. MRTC is a partnership of the federal, state, and

county governments and the private sector.

ulations and codes; telecommuting centers; and

police information systems.

■ Videoconferencing

As Native tribes, villages, and communities assume greater responsibility for their own gover-
66 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

nance,46 the need for ongoing consultation and negotiation with their own residents, other Native

groups, and federal and state government agencies

is likewise growing. Videoconferencing could increase the level of communications—without incurring excessive additional cost (relative to the

costs of traveling)—among various Native leaders and groups.

Videoconferencing could help Native groups

participate more frequently and effectively in various federal agency proceedings, meetings, hearings, and the like. For example, the Cherokee Nation is advocating either a tribal or government-led initiative or partnership to implement a

videoconferencing system with the Department of

the Interior’s Office of Self-Governance (OSG).

The Self-Governance Coordinator of the Cherokee Nation sees a cost-effective role for videoconferencing in communicating with the OSG.

“Tribes and the Office of Self-Governance need to

meet at least monthly, but also as needed to solve

imminent problems. A typical meeting will include about six tribal people and three government people. Videoconferencing could save significant travel time and expenses for these

meetings.”47

At a minimum, for videoconferencing to be

successful: 1) Native leaders and citizens must be

comfortable using the electronic medium to complement the face-to-face in-person meetings that

traditionally are preferred; and 2) videoconferencing must be affordable and cost-effective.

❚ Computer Networking

Computer networking is growing at the federal,

state,48 and local levels of government. Numerous

applications seem relevant to Native governments, including electronic mail among Native

leaders and with citizens; timely access to notices

of federal and state agency hearings, meetings,

and rulemakings relevant to Native concerns; access to a wide range of federal environmental, energy, statistical, criminal justice, and other databases49 that bear on areas of tribal or village

government; filing of federal and state taxation

and financial documents (e.g., using electronic

data interchange); payment/receipt of funds (e.g.,

using electronic funds transfer); and, most importantly, delivery of federal services via Native governments and Native service-providers (e.g., using electronic benefits transfer).

46For a discussion of traditional and modern tribal governments, see Sharon O’Brien, American Indian Tribal Governments (Norman, OK:

University of Oklahoma Press, 1989). The policy of “self-determination” was formalized and strengthened with passage of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, Public Law 93-638, Jan. 4, 1975, “an Act to provide maximum Indian participation in the Government and education of the Indian people; to provide for the full participation of Indian tribes in programs and services conducted by the Federal

Government for Indians . . .” The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act Amendments of 1988, Public Law 100-472,

amended the original act by adding a new title, as follows: “Title III—Tribal Self-Governance Demonstration Project.” In the first year, 20 tribes

were authorized, for not more than five years, to plan, conduct, consolidate, and administer programs, services and functions authorized under

previous acts, thus exerting considerable tribal control over federal Indian programs. The Indian Self-Determination Act Amendments of 1994,

Public Law 103-413, again amended the original act by adding “Title IV—Tribal Self-Governance,” which made the demonstration project

permanent (20 new tribes are selected each year to participate).

47Charles Head, Self-Governance Coordinator, Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, OK, personal communication, May 9, 1995.

48For example, California now makes all state legislative information—the Constitution, bills, laws, amendments, agendas, votes, etc.—

available via an FTP server (leginfo.public.ca.gov) on the Internet. “California Legislative Information Now Online Without Cost,” Boardwatch, April/May 1994, p. 78.

49For example, the National Indian Policy Center (NIPC) maintains online information such as treaties on a George Washington University

file server (Gopher and World Wide Web) whose Internet address is gwis.circ.gwu.edu. The successive menu choices to get to the NIPC are first,

“Centers, Institutes, and Research at GWU,” followed by “Centers and Institutes,” and finally, “National Indian Policy Center.”
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building | 67

Internet networking is becoming a critical component of governance and grassroots democracy.50 Several federal Internet sites—including the

Library of Congress’s “Thomas”51system, the

Government Printing Office’s “GPO Access,” and

two sites maintained by the House of Representatives52—carry key federal documents such as the

Federal Register, U.S. Code, Code of Federal

Regulations, Congressional Record, and congressional bills. Many colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations maintain other Internet sites

with useful free information related to governance. For example, Project Vote Smart, a grassroots democracy organization with 35,000 volunteers, makes available—by Internet and dial-in

electronic bulletin boards—the public statements

and voting records of political candidates.53

Native governments vary widely in their current use of computers and computer networking.

A few tribes are already operating at levels of

computerization comparable to that of the most

advanced state or local governments. However,

many tribes and villages would require considerable improvements in technology and training—

and, in many cases, a shift in perception about the

role of computers—to make effective use of computer networking. The federal government, too,

varies widely in its use of computers and computer networking, and in its plans to interconnect

with state, local, and Native governments.54

Many of the networking applications being explored by federal agencies are relevant to Native

governments.

One use of computer networking is for grant

application and monitoring, demonstrated by the

National Science Foundation. Native governments frequently apply for grants from the Bureau

of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, Administration for Native Americans, and other agencies. A second application of computer networking is in contract negotiation and administration.

As Native governments and community serviceproviders contract for federal monies for schools,

health care, social services, and self-governance,

computer networking can help minimize administrative overhead and paperwork.

Ongoing federal policies of self-determination

and self-governance will likely necessitate increased cooperation between Native governments

and federal agencies to develop information systems that meet each partner’s needs. For example,

the Cherokee Nation, under a 1994 Memorandum

of Understanding with the Department of the Interior’s Office of Self-Governance, developed the

OSG Database, a financial information and reporting system for the Tribal Self-Governance

Demonstration Project.55 Today, half of the governments participating in self-governance with

the OSG have access to the system with a “1-800”

telephone number. Only authorized users have access. The cost of development was $135,000,

including the initial hardware and software. With

50For a discussion of citizen participation in government, and computer-assisted access to government, see Jim Warren, “How Citizens Can

Pursue Practical, Potent, Grassroots Political Action—Net-Based, Computer-Aided,” Boardwatch, April/May 1994, pp. 74-78.

51The Library of Congress makes legislative information, such as the full text of all versions of congressional bills and the Congressional

Record (searchable by keywords or bill number), available on the Internet through Thomas, a World Wide Web site at http://thomas.loc.gov/.

52The House of Representatives’ Gopher server can be reached at gopher.house.gov; and the World Wide Web server can be reached at

http://www.house.gov.

53The Project Vote Smart Gopher server can be reached at gopher.neu.edu under the menu title Project Vote Smart. Alternatively, one can

reach the Project Vote Smart Bulletin Board Service at 503-737-3777.

54See OTA, Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services, op. cit., footnote 5.

55See footnote 46. In 1994, the Department of the Interior’s Office of Self-Governance (OSG) serviced 26 tribes in the lower 48 states, and

70 tribal and village governments in Alaska. In 1996, the OSG plans to deliver $200 million in funds to 45 tribes in the lower 48 states, and 130

tribal and village governments in Alaska.
68 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Top: Network control computers at the Oneida Nation's tribal

headquatrters building in Oneida, New York. The Oneida Nation makes extensive use of computers to support tribal administration. Bottom: A portion of the fiberoptic telecommunications network that links tribal buildings and homes of the

Oneida Nation.

this system, OSG employees can concentrate

more on timely delivery of funds and financial

data integrity, rather than on time-consuming paper methods of fund reporting and financial administration.56

The desire of many Native communities to take

more responsibility for their own self-governance, and the shift of functions from the federal

(and sometimes state) government to tribal/village governments, is increasing the impetus to use

computers as an administrative and management

tool. Moreover, Native governments, including

many tribes and especially the Alaska Native regional and village corporations, carry out business

and government functions that require specialized

information systems. The use of computer networking and videoconferencing for expressing

views and reaching consensus may be problematic for some Native groups with a tradition of faceto-face, consensual, deliberative decisionmaking.

■ Kiosks and Electronic Benefits Transfer

Kiosks and electronic benefits transfer could be

used, separately or in combination, to deliver information and benefits to Native American communities. 57 This could substantially increase delivery efficiencies in rural areas. In the more

remote areas, kiosks could be collocated with a

community communication center at a local

school, health care facility, multiservice center, or

tribal/village government office. These kiosks

could be designed to provide access to a wide

range of information. They also could disburse

specified monetary benefits for health and social

services, either by placing credit on a smart card

or by dispensing cash if the kiosk includes an automated teller machine.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACCESS FOR

COMMUNITY-BUILDING

Education, health care, economic development,

environmental protection, and governance will

each have a range of needs for telecommunications infrastructure. Many of these community applications can benefit from videoconferencing,

computer networking, multimedia, and wireless

56 Arlene Brown, Financial Officer, Office of Self-Governance, Department of the Interior, personal communication, May 1995.

57See OTA, Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services, op. cit., footnote 5.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building | 69

technologies. However, for community-building,

the telecommunications infrastructure must be

both cost-effective and accessible. In many Native

communities, this will require cost-sharing partnerships combined with strategies to broaden access. Two promising possibilities for communitybuilding are: 1) creating publicly accessible

telecommunications technology centers affiliated

with schools, health care centers, government offices, and the like; and 2) creating community

computer networks. Community telecommunications centers and community computer networks

offer new solutions to contemporary social needs.

Results of pilot tests and projects to date are generally favorable, but further research and evaluation

are necessary.

■ Community Telecommunications

Centers

Some highly leveraged opportunities for community telecommunications centers include the

AIHEC network centers at the tribal colleges and

Internet accessible computer terminals at K-12

schools. Native educational institutions would

need to look beyond their traditional role of serving only enrolled students and assume anew role

of serving the broader Native American community. Other possibilities include providing health

care facilities, libraries, or cultural centers with

public information terminals ardor Internet connectivity. Radio or TV stations with digital satellite uplinks and downlinks also could serve as

telecommunications centers or gateways for data

and video transmissions with other networks. For

example, the American Indian Radio On Satellite

program might work with Native American governments to help them utilize satellite links.

Schools, hospitals, government agencies, radio

stations, and other institutions in Native American communities might also consider partnering

with each other or becoming champions of a community network. For example, the Sisseton-WahTop: Big Sky Telegraph is a community-based computer

network headquartered at Western Montana College in Dillon,

Montana. Big Sky is dedicated to empowerment of grassroots

Americans-including Native Americans-through the use of

computers and telecommunications. Bottom: Map showing

teleconnections between Big Sky Telegraph and the contiguous states, Alaska, and Hawaii.

peton Sioux Tribe Telecommunications Committee is helping four entities—a tribal community

college, K-12 tribal school, tribal government,

and IHS local service unit-establish local area

networks. Each local area network will be interconnected to form a wide area network and connect with the Internet. 58

I

I

58 Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Telecommunications Committee, "Telecommunications Project," unpublished paper, Agency Village,

SD, n.d.
70 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Most community networks across the United

States and Canada have taken a grassroots, bottom-up approach that emphasizes citizen empowerment rather than institutional goals. However,

many Native American communities may not

have a critical mass to support a grassroots movement. As a consequence, a Native American government or other institution may have to take a

lead role. A community network owned or run by

one or a few organizations, rather than a community-appointed board of directors or the equivalent, would need to ensure that the network remains true to community values and needs. Even a

community-based board could lose touch if board

members do not have diverse backgrounds and are

unwilling to continually challenge the network to

grow, develop, and engage the community.

❚ Community Computer Networks

Community computer networks, largely grassroots efforts initiated by concerned community

members, caught the attention of the mainstream

in 1992. At about the same time, the Internet became popular with the media and the public, and

the federal government put forth the concept of an

information superhighway (also known as the National Information Infrastructure).59 Examples of

community networks include the Blacksburg

Electronic Village60 in Virginia; the Taos Telecommunity in New Mexico; Big Sky Telegraph in

Montana;61 Prairienet in Illinois; and the Boulder

Community Network in Colorado.62 Networks

such as Prairienet that subscribe to the National

Public Telecomputing Network are trademarked

Free-NetsTM and follow the model of the Cleveland Free-Net. Other community networks are

variously called public access networks, community computing, electronic bulletin board services, telecommunities, or televillages. Most are

accessible through both public centers and home

computers, and through the Internet.

Activists and observers of community networking stress that the basic concept of community networking is an ongoing cyclical process

whereby community needs are discovered, solutions negotiated, changes made, and results evaluated for the next round. The basic goals are grassroots empowerment; community-driven vision;

developing local expertise; and providing content

and services to meet local needs and constraints.

The Morino Institute suggests several criteria critical to the growth of current community networks

and the establishment of future community networks:63

 make positive social change the goal,

 understand the needs and engage the efforts of

the community,

 build a strong and open technological base,

 make information available that is relevant to

and in the context of the community,

59See Jay Weston, “Old Freedoms and New Technologies: The Evolution of Community Networking,” Free Speech and Privacy in the

Information Age Symposium, University of Waterloo, Canada (invited paper), Nov. 26, 1994, available by e-mail from jweston@ccs.carleton.ca

or through the Electronic Frontier Foundation World Wide Web site http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/; and Doug Schuler, “Community Networks: Building a New Participatory Medium,” Communications of the ACM, vol. 37, No. 1, January 1994.

60For a description, see Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “In Virginia, a Virtual Community Tries Plugging Into Itself,” The Washington Post, Apr. 11,

1995, pp. A1, A12.

61See Frank Odasz, “Community Economic Development Networks: A Grassroots Leadership Challenge,” Internet Research, vol. 4, No. 1,

spring 1994.

62For more information via e-mail write to webmaker@bev.net for the Blacksburg Electronic Village, feedback@laplaza.taos.nm.us for the

Taos Telecommunity, info@prairienet.org for Prairienet, and coordinator@bcn.boulder.co.us for the Boulder Community Network. The World

Wide Web home pages for these community networks are http://www.bev.net, http://laplaza.taos.nm.us, http://www.prairienet.org, and

http://bcn.boulder.co.us.

63The Morino Institute, “Assessment and Evolution of Community Networking,” paper presented by Mario Morino at the Apple Conference on Building Community Computing Networks, Cupertino, CA, May 5, 1994.
Chapter 3 Telecommunications Technology and Native American Community-Building 171

My friend, a Seneca scholar, once remembered that many people have a mental snapshot of native

people taken 300 years ago, and they want to retain that image . . Perhaps we are approaching a time

when everyday Americans want to become better Indians than the Indians themselves . . . Certainly I

believe that ancient tribal cultures have important lessons to teach the rest of the world about the interconnectedness of all living things and the fact that our very existence is dependent upon the natural

world we are rapidly destroying Our languages are still strong, ceremonies that we have been conducting since the beginning of time are still being held, our governments are surviving, and most importantly, we continue to exist as a distinct cultural group in the midst of the most powerful country in the

world, Yet, we also must recognize that we face a daunting set of problems and issues—continual

threats to tribal sovereignty, low educational attainment levels, double-digit unemployment, many

homes without basic amenities, and racism. To grapple with these problems in a forward-thinking, positive way, we are beginning to look more and more to our own people, communities, and history for solutions, We have begun to trust our own thinking again.

Wilma P. Mankiller, Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation

SOURCE Reprinted from native American Programs, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Our Home: Giving Form to

Traditional Values, Design Principles for Indian Housing (Washington, DC 1994)

ensure broad-based access, champions of Native American community netplan for growth, establish a sustaining econom- working might include Native technology actiic model, prepare for competition, and vists, community leaders, Native American govcollaborate to form a powerful community ernments, community service providers, tribal

computer network movement nationally. colleges and libraries, and local businesses. NaThe lessons learned from current efforts could tive American community networking needs to be

be valuable for Native American communities, forward-thinking and contribute to communityeach with its own cultural, social, economic, and building, and it also must be firmly rooted in Napolitical needs that could be met, in part, by creat- tive cultures and values (see box 3-6).65

ing its own community network.64 Possible

64For a discussion of the opportunities and challenges of telecommunications for rural communities, including some Native American communities, see OTA, Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services, op. cit., footnote 5; and U.S. Congress, Office of

Technology Assessment, Rural America at the Crossroads: Networking for the Future, OTA-TCT-471 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government

Printing Office, April 1991).

65For discussion of grassroots Native computer applications, see chapter 2; Patric Hedland, “Ancient Tales Online,” Online Access, Summer

1992, pp. 8- 11; and Cynthia Denton, “The American Indian Share-Art Gallery,” Whole Earth Review, summer 1991, pp. 36-37.
Native American

Sovereignty and

Telecommunications

Policy

overeignty is the ability of a group of people (e.g., a tribe,

village, town, or state) to control its own affairs, culture,

and communities; sovereignty is essential to self-governance. In the colonial era, what is now the United States

was home to hundreds of indigenous groups with a variety of

forms of self-government, organized primarily at the tribal or village level. Over the last 200 years, indigenous groups struggled to

maintain their sovereignty. The established framework of federal

Indian law recognizes tribal sovereignty, a federal trust responsibility for those tribal resources and powers ceded to or taken by

the United States, and a commitment to tribal self-determination

or self-control over programs and services vital to tribal well-being. Federal Indian policy, as reflected in presidential statements

and agency directives, applies this framework to the 550 federally

recognized Indian tribes—including about 220 Alaska Native

tribal or village governments (Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo). Federal

policy on Native Hawaiians is more ambiguous. However, the

historical parallels between Native Hawaiians, American Indians, and Alaska Natives are significant and provide a basis for

including Native Hawaiians within this framework.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the primary federal responsibility for regulation of telecommunications.

The FCC does not have an Indian policy. So far as the Office of

Technology Assessment can determine, the FCC has not applied

the major principles of Indian law to federal telecommunications

policy. Nor has the FCC applied federal Indian policy as enunciated by every President from Nixon through Clinton and by several federal agencies. The reality is that the current federal (and

state) telecommunications policy regime has developed without | 73
74 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

consideration of Indian law and without a tribal

telecommunications policy, and therefore has effectively, if unintentionally, eroded and limited

the sovereignty of tribes in this area. A basic 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 spectrum). Principles of Indian law and

policy can be applied to telecommunications.

However, “[f]ederal telecommunications policy

and regulation have developed continuously since

1934. Indian telecommunications policy cannot

be written overnight; it must evolve.”1

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: AMERICAN

INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES

A fundamental issue is the sovereignty of Native

Americans over their own affairs, cultures, livelihoods, lifestyles, and destinies. When Europeans

first discovered and settled in North America,

what is now the 48 contiguous states was the home

of hundreds of indigenous Indian tribes—each

with its own form of self-governance and with

control over hunting, fishing, water, land, and other resources vital to survival. Likewise, when the

Russians, Europeans, and Euro-Americans explored subarctic and arctic North America, what

is now Alaska was the home of many indigenous

Native (Aleut, Eskimo, and Indian) tribes. Similarly, when European explorers first discovered

and settled in Hawaii, these islands were populated by indigenous peoples with their own form

of self-governance.

The history of the United States is, in part, a

struggle of indigenous peoples and governments

trying to maintain their sovereignty in the face of

population pressures and expanding national and

state governments. The experience of American

Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians is

similar in that all had preexisting forms of government, typically at the tribal or village level; and all

had significant control over their own land, resources, and cultural practices. Their experience

varied, however, as the United States expanded

westward and southward.

The most immediate conflict was with Indian

tribes in the contiguous 48 states. Initially, the

United States treated the tribes as independent

sovereign entities, under United States protectorate, but having the full rights and powers of separate nations. U.S.-Indian treaties of this era largely

stipulated terms and conditions of trade, commerce, travel, and military alliance, as would be

typical of relationships between sovereign nations. In the early 1800s, however, U.S. policy

changed, formalized in the Indian Removal Act of

1830, to one of removing eastern Indians to areas

generally west of the Mississippi River in order to

accommodate the westward movement of settlers

from the east coast. Tribes were treated as socalled domestic dependent nations, and the United

States assumed a trust relationship with Indians in

exchange for Indian land. Treaties of this period

generally provided monetary and other compensation to Indians and guarantees against the

taking of remaining Indian lands. In the mid to late

1800s, U.S. policy shifted again under pressure

from settlers, immigrants, and fortune seekers

moving into the Great Plains, Rocky Mountains,

Pacific Northwest, and California. During this

time, the United States moved many Indians onto

reservations, and forced or coerced tribes to agree

to reservation treaties in return for health, education, and financial support. From the late 1870s to

early 1930s, U.S. policy encouraged assimilation

of Indians into the majority society.2

The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 marked

the next change in U.S. policy, which once again

emphasized Indian self-government and a renewed attention to the U.S. trust relationship with

Indians and treatment of tribes as quasi-sovereign

entities. This policy lasted until the early 1950s,

1James A. Casey, Esq., Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, Rosslyn, Virginia, personal communication, Apr. 27, 1995.

2See, e.g., Alice B. Kehoe, North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992); and Vine DeLoria, Jr., American Indian Policy in the Twentieth Century (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985).
Chapter 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications Policy

when efforts were made to terminate tribes and

U.S.-tribal relationships and encourage Indians to

relocate to urban areas.3

The modem era of U.S. policy began in the

mid- 1960s with renewed emphasis on Indian and

tribal self-determination and on government-togovernment relationships between tribes and the

United States, and reaffirmation of the U.S. trust

responsibilities. Key milestones in modem U.S.

Indian policy include the Indian Civil Rights Act

of 1968, Indian Self-Determination and Education Act of 1975, Indian Child Welfare Act of

1978, and Indian Religious Freedom Act of

1978. 4 These acts, collectively, were intended to

help restore Indian rights as indigenous peoples,

including the right to establish and maintain their

own forms of self-government.

From 1776 through 1870, the United States negotiated, and the U.S. Senate ratified, 370 treaties

with Indian tribes.5 The federal government currently recognizes about 330 tribes; state governments recognize about another 60; and perhaps

100 tribes are petitioning for federal recognition.6

Recognition brings with it acknowledgment of a

formal government-to-government relationship,

eligibility for various federal services, and opportunity to establish a trust for land and resources.

Tribes vary widely in their populations, geographic size, cultural traditions, economic and natural

resources, definition and conditions of membership, and form of government. Most tribes have

several hundred to a few thousand members; only

a few have more than 10,000 members (e.g., the

Navajo Nation, Oglala Sioux, and San Carlos

Apache). 7

The federal government also recognizes 220

Native villages in Alaska. The Alaska Native history differs from the American Indians in that

3

Ibid.

4

Ibid.

| 75

Top: Standard government-issue sign at the western boundary of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, state highway

5, North Dakota Bottom: On the other side of the highway, a

welcome sign designed and built by the Turtle Mountain Band

of Chippewa Indians

most Alaskan indigenous peoples did not sign

treaties with the United States, and many have remained on their traditional lands until the present

time. The large, remote expanses of Alaskan wilderness helped to buffer pressures from settlers.

The interests or conditions of Alaska Natives

5 Jack Utter, American Indians: Answers tO Today’s Questions (Lake Ann, MI: National Woodlands Publishing Co. 1993), esp. pp. 49-50. 6 Arlene Hirschfelder and Martha Kreip de Montano, The Native American Almanac: A Portrait of Native America Today (New York, NY:

Prentice Hall, 1993), see esp. pp. 237-272, appendix I, “Native American Tribes by State.” 7 Veronica E. Tiller (cd.), Discover Indian Reservations USA (Denver, CO: Council of Energy Resource Tribes, 1992).
76 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges .

Top: The “Eskimo Building” houses Alaska Native companies

and the u.S. Postal Service office in Kotzebue, Alaska. Note

the mailbox at the right. Bottom: Communication lifelines for

remote Eskimo villages include the U.S. Postal Service via

airplane and telecommunications via satellite.

received little attention for over a century, from

the time of Russian explorations, to the 1867 sale

of Alaska to the United States and the establishment of the Territory of Alaska in 1912, to Alaska

statehood in 1958. The formal recognition of

Alaska Native villages as governing entities resulted from pressures to: 1) establish Native territories within State of Alaska public lands, 2) resolve disputes over land-title claims that were

blocking oil-field development, and 3) respond to

a nascent Native rights movement represented by

the Alaska Federation of Natives. The Federation

played a key role in negotiations leading to enactment of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

of 1971. The act settled land claims in return for

monetary compensation and the establishment of

12 regional Native corporations and about 200 individual Native village governments. 8

The current Native corporation and village

structure includes:9

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

Ahtna, Inc. (with two Athabascan Native villages);

Aleut Corp. (with 13 Aleut Native villages);

Annette Island Reserve (including the Tsimshian Tribe and Metlakatla Indian Community

Council);

Arctic Slope Regional Corp. (with five Eskimo

Native villages);

Bering Straits Native Corp. (with 16 Eskimo

villages);

Bristol Bay Native Corp. (with 24 Eskimo and

Aleut villages);

Calista Corp. (44 Eskimo and Athabascan villages);

Chugach Natives, Inc. (four Aleut and Athabascan villages);

Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (three Athabascan villages);

Doyon, Ltd. (32 Athabascan and Eskimo villages);

Koniag, Inc. (seven Aleut villages);

NANA Regional Corp. (10 Eskimo villages);

and

Sealaska Corp. (11 Tlingit and Haida villages).

Alaska villages always have been and continue

to be very small—a few hundred to a few thousand

persons. The majority of the approximately

80,000 Alaska Natives (Eskimos, Aleuts, and Indians) live in these rural villages. In contrast,

about 35 percent of the roughly 1.9 million Indians in the contiguous 48 states live on Native

land (reservations, rancherias, and pueblos);

about 15 percent live in rural areas near Native

8 Kehoe, North American Indians, op. cit., footnote 2, esp. ch. 9, pp. 480-563, “The Arctic and Subarctic.”

9 Hirschfelder and Kreipe de Montano, op. cit., footnote 6, pp. 238-240.
Chapter 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications PoIicy | 77

land; and the remaining 50 percent live in metropolitian areas.10 The vast majority of 225,000 Native Hawaiians ll do not live in separately identified Native communities; only a few thousand live

- on Native lands, although many more live in

small, rural towns on the various Hawaiian Islands.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:

NATIVE HAWAIIANS

Unlike tribal reservations and Alaska Native villages, Native Hawaiians do not have tribal lands

or tribal governments. Those with 50 percent or

more Hawaiian blood can apply to live on Hawaiian homelands. Native Hawaiians live

throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Those Hawaiian

communities with significant Native populations

are not recognized or organized as self-governing

Native communities per se, and do not have a status equivalent to Indian reservations or Alaska

Native villages. Most Native Hawaiians live in cities and towns organized under Hawaii’s state and

county governments. Also, Native Hawaiian

groups, unlike many Indian tribes, do not have

treaty relationships with the United States that underpin the formalized federal trust responsibility

for Indians. And federal Indian policy, as enunciated by Presidents Nixon through Clinton and by

several federal agencies, does not explicitly include Native Hawaiians. These policies are largely framed in terms of federally recognized tribes

(including Alaska Native tribes and villages) .12

A deeper analysis indicates, however, that the

many parallels between Native Hawaiian and

American Indian history provide a basis for defining a form of federal trust responsibility for Native

Hawaiians as well. Historical accounts document

the exploitation and manipulation of Native Hawaiians by European and American business and

military interests since the time of Captain James

10 U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990, cited in ibid., pp. 36-43.

Top: Pololu Valley and Kohala Mountains meet the sea on the

Big Island, Hawaii, typical of scenic, remote areas of the Hawaiian Islands. Bottom: The Kohala Mission School, like most

small rural schools in Hawaii, is located on a coastal road

along which run telephone, cable 71/ and electrical power

lines—thus opening up at least the Possibility of enhanced

educational telecommunications applications.

11 Defined as any individual who is a descendent of indigenous peoples who, prior to 1778, lived in the area that is now the State of Hawaii.

12 Ibid.
78 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Cook’s arrival on Hawaiian shores in 1778.13 The

1893 annexation of Hawaii as a U.S. territory, ratified in 1898, was accomplished through coercion,

misrepresentation, and without the willing consent of Native Hawaiians.14 U.S. President Grover Cleveland concluded that there was U.S. complicity in the illegal overthrow of the Native

Hawaiian government, but he was unable to

change the course of events.15

Recognition of a federal responsibility for Native Hawaiians was reflected in the congressional

joint resolution of 1898 and was amplified in the

1900 legislation formally establishing the territorial government of Hawaii. The 1898 resolution

ceded absolute title for Hawaiian public lands to

the United States, but provided that all revenue or

proceeds from such land, except as may be used by

the United States for civil or military purpose or

by local governments, “shall be used solely for the

benefit of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands

for educational and other public purposes.”16 In

1921, Congress enacted the Hawaiian Homes

Commission Act. This act authorized that about

188,000 acres of public land under the commission’s jurisdiction be leased to Native Hawaiians

for 99 years at a nominal fee. Native Hawaiian advocates are critical of both the intent and implementation of this act, which, nonetheless, reflected some measure of congressional concern

and responsibility for the deteriorating socioeconomic conditions of Native Hawaiians.17

The federal interest in and responsibility for

Native Hawaiians was further reinforced in 1959

when Hawaii was admitted as a state, under the

Admissions Act. This act returned most ceded

lands to the state, but requires the state to hold all

ceded lands:18

1. as a public trust for the support of public

schools and other public educational institutions,

2. for the betterment of the conditions of Native

Hawaiians,

3. for the development of farm and home ownership on as widespread a basis as possible,

4. for the making of public improvements, and

5. for the provision of lands for public use.

Most importantly, the act states that use of these

lands—and proceeds and income therefrom—

shall be only for the five purposes, “and their use

for any other object shall constitute a breach of

trust for which suit may be brought by the United

States.”19 A 1978 Hawaiian constitutional convention amended the state constitution to establish a State Office of Hawaiian Affairs to administer public land trust funds for the betterment of

Native Hawaiians and carry out various other

functions on behalf of all Hawaiians.20

Since statehood, Congress has enacted or

amended several statutes that establish a federal

responsibility for various social, health, educational, and training programs serving Native Ha13See, e.g., Michael Dougherty, To Steal a Kingdom: Probing Hawaiian History (Waimanalo, HI: Island Style Press, 1992); and Richard A.

Wisniewski, The Rise and Fall of the Hawaiian Kingdom (Honolulu, HI: Pacific Basin Enterprises, 1979).

14Ibid.; and Joyce Ahuna-Kaaiai (ed.), He Alo A He Alo—Face To Face: Hawaiian Voices on Sovereignty (Honolulu, HI: American Friends

Service Committee, 1993).

15Michael Kioni Dudley and Keoni Kealoha Agard, A Hawaiian Nation II: A Call for Hawaiian Sovereignty (Honolulu, HI: Na Kane O Ka

Malo Press, 1990).

16Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie (ed.), Native Hawaiian Rights Handbook (Honolulu, HI: Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., 1991), p. 15.

17Ibid.

18Admissions Act of Mar. 18, 1959, Public Law 86-3.

19Ibid.

20Hawaii State Constitution, Article XII, Sections 4-6. Also see MacKenzie, op. cit., footnote 16, pp. 19-20. Note that for purposes of the

Native Hawaiian Homes Act and the Admissions Act, and therefore the Hawaiian Constitution, Native Hawaiian is defined as someone with 50

percent or more Hawaiian blood. Hawaiian is defined as someone with any quantum of Hawaiian blood.
Chapter 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications Policy | 79

waiians. In some cases, Congress has granted

broad authority to departmental heads to provide

funding to Native Hawaiians or organizations directly representing Native Hawaiians; in other

instances, Congress has specified a funding

amount or stipulated a percentage budget setaside for Native Hawaiians.21 In enacting the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act of 1988, for example, Congress established a clear federal role and

responsibility for helping improve the overall

health conditions of Native Hawaiians, and a commitment to the heavy involvement of Native Hawaiians in developing their own health care plan

and a network of community health clinics.22 In

1993, Congress enacted a joint resolution that

apologized to Native Hawaiians for the U.S. role

in the illegal 1883 overthrow of the Kingdom of

Hawaii.23

In sum, there are significant historical and

policy parallels between Native Hawaiians and

American Indians and Alaska Natives.24 The federal responsibility for the overall well-being and

economic livelihood of Native Hawaiians could

be reasonably construed to extend to the realm of

telecommunications—as a key part of the infrastructure needed to deliver health and educational

services to Native Americans and provide them

with training and career opportunities.25 The exercise of a federal responsibility for Native Hawaiian telecommunications would differ because

there are, at present, no formally recognized or

constituted Native Hawaiian governments similar

to Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages. This

might change in the future, however, as the Native

Hawaiian sovereignty movement matures.26 Native Hawaiian activists are asserting Native rights

in such areas as land, water, fishing, trail and

shoreline access, adoption, and religion.27

Native Hawaiian organizations and advocacy

groups are increasingly aware that telecommunications and computer technologies offer significant leverage for improving the well-being and independence of Native Hawaiians—whether

within the current state and county forms of government or some alternative. The State of Hawaii

provides a variety of telecommunications services

to all Hawaiians, including Native Hawaiians. Examples of these services include: 1) Hawaii Interactive Television System (HITS), a two-way videoconferencing and distance-learning network

connecting the University of Hawaii campuses at

Manoa and Hilo, three community colleges

(Maui, Kauai, and Kapiolani), and the public television station KHET; 2) Hawaii Wide Area Integrated Information Access Network (HAWAIIAN), a digital microwave system that can

carry data, voice, radio, and compressed digital

video signals between various educational and

government locations on the islands of Kauai,

Oahu, Lanai, Maui, and the Big Island; and 3) Hawaii FYI, a videotext service that provides access

to educational and government information, operated by the Hawaiian Information Network Corporation (Hawaii Inc.)—a public corporation es21MacKenzie, op. cit., footnote 16, pp. 294-303.

22Public Law 100-690.

23S.J. Res. 19, a joint resolution to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the Jan. 17, 1893, overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and to offer

an apology to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 103d Congress, 1st session, enacted

as Public Law 103-150, Nov. 23, 1993, and accompanying report, U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Indian Affairs, Senate Rep. 103-126,

Aug. 6, 1993; reprinted in Richard J. Scudder (ed.), The Apology to Native Hawaiians (Kapolei, HI: Ka’imi Pono Press, 1994).

24Also see, e.g., Linda S. Parker, Native American Estate: The Struggle Over Indian and Hawaiian Lands (Honolulu, HI: University of

Hawaii Press, 1989).

25The definition of Native Hawaiian for determining program eligibility is complicated because of the integration of Native Hawaiians into

the general population and differing views on blood quantum or other standards that should apply.

26See Dudley and Agard, op. cit., footnote 15.

27See MacKenzie, op. cit., footnote 16.
80 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Top: University of Hawaii at Hilo videoconferencing room-a

standard set-up for the Hawaii Interactive Television System, a

distance Iearning network connecting the University of Hawaii

campuses and communitty colleges. Bottom: Split screen

capability allows videoconferencing participants to view the

instructor and students at one or more island locations.

tablished to develop the Hawaiian information

industry.28 Notwithstanding these noteworthy

programs, grassroots Native Hawaiian groups are

concerned that “Native Hawaiian peoples are in

danger of being left behind in the telecommunications age.”29

INDIAN LAW AND

TELECOMMUNICATIONS 30

Central principles of federal Indian law and policy

(as evidenced by statutes, treaties, executive

policy, and judicial opinions) include the federal

trust responsibility, tribal sovereignty, and tribal

self-determination. 31

These principles evolved over centuries, and

have been clarified and strengthened in recent decades in ways that Indians hope will preclude a return to earlier federal policies that at times supported the: 1) removal of Indians from tribal lands

through treaties that were broken or unilaterally

abrogated by the United States; 2) outright taking

of Indian lands through fraud, deceit, and military

force; 3) assimilation of Indians into mainstream

American life by changing or suppressing Native

customs, dress, language, religion, and culture;

4) forced removal of Indian children from their

tribal communities to remote boarding schools;

and 5) termination of the federally recognized status of tribes as a way to reduce federal responsibility, move land out of trust status, further integrate

Indians into American society, and relocate Indians from reservations to major cities and metropolitan areas.32

28 David Lassner, University of Hawaii at Manoa, “Educational Telecommunications in Hawaii,” memo dated April 1994.

29 Jim Hunt, Honokaa High School, Honokaa, HI, “Native Hawaiian Telecommunications Network,” n.d.

30 This section is based on research and analysis conducted for OTA by Karen Funk and Sandra Ferguson, Esq., Hobbs, Straus, Dean &

Walker, Washington, DC. 31 See, e.g., Francis Paul Prucha (ed.), Documents of United States Indian Policy ( Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1990): DeLona, op. cit., footnote 2; Fremont J. Lyden and Lyman H. Legters (eds.), Native Americans and Public Policy (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh press, 1992); Stephen Comely, The Return of the Native: American Indian Political Resurgence (New York, NY: Oxford University Press,

1988); Hirschfelder and Kreipe de Montano, op. cit., footnote 6. 32 See Utter, American Indians, op. cit., footnote 5, esp. pp. 241-262, “A Summary History of United States Indian Policy”; and generally

Kehoe, North American Indians, op. cit., footnote 2; Donald L. Parman, Indians and the American West in the Twentieth Century (Bloomington,

IN: Indiana University Press, 1994); and Carl Waldman, Atlas of the North American Indian (New York, NY: Facts on File, 1985).
Chapter 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications Policy | 81

The essence of the federal trust responsibility is

to ensure the survival of Indian communities. Under the trust responsibility, Indians possess rights

as a group, in addition to rights as individuals. The

- unique status of Indian tribes is based on the historical relationship between tribes and the federal

government. 33 The federal trust responsibility includes serving as trustee of tribal lands and natural

and financial resources, and providing services

necessary to the health and welfare of Indian

tribes.34

A continuing challenge is updating the scope

and definition of the trust responsibility to reflect

modem life. In original treaties, for example, the

federal government often promised to provide

teachers, doctors, and annuities (in the form of

food and supplies) to tribes in return for cession of

tribal lands.35 If the trust responsibility is to have

meaning, it must keep pace with changing social

and economic realities. This adjustment has been

made in areas such as health, education, and land

and resource management as tribes and the relevant federal agencies have gained experience as

partners in the government-to-government relatiship.36 Including telecommunications within

the trust responsibility would seem a logical next

step because ensuring adequate telecommunications services and infrastructure is important to

the well-being and survival of tribes.

Tribal sovereignty is, likewise, along-standing

principle of Indian law. The concept of tribal

sovereignty dates back to legal precedents established by the European colonists in their relations

with tribes. European nations entered into at least

Top: The Hawaii Information Network Corporation operates

Hawaii FYI, a computer service that provides public access to

educational and government information. Bottom: In partnership with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and others, Hawaii

FYl provided reformation on the voyage of the seagoing canoe Hokulea and background materials on voyaging traditions, canoe-building, navigation, and the like.

33 Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535 (1974). See generally Sharon O’Brien, American Indian Tribal Governments (Norman, OK: University

of Oklahoma Press, 1989). 34 See Frank Pommersheim, “Tribal-State Relations: Hope for the Future,” South Dakota Law Review, Vol.. 36, 1991, pp. 239,245.

35 Ibid.

36 See generally Dean B. Suagee, “Self~determination for Indigenous Peoples at the Dawn of the Solar Age,” University of Michigan Journal of Law, vol. 25, 1992, pp. 701-712.
82 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

175 treaties with Indian tribes before 1776, and, as

noted earlier, the U.S. government negotiated and

ratified 370 Indian treaties. The U.S. Constitution

placed Indian tribes on a par with foreign nations

in granting Congress the power to regulate commerce.37

The basic governmental power of tribes is not

delegated by Congress; rather it is inherent and

can only be abrogated if Congress expresses a

clear intent to do so. Tribes possess “inherent

powers of limited sovereignty which ha[ve] never

been extinguished.”38 Indian tribes are distinct

from both states and foreign nations. An early

seminal Supreme Court case described tribes as

“domestic dependent sovereigns.”39 While this

terminology is still used,40 “limited sovereignty”

more accurately describes the governmental authority of tribes.

Within their reservations, tribes generally retain all powers other than those given up in treaties, taken away by an act of Congress, or taken

away through implied divestiture.41 Tribes have

the authority to govern their own internal affairs

and to exercise civil regulatory jurisdiction within

reservation boundaries. In sum, tribes have jurisdiction over a wide range of activities on Indian

lands, although the federal government frequently

has concurrent jurisdiction. Thus, it would appear

that tribes could legally assert authority over telecommunications on Indian lands.

Self-determination is an inherent part of sovereignty, and has become a cornerstone of federal

Indian policy reflected in statutes and presidential

statements. Congress has enacted legislation to

assist the tribes in their efforts to achieve economic and governmental self-determination. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was intended to

strengthen tribal governments. And the Indian

Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act

of 1975, as amended, provided tribes with the

right to take over programs administered by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health

Service (IHS) by entering into self-determination

contracts or self-governance compacts.42 The

Self-Determination Act applies not only to federally recognized tribes in the contiguous 48 states,

but to Alaska Native villages (Indian, Eskimo,

and Aleut) or regional or village corporations defined in or established under the Alaska Native

Claims Settlement Act of 1971.43 There are currently 330 federally recognized tribes in the contiguous 48 states and 220 federally recognized Native villages in Alaska (including both villages

and regional organizations).44

Telecommunications is not a primary or major

function of the BIA and IHS. As these agencies

37U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8, Sept. 17, 1787.

38See David H. Getches, Charles F. Wilkinson, and R. Williams, Federal Indian Law, 3rd Ed. (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1993). Also

see United States v. Wheeler, 435 U.S. 313, 322-323 (1978).

39See Pommershein, op. cit., footnote 34, p. 244 (citing Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1, 17 (1931)).

40Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Citizen Band Potawatami Indian Tribe, 11 S.Ct. 905, 909 (1991).

41Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, 435 U.S. 191, 201-11 (1978). According to the Court in Oliphant, tribes had been implicitly divested

of their inherent sovereignty to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians.

4225 U.S.C. Subsec. 13a, 450-450n, 455-458e; 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2004b (1988).

43Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, U.S. Stat. 85:688 et seq. The act was intended to resolve long-standing land claims by

Native groups. The act allowed Native Americans to retain ownership of about 44 million acres of land, and compensated them for lands previously taken or given up under terms of the act. Federal and state buyout funds were used to capitalize Native regional and village corporations.

44The U.S. Department of the Interior’s list of federally recognized tribes includes 220 tribes in Alaska. For Alaska, use of the term tribe is

somewhat misleading because of the inclusion of Alaska Native villages and regional organizations recognized as governing bodies, as well as

American Indian tribes indigenous to Alaska. On occasion, the OTA has used the term village because the vast majority of federally recognized

tribes in Alaska are actually Alaska Native villages. By the 1930s, the legal status of Alaska Natives had been generally equated to that of American Indians. See Felix S. Cohen, U.S. Department of the Interior, Handbook of Federal Indian Law (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing

Office, 1941, reprinted by William S. Hein Co., 1988), esp. pp. 404-406.
Chapter 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications Policy | 83

Top: The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes maintain a

modern tribal headquarters complex on the Flathead Indian

Reservation in Pablo, Montana. Bottom: Salish-Kootenai Tribal College building in the foreground; Mission Mountains in

the background. The college brings computers and telecommunications to students from this scenic reservation located

in northwestern Montana.

get more involved in distance learning, telemedicine, geographic information systems, and other

telecommunications-related activities, however,

tribes could seek self-determination in this area as

well. The principle of tribal self-determination

also could be extended to other federal agencies

that have major telecommunications responsibilities.

In sum, telecommunications could be included

within the basic framework of federal trust responsibility, tribal sovereignty, and tribal self-determination. The historical context and evolution

of federal Indian law and policy provide a strong

conceptual basis for doing so.

FEDERAL INDIAN POLICY

POTENTIALLY APPLICABLE TO

TELECOMMUNICATIONS*

There are no current presidential or agencywide

policies that specifically address Indian telecommunications. However, presidential and agency

policies do provide a framework that could be applied. Presidential policy applies to all federally

recognized tribes and Alaska Native villages;

some agency policies extend to Native Hawaiian

groups and state-recognized tribes as well.

■ Presidential Policies

On July 8, 1970, President Nixon issued a policy

that reaffirmed the unique status of Indian tribes

and the tribal-federal relationship based on “solemn obligations entered into by the United States

Government.” President Nixon stated that:46

We must assure the Indian that he can assume

control of his life without being separated involuntarily from the tribal group. And we must

make it clear that Indians can become independent of federal control without being cut off

from federal concern and support.

45 This section is based on research analysis prepared for OTA by Karen Funk and Sandra Ferguson, Esq., Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walkker, Washington, DC. 4 6President Richard Nixon, Statement to the Congress of the United States, The White HOuse, July 9, 1970.
84 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

President Nixon proposed legislation to allow

tribes to contract with federal agencies to administer programs, and to provide federal funding for

Indian educational programs directly to tribes to

administer. These initiatives resulted in the landmark Indian Self-Determination and Education

Assistance Act of 1975 noted earlier.

In 1983, President Reagan issued his Indian

policy statement, which declared:47

Our policy is to reaffirm dealing with Indian

tribes on a government-to-government basis and

to pursue the policy of self-government for Indian tribes without threatening termination. In

support of our policy, we shall continue to fulfill

the federal trust responsibility for the physical

and financial resources we hold in trust for the

tribes and their members.

In 1991, President Bush reaffirmed the Reagan

policy as the cornerstone of the Bush position on

Indian affairs, and stated that:48

This government-to-government relationship is the result of sovereign and independent

tribal governments being incorporated into the

fabric of our Nation, of Indian tribes becoming

what our courts have come to refer as quasi-sovereign domestic dependent nations. Over the

years this relationship has flourished, grown,

and evolved into a vibrant partnership in which

500 tribal governments stand shoulder to shoulder with other governmental units that form our

Republic.

In 1994, President Clinton articulated his Indian policy in a meeting with tribal leaders:49

Today I re-affirm our commitment to self-determination for tribal governments. Today I

pledge to fulfill the trust obligations of the federal government. Today I vote to honor and respect tribal sovereignty based upon our unique

historical relationship.

President Clinton also issued a memorandum

to the heads of all executive departments and

agencies directing them to: 1) ensure that each department or agency is operating in a manner consistent with government-to-government relationships with tribes, 2) consult with tribal

governments before taking action that will affect

Indian tribes, 3) evaluate departmental or agency

programs regarding impact on tribes, and 4) remove any procedural impediments to working directly and effectively with tribes on matters that

affect trust property or tribal government rights.50

Some federal departments and agencies have

issued Indian policy statements, but not those

agencies or agency units that have primary responsibility for telecommunications. Presidential

policy is, prima facie, applicable.

❚ Federal Agency Policies

Several federal agencies have issued formal Indian policy statements that could serve as examples for agencies with major telecommunications

responsibilities. Agency policy statements uniformly recognize the unique status of tribal governments and support tribal self-determination.

47President Ronald Reagan, Statement by the President on Indian Policy, The White House, Jan. 24, 1983.

48President George Bush, Indian Policy Statement, The White House, June 14, 1991.

49President Bill Clinton, Indian Policy Statement, The White House, Apr. 29, 1994.

50President Bill Clinton, “Government-to-Government Relations with Native American Tribal Governments,” Memorandum of Apr. 29,

1994, Federal Register, vol. 59, No. 85, May 4, 1994, pp. 22951-22952.
Chapter 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications Policy | 85

The Departments of the Interior, Energy, Agriculture, Commerce, and Justice, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have comprehensive formal policies on agency-tribal

relationships.51 Some other agencies have subject-specific policies, for example, the National

Park Service’s policy to protect and preserve

culturally-sensitive or sacred sites on Indian

lands.52

EPA’s policy is illustrative of a comprehensive

approach that could be applied to telecommunications. EPA issued its first guidance on Indian

policy in 1984.53 The initial policy recognized

tribal governments as sovereign entities with primary responsibility for setting and enforcing environmental standards on Indian reservations, and

the need for EPA to support tribal efforts to develop their own environmental regulatory programs.54 The policy also acknowledged federal

responsibility for environmental enforcement on

Indian lands in the absence of tribal programs.

EPA further refined and enhanced its Indian

policy in 1991 and 1994.55

The thrust of EPA’s policy is to strengthen the

ability of tribal governments to develop and administer environmental programs themselves and

to work as partners, to the extent necessary, with

state and federal environmental regulatory agencies. This approach would seem directly applicable to telecommunications.

Key elements of EPA’s approach to tribal relationships include:

1. Issuance of a clear policy that explicitly recognizes tribal sovereignty and commits the

agency to further the ability of tribal governments to exercise self-determination.

2. Agency advocacy for legislative and regulatory

changes that support the Indian policy.

After the 1984 EPA policy was issued, and with

EPA’s and tribal support, Congress enacted

amendments to treat tribes as states for certain

51See, U.S. Department of the Interior, Memorandum from Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to the Assistant Secretary for

Fish and Wildlife and Parks, “Indian Fish and Wildlife Policy,” June 23, 1994; U.S. Department of Energy, “American Indian Policy,” July/August 1994; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Departmental Regulation No. 1020-6, “Policies on American Indians and Alaska Natives,” Oct. 22,

1992; U.S. Department of Commerce, “American Indian and Alaska Native Policy of the U.S. Department of Commerce,” Mar. 30, 1995; U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, “Department of Justice Policy on Indian Sovereignty and Government-to-Government

Relations with Indian Tribes,” June 1, 1995; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Memorandum from Carol M. Browner, Administrator, to

all employees on “EPA Indian Policy,” Mar. 14, 1994.

52See the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amended in 1980 and 1992 regarding the role of Indian tribes. The act, as amended,

permits tribes, at their option, to assume any or all of the responsibilities normally carried out by state historic preservation officers, and to enter

into contracts or cooperative agreements to administer federal historic preservation responsibilities on Indian lands. A tribe must have an historic preservation plan approved by the Secretary of the Interior in order to assume these responsibilities.

53U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Memorandum from Alvin L. Alm, Deputy Administrator, “Indian Policy Implementation Guidance,” Nov. 8, 1984.

54Ibid.

55U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Memorandum from William K. Reilly, Administrator, “EPA/State/Tribal Relations,” July 10,

1991, and Memorandum from Carol W. Browner, op. cit., footnote 51.
86 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Top: View of Yellowstone National Park from the northeast;

Washburn Mountain Range in the distance. The National Park

Service has responsibility for protecting Native American

ceremonial, sacred, and burial sites on parklands. Bottom:

View of Yellowstone River looking southeast near Tower Junetion, Wyoming. The Shoshoni and Crow Indians once lived

and hunted in much of what is now northwestern Wyoming

and Yellowstone National Park.

purposes under the Safe Drinking Water Act;

the Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act (also known

as CERCLA or Superfund); the Clean Water

Act; and the Clean Air Act. 56 EPA streamlined

3.

4.

5.

the process by which tribes apply for funding

and technical assistance.

Provision of funding and technical assistance

to tribal governments.

EPA provides finding to tribes under general

EPA authority as well as specific statutes. The

Indian Environmental General Assistance Act

of 199257provides funding to tribes and tribal

consortia for the planning and development of

tribal environmental management capabilities.

The Indian Regulatory Enhancement Act of

199058authorizes the Administration for Native Americans (in the Department of Health

and Human Services) to provide grants to tribal

governments for the development of tribal environmental programs. EPA also provides a

wide range of informational and technical assistance to tribal governments.

Ongoing communications with tribal governments.

EPA has committed itself to listening and

learning about tribal environmental needs, providing environmental information and education for tribal officials and members, and involving tribal governments in EPA’s planning

and policymaking. EPA has established a Tribal Operations Committee comprised of tribal

representatives and EPA managers to help ensure tribal input on decisions that may affect

tribes. The Committee includes 18 tribal representatives and at least one EPA representative

from each EPA region that includes federally

recognized tribes.

Establishment of a central agency office on Indian affairs.

In response to a recommendation from its Tribal Operations Committee, EPA established, in

1994, a central office on tribal environmental

56 See Safe Drinking Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 300j-ll(a)(l) (1988); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9626 (1988); Clean Water Act 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1377 (1988); and Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7601(d) (1988). 5 7Public Law 102-497, 106 Stat. 3258 (1992).

58 Public Law 101-408, 104 Stat. 883 (1990).
Chapter 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications Policy I 87

affairs. The office oversees implementation of

presidential and agency Indian policies and carries out other informational and coordination

functions. It serves as a clearinghouse on tribal

environmental information and programs;

coordinates agencywide tribal training, education, and technical assistance programs; facilitates communications with tribes on agency

rulemaking, policymaking, and program implementation; and coordinates EPA’s tribal activities with those of other federal agencies.

In sum, the major elements of EPA’s tribal

policy and its implementation appear relevant and

potentially transferable to other federal agencies,

including those with major telecommunications

responsibilities.

FCC POLICIES ON MINORITIES59

The Federal Communications Commission, an

independent regulatory agency of the federal government, has the primary federal responsibility for

regulation of telecommunications. The FCC does

not have an Indian policy that explicitly recognizes and treats tribes as governmental entities. It

does, however, have a minority policy that, by extending certain preferences to individuals through

agency regulations, may incidentally benefit entities owned by tribes or by Indian and Alaska Native people.

■ FCC Broadcast Licensing

In 1978, the FCC adopted a policy to promote the

participation of minorities in the broadcast industry, largely through the provision of minority preferences in regulations governing licensing procedures for radio and television broadcast stations.60

In 1982, Congress codified the FCC’s minority

policy and directed the agency to establish rules

Top: Native American computer artwork displayed at the

Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Montana. Bottom:

Historical photos of Crow Indian chiefs. Computers and telecommunications can help reproduce and disseminate Indian

history to younger generations.

and procedures that give significant preference to

minority applicants for licenses or construction

permits. The intent was to increase the diversification of broadcasting ownership.61

The policy appears to have had little effect on

Native American broadcasting ownership. Na59 This section is based on research and analysis conducted for OTA by Karen Funk and Sandra Ferguson, Esq., Hobbs, Straus, Dean &

Walker, Washington, DC.

60 Federal Communications Commissimt, “Statement of Policy on Minority Ownership of Broadcasting Facilities,” 68 FCC 2d 979, 980, n.

8 (1978), and “Commission Policy Regarding Advancement of Minority Ownership in Broadcasting,” 92 FCC 2d 849,850 n. 1 (1982). 61 Communication Act Amendments of 1982,47 USC Sec. 309(i)(3)(A) (1982).
88 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

tionwide, there are an estimated eight Nativeowned low-power broadcast TV stations, and an

estimated 26 Native-owned broadcast radio stations. More broadly, the FCC minority ownership

policy is under scrutiny due to allegations of abuse

or unintended consequences of minority preferences, and as part of the government-wide review

of affirmative-action policies. Recently enacted

legislation repeals tax incentives for minorityowned communications companies.62

❚ FCC Spectrum Auction Policy

In 1994, the FCC’s spectrum auction policy extended preferences to minorities and certain other

disadvantaged individuals and entities. These

preferences are intended to assist minorities in

purchasing wireless telecommunications licenses

(known as Personal Communication Systems or

PCS) through the FCC’s competitive bidding

process.63 FCC rules provide preferences to socalled designated entities that include small businesses, rural telephone companies, and businesses

owned by minorities or women.64 The FCC auction of the PCS spectrum licenses reserved for

designated entities was challenged in the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, but

the complaint was withdrawn before the court

could review the constitutionality and legality of

the preferences provided to designated entities.

Tribally owned and operated companies seeking PCS licenses could qualify as small businesses and/or rural telephone companies as well,

if the tribal governments meet the financial qualifications.65 In this way, FCC policy can potentially benefit tribal governments that bid for PCS

spectrum. Also, because Native Americans are included within the definition of “minority,” tribally

owned and operated companies are eligible for

minority preferences (to the extent such preferences continue to be available).

❚ FCC Cellular Spectrum Lottery

The Federal Communications Commission’s

PCS spectrum auction policy reflected, in part, the

results of the cellular spectrum lottery. The FCC

and Congress determined that the free allocation

of spectrum through a lottery was inefficient,

failed to take advantage of competition, and resulted in a loss of significant potential revenue to

the federal government. Also, minority and small

businesses, including tribally owned businesses,

experienced various management and financial

difficulties, thus the justification for giving preferences to “designated entities” in the PCS policy.

At the time of the cellular lottery (November

1988), the Gila River Tribe of Arizona had negotiated to purchase US West’s telephone infrastructure serving the reservation. Gila River Telecommunications, Inc. (GRTI), a tribally owned

telephone company, sought a cellular license and,

as the only provider serving the reservation,

would have been the likely licensee. However,

GRTI was not yet operating. To qualify for participation in the lottery, GRTI installed telephone service to two residences on the reservation. Although GRTI was selected as the tentative

62H.R. 831, Public Law 104-7, Apr. 11, 1995. See Angele A. Gilroy, The Viacom Transaction and Beyond: The Federal Communications

Commission Tax Certificate Program, 95-319 SPR (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, Mar. 2, 1995); and Jack Taylor, “Health

Insurance for the Self-Employed: Restoration of the Deduction and Related Revenue-Raisers,” Congressional Research Service, Issue Brief

IB95032, Apr. 18, 1995.

63The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1993 added Sec. 309(j) to the Communications Act of 1934, which gave the FCC authority to use

competitive bidding procedures to auction PCS frequency spectrum.

64“Designated entities” are allowed to bid in a separate spectrum auction established especially for disadvantaged groups. FCC rules also

provide the following to designated entities: bidding credits; installment payment options; and tax and investment benefits.

65FCC rules exclude tribal assets and gross revenues, except for gaming revenues, in determining eligibility of tribally affiliated companies

for “designated entity” status.
Chapter 4 Native American Sovereignty and Telecommunications Policy | 89

licensee, other telephone companies (including

US West) challenged the selection on the grounds

that GRTI was not art operating telephone company. The FCC encouraged a negotiated settlement.

. The final agreement gave US West a minority

partnership in the cellular license in return for financing the construction.66

The Fort Mojave Tribe of Arizona also participated in the cellular lottery and was selected as the

tentative licensee for the reservation service area.

A private telephone company challenged the result, and asked the FCC to deny Fort Mojave’s application. At the time, the Fort Mojave Tribe was

planning to set up a phone company, but did not

yet own or operate a company. The tribe argued

that the FCC eligibility rules were either not applicable or should be waived on the basis of tribal

sovereignty and federal laws and policy that encourage tribal self-determination. The FCC ruled

against the tribe, denying the request for a waiver

and asserting that federal Indian policy was not

determinative. 67

The Seminole Tribe of Florida tried a different

strategy. The tribe had never owned or operated a

telephone company and had not sought to purchase telephone infrastructure from the two nontribally owned phone companies serving the reservation. The tribe decided to attempt to

participate in the cellular lottery based on a claim

of tribal jurisdiction over the reservation service

area. At that point in time, the FCC had not yet

ruled in the Fort Mojave case, and the FCC’s

views on this general topic were unknown. The local telephone companies were willing to negotiate. The FCC did not have to rule on the Seminole

case because the tribe was able to negotiate minority partnerships in the cellular licenses of both established phone companies.68

66 The Gila River discussion is based on a site visit and meeting between the OTA contractor, Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, and GRTI

representatives.

Top: State route 23 highway bridge crossing Lake Sakakawea on Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, North Dakota. View

looking east from the Four Bears Casino and tribal administration complex. Bottom: Fort Berthold tribal administration

building. The Three Affiliated Tribes (Arikara, Hidatsa, and

Mandan) are using casino revenues to help make infrastructure improvements on the reservation-including computer

and telecommunications upgrades.

■ Fundamental Question

FCC policies have not, to date, worked very well

or consistently for tribal governments. The fundamental question for Native Americans, however,

is not how well the FCC policy is working, but

6 7The Fort Mojave discussion is based on an OTA contractor (Hobbs, Straus et al.) meeting with David Irwin, Esq., the attomey who handled

the Fort Mojave case before the FCC. The tribe subsequently was successful in organizing and operating a tribal telephone company. 68 The seminole discussion is based on an OTA contractor (Hobbs, Straus, et al.) telephone interview with the tribal attorney.
90 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

whether the current policy is the appropriate FCC

policy framework for tribal telecommunications.

As far as OTA can determine, the FCC has not

applied the major principles of Indian law—federal trust responsibility, sovereignty, and self-determination—to federal telecommunications policy.

Nor has the FCC applied federal Indian policy

as enunciated by every President from Nixon

through Clinton and by several other federal

agencies. The Clinton policy requires all federal

agencies, not just those with major tribal responsibilities, to: 1) deal with tribes on a government-togovernment basis; 2) carefully consider the implications of proposed actions for tribes; and 3)

provide tribes with the opportunity to participate

in agency activities.69

Telecommunications can arguably be viewed,

in the late 20th century, as an important resource

for tribes and Native Americans generally, just as

it is for many other segments of American society.

Telecommunications, and especially the electromagnetic frequency spectrum, could be viewed as

another natural resource along with land, forests,

water, and the like. Native American telecommunications policy is in its most formative stages. A

fundamental question is the extent of tribal authority over telecommunications—both on the

ground (e.g., physical infrastructure) and in the air

over tribal lands (e.g., frequency spectrum). Indian advocates believe that this authority is reserved for the tribes, as sovereign governments,

and should be so recognized by the federal government. If the federal government wishes to assume this authority, advocates believe, then it

should do so explicitly with the understanding

that telecommunications would become part of

the federal trust responsibility—in this sense,

viewed no differently than lands and other natural

resources ceded by tribes to the U.S. government

over the last 200 years in return for monetary and

other compensation. This compensation could be

in the form of telecommunications infrastructure

and services over which, according to the principle of self-determination, tribes would have significant control. The reality is that the current federal and state telecommunications policy regime

has developed in the absence of tribal telecommunications policy and therefore has, unintentionally, eroded and limited the sovereignty of tribes in

this area.

Native American telecommunications activists

believe strongly that tribes must find their own

role in telecommunications. In the words of James

A. Casey, Indian telecommunications attorney:70

The applications of federal Indian law to the

telecommunications regulatory regime must be

two-sided. The tribes must lead the way. The

federal government will not be able to force the

tribes into this area if they do not want to go, and

the tribes that want to go will have their own

ideas about the meaning of the word “sovereignty.” Somewhere, the two sides will have to meet.

The main federal focus should not be, at this

time, to define the tribal role, but to encourage

tribes to play a role. While this approach is ad

hoc, it is the only approach that will insure that

the issues are dealt with adequately. Federal

telecommunications policy and regulation has

developed continuously since 1934. Indian telecommunications policy cannot be written overnight; it must evolve.

69President Clinton, Memorandum, op. cit., footnote 50.

70Casey, op. cit., footnote 1.
Policy Framework

for Native American

Telecommunications

he federal government does not have an overall policy

framework or strategy for Native American telecommunications. Continuation of the policy status quo is likely to

compromise the ability of Native Americans to realize the

potential of telecommunications to enhance Native cultures,

communities, and self-governance. The most highly leveraged

options include those that strengthen telecommunications expertise and planning at both the tribal/village/community and intertribal/national levels. Also, the high cost of rural telecommunications, combined with the weak economies in many rural Native

areas, means that coordinated, integrated approaches to telecommunications infrastructure development are essential. This includes options to aggregate both supply and demand in order to

bring costs down and achieve economies of scale and scope. On

the demand side, community communication centers and networks warrant serious consideration. On the supply side, encouraging the formation of Native-owned and -operated telecommunications companies; an upgrade of service by, and/or partnerships with, existing private telecommunications companies; and

shared use of federal telecommunications systems can help.

Telecommunications could be specifically addressed in proposals to: 1) consolidate federal programs such as block grants to

the states and tribes; 2) reorganize federal agencies serving Native

Americans; and 3) implement electronic delivery of services to

and by Native governments and individual Native Americans. Information about federal telecommunications programs and activities could be shared and accessed electronically by Native leaders, activists, planners, and technology experts via the Internet

and other computer networks. This could help Native groups | 91
92 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

become more active participants in developing

policies on telecommunications, universal access,

privacy, intellectual and cultural property rights,

and other issues of concern to many Americans,

including Native Americans. Future applications

and policymaking would benefit from significant,

continuing research and program evaluation on

many of the topics discussed in this report—the

first by the federal government on Native American telecommunications.

The federal agencies with major responsibility

for telecommunications policy, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), have not applied Indian law

to telecommunications policy. The federal agencies with lead responsibility for Native programs,

such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Indian

Health Service (IHS), and Administration for Native Americans (ANA), do not have a Native

American telecommunications policy. These

agencies do support some noteworthy telecommunications projects that benefit Native Americans.

A Native American telecommunications

policy framework could, for example, affirm that

telecommunications is essential to ensuring Native well-being and survival, and could include

telecommunications infrastructure as part of a

modern “information age” interpretation of the

federal responsibility for Native well-being. The

policy could afford flexibility to individual tribes,

villages, and communities, recognizing that they

will have differing levels of interest and capability

in assuming telecommunications responsibilities.

The policy could encourage Native governments

and service providers that wish to assume selfdirection and control of telecommunications in

Native areas to do so. Agency-specific policies

could address a wide range of programs that affect

the viability of tribal/village/community telecommunications activities and enterprises. These programs include, for example: 1) Rural Utilities Service loans; 2) universal service funds; 3) FCC

frequency spectrum allocations; 4) NTIA grants;

5) BIA educational technology and geographic information systems support; and 6) IHS telemedicine and health information systems support. The

policy could establish new mechanisms for interagency, tribal-federal, and tribal-state collaboration and coordination. For example, the joint federal-state board on the universal service fund

could be expanded to include tribal representation. Key policy elements could be included in

statutory guidance, such as amendments to existing Native American and telecommunications

laws, or a separate “Native American Telecommunications Act” or the equivalent.

NEED FOR A POLICY FRAMEWORK

A threshold policy question in any Office of

Technology Assessment (OTA) study is whether

policy actions beyond continuation of the status

quo (usually not entirely static, however) warrant

serious consideration.

For this study, the answer seems straightforward. Native American telecommunications

policy and activities are clearly lagging behind

both: 1) other areas of Native American policy

(e.g., self-governance, education, social services,

and health care); and 2) the telecommunications

policy development and initiatives in the majority

society. Native American telecommunications activities are increasing, and likely will continue to

do so absent any special policy interventions. But

the rate of change in the majority society has itself

accelerated markedly in recent years, due in part to

the current Administration’s reinventing government and national information infrastructure ini-
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 93

tiatives, and more generally to the continuing

transition of the United States into a post-industrial information economy and society.1

Absent policy interventions, it is unlikely that

- Native Americans will catch up with the majority

society with respect to telecommunications, and

they may fall further behind. This assumes even

greater importance, given the potential benefits of

telecommunications that may be deferred, diminished, or foregone under the policy status quo.

Even if the more optimistic visions of Native

American telecommunications are not realized,

achieving just an “average” result is likely to be

highly leveraged because Native American telecommunications policy is very incomplete and

underdeveloped. Neither the federal government

nor the national tribal and Native American leadership has an overall policy strategy or framework

for Native American telecommunications.

Native Americans, as a group, are under considerable stress. They have significantly higher

rates of unemployment, poverty, high school

dropouts, alcoholism, cirrhosis, and suicide

compared with national averages. The BIA estimates that unemployment on or near reservations

averages about 50 percent (double the 1990 U.S.

Census estimate of 25.7 percent using a narrower

definition of unemployment).2 Unemployment

on some reservations is as high as 70 to 80 percent.

American Indian and Alaska Native high school

graduation rates are about 10 percent below the

national averages, and college graduation rates are

Top: Oahu, an island of contrasts. The majority of the island's

population live in Honolulu, the state capitol of Hawaii, shown

here looking southeast toward Diamond Head and the Pacific

Ocean beyond. Bottom: Wide expanses of beaches and

mountains reaching the sea are typical of rural Oahu and the

neighbor islands where many Native Hawaiians live. View

from Makapuu Beach looking northwest toward Waimanalo

Bay, Kaiwa Ridge, and Ulupau Crater beyond.

1 See Vice President Gore, Creating a Government That Works Better & Costs Less: Report of the National Performance Review (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Offlce, Sept. 7, 1993); Information Infrastructure Task Force, “The National Information Infrastructure:

Agenda for Action,’’ National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Washington, DC, Sept. 15, 1993, and “National Information Infrastructure: Progress Report 1993 -1994,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Washington, DC, Sept. 13,

1994; Emilio Gonzalez, Connecting the Nation: Classrooms, Libraries, and Health Care Organizations in the Information Age (Washington.

DC: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, June 1995); and U.S. Congress, Office of

Technology Assessment, Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services, OTA-TCT-578 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1993). 2 See Indian and Native American Employment and Planning Coalition, “Will the Real Unemployment Rate in Indian Country Please Stand

Up,’’ Mar. 1, 1993, and “The Indian Labor Force: A Portrait in Numbers” May 1993. Also see George Russell, American Indian Digest: Facts

About Today’s American Indians, 1995 Edition (Phoenix, AZ: Thunderbird Enterprises, Inc., 1994).
94 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

about half the national averages.3 The IHS reports

that American Indians and Alaska Natives experience mortality rates considerably above the rates

for the entire U.S. population—tuberculosis (520

percent higher than average), alcoholism (433

percent higher), diabetes mellitus (188 percent

higher), accidents (166 percent higher), homicide

(71 percent higher), and suicide (54 percent higher).4 The health conditions of Native Hawaiians

are, likewise, considerably worse than those of the

general population. This situation is attributed, in

part, to serious erosion of Native culture, family

and community traditions, and diet and exercise

patterns over the last century.

Native leaders and advocacy groups are increasingly addressing the well-being of their

people from a systemwide perspective that takes

into account how culture, family, community, lifestyle, and workstyle are interconnected. Within

this community framework, telecommunications

can be an important facilitator and, in some cases,

a necessary—although not by itself sufficient—

prerequisite for improving the well-being of Native Americans.5

Native Americans who research or experiment

with telecommunication technologies stress that

they must be developed and deployed in ways that

enhance Native culture and values.6 Native Americans historically have struggled to preserve and

defend their cultures within the dominant, majority society. In recent decades, the advent of

electronic communications—especially TV, film,

videos, and popular music—and the new electronic media of computers, software, and satellites

present a formidable challenge. Because Native

culture has been eroded in the past by the mass media, some Native American leaders are understandably cautious or even resistant to adopting

new telecommunication technologies without

first gaining confidence that technology applications will be sensitive to and strengthen Native

culture. The new media could, indeed, have adverse impacts on Native culture unless Native

Americans have a central role in understanding

and guiding their use and in developing programming and informational materials.7

Telecommunications can play a multifaceted

role in improving the overall well-being of Native

communities. In the absence of policy interventions, however, much of this potential is likely to

be lost or indefinitely deferred. And the opportunity for Native Americans to take control of their

telecommunications destiny may be seriously

compromised.

If these opportunities are to be realized and the

risks minimized, an overall policy framework or

strategy—a package of initiatives and options—

on Native American telecommunications is needed. No single policy option will address all Native

American telecommunication needs. Many options could be implemented or influenced in a variety of ways—not necessarily by any one person

(or group), organization, or institution.

3Ibid.

4Indian Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Trends in Indian Health—1993 (Rockville, MD: Indian Health

Service, 1993). Also see U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Indian Health Care, OTA-H-290 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, April 1986), and Indian Adolescent Mental Health, OTA-H-446 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January 1990).

5For detailed discussion, see chapter 3.

6See chapter 2.

7See, e.g., George D. Baldwin, “American Indian Identity and Tribal Sovereignty in Cyberspace,” paper prepared for the Workshop on

Legal, Ethical, and Technological Aspects of Computer Network Use and Abuse,” American Association for the Advancement of Science, Oct.

7-9, 1994; Randy Ross, “Tribal Rights and Cultural Identity in Cyberspace,” ArtPaper, vol. 12, No. 10, June 1993, p. 10; and George D. Baldwin, “Networking the Nations: Information Policy and the Emerging Network Marketplace,” Journal of Navajo Education, vol. 9, No. 2, winter

1992, pp. 47-53.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications

Top: Many Indian tribes of the Great Plains depended on

buffalo for food and clothing; white settlers and loss of natural

habitat reduced the buffalo herds to a few surviving in protected areas, such as the Theodore Roosevelt National Park

in North Dakota, shown here. Bottom: Buffalo grazing along

the side of a scenic drive near Squaw Creek Campground,

Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Among the many actors in Native American

telecommunications are:

■ tribal, village, and community leaders and governments,

= grassroots Native American advocates and service providers,

I 95

■

■

■

■

■

■

a

national Native American professional and advocacy organizations,

individual Native American telecommunications specialists and activists,

federal and state government agencies,

private sector profit and nonprofit organizations with an interest in Native Americans,

communication and computer companies, and

the U.S. Congress.

OTA has identified eight major components to

comprehensive policy framework on Native

American telecommunications. Each component

includes several policy options. The first four

policy components emphasize a lead role for Native groups and governments-the empowerment

of Native Americans in telecommunications—

with the federal government in a supportive role.

The second four policy components 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 govern

ment role, but with extensive Native American

participation to ensure that Native values and perspectives we understood and reflected in policy

actions.

EMPOWERING NATIVE AMERICAN

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Tribal/village/community, federal agency, and

congressional actions could focus on implementing these four essential components of an overall

Native American telecommunications policy

framework.

■ Grassroots Tribal/Village/Community

Empowerment

At the grassroots level, one key is developing local sources of telecommunications expertise and

tribal/village/community telecommunications

plans and visions. Native American communities

are struggling to regain control over their lives and

destinies. Telecommunications technology has

the potential to accelerate and strengthen the drive

for Native empowerment; if rooted in local expertise and control, it also can help reverse the histori-
96 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Top: Learning Resource Center at the Kauai Community College, located on the outskirts of Lihue, Kauai Island, Hawaii,

and the focal point for educational technology on campus.

Bottom: Kauai and other community colleges of the University of Hawaii system bring videoconferencing and distance

learning to many Native Hawaiian students.

8 For further discussion, see chapter 3.

cal tendency of Native Americans to be subordinated to technologies and governing processes

developed and controlled by the majority society.

The role of these technologies in empowering

Native Americans will be enhanced if Native

communities develop their own technological understanding, expertise, and leadership. Telecommunication technologies offer many opportunities for use in Native governance and service

delivery, and in the administration of the various

governmental functions (e.g., health, education,

human and social services, transportation, resource and environmental management, economic development, and public safety) being assumed

by many Native communities.8

Native communities would benefit from having their own sources of telecommunications expertise. Current or potential local sources of expertise include: 1) tribal and community colleges

(many are already using microcomputers and distance learning to some degree); 2) tribal/village/

community governments (most make some use of

computers for administrative and financial purposes, while a few are implementing more advanced applications);9 3) K-12 and health care

staff familiar with telecommunications (e.g., for

distance learning or telemedicine); 4) community

training centers (where telecommunications and

computer skills are taught or used); 5) local computer enthusiasts and entrepreneurs (a still small

but growing group of Native activists using the Internet and other computer networks); and 6) telephone, cable, and computer companies and radio/

TV stations serving Native communities.

Native government and educational leaders

could develop strategies to increase local expertise, and seek out the necessary financial resources

(new or reprogrammed funds from both public

and private sources). Native government leaders

9 Surveys conducted for the National Indian Policy Center, The George Washington University, indicate that the majority Of tribes have

computers to carry out administrative functions, but only about 10 percentrept having access to the Internet (l 8 tribes out of 143 responded as

of April 1995). Also see testimony of Bambi Kraus, Assistant Director, National Indian Policy Center, in U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on

Indian Affairs, Oversight Hearing To Examine the Feasibility of Creating a Permanent Indian Research Center, S.Hrg. 103-61 (Washington,

DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 20, 1993), pp. 16-19.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 97

and local activists may wish to create a telecommunications coordinating committee or task force

to provide additional impetus and focus.10 These

committees could include representatives from

education, government, health care, information

technology entrepreneurs, telecommunications

providers, and others with relevant expertise and

interest.

An important part of empowerment is effective

local planning. Only a few Native reservations,

villages, and communities have a telecommunications strategy or vision; most have, at best, some

fragmented planning activities but no coherent

picture or understanding of what telecommunications can do to further their well-being. Native

education and health care are the two areas where

Native communities are more likely to have initiated some degree of serious telecommunications

coordination and planning, reflecting in part national program initiatives in distance learning and

telemedicine.11

No single technology fix exists for meeting Native American needs. The greatest leverage is likely to result from a range of telecommunication

technologies working in concert as part of tribal/

village/community plans. Computer networking,

satellite videoconferencing, computers and software, electronic imaging and production, telephone, telefacsimile, digital switching, broadcast

radio and TV, cable TV, and cellular or wireless

telephone are among the technologies likely to

play significant but different roles.

Finding the exact mix of technologies will be a

challenge and will depend on the geography, demography, and economy of each community; the

types of applications and users; and the development of the telecommunications infrastructure in

areas where Native Americans live and work.

Most Native reservations, villages, and communities would benefit from developing a plan or

vision of how telecommunications could best

meet their cultural, educational, health, economic

development, and other needs. (See box 5-1 on the

Navajo Nation Telecommunications Initiative.)

Even if rudimentary, a plan could provide some

sense of direction and cohesiveness to local efforts

at deploying and using these technologies. Also, a

plan could provide local leaders with a framework

for understanding and gauging government proposals and private sector projects that may be

forthcoming. With an organized strategy, Native

communities could be more proactive in the telecommunications arena with regard to both federal

agencies and private vendors. The support of tribal, village, and community leaders is essential to

success.

Native leaders could begin by considering the

visions of grassroots telecommunications activists—those from the local Native community

and elsewhere. Native communities could draw

on and adapt—to the extent appropriate—the

prior experience of numerous cities, towns, and

states in developing telecommunication plans and

community networks.12 The national Native

American leadership may wish to sponsor or develop sources of planning assistance for local Native communities, including workshops and conferences on Native telecommunications infra10The Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, in Agency Village, South Dakota, for example, has established a Telecommunications Committee to

develop a strategy for cooperative telecommunications infrastructure development and related training and technical support. Participants include the tribal government, tribal college, Indian Health Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and representatives of tribal housing, planning,

education, economic development, gaming, and natural resource activities. See Oct. 17, 1994, letter from Arnold R. Ryan, Tribal Chairman,

Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, to Donald Bad Moccasin, IHS Area Director, Aberdeen, South Dakota, and “Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe

Telecommunications Project,” planning paper, n.d.

11See, e.g., James S. Logan and David G. Swartz, Aberdeen Area Indian Health Service: Telemedicine Assessment Final Report (Oklahoma

City, OK: Logan & Associates, Inc., Mar. 30, 1995). Also see Gonzalez, Connecting the Nation, op. cit., footnote 1, and W. Curtiss Priest, “CostEffective Networking of Schools and Homes,” vision paper, Center for Information, Technology, and Society, Melrose, MA, July 7, 1995, available by e-mail from bmslib@mitvma.mit.edu.

12See OTA, Making Government Work, op. cit., footnote 1.
98 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

As policies for the nation’s "information superhighway” and telecommunications reform efforts are

debated on Capitol Hill, the country is proceeding with a variety of public-private sector partnerships

and cost-sharing arrangements. Native Americans are also searching for opportunities to participate.

Native American organizations and federal agencies such as the American Indian Higher Education

Consortium (AIHEC), the American Indian Science and Education Society (AISES), the Bureau of Indian

Affairs (BIA), and the Indian Health Service (IHS) have pilot projects in distance learning, telemedicine,

electronic mail, and online database services. Partnerships among governments, schools, hospitals,

libraries, and the private sector will likely be necessary to further develop and diffuse successful applications and to cost-share the infrastructure. The Navajo Nation Telecommunications Initiative is such

a partnership.

The Navajo Nation’s Information Technology Office in the Office of the President/Vice President is

attempting to integrate and facilitate all the disparate projects currently under way under the umbrella of

a comprehensive Technology and Information Resource Plan While several Navajo leaders, with the

backing of President Albert Hale, are championing the projects, state and federal agencies are providing technical assistance and/or seed money; and a cadre of volunteers is contributing consulting services pro bono. The private sector will be selling or donating hardware and services Participants include:

■

■

■

from the federal government, Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratory; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Bureau of Indian Affairs,

Indian Health Service, Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; and Electronic

Pathways All lance, funded by the National Science Foundation.

from health and education, Navajo Community College; Crownpoint Institute of Technology; Crown point

Public Schools, Navajo Nation Library System; Office of New Mexico State Senator Leonard Tsosie, New

Mexico State Library, University of New Mexico’s Medical School and Native American Studies program,

Northern Arizona University (NAU); and Tucson’s Mayo Clinic West.

from the private sector, Navajo Communications Co.; New Mexico Technet in Albuquerque; Motorola,

and long-distance carriers.

(continued)

structure development. Current or reprogrammed National Native American organizations are

federal funds, as well as private sector funds (e.g.,

foundation grants), may be available for these purposes.

❚ National Native Leadership

To complement a grassroots emphasis, another

key is strengthening Native American leadership

on telecommunications at the national level. A

handful of Native American researchers and activists recently have begun a dialog on strategies for

Native American telecommunications. The number of Native American meetings, conferences, articles, and pilot projects with a telecommunications theme is increasing, but is still minimal.

beginning to focus on telecommunications, but

still lag their non-Native counterparts. Specialized groups are more active. The American Indian

Higher Education Consortium, for example, is

taking a lead role on distance education for tribal

colleges. The Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium and the Indigenous Communications Association are providing leadership on

strengthening the Native radio network. Pacific

Islanders in Communications, the Indigenous

Communications Association, the Intertribal

Geographic Information Systems Council, and

other grassroots and professional groups are helping raise awareness in Native communities about
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications 199

Many projects, such as the Crownpoint Pilot Project, will provide agencies with Internet access

through modems, dedicated data Iines, fiberoptic trunk lines, and wireless links for canyon and desert

areas. Another project is NAU’s distance-learning project that uses microwave links to deliver courses

from NAU to the reservation. Also, NASA and the community colleges are working together to develop

curricula to train fiberoptic cable installers and network managers. The Information Technology Off Ice IS

responsible for integrating these efforts and facilitating working partnerships, which includes the creation of an external advisory committee composed of individuals from the national labs, industry, and

academia. The office recently started to develop a human resource program.

The long-term goal for the Navajo Nation is to develop telecommunications Infrastructure for all

133,000 reservation Navajos in an area covering 25,000 square miles in New Mexico, Arizona, and

Utah. Navajo elders and leaders anticipate benefits in health care, education, social services, tribal

government, environmental protection, and economic development. Moreover, online applications in the

Navajo language will help strengthen the language. Perhaps the greatest benefit will be to stem the tide

of Navajo who leave the reservation for education and employment. As expressed by New Mexico Senator Leonard Tsosie, a Navajo, “Many hope that providing the reservation with the latest (telecommunications) technology will bring more Navajo youth back home.”1

SOURCE Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, with information from John Billison, information Technology Office, Navajo Nation;

Teresa Hopkins, Agency Network Project, Navajo Nation, Tommy Lewis, President, Navajo Community College, William Bostwick,

Staff, Computer Information and Communications Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Gary Coulter, Special Assistant for

Education and Outreach, NASA (on leave from Colorado State University), Jake Jacobson, Manager, Advanced Communications

Lab, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Steve Grey, Director, American Indian Program, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, personal communications, February-April 1995

1Crownpoint Community Network project home page, press release (Reuter), Albuquerque, NM, Sept 26, 1994

the telecommunications revolution. And Ameri- olution to establish a standing committee on “tele

cans for Indian Opportunity and the American in

dian Science and Engineering Society have focused attention on the larger opportunities and

challenges of telecommunications.

The major umbrella organizations, however,

notably the National Congress of American in

dians (NCAI) and Alaska Federation of Natives

(AFN), are just beginning to organize around this

topic. The NCAI held a conference session on

tribal telecommunications, 13 and has passed a rescommunications access and ownership issues for

tribal Nations.”14 These organizations could not

only set up formal committees, but also develop

strategies on telecommunications policy (or the

national information infrastructure or a similar focus), such has been done over the last several years

by the National Conference of State Legislatures,

the Council of State Governments, and similar

non-Native organizations.15 Such committees

typically help organize conference sessions, pre13"Where the Red Road Meets the Information Highway,” National Congress of American Indians Annual Conference, Denver, CO, NOV.

16, 1994.

14National Congress of American Indians, Resolution #94-DEN-EF-lCH-124, “Communication Based Delivery of Health Care, Education, and Economic Development for American Indians,” Denver, CO, NOV. 13-18, 1994.

15See OTA, Making Government Work, op. cit., footnote 1.
100 Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

in 1978, the American Indian Telecommunications Satellite Demonstration Project Iinked the Crow

Indian Reservation in Montana and the All-lndian Pueblo Council, Inc., in New Mexico with federal officials in Washington, DC. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provided technical consultative services, facilities, and satellite time, and Indian tribes planned and conducted the program,.Nontribal participants Included the Congress; White House; Departments of Interior (including

the Bureau of Indian Affairs), Agriculture, and Health, Education, and Welfare; Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, California State University, Long Beach, CA; and the Office of the Governor of Montana.

A NASA report concluded that the three-day project successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of providing two-way Interactive television with the TV signals transmitted by satellite.1 Moreover,

the report concluded that videoconferencing strengthened the tribal, federal, and congressional processes and opened up the Iegislative process.2 Participants recognized that both tribal and federal government support, and tribal needs analysis, would be needed before a long-term project could be implemented, Many tribal participants, including the host tribes, came together a year later to form the

First Americans Commission for Telecommunications (FACT).

FACT, incorporated in May 1979, represents the first concerted effort on the part of native American

tribes and Individual activists ‘(to employ communications systems, including satellite telecommunications, to more effectively convey and share policy, program, and technical Information between 1 ) Native peoples and the federal government; 2) Individuals and groups of Native people, and 3) native

peoples and educational institutions.”3

in a special White House briefing to the Domestic Council,4

June 1979, FACT outlined the potential of satellite communications in rural native areas. Telecommunications technologies have since expanded to include direct broadcast TV, computer networking,

land-line videoconferencing, and within a few years, perhaps, wireless personal communications devices utilizing Iow-earth-orbiting satellites. But the impetus for telecommunications, after 16 years, has

not changed significantly. And, although FACT is now defunct, its objectives are alive, with new technologies and a new generation of activists.

SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, with information from materials provided by Jerry C Elliott, High Eagle, Assistant

Chief Technologist, Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office, Lyndon B Johnson Space Center, National Aeronautics and

Space Administration, Houston, TX

1 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, American Indian Telecommunications Satellite Demonstration Project, Summary Report (Houston, TX: Lyndon B Johnson Space Center, May 1979)

2Another NASA-supported project at about the same time specifically Investigated the role that satellite videoconferencing might

play in improving the dialog between Congress and the public Fred B Wood, Vary T Coates, Robert L Chartrand, and Richard F

Ericson, Videoconferencing Via Satellte: Opening Congress to the Peep/e, Summary Report (Washington, DC The George Washington University, February 1978)

3 Constitution and Bylaws of the First Americans Commission for Telecommunications, Inc., Jan. 10, 1979.

4

The First Americans Commission for Telecommunications, Inc., Proposal for Satellite Telecommunications, submitted to The

White House Domestic Council, June 1979

pare policy and planning papers, develop relation- ple, box 5-2), but the technology and timing seem

ships with universities and think tanks, seek proj- more favorable now.

ect grants, and testify before legislative bodies. Universities that provide leadership education

Native groups could establish an umbrella intertri- to Native Americans could include a component

bal telecommunications organization. Prior ef- on telecommunications. Some major universities

forts to do so were not successful (see, for exam- with American Indian academic or research pro-
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 101

grams, such as Harvard, Cornell, Washington

State, and George Washington Universities, also

have telecommunications expertise located elsewhere around campus. The same applies for the

Universities of Alaska and Hawaii (and their

associated community colleges), which provide

educational and leadership services to Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, respectively. Leadership programs, such as the National Executive

Education Program for Native American Leadership administered by Northern Arizona and Harvard Universities, could do likewise. Other universities that serve large Native populations, such

as Oklahoma State, Arizona State, New Mexico,

Northern Montana, and Oregon State, could develop Native American telecommunications programs.16 Also, some community service organizations could provide leadership and technology training at the grassroots level for current and

aspiring leaders. Native organizations could partner with the private sector, as well as educators, in

developing telecommunications technical assistance centers in Native areas. Various other regional and specialized Native groups also could participate.17

❚ Integrated Infrastructure Development

Tribal, village, and community cost-sharing is essential to develop telecommunications infrastructure. Most Native communities do not have the

market and financial resources to develop multiple, independent, uncoordinated telecommunications infrastructures. Infrastructure is defined here

to include the necessary training and technical

support, as well as hardware and software (e.g.,

computers, printers, networks, switches, video

equipment, and satellite earth stations). Funds and

expertise for building an adequate infrastructure

are in short supply. In rural Native areas, the cost

of telecommunications infrastructure can be several times national or metropolitan area averages

due to fragmented supply and demand and multiple service areas, in addition to the inherently

higher costs of reaching remote, dispersed users.18

The large unmet need for basic educational, social, and health services in Native communities,

coupled with the continuing constraints on the

overall federal budget, means that federal funding

for Native American telecommunications infrastructure is likely to be less than desired or needed.

This bleak fiscal outlook increases the need to

maximize the use of available funds.

Telecommunications infrastructure is more

costly to deploy in many Native communities because of their remote, isolated locations combined

with weak local economies. One effective strategy

is to aggregate the local telecommunications market through close cooperation among schools,

health clinics, family and community service centers, tribal or local governments, and businesses

located on or near Native reservations, villages, or

communities.19 These groups may be unable to

afford new technologies when acting individually,

16For an overview of American Indian higher education programs, see American Indian Science & Engineering Society, Annual College

Guide for American Indians (Boulder, CO: AISES Publishing, Inc., 1994).

17Other groups include, e.g., the National Indian Youth Council, Association of American Indian Physicians, Native American Journalists

Association, Native American Bar Association, First Nations Development Institute, Native American Rights Fund, and various regional intertribal councils. See National Indian Policy Center, “Tribal Representation in Washington, DC: Its Past and Future Role in Executive Branch and

Congressional Policy-Making,” The George Washington University, Washington, DC, November 1993.

18Frank H. Tyro, Director, Media and Teleproductions, Salish Kootenai College, Flathead Indian Reservation, Pablo, MT, personal communication, May 3, 1995; and Marvin P. Mitchell, Head, Audiovisual/Video Communications, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, personal communication, May 2, 1995.

19See chapter 3. On community computer networking, see, e.g., Frank Odasz, “Community Economic Development Networks: A Grassroots Leadership Challenge,” Internet Research, vol. 4. No. 1, spring 1994, pp. 2-6; and The Morino Institute, “Assessment and Evolution of

Community Networking,” paper presented by Mario Morino at the Apple Conference on Building Community Computing Networks, Cupertino,

CA, May 5, 1994. Also see Gonzalez, Connecting the Nation, op. cit., footnote 1, and Priest, “Cost-Effective Networking,” op. cit., footnote 11.
102 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Top: The Oneida Nation is implementing an advanced telecommunications network to meet a range of tribal needs for

members living on the reservation near Oneida, New York.

Bottom: The Oneida network includes a fiberoptic backbone

linking tribal administrative, cultural, law enforcement, housing, and community service facilities.

but when acting collectively they may be able to

pool resources and justify the investment. Also,

the aggregated market may be sufficient in some

cases to attract outside investments or enhanced

offerings from telecommunications service providers (e.g., telephone, cable, and computer companies), or even help to justify the establishment

of Native-owned and -operated telecommunication and computer companies. Market aggregation also could apply regionally and nationally, as

the American Indian Radio on Satellite project is

doing for the production and distribution of Native American radio programming.

Both the recipients of federal funds (in this

case, Native tribes, villages, and communities)

and the funding agencies would benefit by carefully examining proposed telecommunications

investments to increase the chances that technologies and systems are compatible, complementary,

user-friendly, and cost-effective. This review

could extend to expenditures for relevant federal

agency telecommunications systems because

many of these connect with field offices located in

or near Native communities. An integrated approach should help minimize overlap and duplication, and maximize both the leverage of the infrastructure investment and the return on taxpayer

dollars.

Pilot projects provide an important opportunity

to assess the potential benefits, costs, and problems associated with tribal/village/community

use of telecommunications. A few pilot projects

have been completed or are under way, typically

with some federal support. But the number and

breadth of projects are still limited compared to

the range of possible applications.

Additional projects would be helpful, especially in defining the role of telecommunications in

the areas of cultural heritage, community well-being, economic development, and governance.

Cultural heritage as defined here includes tribal/

village/community traditions, ceremonial activities, religion, and art. Community well-being includes education, health care, family wellness,

nutrition, and recreation. Economic development

covers technical, human resource, financial, management, and market factors that affect business

startup, relocation, and job creation. Governance

includes selection/election of local officials, conduct of tribal/village government meetings and

policymaking, administration of various tribal/

village government functions, and citizen moni-
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 103

toring of and participation in these activities. In

reality, of course, the overall health of Native

communities depends on the interaction of all

these elements.

Pilot projects could explore how an integrated

tribal/village telecommunications infrastructure

can best support applications to specific aspects of

community life. The community communication

center is a concept to consider, especially in areas

where it is unrealistic for most homes and offices

to have anything more than basic telecommunications in the short to medium term. A local high

school, community college, library, multiservice

center, or tribal/village office could be designated

as a community communication center where a

wide range of telecommunications equipment and

services is available to residents, including students and entrepreneurs (also see chapter 3). Such

a center may be able to offer videoconferencing,

computer networking, multimedia, and other services that may not be affordable or cost-effective

in most individual homes and many businesses for

some time. The multiservice center concept also is

relevant as a way of providing technology-enhanced “one-stop shopping” for a range of social,

economic, and health services.20

❚ Native Entrepreneurial Activity

Formation of Native and tribally-owned and -operated telecommunications companies is a highly

leveraged way to create jobs and stimulate local

economic development. Native American reservations, villages, and communities range from the

relatively affluent to the impoverished. Overall,

however, most Native communities face serious

difficulties in providing jobs for able-bodied

adults or heads of families. Unemployment and

poverty rates average about 50 percent on Indian

reservations and in Alaska Native villages. Most

jobs are government-related. Significant private

sector job creation has been limited to a relatively

few reservations and villages—primarily those

with marketable natural resources and/or significant and accessible tourist attractions. Native Hawaiian unemployment is lower than rural Indians

and Alaska Natives, but still higher than national

and state averages.

Today, the number of Native-owned and -operated telecommunications companies is very

small—a few telephone and cable companies and

radio stations. Native entrepreneurs wishing to

form telecommunications companies must overcome significant financial, technical, and human

resource barriers. Some Native communities may

find that needed telecommunications are accessible and affordable from non-Native companies.

Many Native communities may not have a market

large enough to justify and sustain the formation

of new telecommunications providers. Contiguous or adjacent Native communities could, in

some cases, join forces to create a larger market.

Congress could direct the NTIA and FCC, and

other relevant federal agencies, to review how Native telecommunications entrepreneurs might be

encouraged in locations where market conditions

are at least minimally supportive. Success stories

like the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone

Authority (see box 5-3) demonstrate that Nativeowned and -operated telephone, cable TV, satellite

broadcast TV, and cellular and wireless companies are within reach. Also, Native leaders could

consider ways to apply some portion of tribal revenues to support telecommunications startup ventures.

Although Native telecommunications companies alone will not guarantee an economic revival,

they can help leverage the use of telecommunications in at least four important ways: 1) facilitating

the education and training of a skilled, marketable

workforce in Native communities (a key factor in

business location and investment decisions);

2) providing part of the technology infrastructure

many businesses and investors now consider to be

essential (e.g., to facilitate telecommuting, remote computer applications, electronic data interchange, and the like) and, thus, indirectly attract20For related discussion, see chapter 3.
104 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

The Cheyenne River SIOUX Tribe (CRST) Telephone Authority, one of only a few tribally owned telephone cooperatives, is a story of tribal business and community leadership. Delivering basic telephone

service since 1958, it now serves as a driver for economic development, and continues to assess the

future advanced telecommunications needs of the community, including its schools and hospitals

Oversight is provided by an independent board as well as the tribal government. The federal government has also had a role by providing critically needed loans and grants.

Located in central South Dakota, the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation has 9,000 Lakota-Sioux

members and covers 46,000 square miles, in 1977, the town of Eagle Butte housed one exchange with

multiparty lines that were subject to outages due to ice storms. With the help of a Rural Electrification

Administration (REA) loan, a newly created Telephone Authority purchased and consolidated local telephone systems and put in new underground lines for single-party service. Today there are five digital

switches Iinked with fiberoptic cables, and the penetration rate is 72 percent. Ducts to hold future fiberoptic cable extend to the edge of town in anticipation of distance-learning and telemedicine applications.

The Telephone Authority diversified in 1984 into customer premise equipment (CPE) with the formation of CRST Telephone Sales and Service. Three years later, it purchased local companies and created

Cheyenne River Gas and Cheyenne River Cable TV, which offers Direct Broadcast Satellite. These businesses now employ 55 local people. in 1994, with an Indian Community Development Block Grant, the

Telephone Authority set up the Lakota Thrifty Mart, a 17,000-square-foot supermarket that employs 35

local people. The Telephone Authority has plans for a convenience store and gas station in a remote

community.

Eagle Butte IS now the third fastest-growing town in South Dakota. And the future looks good. With a

$20,000 Iicense purchased in 1991 for a Super 8 Motel and a recent guaranteed loan from the Small

Business Administration, the tribe wiII soon have its first 40-room motel. With this facility the tribe is

planning to draw on its native culture to attract tourism. And the tribally owned Buffalo Corporation is

reintroducing buffalo on the reservation. While not yet a profitable business venture, the presence of

buffalo symbolizes both economic prosperity and spiritual wellness.

(continued)

ing jobs; 3) creating jobs in computer, communi- to develop a federal Native American telecommucation, and other high-technology companies that

decide to locate on or near reservations or in Native villages; and 4) indirectly creating jobs by expanding markets for Native products and services

through intertribal, regional, national, and international telemarketing—to the extent the companies

and jobs are actually located in or near Native

communities and are open to Native Americans.

REFOCUSING THE FEDERAL ROLE

Consistent with empowering Native American

communities, Congress and appropriate federal

agencies could take action in the following areas

nications policy, with the involvement of Native

American groups, leaders, and telecommunications activists.

❚ Interagency Federal

Strategy and Funding

Dozens of federal agencies administer hundreds

of federal programs that serve Native Americans.

Several already provide some support for Native

American telecommunications, but these efforts

are uncoordinated and fragmented. Agencies with

relevant programs include, for example, the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the in
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications 1105

The feeling of community renewal and hope permeated the recent 1994 Jimmy Carter Work Project,

sponsored by Habitat for Humanity. Thirty homes were built by volunteers from all over the country. The

Telephone Authority donated $100,000 worth of outside telephone plant, and every employee and

board member volunteered for at least a day to help build the homes. Thus 17 years after the CRST

Telephone Authority received a Rural Electrification Administration (REA, now the Rural Utilities Service)

loan former President Jimmy Carter stood on the reservation and remarked, "I think [the REA] is one of

the finest organizations that I’ve ever known, REA has a solid foundation with farms, with agricultural

families, its historical Importance, its ability to bring people together in a democratic organization and

let them say what is best for their own community..." Today the Telephone Authority is waiting for

approval of another RUS loan to further upgrade and extend telecommunications Infrastructure, and

may apply for an RUS grant for a distance Iearning pilot.

This story Illustrates the Importance of tribal leadership as well as federal support for reservation

development Says Orville Mestes, director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development, “One

of the things that’s happened as a result of the successful ventures of the Telephone Authority is management expertise. We are training our own people to become managers. I think that’s key to anything. ”

According to Bernie La Plante, Manager of the Thrifty Mart, “We took inexperienced workers and gave

them the chance to learn the grocery business from the ground up. ” As explained by J. D. Williams,

General Manager of the CRST Telephone Authority, "There is skepticism abut Indian people running

their own businesses We’ve had our failures, but I think that CRST Telephone Authority and the

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (are) proving the skeptics wrong. ”

SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, with information from J D Williams, General Manager, Cheyenne River SIOUX Tribe

Telephone Authority, Eagle Butte, SD, personal communication, February 1995, and Jim Felter, “A Prophecy Fulfilled Building the

Lakota Community” Rural Telecommunications Journal of the National Telephone Cooperative Association, November/December

1994 pp. 14-18

terior, Administration for Native Americans and Also, many of the activities and working groups

Indian Health Service in the Department of Health

and Human Services, Office of Indian Education

in the Department of Education, Native American

Programs Division in the Department of Labor,

Rural Utilities Service (RUS) in the Department

of Agriculture, National Telecommunications and

Information Administration in the Department of

Commerce. National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, National Endowment for the

Arts, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting.21

of the Administration National Performance Review and National Information Infrastructure programs are relevant to Native Americans, and these

initiatives cut across virtually every federal

agency and program.

Interagency Strategy

The federal executive branch, with the support

and oversight of Congress, could develop an interagency strategy to help provide direction and

21Several other agencies also have relevant programs, such as the: National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land

Management in the Department of the Interior; Department of Energy (including various research laboratories); Army Corps of Engineers and

Advanced Research Projects Agency, among others, in the Department of Defense; regional educational research laboratories in the Department of Education: Federal Highway Administration in the Department of Transportation; Department of Housing and Urban Development;

Economic Development Administration in the Department of Commerce; Environmental Protection Agency; Small Business Administration;

and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
106 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

coordination for Native American telecommunications activities. This could include an interagency task force or working group. The strategy

could identify opportunities to make the best use

of scarce federal dollars for telecommunications

education, training, pilot-testing, and infrastructure development in Native American communities.

The strategy could include use of existing or

new electronic clearinghouses to provide information on relevant programs and projects, accessible by Native American leaders and technology activists as well as federal personnel. An

electronic clearinghouse would help ensure that

federal agencies are at least aware of what others

are doing. It also would help Native American activists and advocacy groups learn about federal

plans and programs, and have timely opportunities to participate. The clearinghouse could be

managed and operated directly by a federal

agency, a Native organization or university program serving Native Americans, or a private company (ideally, Native-owned and -operated).

The clearinghouse could include a Native

American electronic home page with pointers to

home pages of all agencies with information and

programs relevant to Native American telecommunications. OTA developed a home page for this

study, known as the “Native American Resource

Page,” that includes links to a variety of other

home pages with Native American information

(see appendix B). The clearinghouse presumably

would be accessible via the Internet and other

computer networks.

Over the last decade, Congress has systematically revised and updated many statutory programs to clarify their applicability to Native

Americans (e.g., various education, health care,

employment, training, and housing programs).

Typically, these changes specifically identify

American Indians and Alaska Natives, and less

frequently Native Hawaiians, as eligible for program services and funding, and occasionally stipulate a required percentage or dollar set-aside for

Native Americans. Statutory revisions concerning BIA and IHS programs have further reinforced

Top: Byron Glacier Iocated about 50 miles southeast of Anchorage, is one of hundreds of glaciers in Alaska; glaciated

mountain ranges dominate the landscape in many parts of

the state. Bottom: The federal government plays a major role

in Alaska, in part because of the large expanse of National

Forests, Parks, Preserves, and Wildlife Refuges, and has a

responsibility for respecting and protecting Alaska Native

sacred sites and cultural traditions.

the congressional intent that, where feasible, program management and administration be shifted

from federal agencies to tribal/village governments. Other statutory actions have continued the

shift toward reinforcing Native culture and empowering Native communities to be responsible

for their own governance.

The current Congress is considering a wide

range of program consolidations and block grant

proposals, as part of the larger deficit reduction effort. Native American leaders are concerned that

program consolidations may have the unintended

effect of reducing Native participation in program

decisions and management, possibly cutting

funding for Native programs, and undermining

the federal trust responsibility and commitment to
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 107

Native self-determination. The current budgetary

outlook obviously intensifies competition for

scarce funds, and increases the difficulty of securing funding support for new and emerging priority

areas such as telecommunications. Congress

could provide programmatic guidance to ensure

that Native American telecommunications activities get adequate attention.

Congress and the President could direct the Administration to conduct a cross-cutting review of

all federal programs and activities that are relevant

to Native American telecommunications. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB, in the

Executive Office of the President) and NTIA, for

example, could coordinate the review. The review

could organize relevant programs around key

themes such as: 1) developing local telecommunications infrastructure; 2) providing education

and training on telecommunications applications;

3) strengthening tribal, Alaska Native, and Native

Hawaiian expertise in telecommunications planning; 4) supporting the formation of Nativeowned and -operated telecommunications companies; and 5) designing creative strategies to

leverage telecommunications for education,

health care, multiservice delivery, and economic

development. This could provide a framework for

estimating current funding and other support for

Native telecommunications, including both government-wide totals and allocations to the thematic areas. The results should help identify new opportunities for collaborative, multipurpose investments and activities, and provide a stronger basis

for ensuring that the federal commitment to Native American telecommunications is sustained at

the level desired by Congress. Absent such a

framework, it will be difficult, if not impossible,

to understand the aggregate implications of numerous separate programmatic and budget decisions that may impact Native telecommunications.

Guidance from Congress, the White House,

OMB, and/or NTIA could extend to the Information Resources Management (IRM) and National

Performance Review (NPR) programs of the BIA,

IHS, and other agencies with a major mission related to Native Americans. Aspects of the National Information Infrastructure (NII) program that

are most relevant to Native Americans also could

be included. Specific NPR, NII, and IRM plans

could be prepared for: 1) electronic delivery of

federal (and other) services to Native Americans

over the NII; 2) pilot-testing of telecommunications applications in Native American communities; and 3) development of Native American telecommunications infrastructure.22 These plans

also could address the need for tribes and Native

organizations to make use of the NII for a wide

range of self-governance functions.

Agency-Specific Strategies

NTIA could develop a strategy that gives higher

priority in current grant programs to building Native American telecommunications expertise and

infrastructure.23 NTIA could establish a new grant

program for tribes and Native organizations that

consolidates PEACESAT24 and a portion of resources currently allocated to the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program25 and the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure

Applications Program. NTIA would be a logical

agency to coordinate with the National Institute of

Standards and Technology, also in the Department

22BIA and IHS, for example, could pool their IRM and telecommunications resources in a joint effort to meet both agency and tribal needs.

Randy Ross, Telecommunications Consultant, Rapid City, SD, personal communication, Apr. 8, 1995.

23For example, NTIA is funding a planning grant for tribal councils to explore options for computer networking. Roanne Robinson, Special

Assistant, NTIA, personal communication, May 3, 1995.

24PEACESAT stands for the “Pan-Pacific Educational and Communications Experiment by Satellite” program that uses satellite telecommunications for distance education and telemedicine between the Hawaiian and other Pacific Islands.

25See NTIA, “NTIA/PTFP Native American Grants,” December 1994. NTIA provided funding to various tribal governments and organizations for construction of public radio and television facilities.
108 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges 

of Commerce—as well as with the FCC-on tribal telecommunications security and standards issues, and with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (in the Office of Management and

Budget, Executive Office of the President) on tribal privacy, intellectual property rights, and information management topics.

The Rural Utilities Service (formerly the Rural

Electrification Administration, within the Department of Agriculture) could clarify and strengthen

its policy on tribal participation. Rural telephone

companies owned and operated by tribes or Native

Americans are eligible to apply for telephone

equipment and infrastructure loans. Few applications are received from Native organizations,

however, due to their limited awareness of the program and limited expertise and capital. RUS could

develop an outreach program to better inform tribal and other Native governments about RUS loan

eligibility and application requirements. RUS

could work with BIA, ANA, and other agencies to

upgrade technical assistance available to tribes.

RUS also could coordinate with the FCC, and

probably NTIA, to make sure that various federal

policies and programs work to encourage, rather

than discourage, the formation of tribal and Native-owned and -operated telecommunications

companies.26 To ensure that the sum is greater

than the parts in facilitating the formation and viability of Native telecommunications enterprises,

RUS, FCC, and NTIA could review a wide range

of policies and programs: RUS loans; universal

service funds; NTIA grants; financial accountability; frequency spectrum auctions or assignments; tribal partnerships with commercial telecommunications companies; technical network

and interconnection requirements; and compatibility of RUS, FCC, state regulatory, and tribal

telecommunications rules and procedures.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health

Service, and Administration for Native AmeriTop: Satellite earth station operated by COMSAT at Paumalu

on the north shore of Oahu Island, Hawaii. Bottom: Satellites

provide vital telecommunications links between the Hawaiian

Islands and both the mainland and other Pacific Islands. The

COMSAT facility at Paumalu monitors telemetry necessary for

operational control of satellites sewing the Pacific Basin.

cans could develop both individual and coordinated strategies in Native telecommunications.

The BIA and IHS serve the 550 federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native organizations.

ANA serves, in addition, about 60 state-recognized tribes, tribes seeking federal recognition,

and various Native Hawaiian and Native PacificIsland American groups.

The BIA uses telecommunications for its own

agency purposes, provides some technology support for tribal schools (e.g., classroom computers,

26 RUS also administers a distance learning and medical link grant program. See U.S. Department of Agriculture, RUS, “Distance Learning

and Medical Link Grant Program Application Kit’’ Washington, DC, Dec. 1, 1994, and “The Information Superhighway and the Rural Utilities

Service.” n.d.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 109

distance learning, computer networking27), and

supports computer systems for the benefit of

tribes at its Geographic Data Service Center and

Division of Energy and Mineral Resources (e.g.,

the National Indian Oil and Gas Evaluation and

Management System, National Indian Energy and

Mineral Resources Database, and National Indian

Seismic Evaluation System). BIA does not, however, have a policy or strategy for the overall development of tribal telecommunications capabilities or infrastructure, although it is working on a

draft strategy under the leadership of its Information Resources Management office. IHS also uses

telecommunications for its own agency purposes,

provides technology support to tribal hospitals,

and actively promotes telemedicine, teleradiology, computerized medical records, and other telecommunications-based medical and health applications. IHS has a general strategy on medical

technology development, including telecommunications, but has not fully linked this strategy to

other aspects of tribal telecommunications such as

infrastructure development. ANA primarily administers grant programs for social, economic,

and, recently, cultural development on reservations and in Native villages. ANA is interested in

telecommunications, but does not have a policy or

strategy or programmatic emphasis on telecommunications.

These three agencies could develop a coordinated strategy for the development of telecommunications expertise and plans at the Native community level. The agencies could find ways to

leverage scarce resources by training local technical experts, using the BIA and IHS telecommunications infrastructure where appropriate and

feasible, and collaborating with telecommunications policy and funding agencies (e.g., the FCC,

NTIA, RUS) and with other federal agencies that

serve Native Americans (e.g., Small Business Administration, Economic Development Administration, Agriculture Extension Service, Federal

Highway Administration, and Employment and

Training Administration).

Most importantly, BIA, IHS, and ANA could

develop a clear vision of the role of telecommunications infrastructure in meeting larger policy

objectives, such as strengthening Native self-governance and improving the delivery of services to

Native Americans. This vision could be closely

tied to agency reinvention activities under the National Performance Review. Native leaders,

groups, and activists would need to be centrally

involved in the creation and implementation of a

strategic telecommunications vision, as well as

detailed followup plans.

❚ Telecommunications Policy

Over the past two years, Native American telecommunications activists have asserted that federal telecommunications policy ignores or contradicts the principles of Indian law and federal

Indian policy.28 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 applied Indian law to telecommunications policy.

The agencies with lead responsibility for Native

American programs, such as the Bureau of Indian

Affairs, Indian Health Service, and Administration for Native Americans, do not have a Native

American telecommunications 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 NTIA and FCC could initiate policy inquiries on Native American telecommunications, and

invite active participation from tribal govern27Including ENAN, the Educational Native American Network.

28See, e.g., Americans for Indian Opportunity, First Native American Telecommunications Forum (Bernalillo, NM: Americans for Indian

Opportunity, December 1993), final report prepared for the National Science Foundation; James A. Casey, Esq., Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth,

Arlington, VA, “Sovereignty,” discussion paper, Jan. 30, 1995, and “Tribal Sovereignty and Telecommunications Opportunities: A Brief Discussion,” n.d.
110 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Left: AT&T Long Lines ship docked in Honolulu Harbor preparing to lay undersea fibre optic cable between several of

the Hawaiian Islands. Right: Undersea fiberoptic lines complement satellites in linking Hawaii electronically with the rest

of the world. GTE Hawaiian Telephone Co. contracted with

AT&T to lay interisland fiberoptic cable that connects with

trunk lines on the islands and transoceanic undersea links to

the U.S. mainland and Pacific Rim.

ments, Native technology activists, state regulators, private companies, and the like. 29 These

policy initiatives could address both the need for . -

and content of a government-wide policy statement and strategy, and specific topics like sovereignty and self-determination, universal access,

and strategic partnerships.

Government-wide Policy Statement

Congress and the President could designate a lead

agency, such as NTIA, to develop and draft a

policy statement that would apply established Indian policy principles30 to Native American telecommunications. NTIA could work with the

FCC, state telecommunications or public utility

regulatory commissions, tribal and other Native

governments, and other relevant individuals and

organizations in preparing a draft policy. Broad

participation and review by tribes and other Native governments, and by Native leaders and telecommunications activists, would help ensure a

credible result.

The policy statement could, for example: 1) define the applicability of the federal trust responsibility to telecommunications, an essential component of ensuring tribal well-being and survival;

2) clarify the role of tribes as sovereign governments-equivalent to states—for the purpose of

regulating and operating tribal telecommunications where tribes wish to do so; and 3) encourage

tribes to develop the capacity for self-determination regarding telecommunications activities on

tribal lands. The policy statement might also address more specific telecommunications policy

topics such as: universal access on tribal lands, allocation of federal frequency spectrum to tribal

governments, interoperability of telecommunica29 The White House has appointed one American Indian—LaDonna Harris, President, Americans for Indian Opportunity—to the Administration’s National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, a private and public sector advisory committee that makes recommendations to

the Secretary of Commerce. Information on NIIAC activities, including Native American testimonies at a meeting in Santa Fe, NM, on Apr. 12,

1995, can be found on a Department of Commerce Gopher server, gopher://iitf.doc.gov.

30 See chapter 4.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 111

tions systems on tribal lands, and quality of tribal

telecommunications service.

A federal policy presumably would apply to all

federally recognized tribal and Alaska Native

governments (approximately 550 in total). The

policy could, however, afford flexibility to individual tribes, recognizing that they will have differing levels of interest and capability in assuming

telecommunications responsibilities. And tribal

interest and capability likely will change over

time. The policy could direct federal agencies to

apply these principles—to the extent appropriate—to state-recognized tribes and Native Hawaiian groups or communities. The policy could

establish new consultative mechanisms to improve coordination and collaboration between

tribes, Alaska Native villages, Native Hawaiian

communities, and their respective state government telecommunications agencies.

Congress could amend federal telecommunications law, and the Communications Act of 1934 in

particular, to include a clear statement acknowledging the unique status of tribal governments, requiring tribal involvement in all aspects of telecommunications policy, and mandating the

NTIA, FCC, and other appropriate federal agencies to develop detailed policy and legislative proposals. Tribal telecommunications provisions

could be included in broader telecommunications

policy reform bills, or through subsequent amendments or separate legislation—such as a “Tribal

and Native American Telecommunications Act”

or the equivalent. Congress could amend other

statutes to provide guidance to relevant federal

agencies on their role in Native American telecommunications. Where appropriate, legislation

could address various agency policy and programmatic initiatives.

The FCC could develop an American Indian

and Alaska Native tribal policy, or a broader Native American policy; set up an office of tribal or

Native American affairs; and include tribal governments in regulatory proceedings on the same

basis as states. This would be particularly important on issues such as universal access and sales of

rural telephone exchanges that may significantly

affect reservation and other Native American

areas. Tribes could be represented on the joint federal-state board that helps determine universal service fund procedures and allocations.31 Also, the

FCC could consider giving preference or priority

to participating tribes in auctions or allocations of

frequency spectrum over Indian lands where this

is desired by and would benefit tribes.32 The FCC

could review its policies, programs, and rulemakings to ensure that Indian policy principles are applied to any activities that have significant impacts

on tribes and tribal lands. The FCC could open up

a new formal notice of inquiry and rulemaking on

Native American telecommunications issues.

The logical application of Indian law and federal Indian policy33 to the jurisdiction of the FCC

would suggest that the FCC: 1) recognize tribes as

governmental entities and make the distinction

between minorities as individuals under existing

minority policy, and tribes as governments under

Indian policy; 2) thoroughly consider the implications of proposed FCC actions for tribes; 3) afford

tribes opportunity for full participation in FCC

rulemakings; 4) encourage tribal self-determination with regard to telecommunications on tribal

lands; 5) afford tribes a governmental status

equivalent to that of states with regard to telecommunications regulation and operations on tribal

lands, for those tribes desiring this status; and

6) encourage increased cooperation between and

among state and tribal governments and the FCC.

A major challenge would be defining a new

telecommunications regulatory regime that involves the FCC, states, and tribes working as part31The federal-state board could be expanded by administrative or legislative action to include some tribal representation.

32See chapter 4 for discussion of the FCC’s current policies.

33For detailed discussion of Indian law and policy, see chapter 4.
112 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

ners in government-to-government relationships.

These relationships could be complex.34 As a general rule, state governments lack jurisdiction over

tribes and over Indians living on reservations, unless Congress has expressly granted such jurisdiction. However, states generally do have jurisdiction over non-Indians living on reservations,

unless: 1) preempted by federal law;35 2) the nonIndians have consented to tribal jurisdiction; or

3) the exercise of state authority would infringe on

the ability of a tribe to govern itself or would

threaten the economic security, health, or welfare

of the tribe.36 Thus, if a tribe’s jurisdiction is challenged, a court will conduct an inquiry into the nature of the state, federal, and tribal interests at

stake to determine if the state may regulate activity on tribal lands. If the activity is subject to regulation under federal statute, then the court will

analyze whether state regulation is preempted. If

no federal statute applies, then the court will balance the interests of the tribe and the state. In the

field of telecommunications, the existing balance

of federal-state authorities and responsibilities

would, presumably, need to be adjusted to accommodate heightened tribal involvement.37

The essence of the tribal telecommunications

policy challenge is the application of principles of

tribal sovereignty to this technological arena.

Tribal telecommunications policy is in its infancy.

Tribal technology advocates believe that telecommunications offers the potential to help revitalize

Native communities while preserving and

strengthening Native values and traditions. This is

only likely to occur, however, if tribal sovereignty

that is now established policy in the realms of

education, health care, public works, and governance is extended to another key part of the community infrastructure—telecommunications. Native American advocates believe that only in this

way can tribal sovereignty in cyberspace be reasonably ensured.38

34State laws and legislative activity on Native American issues are extensive. See, e.g., Kimberly A. Morin, 1994 State Legislation on Native

American Issues (Denver, CO: National Conference of State Legislatures, September 1994); and Alex White-Tail Feather, James B. Reed, and

Judy Zelio, State-Tribal Legislation: 1992 and 1993 Summaries (Denver, CO: National Conference of State Legislators, February 1994). For an

example of the complexities involved, see the 1995 proceedings of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on the proposed acquisition

of local telephone exchanges by a tribally-owned telephone company (Owl River Telephone, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cheyenne

River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority).

35See, e.g., New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe, 462 U.S. 324, 338-44 (1983).

36Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544, 565-66 (1981).

37The increasing involvement of tribal governments in the public utility industry, e.g., energy and electric power, may provide some insights

and precedents for tribal telecommunications activities. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486) essentially decentralized the

electric power industry by expanding the range of companies that can enter the electric power generation market and ending electric power

company monopoly control over interstate transmission lines. Title 26 of the act encouraged tribes to develop and regulate energy sources such

as solar and wind energy, hydropower, and cogeneration. The involvement of tribes in the energy business has, however, created complex tribalstate-federal regulatory issues that may be indicative of the kinds of issues likely to arise should tribes became major players in telecommunications. See generally Martin V. Kirkwood, “Federal and State Regulation of Tribal Utilities,” Natural Resources & Environment, vol. 7, No. 4,

spring 1993, pp. 27-29, 59-61.

38This phrase derives from Baldwin, “American Indian Identity and Tribal Sovereignty in Cyberspace,” op. cit., footnote 7; and Randy

Ross, “The Net and Federal Indian Law,” statement prepared for the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council meeting, Santa Fe,

NM, Apr. 12, 1995. Tribal legal advocates believe that tribes should have legal authority over telecommunications on or over Indian lands, and

that the federal trust responsibility should include frequency spectrum allocation and use. Karen Funk and Sandra Ferguson, Esq., Hobbs,

Straus, Dean & Walker, Washington, DC, personal communication, Feb. 6, 1995; James A. Casey, Esq., Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, Washington, DC, personal communication, Apr. 27, 1995; John Tahsuda, Esq., Holland & Hart, Denver, CO, personal communication, Apr. 28, 1995.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 113

Universal Access

The universal service component of national telecommunications policy could be revised to better

meet Native American needs. Native Americans

living in rural areas historically have had limited

access to telecommunications. This results from

the higher costs and technical difficulties of serving geographically remote areas, combined with

the distressed socioeconomic conditions in many

Native communities. American Indian reservations and Alaska Native villages are, as a whole,

among the most underserved areas of the United

States with regard to telecommunications. Therecent increase in pilot tests and small-scale operaLeft: Devil's Tower stirred the imagination of Indians, who

called it Mateo Tepee, meaning Grizzly Bear Lodge. Kiowa

and Cheyenne Indian legends hold that the rock rose into the

air protecting tribal members from a gigantic bear leaving

claw marks gouged into the rock. Right: Devil's Tower rises

1,200 feet above the Belle Fourche River in northeast Wyoming, Devil's Tower National Monument was established in

1906 as the first national monument. Over the generations,

the Shoshone, Comanche, Kiowa, Crow, Arapaho, Cheyenne,

and Sioux Indians, among others, came to this area to camp

and hunt.

tional projects in rural areas is encouraging. But

the gap is still wide between the technologies and

services available in major U.S. metropolitan areas

and those in rural, remote areas that are home to

more than one-third of all Native Americans.

With regard to basic telephone service, the nationwide rural telephone penetration rate averages

91.6 percent of homes. 39 While less than the 95.6

percent average in urban areas, the rural average

seriously overstates actual telephone penetration

in rural Native American communities. Analysis

of U.S. Census data indicates that rural Native

Americans as a group have an average telephone

penetration rate of 55 percent-the lowest of any

ethnic group in any geographic area. a This means

that almost half of rural Native homes do not have

39 National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc., “Comments” prepared in response to NTIA Notice of Inquiry of Universal Service and

Open Access Issues, Docket No. 940955-4255, Dec. 14,1994, p. 24. 40 Ibid. Note that the 55 percent penetration estimate was a weighted average based only on communities with 50 percent or higher Native

American population. For further details, contact the National Exchange Carrier Association. Also see Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department

of Commerce, News Release No. CB94-127, Aug. 22, 1994, on Native American reservation household telephone penetration.
114 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

that almost half of rural Native homes do not have

telephones. Telephone penetration is even lower

in some areas. A survey of the Navajo Nation

found that only about 35 percent of homes had

telephones.41 The portion of the Navajo Nation

located in San Juan County, Utah, had the lowest

penetration at 26.5 percent.42 A survey of New

Mexico reservations (including pueblos) concluded that “rural reservations rarely exceed 60

percent [residential telephone] penetration.”43

Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians in rural

areas generally have higher telephone penetration

rates than rural American Indians, but still below

the national averages.

Low telephone penetration in rural Native areas

generally reflects a combination of infrastructure

deficiencies, low family income, and, in some

cases, cultural preferences. Some rural Native

Americans prefer not to have a telephone for cultural or lifestyle reasons, even when costs are significantly subsidized through universal service

funds and telephone lifeline programs.44

The principle of universal access dates to the

early days of telephony, and reflects the congressional and governmental desire that all areas of the

nation have reasonable access to telecommunications services. Congress was concerned that individual telephone customers, local users, and rural

users could be disadvantaged. Within a very broad

statutory framework, the Federal Communications Commission worked with state regulators

and industry to establish a system of cross-subsidies (or cost-shifting) to reduce the rate differentials that would otherwise exist between local and

long-distance calls, and rural and urban areas.45

This includes a Universal Service Fund (USF) for

rural areas (administered by the National Exchange Carrier Association) and a telephone lifeline assistance program (offering low-cost basic

service) for low-income users in rural and urban

areas.46

Also, Congress established a rural telephone

program, now administered by the Rural Utilities

Service, within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to provide subsidized and government-guaranteed loans to rural telephone companies.47 Congress acted on the assumption that rural, remote

America would be disadvantaged because of the

inherently higher costs of telephone service in

areas with much lower customer density and

much longer distances to wire (i.e., higher costs

spread over fewer customers).48

Advancing technologies and services, deregulation, and increasing competition have compli41Rodger Boyd, testimony before the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and New Mexico State Corporation

Commission, Hearing on Universal Service, Albuquerque, NM, Dec. 16, 1993.

42Ibid.

43Miller Hudson, John Cordova, and Stan Pino, “New Mexico Tribal Telecommunications Research Study ‘Community of Interest Network—Information Highway Project,’” prepared by TakeOne Productions, Denver, CO, for US West, Jan. 30, 1995. US West also sponsored a

similar study of Arizona tribal telecommunications.

44GTE Telephone has found this often to be the case in its New Mexico service area. Duane G. Johnson, Assistant Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Government Relations, GTE Telephone, Irving, TX, personal communication, May 2, 1995.

45See generally, U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Rural America at the Crossroads: Networking for the Future, OTATCT-471 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, April 1991).

46See National Exchange Carrier Association, “An Industry Agent of Universal Service,” Washington, DC, Nov. 9, 1994.

47See Rural Electrification Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Electrification Act of 1936, With Amendments as Approved Through December 17, 1993, Informational Publication 100-1 (Washington, DC: Rural Electrification Administration, 1994), and “An

Overview of the REA Telephone Loan Program,” n.d.

48OTA, Rural America at the Crossroads, op. cit., footnote 45.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 115

Top: Microwave relay tower along the Richardson Highway

and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, operated by the Alyeska Company This tower is Iocated between Paxson and Delta Junction, Alaska. Bottom: The Alyeska Company depends on

microwave communication links for telephone service along

much of the pipeline route. Pipeline operations, maintenance,

and security depend on telecommunications.

cated the definition and implementation of universal access. Congress is in the process of revising

national telecommunications policy, and could

consider and refine the universal access proposals

to specifically address Native American needs.

The FCC is examining universal access as well,

and could give greater attention to the implications for Native tribes, villages, and communities. 49 Also, NTIA is studying universal access as

part of the NII initiative.5o These inquiries could

focus more explicitly on the availability of universal service funds and telephone lifeline services in

rural Native areas. Pending legislation would reaffirm the national commitment to universal service

and provide statutory guidance to the FCC in its

efforts to revise and update universal service in

light of changes in technology and competition. 51

Congress, the FCC, and NTIA could consider,

from Native American Perspectives: 1) the definition of universal service (e.g., what technologies

and services to include); 2) benchmark levels of

service (e.g., need and ability to pay for specific

types of services, and surrogate indicators like

per-capita income or customer density per square

mile); 3) cross-subsidies required (based on assumptions about services, costs, needs, and ability

to pay); and 4) alternative ways to provide the

cross-subsidies (e.g., surcharge on service costs,

percentage of gross revenues, reserve capacity, or

customer vouchers). Congress and the Administration could review and possibly revise the

RUS’s rural telephone programs that currently or

potentially benefit Native American service areas

(specifically including Native Hawaiian commu49 Federal Communications Commission, Notice of Inquiry on Amendment of Part 36 of the Commission’s Rules and Establishment of a

Joint Board, Common Carrier Docket No. 80-286, Aug. 30, 1994. 50 National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Notice Of Inquiry of Universal Service

and Open Access Issues, Docket No. 940955-4255, Sept. 13, 1994. 5 1See S.652, the “Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act of 1995,” 104th Cong., 1st Session, passed as amended by the

U.S. Senate; and H.R.1555, the “Communications Act of 1995,” 104th Cong., lst Session. Also see U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Cornmerce, Science, and Transportation, Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act of 1995, S.Rpt. 104-23 (Washington, DC: U.S.

Government Printing Office, Mar. 30, 1995). See generally Angele A. Gilroy, Congressional Research Service, “Telecommunications Regulatory Reform,” CRS Issue Brief IB95067, Apr. 21, 1995 (updated regularly).
116 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

nities as well as American Indian reservations and

Alaska Native villages).

The general opinion of Native activists and

leaders is that universal service should be a dynamic, not static, concept. Telecommunications

services available to rural Native areas should improve over time in approximate parallel with service upgrades in non-Native rural areas and metropolitan areas. In this view, basic telephone

service—a goal not yet achieved in many rural

Native areas—should be a minimum standard; enhanced services will be needed if rural Native

Americans are to fully leverage the technology for

educational, health care, economic development,

and other purposes.52 In large part because of universal service funds and RUS loans, rural telephone companies have been able to upgrade rural

telephone equipment and networks in recent

years—digital switching is now commonplace

and fiberoptic backbone is increasing rapidly.53

However, reservation areas are among the most

expensive to serve and among the last to get the

technology upgrades.

Without universal service funds, telephone

rates in rural areas could, and probably would, increase significantly—estimated at 30 percent or

more.54 Given the already depressed incomes on

many Indian reservations and in most Alaska Native villages, this would further impede realization of even basic telephone service for many Native Americans. Telephone penetration rates drop

significantly for households with an annual income under $20,000, and even more dramatically

when annual income dips below $10,000.55 Many

rural Native household incomes fall within this

range, and thus are most vulnerable to rate increases.56

Strategic Partnerships

Strategic partnerships between the private sector

and tribes, villages, communities, and Native service providers could be encouraged by the FCC,

NTIA, and Congress. Native leaders could work

with the private sector to examine ways to upgrade

service to Native communities. Private companies could develop their own estimates of market,

demand, and cost factors in Native American

areas. The companies could estimate what mix of

market forces, customer demands, cross-subsidies, federal (and other governmental) programs,

and perhaps nonprofit-sector programs would result in upgraded services to Native Americans.

This could involve participants such as regional Bell operating and other telephone companies;

long-distance telephone carriers; competitive access carriers (including electric power utilities);

52See National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, The NII Field Hearings on Universal

Service and Open Access: America Speaks Out (Washington, DC: NTIA, September 1994), a report of the Information Infrastructure Task

Force, Telecommunications Policy Committee. Also see statement by LaDonna Harris, Americans for Indian Opportunity, Bernalillo, NM;

James H. May, California State University at Chico; and George Baldwin, Henderson State University (now at California State University at

Monterey Bay), “Opinion Statement on Universal Service for American Indians and Alaska Natives,” prepared for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, n.d.

53See Rural Electrification Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1993 Statistical Report: Rural Telephone Borrowers, Informational Publication 300-4 (Washington, DC: REA, August 1994); and National Exchange Carriers Association, “Building the Telecommunications Infrastructure in Rural America: Achievements Toward the Promise,” Washington, DC, November 1993.

54See Rocky Mountain Telecommunications Association, Scottsdale, AZ, and Western Rural Telephone Association, Santa Rosa, CA, Universal Service Subcommittee, “Universal Service in the Nineties,” A Western Alliance Report, n.d.; Carol Weinhaus, Sandra Makeeff, Peter

Copeland, et al., “What is the Price of Universal Service? Impact of Deaveraging Nationwide Urban/Rural Rates,” Telecommunications Industries Analysis Project, School of Business, University of Southern California, July 25, 1993; and Carol Weinhaus, Teresa Pitts, Rob McMillan et

al., “Abort, Retry, Fail? The Need for New Communication Policies,” Telecommunications Industries Analysis Project, College of Business

Administration, University of Florida, Oct. 10, 1994.

55See NECA, “Comments,” op. cit., footnote 39; Jorge Reina Schement, Alex Belinfante, and Larry Povich, “Telephone Penetration

1984-1994,” paper prepared for the Federal Communications Commission’s Chairman Reed Hundt, Oct. 17, 1994; Jorge Reina Schement, Rutgers University, “Beyond Universal Service: Characteristics of Americans Without Telephones, 1980-1993,” Mar. 1, 1994.

56For the Navajo Nation, for example, about 55 percent of households have annual incomes below $19,000. See Boyd, op. cit., footnote 41.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 117

Top: NYSERNet's computer operations center in Liverpool,

New York. NYSERNet, Inc., provides computer networking

services, training, and technical support to educational, research, governmental, and other users-including Indian

tribes. Bottom: NYSERNet provides Internet connectivity for

the Oneida Nation in New York. The Oneida Nation has developed home page that is accessible via Internet at

http:llnysernet.orgloneidal. Also see appendix B.

rural telephone cooperatives; cable television

companies; cellular telephone, satellite, and other

wireless companies; radio/TV broadcasting stations; and computer technology, service, and networking companies. The examination could identify economic development, community infrastructure, and other policies, in addition to telecommunications policy, that might work together

to help upgrade service.

Telephone companies, for example, vary in

their approach to the rural reservations and villages in their service zones. Some are upgrading

service to rural areas, including reservations.

Some companies provide grants or other forms of

special assistance to Native and other underserved

rural areas. Others are selling off rural telephone

exchanges that are too costly to serve or do not fit

in with corporate objectives. Tribes have a major

say, if they wish to exercise it, in who provides

telecommunications on reservation lands and how

it is achieved. In some situations, tribes may wish

to enter into formal partnerships with telecommunications providers, or organize their own tribally

controlled and operated telecommunications

companies and cooperatives. The results of a New

Mexico tribal telecommunications survey identified 12 keys to successful introduction of new

technologies in tribal communities (see box 5-4).

The few tribes with significant gaming revenues could invest some portion of net profits in

telecommunications infrastructure and services,

including the formation of tribal telecommunications companies or partnerships. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act57 permits use of net revenues

from tribal gaming to fund tribal government operations and programs, provide for the general

welfare of the Indian tribe and its members, and

promote tribal economic development. Investments in tribal telecommunications and tribal

telecommunications companies and partnerships,

properly defined and organized, should serve one

or more of these purposes.

57 Public Law 100-497, 25 USC Sec. 2710(b)(2)(B).
118 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

A survey of New Mexico tribes and pueblos identified 12 keys to successful introduction of telecommunications technology in traditional Indian communities:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Form collaborate relationships with key participants early in the telecommunications infrastructure

development process and emphasize perceived community needs.

Determine individual and community goals before proposing specific telecommunications service

options.

Provide specific information about the strengths and weaknesses of new telecommunications

technology and how the technology can contribute to individual and community goals.

The new telecommunications technology—and the participants and partners involved with implementation—must be “culturally appropriate” if the technology is to become valued in the community.

Exercise sensitive and appropriate interpersonal cross-cultural communication skills and behaviors

when working in and with Indian communities.

Demonstrate an awareness, sensitivity, and appreciation for issues related to the preservation of

traditional cultural and sacred places.

Tell the entire story about an operational telecommunications development project, including the role

local participants played in changing the Iiving and learning environment of the community

New telecommunications technology and/or services should be sustainable and should build on existing capacities for addressing community needs, desires, and goals.

New telecommunications technology should be targeted at increasing total benefits to the community. Long-term benefits to providers, partners, and entrepreneurs will also be optimized if this strategy

is employed.

Knowledge about new telecommunications technology should be disseminated with care so that the

effectiveness of the technology is fully and accurately understood.

Communicate all anticipated outcomes of telecommunications projects to clients, decisionmakers,

and the broader public in a culturally influential and comprehensible way.

Design and Implement telecommunications development projects in partnership with others so as

to maximize benefits and minimize costs at the community level.

SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, based on Miller Hudson, John Cordova, and Stan Pine, “New Mexico Tribal Telecommunications Research Study ‘Community of Interest Network—information Highway Project," prepared by TakeOne Productions, Denver, CO, for US West, Jan 30, 1995

I

❚ Information Policy For more than a decade, computer activists and

Federal officials need to explicitly consider Na- advocates in the U.S. research and business comtive American perspectives when formulating in- munities have been concerned about the risks and

formation policy. And Native groups need to be complications, as well as the benefits, of using

encouraged to develop positions on privacy, intel- electronic networks to retrieve, distribute, and ex58 Paramount among in- lectual property rights, and other information change information.

policy issues. formation policy issues are privacy, intellectual

58See, e.g., OTA, Making Government Work, op. cit., footnote 1; U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Finding a Balance:

Computer Software, Intellectual Property, and the Challenge of Technological Change, OTA-TCT-527 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government

Printing Office, May 1992): and Critical Connections: Communication for the Future, OTA-CIT-407 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government

Printing Office, February 1990). Also see U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Circular A-130, “Management of Federal Information Resources,” June 25, 1993, and the “Paperwork Reduction Reauthorization Act of 1995,” Public Law 104-13.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 119

(and cultural) property rights, security, computer

crime, and electronic freedom of speech and press.

These concerns have been intensified by the decreasing costs of computers and telecommunications and the rapid increase in the use of networks

in recent years.

Native Americans familiar with electronic networks are concerned that telecommunications

could increase the likelihood of electronic invasions of tribal privacy, and electronic abuse or

misuse of information, products, and services

created or provided by tribes and tribal members.59 One concern is that sensitive Native

religious and spiritual information, if computerized, could more easily be accessed by unauthorized persons and used for inappropriate purposes.

Computer networking makes it more difficult to

verify the authenticity of users; some non-Indians

have been using Indian names and computer addresses on the Internet. Native arts, crafts, and

traditional practices are especially vulnerable to

misuse and misrepresentation. Non-Natives may

use or sell Native artwork electronically without

authorization or fair compensation, or may advertise and sell non-Native art as Native. These kinds

of activities are clear violations of privacy and intellectual property rights, and also compromise

Native cultural identity and self-determination.

The volume of Native information and cultural

materials created and marketed electronically is

still small, as is the number of tribes and Native

Americans using computer networking. Computer and telecommunications use by Natives is

growing rapidly, however. Younger generations

are much more familiar with the technology than

their tribal elders, and will further accelerate the

growth of computer networking and use of multimedia and other electronic technologies that are

well suited to recording and sharing Native culture. Also, as Native governments make greater

use of telecommunications, they will need to give

heightened attention to protecting the privacy and

security of medical and other personal information needed for tribal administration and for delivery of health, social, and employment services.60

Native Americans, therefore, have a significant

and growing interest in the overall evolution of

U.S. privacy and intellectual property policy, as

well as development of tribal-specific policies

that may vary depending on local values and customs. Native participation in national information

policymaking efforts seems essential to ensure

that policies reflect Native concerns and protect

the religious and cultural heritage of Native Americans.

Regional and national Native groups, such as

the National Congress of American Indians and

Federation of Alaska Natives, could include information policy issues within the purview of any

telecommunications committees that they establish. Grassroots groups, such as the Indigenous

Communications Association, Americans for Indian Opportunity, and Pacific Islanders in Communications, could collaborate with non-Native

computer advocacy and community networking

groups concerned with similar issues. The National Public Telecomputing Network, Big Sky Telegraph, Center for Civic Networking, Computer

Professionals for Social Responsibility, American

Library Association, Consortium for School Networking, and Electronic Frontier Foundation are

among the many organizations with whom Native

groups might seek common understanding and alliances. Similarly, the American Indian Science

and Engineering Society could collaborate with

59See Ross, “Tribal Rights and Cultural Identity in Cyberspace,” op. cit., footnote 7; Baldwin, “American Indian Identity and Tribal Sovereignty in Cyberspace,” op. cit., footnote 7; and George D. Baldwin, “Public Access to the Internet: American Indian and Alaskan Native Issues,”

paper prepared for the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, February 1994.

60See, generally, OTA, Making Government Work, op. cit., footnote 1; Protecting Privacy in Computerized Medical Information, OTATCT-576 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1993); Information Security and Privacy in Network Environments,

OTA-TCT-606 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1994); and Issue Update on Information Security and Privacy

in Network Environments, OTA-BP-ITC-147 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, June 1995).
120 I Telecommunications TechnologY and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Left: US West participant at the 1994 annual conference of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. AISES members include American Indian students, faculty, and science and technology professionals from industry and government.

Right: Intel Corporation computer display at the 1994 AISES conference in San Jose, California. AISES provides a forum for discussion of telecommunications and information technology policy issues relevant to American Indians.

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. NTIA could initiate an inquiry specifically on tribal information policy

issues. The National Science Foundation could

fund policy analysis by Native Americans and Native groups on these issues. Universities with Native American programs could add courses and

develop curricula on Native information policy.

Native communications professionals appear

to agree on the potential of electronic technologies

to reaffirm and strengthen Native culture. But they

are concerned about “tribal rights and sovereignty

in the realm of cyberspace.”61 They want to ensure

that telecommunications policy will promote the

cultural and economic progress of Native peoples,

rather than perpetuate the historical subjugation of

Native Americans to the majority society. 62

■ Further Research and Evaluation

This is the first federal government report on Native American telecommunications, and, to the

best of OTA’s knowledge, the first comprehensive

report on this topic. The report builds, in part, on

the work of Native American telecommunications

activists and researchers who have been among

the first to understand the potential. Clearly, the

field of Native American telecommunications is

still in its early stages. While some policy decisions could be responsibly made today, future applications and policymaking would benefit from

61 See Americans for Indian Opportunity, First Native American Telecommunications Forum, op. cit., footnote 28.

61 Baldwin, "Public Access to the Internet," op. cit., footnote 59.
Chapter 5 Policy Framework for Native American Telecommunications | 121

significant, continued research on many of the

topics discussed in this report.

During the course of this study, OTA identified

a variety of areas for further research, including:

1. identification of the prerequisites of effective

Native leadership and governance with regard

to telecommunications;

2. impacts of telecommunications applications

and policy options on diverse Native cultures;

3. reinvention of Native governments, in part

through the use of telecommunications;

4. statistics and demographics on Native Americans and their use of telecommunications;

5. statistics on the current and evolving telecommunications infrastructure in Native communities;

6. impacts and sustainability of telecommunications pilot projects in Native communities;

7. effects of telecommunications on Native customs, values, well-being, and economic prospects;

8. need for telecommunications infrastructure

development, applications, and services in

Native areas;

9. cost estimates of various telecommunications

projects and programs;

10. role of telecommunications in successful Native entrepreneurial efforts;

11. evaluation of federal and state programs relevant to Native American telecommunications;

12. development of Native American information

policies on both tribal/village/community

and national levels;

13. application of library and information science

to Native American telecommunications infrastructure development and policies; and

14. legal, regulatory, and constitutional issues

associated with Native American telecommunications.

This report does not consider the telecommunications needs of Native Americans living on

other Pacific Islands such as the U.S. territories of

Guam and American Samoa and the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.63

While the thrust of this report is generally applicable, further research would be needed to better understand how telecommunications could help improve socioeconomic conditions on the Pacific

Islands and help strengthen the ancestral, cultural,

and economic ties between Native Hawaiians and

Pacific Islander Americans.

Federal policy could redirect agency research

programs and encourage the development of centers of telecommunications expertise in Native organizations and in universities that serve Native

Americans.64 Native research centers could be encouraged to use telecommunications both to conduct research and to disseminate the results (see

box 5-5). Federal agencies that support Native

American telecommunications pilot projects and

infrastructure development could be required to

include an evaluation component. The Office of

Management and Budget (in the Executive Office

of the President) could require the federal statistical agencies to improve data collection and analysis on American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians—as individual racial/ethnic

groups and as Native Americans collectively. The

statistical agencies could develop and issue a special report, or series of reports, linking demographic characteristics, socioeconomic and health

conditions, and use of telecommunications technology—with a special focus on rural Native areas.

An appropriate federal agency, university research center, and/or Native organization could,

for example: 1) conduct a survey of Native American telecommunications infrastructure (see

appendix C for an illustrative survey research

instrument); 2) maintain and update the Internet63Other islands formerly part of the U.S. Pacific Island Trust Territories include the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall

Islands, and Republic of Palau (in the process of implementing a compact of free association).

64Among the several universities with relevant programs are Harvard, Northern Arizona, Washington State, George Washington, Syracuse,

Illinois, and California State at Monterey Bay.
122 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

The National Indian Policy Center (NIPC) conducts or sponsors research on a wide range of Indian

policy issues and operates a clearinghouse for the dissemination of research results and other relevant

information in a variety of formats—paper, telefacsimile, and electronic. NIPC is funded by the Administration for native Americans (within the Department of Health and Human Services) with additional support from The George Washington University, where the Center is located.

NIPC prepares or sponsors research reports in seven major areas: 1) cultural rights and resources,

2) economic development, 3) education, 4) health and human services, 5) law and administration of

justice, 6) natural resources, and 7) tribal governance. Most research reports are available in hard copy

or online From March 1 through September 30, 1994, NIPC received about 4,000 requests for research

reports—roughly 70 percent of requests were for electronic copies and 30 percent for paper copies.

During this same period, NIPC received about 27,000 other requests for online clearinghouse information that was downloaded electronically by users at remote locations.

Based on a three-month sample (January 1 through March 31, 1995), NIPC estimates that requests

for research reports are distributed approximately as follows: educational institutions (including those

with American Indian programs), 38 percent, tribal governments, 27 percent; Indian organizations, 18

percent, federal government agencies, 9 percent; and state governments, 8 percent.

NIPC is currently expanding its clearinghouse activity to include information on hearings and pending Iegislation relevant to Native Americans and testimony by tribal leaders and government officials

before congressional committees. For these purposes, NIPC uses broadcast telefacsimile for the roughly 450 tribal governments that have telefacsimile equipment and uses mail for the rest.

NIPC would like to expand use of the Internet for distribution of reports and other clearinghouse information to tribal governments At present, however, only a small minority of tribal governments has

access to the Internet A 1995 NIPC survey found that only 18 tribal governments reported being on the

Internet, out of 150 tribes responding. Another 16 tribes reported that they were considering or in the

process of obtaining Internet access Until more tribal governments have and use Internet, NIPC will

continue to rely on the telephone, telefacsimile, and mail.

SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, based on Bob Arnold, Bambi Kraus, and Orna Weinroth, National Indian Policy

Center, 1995, personal communications Also see National Indian Policy Center, Progress Report on the Feasibility Study for a National

Indian Policy Center (Washington, DC The George Washington University, NIPC, Aug. 15, 1991); NIPC brochure, n.d. ; and U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Indian Affairs, Oversight Hearing To Examine the Feasibility of Creating a Permanent Indian Research

Center, S.Hrg. 103-61 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 20, 1993)

accessible Native American Resource Page devel- of telecommunications resources available to

oped by OTA for this study (see appendix B);65 them (see appendix A on computer networking for

and 3) help the Native American research commu- Native Americans).

nity make best use of the already significant range

65Internet traffic suggests significant interest in the Native American Resource Page. During the period Jan. 10 through Apr. 4, 1995,this

page was accessed 8,282 times accounting for about 6 percent of total Internet inquiries to OTA and 23 percent of total information downloaded

from the OTA Internet site.
| 123

Appendix A:

Computer Networking

for Native Americans

omputer networking is a powerful tool available to Native Americans who have access to

the necessary computer equipment, telecommunication lines, and technical assistance.

The Office of Technology Assessment has used computer networking to locate and obtain information on

Native American issues. Project staff have used dialup connections and the Internet (with a full-time dedicated connection) to access various Gopher servers,1

electronic mail list servers (e-mail listservs), electronic bulletin board services (BBSs), file transfer protocol (FTP) servers, and World Wide Web (WWW) servers that contain information on Native American

issues, concerns, and culture.

PROJECT EXPERIENCE WITH

COMPUTER NETWORKING

❚ Gopher Servers

To find Native American computer sites and documents, OTA project staff began with a search of what

is known as “Gopher space.” Gopher is a computerized menu-based system. The searches were facilitated by using a tool called “Veronica” (an acronym

for Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to

Computerized Archives). Veronica searches Gopher

servers all over the world for file and directory names

with key words entered by the user.2 Through these

searches, project staff found a significant amount of

information relevant to Native American topics, including lists of electronic discussion groups (list servers) and BBSs on topics related to indigenous peoples.

Organizations maintaining Native American Gopher servers include the National Indian Policy Center

(NIPC) at George Washington University and the Extension Indian Reservation Program (EIRP) of the

U.S. Department of Agriculture. The NIPC Gopher

server contains information on topics such as culture,

education, environmental protection, and tribal governance. The host address is gwis.circ.gwu.edu. The

successive menu choices to get to the NIPC are first

“Centers, Institutes, and Research at GWU,” followed

by “Centers and Institutes,” and finally, “National Indian Policy Center.” The EIRP Gopher at

134.121.80.31:70/1/eirp/eirp.70 contains information

1A server is a computer that stores files and “serves” them to other computers referred to as clients.

2For a discussion on search strategies for Native American topics see Jeanette M. Mueller-Alexander and Helen J. Seaton, “Researching

Native Americans: Tips On Vocabulary, Search Strategies and Internet Resources,” Database, April 1994, pp. 45-56.
124 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

on tribal and federal courts, grant information, events

in Indian country, and Native American literature as

well as many other topics. Other Gopher servers are

listed in OTA’s Native American Resource Page developed for this study (see appendix B).

❚ Anonymous File Transfer Protocol

Servers

OTA discovered only a few anonymous FTP servers

(compared with several Gopher servers and many

WWW servers) with Native American information.

Cornell University has an anonymous FTP server at

ftp.cit.cornell.edu with several files addressing Native

American topics in the directory pub/special/NativeProfs. OTA found information such as tribal college

addresses, lists of federally recognized tribes (along

with their phone numbers and addresses), examples of

Native fonts for different computer operating systems,

and issues of Native American News.

Another anonymous FTP site, ftp.netcom.com,

contains lists of Native American BBSs and electronic

mail list servers under the directory /pub/am/amcgee/

indigenous.

❚ List Servers

Project staff subscribed to several e-mail listservs.

Some listservs are broadcast and others function as

electronic discussion groups whereby e-mail posted

by one member of a group is sent to every other member of the group. Some listservs are moderated to

screen out offensive language or irrelevant material.

Many listserv e-mail messages are archived and thus

can be read at any time. As part of project outreach,

OTA posted its project proposal on a few listservs. For

additional outreach and information-gathering, OTA

distributed selected research questions to appropriate

e-mail forums, bulletin boards, and news groups oriented toward Native Americans and others.

To subscribe to a listserv, send the e-mail message

“subscribe <list name> <your name>” to a subscription e-mail address. In some cases, a personal e-mail

address is used instead of <your name>. Subscription

to a list is necessary to post messages on it.

OTA subscribed to the following listservs (with the

exception of NATIVEPROFS-L and STRONGDOGLIST whose membership is restricted) described by

the list name, supporting organization and/or topic,

and subscription address.

 AISESNET, covers issues relevant to the American

Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)

or to Native Americans more generally, send an informal request to demeler@selway.umt.edu

 DRUGS AND ALCOHOL/AISESNET, an anonymous list maintained by AISES on drug and alcohol

issues, send an informal request to demeler@selway.umt.edu

 DRUM GROUPS/AISESNET, a list maintained by

AISES about and for pow-wow drum groups, send

an informal request to demeler@selway.umt.edu

 EIRP, Extension Indian Reservation Program of the

U.S. Department of Agriculture, listproc@listproc.wsu.edu

 IND-NET, general American Indian issues maintained by EIRP, listproc@listproc.wsu.edu

 INDKNOW, indigenous knowledge systems and

traditional ecological knowledge and developments, listproc@u.washington.edu

 IROQUOIS, Iroquoian languages, listserv@vm.

utcc.utoronto.ca

 NAGPRA-L, Native American graves protection

and repatriation, nagpra-l-request@world.std.com

 NAT-EDU, Native education, listserv@indycms.

iupui.edu

 NAT-HLTH, Native health, listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu

 NAT-LANG, languages of indigenous peoples, listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu

 NATCHAT, general topics of interest to Native

Americans, listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu

 NAT-WORK, work issues of Native Americans,

listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu

 NATIVE-L, general topics of interest to Native

Americans, listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu

 NIRI, broadcasts by the National Indian Policy Center, listserv@gwuvm.gwu.edu

 NATIVEPROFS-L, a private listserv for Native

American professors, listserv@cornell.edu

 MINN-IND, American Indian issues in Minnesota

and midwest states, listserv@vm1.spcs.umn.edu

 STRONGDOG-LIST, a private listserv for people

interested in the poetry of Turtle Heart, an Ojibway

artist and director of the American Indian Computer Arts Project, majordomo@soft21.s21.com (To

subscribe write your e-mail address instead of your

name in the body of the e-mail.)
Appendix A Computer Networking for Native Americans | 125

 TRAILS, tribal libraries, maiser@slis.lib.uoknor.edu

 TRIBALLAW, laws and policy that affect North

American Native Americans, listserv@thecity.sfsu.edu

❚ Bulletin Board Systems

Project staff also investigated dial-up BBSs. With a

modem and terminal (or computer), users can dial into

these systems and perform a number of tasks. BBSs

often have several electronic discussion groups and/or

real-time chat sessions. In addition, they provide access to electronic mail, libraries of files available for

downloading, and ways to upload or contribute information. The large amount of information in these

systems, however, can make it difficult to find items

of particular interest among the hundreds of trivial

postings and announcements. BBSs vary in their degree of organization; most provide a menu, while

some offer search capability and/or an index.

A list of BBSs in North America that are either operated by or oriented toward indigenous peoples can

be found on the anonymous FTP server ftp.netcom.com in the directory pub/am/amcgee/indigenous/

my_indigenous_related_lists/ in the file natvbbs.msg.

More than 75 electronic bulletin boards are listed as

Native-owned or -operated.

❚ World Wide Web Servers and Browsers

OTA also used Mosaic and Netscape, two interactive,

user-friendly interfaces (or WWW browsers), to access WWW and other types of servers on the Internet.

WWW browsers combine text and graphics to lead a

user to points of interest that may otherwise be difficult to locate. They display menus (e.g., Gopher menus or WWW home pages) and allow one to display

or download files from FTP, Gopher, and WWW servers in a user-friendly way. For example, OTA staff accessed online information from several tribes, agencies, universities, and organizations including the

Fourth World Documentation Project and the Oneida

Nation of New York. 

The Fourth World Documentation Project’s online

archive contains more than 300 documents on Fourth

World nations in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe,

Melanesia, and the Pacific. Included are essays, position papers, resolutions, treaties, organizational information, and the United Nations documents,

speeches, and declarations. This archive is split into

directories that contain information on certain geographical areas, such as the FWDP/Americas/ directory. Under the /Resolutions/ directory there are several

areas relating to Native Americans, including NavajoHopi Land Commission Papers, the National Congress of American Indians Resolutions, Tribal Government Resolutions, and much more. This archive

can be found at http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/

fwdp.html.3 It can also be accessed through an anonymous FTP site at ftp.halcyon.com in the pub/FWDP

directory.

The Oneida Nation of New York has created a

WWW page to express Oneida history and culture and

illustrate ongoing community development. The

Oneida Nation wired a housing development with fiberoptic cable, began developing a native font and interactive computer program to revive their language,

and created an online Treaties Project. This home page

is frequently updated and can be accessed at

http://nysernet.org/oneida/.

After browsing the Internet for a few weeks, OTA

project staff developed the Native American Resource

Page, a WWW home page with descriptions and links

to more than 50 Native American sites. Thereafter,

OTA used the home page on a regular basis for research purposes. The OTA Native American Resource

Page can be accessed at http://www.ota.gov/nativea.html (see appendix B for a description).

LIMITATIONS OF COMPUTER

NETWORKING

Overall, computer networking has been useful to OTA

in searching for information, but not without difficulties. One problem with Internet searching is that files

of information are not well organized or cataloged.

3Addresses used with WWW browsers are referred to as URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).
126 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

While the keyword search capabilities of Veronica and

information pointers of WWW home pages are helpful, more advanced methods for organizing and

searching are needed.4 There is no catalog or directory

that organizes all of the materials on the Internet. For

now, successful searching is much like solving a mystery. Each source, like a clue, leads to another and, in

the end, to the material one is seeking.

One problem for Native Americans with computer

networking is the limited number of Native participants. Many Native Americans do not have or cannot

afford computers with modems and/or access to the Internet. The long-distance phone charges required by

many dial-in systems are also a barrier. While this is

true for Americans in general, the lack of these resources appears more pronounced in Native American

communities. Also, OTA found that some e-mail listservs created to discuss Native American concerns apparently are dominated by non-Native Americans, and

may not reflect Native points of view and experiences.

4Search tools are under development worldwide. For example, Hyper-G, similar to and compatible with WWW technology, is one such tool

under development to better organize and categorize very large amounts of information. The hyper-g discussion group can be subscribed to by

sending the e-mail message “subscribe hyper-g <your name>” to the e-mail address listproc@iicm.tu-graz.ac.at.
| 127

Appendix B:

OTA on the Internet:

The Native American

Resource Page

uring the course of the OTA’s study on

Telecommunications Technology and

Native Americans, the project staff frequently used the Internet, a global computer network, as a research and outreach tool.

Project staff found that Internet access to World

Wide Web (WWW) computer sites—using

browsers such as Mosaic, Netscape, or Cello—

was the most user-friendly application. These

WWW browsers combine text and graphics to

lead users through the Internet maze and help locate specific points of interest. WWW browsers

help users connect directly to File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Gopher, Telnet, and WWW sites

around the world.

To fully use the Internet, OTA staff created the

Native American Resource Page. This WWW

home page is a directory of many electronic resources related to or of interest to Native Americans and indigenous peoples. In addition to project information, more than 50 FTP, Gopher and

WWW sites can be accessed directly through this

page. The Native American Resource Page can be

accessed by the public at the following address

(known as a uniform resource locator (URL)):

http://www.ota.gov/nativea.html.

The Native American Resource Page is a subsection of the Office of Technology Assessment

WWW home page. The URL for the OTA home

page is http://www.ota.gov/. The structure of the

information in the OTA home page is outlined in

the chart.
128 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

The Native American Resource Page includes

short descriptions about each linked site. These

descriptions highlight the information contained

at each location and provide a hypertext link to

that site. Clicking the mouse pointer on the highlighted text (also known as a hypertext link) connects the user to the computer at the remote site.

This action begins the information transfer process. The pictures below illustrate this by showing

each computer screen exactly as a user would see

it. From the Native American Resource Page the

Oneida Nation home page can be selected. Note

that when the mouse pointer comes in contact with

the hypertext link it changes from an arrow to the

image of a hand.
Appendix B OTA on the lnternet: The Native American Resource Page 1129

After the user selects the link by clicking the information returned is the home page, Gopher

mouse button, a command that is encoded in the

.— menu, or ITP directory stored at that location. Behypertext is sent to the URL or site address re- low is the Oneida Nation home page that has been

questing access to the information at that site. The transferred to the user’s computer.
130 I Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

The Mind, Body, and Spirit page also has a link planation of its significance and uses for the Oneito information about the Oneida Nation Council da people. This page also contains a link to inHouse, The Council House page has a short ex- formation about the legend of the Oneida Stone.
Appendix B OTA on the Internet: The Native American Resource Page | 131

From the first page of the Oneida Nation home

page, the user can take a tour of the Oneida Nation

by clicking on the Mind, Body, and Spirit link as

shown in the example below. This transfers an

image of the Oneida Nation Cook and Council

Houses and gives a short description of some of

the Oneida beliefs.
132 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans:

Opportunities and Challenges

Project Information:

The Office of Technology Assessment conducted a study titled Telecommunications Technology

and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges, at the request of the Senate Committee on

Indian Affairs. For further information about this study, the project proposal and summary can be

found on OTA’s ftp server.

OTA Home Page URL: http://www.ota.gov/

OTA ftp server URL: ftp://otabbs.ota.gov/

Online Resource Categories:

Government Resources

Art and Cultural Resources

Academic Resources

Organizations and Networks

Miscellaneous

Clicking on the icon will return you to this category listing.
Appendix B OTA on the Internet: The Native American Resource Page | 133

GOVERNMENT RESOURCES:

 The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) home page provides information about ANA

programs and staff.

ANA URL: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/ACFPrograms/ANA

 The Indian Health Service (IHS) has established an agency home page that contains detailed

information about IHS services and staff, and an on-line tour of IHS.

IHS URL: http://www.tucson.ihs.gov

 The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) home page contains information about BIA services and

staff, and a link to other BIA WWW resources such as the Division of Energy and Mineral Resources home page.

BIA URL: http://info.er.usgs.gov/doi/bureau-indian-affairs.html

BIA Energy and Mineral Resources URL: http://snake2.cr.usgs.gov

 The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management has an Internet site called

the Native American Information Forum covering topics such as Government to Government

relations, the Indian Minerals Steering Committee, and the Native American Graves Protection

and Repatriation Act.

Native American Information Forum URL: http://napo1.napa.nm.bim.gov/naif.html

 The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Program (OIEP) has a WWW site that

provides information on the mission, goals, programs, and activities of OEIP.

Office of Indian Education Programs URL: http://oiep.unm.edu/oiep/home.html

 The Oneida Nation of New York home page provides information on the history and culture

of the Oneida Nation as well as a project to archive and disseminate Indian treaties.

Oneida Nation URL: http://nysernet.org/oneida/

 The Citizen Band Potawatomi Tribe WWW site includes a brief tribal history, an explanation

of the tribal name, a description of the tribal seal, and a link to other Native American resources

via the Yahoo Directory.

Citizen Band Potawatomi URL: http://www.qns.com/~barrettj/homepage.htm

 The United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) home page, sponsored by the Oneida Nation of

New York, includes information about the USET organization, membership, resolutions, and

links to other Native resources.

USET URL: http://oneida-nation.org/uset/uset.htm

 The United Keetoowah Band WWW site contains information on the tribal offices, council,

committees, and news, and the proceedings of a Native American symposium.

The United Keetoowah Band URL: http://www.uark.edu/depts/comminfo/ukb/welcome.html

 The Great Sioux Nation of Sough Dakota has created a home page that provides a glimpse into

Sioux history and culture.

Sioux Nation URL: http://www.state.sd.us/state/executive/tourism/sioux/sioux.htm

 The Nation of Hawaii WWW site includes information on the legal foundation for the restoration of Hawaiian independence.

Nation of Hawaii URL: http://hawaii-nation.org/nation
134 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

ART AND CULTURAL RESOURCES:

 The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) site provides information and views of

some exhibits from the George Gustav Heye Center at the historic Alexander Hamilton U.S.

Customs House in lower Manhattan.

NMAI URL: http://www.si.edu/organiza/museums/amerind/start.htm

 The Rainbow Walker Music Home Page specializes in traditional and contemporary Native

American music and music education.

Rainbow Walker URL: http://www.teleport.com/~rnbowlkr/

 The Aboriginal Art Gallery includes the works of Canadian artists Sydney Kirkness and Fred

Pashe, provided in cooperation with the Aboriginal Super Information Highway.

Aboriginal Art Gallery URL: http://Alpha.Remcan.Ca/abinfohwy/aboartgl/

 The Native American Literature site, developed by Glenn Welker, includes stories, poetry, music, speeches, documents, earth prayers, and writings of Native youth.

Native American Lit. URL: http://ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu:80/~marc/natlit/native_lit_main.html

 The Canadian Native Art Page highlights the works of artists from the Caribou region of British

Columbia, and includes a variety of art forms such as paintings, carvings, chalk, and pen and

ink.

Canadian Native Art Page URL: http://vortex.netbistro.com/pg/natart.html

 The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center page provides information on and directions to each Pueblo,

a description of Cultural Center facilities, and lessons on Pueblo etiquette and rules.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center URL: http://hanksville.phast.umass.edu/defs/independent/

PCC/PCC.html

 The American Indian Computer Arts Project (AICAP), created by Turtle Heart, an Ojibwe artist, facilitates the exchange of ideas on Native American art topics and issues and sharing of

artwork.

AICAP URL: http://www/mit/edu:8001/activities/aises/aicap/archive/aicap.html

 The Native American Art and Education Center, offered by the Powersource Gallery, includes

a collection of Native American artistic symbols.

Native American Art and Education Center URL: http://www.powersource.com/powersource/

gallery/default.html

 The Ojibwe Language and Culture Page provides an introduction to the Ojibwe language and

culture.

Ojbiwe Language and Culture URL: http://www.williamette.edu/~tjones/languages/ojibwemain.html

 The American Indian Culture Page includes links to Native cultural information such as the BIA

home page, Institute of American Indian Arts, American Indian Art Museum, and results of

a Webcrawler search on Native Americans.

American Indian Culture Page URL: http://LAHS.LosAlamos.K12.nm.us:80/sunrise/work/

piaseckj/homepage.html
Appendix B OTA on the Internet: The Native American Resource Page | 135

 The Native American Art Gallery (NAAG) provides authentic, finished American Indian art

along with the NAAG newsletter, a statement from the NAAG president, and a guided tour of

the gallery.

NAAG URL: http://www.netroam.com/NAAG/index.html

 The Heard Museum home page provides information about museum programs and activities;

the museum specializes in Native American and Southwestern material, both historical and

contemporary.

Heard Museum URL: http://hanksville.phast.umass.edu/defs/independent/Heard/Heard.html

 The Electric Gallery provides an opportunity to view and purchase Southwestern artwork from

your desktop computer.

Electric Gallery URL: http://www.egallery.com/egallery/magic.html

 The California Indian Library Collection home page includes information on California Indian

cultural materials, tribal bibliographies, a short illustrated text on California Indian basketry,

and more.

California Indian Library URL: http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc/brochure/brochure.html

 The Wabimeguil Art Home Page features the artwork of the Cree Indian artist Wabimeguil, and

offers a tour of the gallery, information on the artist, and a means to purchase art from your desktop computer.

Wabimeguil URL: http://sol.worldlinx.com/wabimeguil

ACADEMIC RESOURCES:

 The National Indian Policy Center (NIPC), located at The George Washington University,

maintains a gopher server with information on Indian culture, education, economic development, environmental protection, and governance, and is accessible through the Library of Congress. New and “hot” information can be found under the heading “Useful Data”.

NIPC URL: gopher://gwis.circ.gwu.edu.:70/11/Centers%2c%20Institutes%2c%20and

%20Research%20at%20GWU/Centers%20and%20Institutes/National%20Indian

%20Policy%20Center

 The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) home page has information on

the mission, goals, and organization of AIHEC, and mailing addresses of the AIHEC tribal colleges.

AIHEC URL: http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/AIHEC/aihec.html

 The Salish Kootenai College, located in Pablo, Montana, on the Flathead Indian Reservation,

operates a WWW site that provides information on the tribal college mission, goals, programs,

and campus.

Salish Kootenai College URL: http://www.skc.edu/

 The Native Education Initiative (NEI) site provides information about this collaborative effort

among regional educational laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office

of Educational Research and Improvement, and links to Native educational resources in the

Southwestern Region.

NEI URL: http://diogenes.sedl.org/NEI.html
136 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

 Cornell University maintains a file transfer protocol site with information on tribal college addresses, federally recognized tribes (with phone numbers and addresses), examples of Native

fonts for Macintosh and Windows, and the Native American Newsletter.

Cornell University URL: ftp://ftp.cit.cornell.edu/pub/special/NativeProfs

 The Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College site includes information about the college,

an Ojibwe to English (and vice versa) translator, and other American Indian materials.

Fond du Lac URL: http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us

 The Educational Native American Network (ENAN), located at the University of New Mexico’s College of Education, provides access to information about ENAN history, goals, and

plans, and to the ENAN hot list that includes connections to organizations involved with American Indian education.

ENAN URL: http://oeip.enm.edu/enan/home.html

 The American Indian College Fund home page includes the annual report and information from

a consortium of U.S. colleges operated by tribes for their own students but open to all.

American Indian College Fund URL: http://hanksville.phast.umass.edu/defs/independent/

AICF.html

 The Navajo Community College, the first tribally controlled college to be established in the

United States, maintains a home page with information about the college campus and curriculum.

Navajo Community College URL: http://hanksville.phast.umass.edu/defs/NCC.html

 The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) also maintains a home page with information about education programs and curriculum.

SIPI URL: http://kafka.sipi.tec.nm.us/homepage.html

 Native Americans at Princeton, a student organization and support group, maintains a home

page with information and links on various Native American topics.

Native Americans at Princeton URL: http://www.princeton.edu/~naap/index.html

 The Native Book Centre is a mail order house for Native books with an on-line catalog containing over 1,100 titles (books, videos, audio tapes) on Native American topics.

The Native Book Centre URL: http://www.9to5.com/9to5/NBC

 The University of Arizona’s American Indian Studies Program has a home page with information on the program, American Indian Graduate Center, Native American Resource Center, and

Pow Wows, and a link to Red Ink, a Native American online publication.

The University of Arizona’s American Indian Studies Program URL: http://aisp.harvill.arizona.edu

Red Ink URL: http://grad.admin.arizona.edu/AIGC/RedInk/RED_INK.HOMEPAGE.HTML

 How2 is an online tutorial for creating WWW pages and was created to assist Indian schools

and students gain access to Internet resources.

The How2 URL: http://hanksville.phast.umass.edu/~pgiese

 The ‘Arctic Circle’ WWW Site is intended to increase interest in the peoples and environment

of the Arctic and Subarctic regions, with a strong focus on indigenous Alaskans.

The Arctic Circle URL: http://spirit.lib.uconn.edu/Arctic Circle/
Appendix B OTA on the Internet: The Native American Resource Page | 137

ORGANIZATIONS AND NETWORKS:

 The Society of Native American Culture (SNAC) headquartered at North Carolina State University maintains a WWW site with information about SNAC goals, officers, members, meetings, upcoming events, and links to other Native American organizations.

Society of Native American Culture URL: http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/stud_orgs/native_american/index.html

 The Fourth World Documentation Project (FWDP) maintains an online archive with over 300

documents on Fourth World Nations in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, Melanasia, and the

Pacific. The archive includes essays, position papers, resolutions, treaties, and the like, including Navajo-Hopi Land Commission papers and National Congress of American Indians resolutions under FWDP/Americas/Resolutions.

FWDP URL: http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/fwdp.html

 Electronic Pathways, a group developing a national electronic infrastructure for Native Americans, has a WWW site with information on Electronic Pathways goals and activities.

Electronic Pathways URL: http://hanksville.phast.umass.edu/defs/independent/ElecPath/

elecpath.html

 The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) WWW site includes information about AISES goals and local chapters as well as a jobs database and links to other sites.

AISES URL: http://bioc02.uthscsa.edu/aisesnet.html

 The Extension Indian Reservation Program (EIRP) gopher site includes information on tribal

and federal courts, grants, events in Indian country, Native American literature, and links to

the Native Education Centre, Enviro Link, and the Institute for Global Communications,

among others.

EIRP URL: gopher://134.121.80.31:70/1/eirp/eirp.70

 The Native American Net Server is a gopher site with information on Indian law, Native American newsletters, job opportunities, Native American fonts, and electronic bulletin board connections.

Native American Net Server URL: gopher://alpha1.csd.uwm.edu:70/11/UWM%20Information/Native%20American%20Net%20Server

 The Inter-tribal Network is a gopher site with information on Native American book reviews,

law, legislation, and grant opportunities.

Inter-tribal Network URL: gopher://cscns.com:70/11/News%20and%20Information

 The Native American Rights Fund (NARF), a nonprofit organization that defends and promotes

the legal rights of Indians, maintains a home page describing the NARF mission, goals, and

activities.

NARF URL: http://hanksville.phast.umass.edu/misc/NARF.html

 The NativeNet Information Network, part of NativeNet coordinated by Gary Trujillo, permits

users to browse through information resources on indigenous peoples around the world.

NativeNet URL: http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/~marc/native_main.html

 The Urban Native Education Society, Native Education Centre maintains a gopher site with reviews of books and films with native themes, a collection of speeches on Native issues, and

various FreeNet information.

Native Education Centre URL: gopher://gopher.native-ed.bc.ca
138 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

 CodeTalk, named after the Native American code talkers (heroes of two world wars), provides

information on government programs, electronic consultation, and links to other Native American Internet sites.

CodeTalk URL: http://www.codetalk.fed.us/

 The Native American Journalist Association (NAJA) WWW site includes information about

NAJA, news from The Native Voice newspaper, and links to Internet sites of interest to Native

American journalists.

The NAJA URL: http://www.medill.new.edu/naja

MISCELLANEOUS:

 Several Internet listservs, newsgroups, and FTP sites address Native American issues, and can

be located under the Native Indian and Alaskan networks heading of the following URL.

Misc. URL: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/am/amcgee/indigenous/

 A list of Bulletin Board Systems/Services in North America that are either operated by or oriented toward indigenous peoples, accessible by modem or Internet, can be located at the following URL.

Misc. URL: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/am/amcgee/indigenous/

my_indigenous_related_lists/natvbbs.msg

This Native American Resource Page was prepared by Karla Breitbach (kbreitbach@ota.gov).

Last updated June 27, 1995.

For an update on the current status of the Resource Page, or to suggest additions and revisions,

please send an Internet message to kbreitbach@ota.gov.
| 139

Appendix C:

Native American

Telecommunications

Infrastructure:

Survey Instrument

his is an illustrative survey instrument that

could be used or adapted by Native organizations and/or appropriate federal agencies to

obtain information on telecommunications infrastructure and services available to Native Americans.

Thank you for volunteering to respond to this survey.

The [Native American organization or federal

agency or Native research group] is seeking information on the telecommunication services available to

Native Americans living in rural, remote areas on

American Indian reservations, in Alaska Native villages, and in Native Hawaiian communities. This information will help us analyze the potential of telecommunications to meet Native American needs for

cultural preservation, education, community wellness, economic development, and governance.

This survey is being provided, via the Internet

where feasible, to persons who have volunteered to

compile this information for specific reservations, villages, or communities. We will mail or fax the survey

to respondents without Internet access. You may respond by sending your information to [Internet address, fax and phone numbers, mailing address of organization or agency conducting the survey].

We would appreciate receiving your response by

[date selected].

Thanks very much for your participation.

A. NAME AND ADDRESS OF TRIBE, NATION,

VILLAGE, OR COMMUNITY:

Name_____________________________________

Address ___________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Person(s) responding to this survey:

Name_____________________________________

Address if different from above_________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Phone No.__________________________________

Fax No.____________________________________

Internet electronic mail address_________________

Dial-up electronic mail address

and phone number___________________________

B. BASIC TELEPHONE PROVIDER AND SERVICE

Name and address of telephone company(ies) serving

your reservation, village, or community:

Name_____________________________________
140 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Address ___________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Phone No.__________________________________

Fax No.____________________________________

Is this telephone company (write ‘yes’ where applicable):

_____ fully tribally owned?1

_____ partially tribally owned?

_____ tribally operated?

_____ staffed by tribal members?

What percentage of tribal homes and businesses have

telephones?

_____ % homes

_____ % businesses

For homes without phones, which reasons apply? If

more than one reason applies, please rank 1, 2, 3 . . .

where 1 is the most important.

_____ do not want phone

_____ phone service too expensive

_____ phone service not available

_____ other reason (please state)

Please indicate the type of telephone services available to tribal homes and businesses (write ‘H’ for

homes, ‘B’ for businesses, ‘H-B’ for both).

_____ basic single-line service

_____ basic party-line service

_____ touchtone service

_____ call-waiting service

_____ voice mail service

_____ digital data communication

C. OTHER TELECOMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS

Please indicate which of the following telecommunication and information services are used by your local high school, community college, library, hospital,

and tribal government (write ‘S’ for local K-12 school,

‘C’ for community college, ‘L’ for library, ‘H’ for hospital, and ‘G’ for local government):

_____ personal computers

_____ CD-ROM

computer networking—

_____ Internet

_____ electronic mail

_____ electronic bulletin board

videoconferencing—

_____ 1-way video, 2-way audio

_____ 2-way video

_____ slow scan video

_____ full motion video

_____ over telephone lines

_____ over satellite links

_____ over fiber optic link

D. PERSONAL COMPUTERS IN THE HOME AND

BUSINESS

Please indicate the percentage of homes and businesses that have microcomputers and modems:

percentage with personal computers

_____ % homes

_____ % businesses

percentage with modems

_____ % homes

_____ % businesses

E. CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE

Name and address of cable television company(ies)

serving your reservation, village, or community:

Name _____________________________________

Address____________________________________

__________________________________________

Phone No.__________________________________

Fax No.____________________________________

Is this cable TV company (write ‘yes’ where applicable):

_____ fully tribally owned?

_____ partially tribally owned?

_____ tribally operated?

_____ staffed by tribal members?

1 NOTE: Throughout this survey instrument, please interpret “tribe” to mean, as appropriate for your own geographic location, American

Indian tribe or Nation, Alaska Native tribe or village, or Native Hawaiian community (to the extent applicable).
Appendix C Native American Telecommunications Infrastructure: Illustrative Survey Instrument | 141

What percentage of tribal homes have cable TV?

_____ % homes

For homes without cable TV, which reasons apply? If

more than one reason applies, please rank 1, 2, 3 . . .

where 1 is the most important.

_____ do not want cable TV

_____ cable TV service too expensive

_____ cable TV service not available

_____ other reason (please state)

For areas with cable TV service, please indicate:

_____ number of channels of basic TV service

_____ number of public access channels

_____ number of premium or pay TV channels

F. OVER-THE-AIR BROADCASTING SERVICES

_____ Does your area receive over-the-air broadcast television signals (yes or no)?

_____ If yes, how many channels can be received?

_____ % What percentage of tribal homes have a

television?

For homes without a TV, which reasons apply? If more

than one reason applies, please rank 1, 2, 3... where

1 is the most important.

_____ do not want TV

_____ cannot afford TV set

_____ too few or no TV signals available

_____ other reason (please state)

_____ Does your area receive over-the-air radio signals (yes or no)?

_____ If yes, how many stations can be received?

_____ % What percentage of tribal homes have a radio?

For homes without a radio, which reasons apply? If

more than one reason applies, please rank 1, 2,

3 . . . where 1 is the most important.

_____ do not want radio

_____ cannot afford radio receiver

_____ too few or no radio stations available

_____ other reason (please state)

_____ Does your area have a local radio station (yes

or no)?

If yes, is this radio station (write ‘yes’ where applicable):

_____ fully tribally owned?

_____ partially tribally owned?

_____ tribally operated?

_____ staffed by tribal members?

Name and address of local radio station:

Name _____________________________________

Address ___________________________________

__________________________________________

Phone No.__________________________________

Fax No.____________________________________

G. DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE AND

WIRELESS SERVICES

Does your area have (write ‘yes’ where applicable):

_____ direct broadcast satellite television service?

_____ satellite telephone service?

_____ cellular telephone service?

_____ pager service?

If yes to any of the above, please list the company(ies)

providing service below:

Name_____________________________________

Address ___________________________________

__________________________________________

Phone: ____________________________________

Fax:_______________________________________

H. TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLANNING

Does your tribe, village, or community have (write

‘yes’ where applicable):

_____ a telecommunications plan

_____ a telecommunications planning committee

or council

_____ a telecommunications training program

_____ a telecommunications educational program

at a community college or high school

If yes, please provide details.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
| 143

Appendix D:

Reviewers and

Contributors

Bob Arnold

National Indian Policy Center

Washington, DC

Carl Artman

Federal Affairs

Oneida Tribe of Indians of

Wisconsin

Washington, DC

Rob Billingsley

National Museum of the

American Indian

Smithsonian Institution

Washington, DC

John Billison

Office of the President/

Vice President

Navajo Nation

Window Rock, AZ

Joseph Binder

Rural Development

Administration

Department of Agriculture

Washington, DC

Frank Blythe

Native American Public

Broadcasting Consortium

Lincoln, NE

Bill Bonner

Geographic Data Service Center

Office of Trust and Economic

Development,

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Lakewood, CO

David O. Born

Department of American Indian

Studies

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

William Bostwick

Computer Information and

Communications Division

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Department of Energy

Los Alamos, NM

Jim Bradley

United Native American

Telecommunications

Burlington, WA

James Broshar

Rocky Mountain

Telecommunications 

Association

Scottsdale, AZ

Arlene Brown

Office of Self-Governance

Department of the Interior

Washington, DC

Karen Buller

Electronic Pathways Alliance

Santa Fe, NM

Francine Campone

South Dakota School of Mines

and Technology

Rapid City, SD
144 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Martin Cary

North Slope Borough School

District

Barrow, AK

Jim Casey

Fletcher, Heald, and Hildreth

Rosslyn, VA

Ken Chandler

Rural Utilities Service

Department of Agriculture

Washington, DC

Robey Clark

Indian Education Program

Northwest Regional Education

Laboratory

Portland, OR

Ray Cook

Indigenous Communications

Association

Hogansburg, NY

John Cordova

Communications Consultant

Albuquerque, NM

Gary Coulter

on leave from Colorado State

University

NASA

Washington, DC

Scott Crawford

Nation of Hawai’i

Waimanalo, HI

Norm DeWeaver

Indian and Native American

Employment and Training

Coalition

Washington, DC

Roger Dube

IBM Manufacturing Technology

Center

Boca Raton, FL

Andrew Duff

Forest Products Laboratory

USDA Forest Service

Madison, WI

Jerry Elliott

Assistant Chief Technologist

NASA Johnson Space Center

Houston, TX

Gary Emery

Forestry Division

Hoopa Valley Tribal Council

Hoopa, CA

Nadine Epstein

National Rural Electric

Cooperative Association

Washington, DC

Sandra Ferguson

Hobbs, Straus, Dean and Walker

Washington, DC

Patrick Finn

La Plaza Telecommunity

Foundation

Taos, NM

Jack Frisch

University of WisonsinGreen Bay

Green Bay, WI

Karen Funk

Hobbs, Straus, Dean and Walker

Washington, DC

Angele Gilroy

Science Policy Research

Division

Congressional Research Service

Washington, DC

John Goes In Center

Innovative GIS Solutions

Ft. Collins, CO

Emilio Gonzalez

National Telecommunications

and Information

Administration

Department of Commerce

Washington, DC

Steve Grey

Native American Programs

Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory

Department of Energy

Livermore, CA

Ladonna Harris

Americans for Indian

Opportunity

Bernalillo, NM

Charles Head

Cherokee Nation

Tahlequah, OK

Irene Herder

Navajo Nation Washington

Office

Washington, DC

Teresa Hopkins

Agency Network Project

Navajo Nation

AZ, NM, UT
Appendix D Reviewers and Contributors | 145

Clifford Houlihan

Telecommunications Consultant

Inchelium, WA

Tim Housare

Fort Apache Scout Magazine

White River, AZ

Wendy Huff

Native American SUNY:

Western Consortium

SUNY College-Fredonia,

Fredonia, NY and

Tribal Council, Seneca Nation,

Irving, NY

Carolyn K. Imamura

Pacific Basin Development

Council

Honolulu, HI

Jake Jacobson

Advanced Communications

Laboratory

NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA

Duane G. Johnson

GTE Telephone Operations

Irving, TX

W. Chris Jones

GTE Telephone Operations

Irving, TX

Michael Keith

Boston College

Boston, MA

Jean Kelley

Archeological Assistance

Division

National Park Service

Washington, DC

Ellen R. Kemper

Attorney

Santa Fe, NM

Clara Sue Kidwell

National Museum of the

American Indian

Smithsonian Institution

Washington, DC

Denise Bambi Kraus

National Indian Policy Center

Washington, DC

Tommy Lewis

Navajo Community College

Tsaile, AZ

Alex Lookingelk

Native American Public

Broadcasting Consortium,

Lincoln, NE; and

EDA Program, Standing Rock

Sioux Tribe, Ft. Yates, ND

Eugene Lott

Educational Native American

Network

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM

Phillip Martin

Mississippi Band of

Choctaw Indians

Philadelphia, MS

Robert Mathews

International Community

Interconnected Computing

eXchange

The Pacific Network

Consortium, Ltd.

Honolulu, HI

Marvin P. Mitchell

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, MN

Fred Nahwooksy

Oneida Cultural Center

Oneida, WI

Emo Notah

American Indian Science and

Engineering Society

Boulder, CO

Frank Odasz

Big Sky Telegraph

Western Montana College of the

University of Montana

Dillon, MT

Joseph Orozco

California Indian Radio Project

and Indigenous

Communications Association

Hoopa, CA

Robert Peters

Rural Utilities Service

Department of Agriculture

Washington, DC

Stanley Pino

Pueblo of Zia

Zia, NM

Jean Armour Polly

NYSERNet, Inc.

Liverpool, NY

Larry Povich

Common Carrier Bureau

Federal Communications

Commission

Washington, DC
146 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Jerry Reynolds

First Nations Development

Institute

Fredericksburg, VA

Jeff Richardson

Tundra Times

Anchorage, AK

Frank Riley

Information Resources

Management

Health, Education, and Human

Services Group

General Accounting Office

Washington, DC

Roanne Robinson

National Telecommunications

and Information

Administration

Department of Commerce

Washington, DC

Jorge Reina Schement

School of Communication

Information and Library Studies

Rutgers University

New Brunswick, NJ

Robert Shelton

Gila River Telecommunications,

Inc.

Chandler, AZ

Ben Sherman

Western American Indian

Chamber

Denver, CO

Quanah Stamps

Native American Affairs

Small Business Administration

Washington, DC

John Tahsuda

Holland and Hart

Denver, CO

Don Thornton

American Indian TV

Bellflower, CA

Frank Tyro

Salish Kootenai College

Pablo, MT

Dan Umstead

Oneida Indian Nation of New

York

Oneida, NY

Elizabeth Valinoti

National Exchange Carrier

Association

Washington, DC

Roger Walke

Congressional Research Service

Washington, DC

Orna Weinroth

National Indian Policy Center

Washington, DC

Beth Wenstrom

Land Titles and Records

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Sacramento, CA

Doni Wilder

Northwest Portland Area Indian

Health Board

Portland, OR

J. D. Williams

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

Telephone Authority

Eagle Butte, SD

OTA WORKSHOP ON FEDERAL

AGENCY PROGRAMS SERVING

NATIVE AMERICANS

James Cain

Information Resources

Management Office

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Department of the Interior

Veletta Canouts

Archeological Assistance

Division

National Park Service

Department of the Interior

Thomas Dowd

Indian and Native American

Programs Division

Office of Special Targeted

Programs

Employment and Training

Administration

Department of Labor

James Garvie

Office of Information Resources

Management

Indian Health Service

Department of Health and

Human Services
Appendix D Reviewers and Contributors | 147

Charles Geboe

Elementary and Secondary

Branch

Office of Indian Education

Programs

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Department of the Interior

Richard Harland

Public Telecommunications

Facilities Program

Office of Telecommunications

and Information Applications

National Telecommunications

and Information

Administration

Department of Commerce

John Jollie

Division of Indian Business

Utilization

Office of Economic

Development

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Department of the Interior

Robert Kelly

Local Technical Assistance

Program

Office of Technology

Applications

Federal Highway Administration

Department of Transportation

Jim Kohlmoos

Office of Indian Affairs

Department of Education

Margo Leydic-Boyd

Office of Program Operations

Economic Development

Administration

Department of Commerce

Millie Mateu

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration

Sharon McCully

Administration for Native

Americans

Department of Health and

Human Services

William Mehojah

Office of Indian Education

Programs

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Department of the Interior

Sam Morgan

Rural Utilities Service

Department of Agriculture

Caren Rothstein

American Indian Environmental

Office

Environmental Protection

Agency

Nora Sabelli

Networking Infrastructure for

Education

Education and Human Resources

Directorate

National Science Foundation

Tom Tate

Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension

Service

Department of Agriculture

Robert Washington

Office of Indian Education

Department of Education

Richard Wilson

Division of Energy and Mineral

Resources

Office of Trust Responsibility

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Department of the Interior

OTA SITE VISIT TO KOTZEBUE,

ALASKA

Richard H. Erlich

State of Alaska Superior Court

Sonny Harris

Maniilaq Association

Lynn Johnson

Chukchi College

Frank Kramer

Maniilaq Association Hospital

Ben Phillips

OTZ Telephone Cooperative

Gladys Pungowiyi

Maniilaq Association

Whitham D. Reeve

Reeve Consulting Engineering

OTA SITE VISIT TO FLATHEAD AND

CROW INDIAN RESERVATIONS,

MONTANA

Patty Claremont

Bureau of Indian Affairs

James D. Ereaux

Salish Kootenai College

Flathead Indian Reservation

Paul Eve

Salish Kootenai College

Flathead Indian Reservation

Kevin Howlett

Indian Health Service

Flathead Indian Reservation
148 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Jay Jolly

St. Luke Community Hospital

Joseph McDonald

Salish Kootenai College

Flathead Indian Reservation

Earl R. Owens

Blackfoot Telephone

Cooperative, Inc.

Michael Pablo

Flathead Indian Reservation

Frank Tyro

Salish Kootenai College

Flathead Indian Reservation

Janine Windy-Boy

Little Big Horn College

Crow Indian Reservation

OTA SITE VISIT TO THE DAKOTAS

Oglala Lakota College, Pine Ridge

Indian Reservation, Kyle, SD

Reginald Cedar Face

Indian Health Service

Anthony J. Fresquez

Oglala Lakota College

John Haas

Oglala Lakota College

Ted Hamilton

Learning Resource Center

Oglala Lakota College

Jeff Fransen

Office of Sen. Tom Daschle

David Osborne

Indian Health Service

Lamoine Pulliam

Oglala Lakota College

Jack R. Runnels

Economic Development

Authority

Oglala Sioux Tribe

Pat Spears

Presentation Health Systems

Art Zimiga

Public Relations

Oglala Lakota College

Sinte Gleska University, Rosebud

Indian Reservation, Rosebud, SD

Robin Ball

Rosebud Sioux Tribe

Ted Bogda

St. Francis Indian School

Rod Bordeaux

Indian Health Service

Dave Brushbreaker

Tribal Education

Rosebud Sioux Tribe

Jeff Fransen

Office of Sen. Tom Daschle

George Ludvik

Management Information

Systems

Sinte Gleske University

Robert D. Moore

Sinte Gleske University

Al Spang

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Pat Spears

Presentation Health Systems

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, 

Tribal Administration Building,

Eagle Butte, SD

Ed H. Banley

Management Information

Systems

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

Dean C. Hubbard

Consultant to Cheyenne River

Sioux Tribe

Bill Jandreau

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

Telephone Authority

Carol Little Wounded

Cheyenne River Community

College

Russell J. McClure

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Pat Spears

Presentation Health Systems

Caroline Thorsen

Bureau of Indian Affairs
Appendix D Reviewers and Contributors | 149

J. D. Williams

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

Telephone Authority

Standing Rock College, Standing

Rock Indian Reservation

Ft. Yates, ND

Dave Archambault

Standing Rock College

Alex Lookingelk

Tribal Planning

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

Madonna Peltier Yawakie

US West Communications

Turtle Mountain Community

College, Turtle Mountain Indian

Reservation, Belcourt, ND

Stan Campbell

Turtle Mountain Community

School

Carol Davis

Turtle Mountain Community

College

Rose Linnertz

Turtle Mountain Community

College

Duane Marcellais

Indian Health Service

Leland Nadeau

Turtle Mountain Band of

Chippewa Indians

Randy Olson

Student

Robert Upton

Turtle Mountain Community

College

Madonna Peltier Yawakie

US West Communications

OTA SITE VISIT TO THE HAWAIIAN

ISLANDS

University of Hawaii at Manoa,

School of Medicine, Oahu Island

Christian L. Gulbrandsen

School of Medicine

Gwyn Hirasa

GTE Hawaiian Telephone

Dana Ichinotsubo

School of Medicine

Roy Kitagawa

GTE Hawaiian Telephone

Burt Lum

GTE Hawaiian Telephone

Clifford M. Miyake

GTE Hawaiian Telephone

Dexter Wong

Apple Computer, Inc.

Sei Jeong Yee

Four D Computers

Jon N. Yokoyama

GTE Hawaiian Telephone

Maui Research and Technology

Park, Kihei, Maui Island

Bob Agres

Community Based Economic

Development Program

State of Hawaii

William Chang

Hina-malailene

David B. Fisher

Small Business Development

Center

Colette Y. Machado

Alan T. Murakami

Christine van Bergeijk

Office of Hawaiian Affairs

State of Hawaii

Kamehameha Schools,

Honolulu, Oahu

Rodney Park

Information Systems

Lance Tachino

Educational Technology

Garrett Yoshimoto

Communications Support

Hawaii Information Network

Corporation, Honolulu

Allan V. Kickertz
150 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Arthur F. Koga

Craig S. Yonamine

Comsat Earth Station, Paumalu,

Oahu

Stan Holt

Alu Like, Inc., Honolulu

Haunani Apoliona

Loretta Beralas

David Kamiyama

Jonn Logan

Jim Moikeha

Analika Nahulu

Herb Randall

Robert M. Velligas

Winona Whitman

Hawaiian Community Service

Providers (at Alu Like), Honolulu

Haunani Apoliona

Alu Like, Inc.

Tom Dinell

Catholic Charities

Babette L Galang

Office of Hawaiian Affairs

State of Hawaii

Heather Haunani Giugni

Juniroa Productions, Inc.

Mahealani Kamauu

Native Hawaiian Legal

Corporation

Analika Nahulu

Hale Ola Hoopakolea, Inc

Winona E. Rubin

Department of Human Services

State of Hawaii

Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 

State of Hawaii, Honolulu

Keola Donaghy

Hale Kuamoo

Lui K. Hokoana

Maui Community College

Dennis Kawahasada

Polynesian Voyaging Society

Keiki Kawaiaea

Hale Kuamoo

David Lassner

Information Technology

University of Hawaii

James Perry

Office of Hawaiian Affairs

University of Hawaii at Hilo,

The Big Island

Raymond Busniewski

Gerald DeMello

University of Hawaii at Hilo

Jim Hunt

Honokaa High School

David Lovell

Keao NeSmith

Robert T. Okuda

Media Services

University of Hawaii at Hilo

David Sing

Center for Gifted Hawaiian

Children

University of Hawaii at Hilo

Hui Malama Ola Na Oiwi,

Hilo, The Big Island

Everett “Sonny” Kahiliokalani

Kinney

Honokaa High School, Honokaa,

The Big Island

Jim Hunt

Ku Kahakalau

GTE Hawaiian Telephone

Lester K.W. Chu

Clifford Miyake

William R. Santos

Jenny M. Wong

Jon H. Yokoyama

Tripler Army Hospital, Honolulu

Cal Delaplain

Tripler Hospital

U.S. Army

Tommy Driskill

Tripler Hospital

U.S. Army
Appendix D Reviewers and Contributors | 151

James E. Hastings

Tripler Hospital

U.S. Army

Charles Jones

Tripler Hospital

U.S. Army

Barry Raff

Veterans Administration

Robert Whang

Veterans Administration

Telecommunications Carriers,

Honolulu

Bruce M. Holdridge

Oceanic Cable TV Company

(Time Warner)

J. Douglas Ing, Esq.

Watanabe, Ing & Kawashima

Linda O’Day

AT&T

Economic Development Groups,

Honolulu

Stephen B. Harkness

Pacific Telecommunications

Council

Carolyn K. Imamura

Pacific Basin Development

Council

Rita Hocog Inos

Pacific Region Educational

Laboratory

Brian K. Martin

Martin Information Systems, Ltd.

Michael R. Ogden

Center for Pacific Islands Studies

University of Hawaii at Manoa

JoAnn Tsark

Governor’s Pacific Health

Promotion and Development

Center

Molokai Island

Donna Haytko-Paoa

Maui Community College

W.C. McElhannon

Mokokai General Hospital

Oboy Pedro

Alu Like

John R. Sabas

Department of Business

Economic Development, and

Tourism

State of Hawaii

Clyde Sakamoto

Maui Community College

Kauai Community College,

Lihue, Kauai Island

Ilei Beniamina

Kauai Community College

Dennis Chun

Kauai Community College

David Iha

Kauai Community College

Tom Kajihara

Kauai Community College

Sue Kanoho

Kauai Economic Development

Board

Earl Nishiguchi

Kauai Community College

Tamara Oura

Kauai Economic Development

Board

Glenn H. Sato

Kauai Office of Economic

Development

Francis Takahashi

Kauai Community College

OTA SITE VISIT TO NEW YORK

STATE

NYSERNet

Waldo Babcock

NYSERNet, Inc.

Liverpool, NY

Wendy Huff

Native American SUNY:

Western Consortium

SUNY College-Fredonia,

Fredonia, NY

and Tribal Council, Seneca

Nation, Irving, NY

Jim Luckett

NYSERNet, Inc.

Liverpool, NY

Jean Armour Polly

NYSERNet, Inc.

Liverpool, NY
152 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Cornell University

Jose Barreiro

Akwe:kon Press

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Susan Dixon

Akwe:kon Press

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Laura Lee LaFrance

Student

College of Human Ecology

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Robert Rich

Business Retention and

Expansion Program

Cornell Local Government

Program

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Carla Shafer

The Municipal Information

Exchange

Cornell Local Government

Program

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Onondaga Nation

Virginia Abrams

Onondaga Nation

Nedrow, NY

Ray Cook

Indigenous Communications

Association

Hogansburg, NY

Bernadette Johnson

Onondaga Nation School

Nedrow, NY

Vincent Johnson

Onondaga Nation

Nedrow, NY

Barbara Parry

Onondaga Nation School

Nedrow, NY

Irving Powless, Jr.

Onondaga Nation

Nedrow, NY

Audrey Shenandoah

Onondaga Nation

Nedrow, NY

Rosemary Vahey

LaFayette Junior Senior High

School

LaFayette, NY

Oneida Nation

Oneida Nation

Terri Damon

NYSERNet

Dan Garrow

Oneida Nation

Oneida, NY

Ken Phillips

Oneida Nation

Oneida, NY

Jean Armour Polly

NYSERNet

Dale R. Rood

Oneida Nation

Oneida, NY

Dan Umstead

Oneida Nation

Oneida, NY

Warren Worth

Oneida Nation

Oneida, NY

Mark Ziemba

Oneida Nation

Oneida, NY
| 153

Appendix E:

Boxes, Figures,

and Tables

BOXES

Chapter 1

1-1: A Sample of Native American Telecommunications Activities 4

1-2: Matching Telecommunications Technology with Native Needs 8

1-3: Native Voices on Telecommunications 13

Chapter 2

2-1: Historical Note: Repression of Indian Culture 19

2-2: Native American Mobility 22

2-3: Technology for Reestablishing ‘Olelo Hawai’i, the Hawaiian Language 24

2-4: The Internet, the World’s Largest Internetwork 25

2-5: The Online National Archeological Database 27

2-6: Protection of Culturally Sensitive Information: Project Jukebox 31

2-7: Information Technologies and Tribal Libraries 32

2-8: American Indian TV: Native Programming on a Shoestring 36

Chapter 3

3-1: Slow Growth of Native Radio 45

3-2: Native Television 47

3-3: The AIHEC Distance-Learning Network 49

3-4: How Do Native Americans Get Internet Access? 60

3-5: UNAN and UNAT—Native American Telecommunications Entrepreneurship 64

3-6: Forward-Thinking Community-Building 71
154 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Chapter 5

5-1: Navajo Nation Telecommunications Partnerships and Planning 98

5-2: First Americans Commission for Telecommunications 100

5-3: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority: A Catalyst for Reservation Development 104

5-4: Keys to Building Telecommunications Infrastructure in Native American Communities 118

5-5: Electronic Clearinghouse Activities of the National Indian Policy Center 122

FIGURES

Chapter 1

1-1: Tribal Telecommunity 9

1-2: Front Page of OTA’s Native American Resource Page on the World Wide Web 15

TABLES

Chapter 1

1-1: Population Profile of Native Americans 2

Chapter 3

3-1: Characteristics of Noncommercial Native Radio Stations 46
| 155

ndex

A

Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board, 14

Aboriginal Film and Video Artists Alliance, 28

activism/activists/advocates, 13,38,95,97,116,120

Administration for Native Americans. See U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services

Admissions Act, 78

Advanced Network Services, 61

Advanced Research Projects Agency. See U.S.

Department of Defense

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, 4

Agency-specific strategies, 107-109

Ahtna, Inc., 76

AIHEC. See American Indian Higher Education

Consortium

AIO. See Americans for Indian Opportunity

AIROS. See American Indian Radio on Satellite

AISES. See American Indian Science and

Engineering Society

Alaska, 4,10,20,37,46,47,48,55,57,76,106

Alaska Federation of Natives, 7,52,76,99,119

Alaska Native, See Native American

Alaska Native village(s), 2,43,75,76

Alaska Native Youth Media Insitute, 29

Alaska Public Radio Network, 29

Alaska Statewide Library Electronic Doorway, 32

Aleut, See Native American

Aleut Corp., 76

All-Indian Pueblo Council, Inc., 100

Alu Like, 8,13

American Antiquities Act, 27

American Association for the Advancement of

Science, 120

American Indian, See Native American

American Indian College Fund, 21

American Indian Higher Education Consortium,

7,44,47,48,49,69,98

American Indian Radio on Satellite,

31,41,45,69,102

American Indian Religious Freedom Act. See

Indian law

American Indian Resource Council, 21

American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation

Foundation, 21

American Indian Science and Engineering Society,

2,7,21,51,98,99,119,120

American Indian Science and Technology Education

Consortium, 52

American Indian Telecommunications Satellite

Demonstration Project, 100

American Indian TV, 34,36

American Library Association, 119

Americans for Indian Opportunity, 3,4,7,21,99,109,

119

American Somoa, 13,55,121

America Online, 60

ANA. See U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services, Administration for Native Americans

Annette Islands Reserve, 22,76

Annexation of Hawaii, 78

Apology to Native Hawaiians, 79

Apple Computer, 30,53

Apple Crossroads educational program, 53

Apple Library of Tomorrow program, 30,31

Arapaho, 113

Archeological Resources Protection Act, 27

Arctic Slope Regional Corp., 76

Arizona, 4,7,23,24,28,43,46,47,48,49,52,88,89

Arizona State University, 101

Army Corps of Engineers. See U.S. Department of

Defense

ARPANET, 25

Assimilation. See Culture

Association of American Indian Physicians, 101

Association on American Indian Affairs, 21

Athabascan, 76

AT&T, 64

AT&T Long Lines ship, 110
156 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Australian National University, 25

Authenticity. See Culture

B

Backbone. See Internet

Bandwidth. See Telecommunications technology

BARRNET. See Bay Area Regional Research

Network

Bay Area Regional Research Network, 59,61

BBN Internet Services Corp., 61

BBS. See Computer networking, Bulletin Board

Service

Bering Straits Native Corp., 76

BIA. See U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of

Indian Affairs

BIA Division of Energy and Mineral Resources. See

U.S. Department of the Interior

BIA Information Resources Management program,

107

Big Island, 23,79

Big Sky Telegraph. See Computer networking

Bishop Museum, 34,37

Blackfeet, 47,48

Blandon Foundation, 28

Block grant, 91,104,106

Bristol Bay Native Corp., 76

Broadcast license. See Telecommunications policy

Browser. See Internet

Buffalo, 95,104

Business, 10,43

C

California, 29,36,43,46,49,52,59,62,66

California Institute of Technology, 98

California State University, 100,121

Calista Corp., 76

Captain James Cook, 77-78

CD-ROM. See Telecommunications technology,

Compact-Disc Read-Only Memory

Cellular, See Telecommunications technology

Cellular license. See Telecommunications policy

Census. See Native American(s), U.S. Census

Census Bureau. See U.S. Department of Commerce

Center for Civic Networking, 44,119

Characteristics of noncommercial Native radio stations, 46

Cherokee, 4,36,52,66,67

Cheyenne, 48,113

Cheyenne River Cable TV, 104

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority,

4,10,63,103,104-105,112

Chugach Natives, Inc., 76

Chukchi College, 37

Clean Air Act, 86

Clean Water Act, 86

Cleveland Free-Net. See Computer Networking

Code of Federal Regulations, 67

Coeur D’Alene Tribe, 63

Colorado, 5,36,43,46,52,60,70

Comanche, 113

Commerce Business Daily, 58

Communications Act of 1934. See Telecommunications policy

Community, 2,39-40

Community building, 39-71

Community communication center,

8,30,43,69-70,103

Community network. See Computer networking

Competitive access (carriers), 12,116

Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act, 86

Compuserve, 60

Computer(s). See Telecommunications technology

Computer networking, 2,35,40,50-53,55,58,59,

66-68,123-126

AISESnet, 51

Blacksburg Electronic Village, 60,70

Big Sky Telegraph, 60,69,70,119

Boulder Community Network, 60,70

Bulletin Board Service/System, 51,123,125

Cleveland Free-Net, 70

CommerceNet, 25,59

Community network(ing), 9,44,69-71,101

Criteria (for community network growth), 70-71

Educational Native American Network, 51,109

Electronic mail, 25,30,51,123

Enterprise Integration Network, 59

ETAnet, 61

Hawaii FYI, 4,24,81

INDIANnet, 5

Leoki, 4,23-24

Limitations of, 125-126

Local Area Networks, 40,69

NSFNet, 61

Office of Self-Governance Database, 67

Prairienet, 60,70

Taos Telecommunity, 60,70

Telnet, 25,51

Wide Area Networks, 40,69

See also Telecommunications technology

See also Internet

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility,

119

COMSAT, 108

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, 83

Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis, 4,7

Congressional Record, 67

Consortium for School Networking, 119

Cook Inlet Region, Inc., 76
Index | 157

Cornell University, 101

Corporation for Public Broadcasting,

12,31,38,45,46,105

Council of State Governments, 99

CPB Native American Listening Data Project, 43

Creek Nation, 63

Crow, 85,113

Crow Indian Reservation, 33,50,100

Crownpoint Institute of Technology, 4,98

Crownpoint Pilot Project, 4

Cultural property rights. See Information policy.

Culture, 2-38,94

Assimilation, 18,74,80

Authenticity, 18-20

Ethnic fraud, 35

Genealogy, 36-37

Historical interpretation/history, 21,30-31

Identity, 19,119

Interconnectedness, 21

Language, 21-26,37

Negative stereotypes, 18

Public awareness, 34-35

Repression, 19

Sacred sites, 26-27

Spirituality, 33

Tradition, 17

Values, 17,18

Cyberspace, 25,112,119,120

D

Demographics. See Native Americans

Digital. See Telecommunications technology

Distance Delivery Consortium, 55

Distance education, See Telecommunications

technology

Distance learning, See Telecommunications technology, Distance education

Doyon, Ltd., 76

Dull Knife Community College, 48

E

Eastern Band of Cherokee, 13,47,48

EBT. See Telecommunications technology, Electronic benefits transfer

Economic development, 58-65,62-65,102

Economies of scale, 43,91

Educational and Cultural Organization to Advance

Restoration and Transition, 4

Education and Research, 44-54

EIRP. See Extension Indian Reservation Program

Electric power utilities, 12,112

Electronic benefits transfer. See Telecommunications technology

Electronic clearinghouse, 11,53,106,122

Electronic delivery of services, 91

Electronic Frontier Foundation, 119

Electronic Pathways Alliance, 5,98

E-mail. See Computer networking Electronic mail

Empowering Native American telecommunications, 

95-104

Empowerment, 7,35-38,95

ENAN. See Computer networking, Educational Native American Network

Energy Policy Act, 112

Enterprise Integration Network. See Computer networking

Enterprise Integration Technologies, 59

Entrepreneur(ship), 9,10,63,64,103

Environment, 18,20

Environmental initiatives, 20

Environmental Protection Agency, 85-87,105

EPA. See Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Tribal Operations Committee, 86

Eskimo, See Native American

Ethnic fraud. See Culture

Extension Indian Reservation Program, 4,61,123

F

Fax. See Telecommunications technology, Telefacsimile

FCC. See Federal Communications Commission

FCC Common Carrier Docket, 115

FCC policy on minorities. See Telecommunications

policy

Federal Communications Commission, 11,12,73,87-

90,92,103,108,111,114-115

Federally recognized. See Indian policy

Federal Register, 67

Federated States of Micronesia, 121

Federal trust land(s). See Indian policy

Federal trust responsibility. See Indian policy

First Americans Commission for Telecommunications, 100

First Nations Development Institute, 101

First Native American Telecommunications Forum,

52

Flathead Indian Reservation, 6,48,83,101

Florida, 47,89

Fond-Du-Lac Community College, 52

Fort Apache Indian Reservation, 24,48

Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, 89

Fort Mojave Telecommunications, 4

Fort Mojave Tribe, 89

Forward-thinking, 71

Fourth Museum, 34

Fourth World Documentation Project, 125

Freedom of Speech/Press. See Information policy
158 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Free-NetTM, 70

Free speech. See Information policy, Freedom of

Speech/Press

Frequency spectrum. See Telecommunications

policy

FTP. See Internet, File Transfer Protocol

G

Gaming, 12,62-63

GDSC. See U.S. Department of the Interior, BIA

Geographic Data Service Center

GDSC National Indian Energy and Mineral Resources Database, 109

GDSC National Indian Oil and Gas Evaluation and

Management System,109

GDSC National Indian Seismic Evaluation System,

109

Genealogy. See Culture

Genealogical information system. See Telecommunications technology

Geographic Data Service Center. See U.S. Department of the Interior

George Washington University, 101,121

Gila River Telecommunications, Inc., 4,88

Gila River Tribe, 88

GIS. See Telecommunications technology, Geographic Information System

Gopher. See Internet

Governance, 65-68,102

Grassroots, 7,10,67,69,80,95,97,101,119

Grassroots telecommunications plan, 7

GTE Hawaiian Telephone Co., 110

GTE Telephone, 114

Guam, 13,55,121

H

Harvard University, 101,121

Hawaii, 37,77,93,110

Hawaiian Genealogy Project, 37

Hawiian Homes Commission Act, 77

Hawaiian Information Network Corporation, 79,81

Hawaiian Kingdom, 2,79

Hawaiian language, 23-24

Hawaiian Language Center, 4,24

Hawaiian Lexicon Committee, 4,24

Hawaii FYI. See Computer networking

Hawaii Online, 4

Hawaii Department of Education, 24

Hawaii Department of Hwaiian Home Lands, 37

Hawaii Department of Health, 37

Hawaii Interactive Television System, 79,80

Hawaii Population Database, 37

Hawaii State Archives, 37

Hawaii State Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 78

Hawaii Wide Area Integrated Information Access

Network, 79

Heard Museum,

Health care, 54-58

High Performance Computing and Communications

Program, 56

Historical context: American Indians and Alaska

Natives 74-77

Historical context: Native Hawaiians, 77-80

Historical interpretation. See Culture

Hobbs, Straus, Dean, & Walker, 89,112

Home page, 3,4

American Indian Science and Engineering Society, 5

American Indian College Fund, 5

Bureau of Indian Affairs, 5

BIA Division of Energy and Mineral Resources, 5

Electronic Pathways Alliance, 5

Heard Museum, 5,34,

Indian Health Service, 5

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 5

Nation of Hawai’i, 4

National Indian Policy Center, 5

Native American Rights Fund, 5

Navajo Community College, 5

Oneida Nation, 4,29,62,117

Oneida Nation (online) Treaties Project, 125

OTA Native American Resource Page,

14,15,106,122,125

Sioux Nation, 5

USDA Extension Indian Reservation Program, 5

Honor Our Neighbor’s Origins and Rights, 21

Hoopa Valley Tribal Council, 62

Hopi, 48

html. See Internet, Hypertext Markup Language

Hualapai Reservation, 23

Humboldt State University, 100

Hypertext Markup Language, See Internet

I

IBM, 61

Idaho, 4,63

Identity. See Culture.

IHS. See U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services, Indian Health Service

Illinois, 60,70

Indian, See Native American

Indian Arts and Crafts Act. See Indian law

Indian Community Development Block Grant, 104

Indian Health Service. See U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services

Indian law, 1,11,80-83,90,92

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 76,82

Indian Arts and Crafts Act, 35

Indian Child Welfare Act, 75
Index | 159

Indian Civil Rights Act, 75

Indian Environmental General Assistance Act, 86

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 117

Indian Regulatory Enhancement Act, 86

Indian Religious Freedom Act, 27,75

Indian Removal Act, 74

Indian Reorganization Act, 74,82

Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, 66

National Museum of the American Indian Act, 27

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 26,27,35

Native American Languages Act, 37

State laws, 112

Indian policy, 83-87

Domestic dependent sovereigns, 82

EPA’s policy, 85-87

Federal agency, 84-87,92

Federally recognized, 1,80,82,108,111

Federal trust land(s), 2,11

Federal trust responsibility,

38,77,80-81,90,106,110

Forced removal, 80

Government-to-government relationship, 75,81

Jurisdiction (federal/state/tribe), 112

Presidential policy, 83-84

Self-determination,

1-2,11,67,75,80,82-83,89,90,107,110,119

Self-governance, 67

Sovereignty, 1-2,11,73,79,80-82,90,110

State-recognized, 108

Termination, 74,80

Treaties, 74-77,80,82

Indigenous Broadcast Center, 28,29

Indigenous Communications Association,

7,28,31,45,98,119

Indigenous Environmental Network, 21

Indigenous Women’s Network, 21

Information policy, 12-13,18,118-120

Cultural property rights, 12,92,119

Freedom of Speech/Press, 12,35,119

Integrity, 33

Intellectual property rights, 12,92,118

Privacy, 12,26,33,118-119

Release agreement, 31

Security, 12,118

Information superhighway, 2,7,70

Information systems. See Telecommunications

technology

Infrastructure, See Telecommunications infrastructure

Infrastructure Support Program for HBCUs/MIs, 52

Innovative GIS Solutions, 62

Institute of American Indian Arts, 21,28

Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers, 120

Integrated delivery of services, 7

Integrated infrastructure development, 8,101-103

Intel Corp., 120

Intellectual property rights. See Information policy

Interagency federal strategy and funding, 104-109

Interagency strategy, 10,105-107

Interconnectedness. See Culture

Internet, 3,4,24,25,51,59,60,67,91,117,123

Backbone, 25

Browsers, 4,25,51,125

Cornell FTP server, 124

Department of Commerce Gopher, 110

Distance Education Online Symposium, 44

Extension Indian Reservation Service Gopher,

123

File Transfer Protocol, 25,123

Gopher, 5,25,30,51,66,123

GPO Access, 67

House of Representatives Gopher, 67

Hypertext Markup Language, 40

Library of Congress’s “Thomas” system, 67

List server, 24,25,30,124-125

Mosaic, 125

National Indian Policy Center Gopher, 123

Netscape, 125

Project Vote Smart Gopher, 67

SLIP/PPP connectivity, 51

Uniform Resource Locator, 4

Veronica, 123

World Wide Web, 15,25,29,30,40,66,123,125

See also Home page

See also Computer networking

See also Telecommunications technology

Internet for Minnesota Schools, 30

Internet Protocol, 25

Internetwork, 25

Intertribal Geographic Information Systems Council, 5,7,61,98

INDIANnet. See Computer networking

IP. See Internet Protocol

Integrated Service Digital Network, See

Telecommunications technology

ISDN. See Telecommunications technology,

Integrated Service Digital Network

Isolation. See Native American(s)

J

JASON project, 49-50

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 98

J.M. Kaplan Foundation, 30
160 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Joint federal-state telecommunications board. See

Telecommunications policy

K

Kansas, 49

Kapiolani Community College, 79

Kauai, 37,79,96

Kauai Community College, 79,96

Kingdom of Hawai’i. See Hawaiian Kingdom

Kiosks. See Telecommunications technology

Kiowa, 113

Kohala Mission School, 77

Koniag, Inc., 76

Kotzebue public library, 37

Kula Kaiapuni Hawai’i program, 24

L

Lakota-Sioux, 104

Language. See Culture

LAN. See Computer networking, Local Area Network

Lanai, 79

LANL. See Department of Energy, Los Alamos

National Laboratory

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. See Department of Energy

Leader(ship), 2,7,8,10,96,98-101,116

Leoki. See Computer networking

Library, 30,32

List server. See Internet

Little Big Horn College, 33,87

LLNL. See Department of Energy, Lawrence

Livermore National Laboratory

Local Area Network, See Computer networking

Local sources of telecommunications expertise, 7

Long-distance telephone (carriers), 116

Los Alamos National Laboratory. See Department of

Energy

Lottery, 63

Lummi Indian Reservation, 64

M

Matrix, 25

Maui, 37,65,79

Maui Community College, 79

Maui Research and Technology Center, 65

Mayo Clinic, 56-57,98,101

MCI, 61

MegaBingo, 63

Mescalero Apache, 48

Metlakatla, 76

Metlakatla Indian Reservation, 48

Michigan 48,49

Microelectronics and Computer Technology

Corporation, 59

Microsoft, 61

Minnesota, 28,30,49,52,56

Mississippi, 47,60

Mississippi Band of Choctaw, 47,60

Mobility. See Native American(s)

Mojave Community College, 48

Mojave Indian Reservation, 48

Molokai, 3,37

Molokai High School, 3

Montana, 4,5,33,48,49,60,69,70,83,87,100,101

Morino Institute, 44,70-71,101

Motorola, 98

Multimedia, See Telecommunications technology

N

NAGPRA. See Indian law, Native American Graves

Protection and Repatriation Act

NANA Region Corp., 76

NAPBC. See Native American Public

Broadcasting Consortium

NAPBC Catalog of Programming, 34

NASA. See National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA Science Internet, 4,52

Nation of Hawai’i, 4

National Aeronautics and Space Administration,

4,52,98-99,100,105

National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, 29

National Anthropological Archives, 27

National Archeological Database, 26, 27

National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, 62

National Conference of State Legislatures, 99

National Congress of American Indians,

2,8,99,119,125

National Endowment for the Arts, 29,38,105

National Environmental Policy Act, 27

National Exchange Carrier Association, 113,114,116

National Executive Education Program for Native

American Leadership, 101

National Historic Preservation Act, 27,85

National Indian Energy and Mineral Resources Database, 109

National Indian Oil and Gas Evaluation and Management System, 109

National Indian Policy Center, 52,66,96,101,122

National Indian Seismic Evaluation System, 109

National Indian Youth Council, 101

National Information Infrastructure. See Telecommunications policy

National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, 110
Index | 161

National Museum of the American Indian, 34,38

National Museum of the American Indian Act. See

Indian law

National Park Service, See U.S. Department of

the Interior

National Performance Review, 105,107

National Public Radio, 41

National Public Telecomputing Network, 70,119

National Science Foundation, 25,52,60,67,105,120

National Telecommunications and Information

Administration, See U.S. Department of

Commerce

Native America Calling, 34

Native American(s), 1-2,14,74-77

Alaska Native, 1-2,73-74

Alaska Native Village Statistical Area, 2,22

Aleut, 2,73-77

American Indian, 1-2,73-77

BIA high school survey, 19

Demographics, 18,22

Eskimo, 2,41,73-77

High school drop-out/graduation rate, 18,93

Indian, 2,73-77

Isolation, 20-21

Mobility, 22

Mortality rates (IHS report), 94

Native Hawaiian, 1-2,73,77-80

New Mexico telephone survey, 114,117-118

Needs, 14

Population profile, 2

Poverty rate, 18,103

Suicide rate, 18,19

Telephone penetration, 43,113-114

Tribal Designated Statistical Area, 2

Tribal Jurisdictional Statistical Area, 2,22

Unemployment rate, 2,93,103

U.S. Census, 19,22,37,77,93,113,114

Well-being, 21,94,102,110

Native American Bar Association, 101

Native American Council, 21

Native American Journalists Association, 101

Native American Producers Alliance, 28

Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium,

5,7,28,31,45,47,98

Native American Rights Fund, 21,101

Native California Network, 21

Native Hawaiian, See Native American(s)

Native Hawaiian communities, 2,20,43

Native Hawaiian Health Care Act, 79

Native Indian Alliance Insurance Company, 63

Native-owned and -operated, 9,10,12,91,

102,103,107,108

Native programming, 28-31,34-35,102

Native Village sanitation, 20

Navajo, 3,4,7,28,48,53,75,98-99,114,116

Navajo Communications Co., 98

Navajo Community College, 4,47,98

Navajo-Hopi Land Commission, 125

Navajo Nation Information Technology Office, 98

Navajo Nation Telecommunications Initiative, 97,98

Nazlini Boarding School, 53

NCAI. See National Congress of American Indians

Nearnet, 61

Nebraska, 5,49

Nebraska ETV, 49

Need for a policy framework, 92-95

Needs. See Native American(s)

Negative stereotypes. See Culture

Net, 25

Netnews, 25

Nevada, 48,52

New Mexico, 4,5,7,43,46,48,49,52,59,60,70,99,100,

114

New Mexico Technet, 98

New Mexico telephone survey. See Native American(s)

New York, 4,29,30,46,62,102,117

NII. See Telecommunications policy, National Information Infrastructure

NII field hearings, 116

NIPC. See National Indian Policy Center

Nonprofit organizations, 21,95

North American Indian Women’s Association, 21

North Carolina, 47,48,61

North Dakota, 41,46,48,49,62,63,75,89,95

Northern Arizona University, 4,48,98,99,121

Northern Montana University, 101

Northland Pioneer Community College, 48

North Slope Borough, 3,4,14,50

Northwest Renewable Resources Center, 21

NSF. See National Science Foundation

NTIA. See U.S. Department of Commerce, National

Telecommunications and Information Administration

NTIA Information Infrastructure Task Force, 116

NTIA Notice of Inquiry of Universal Service, 113

NTIA Public Telecommunications Facilities Program, 46,107

NTIA Telecommunications and Information

Infrastructure Applications Program, 107

NYSERNet, Inc., 4,30,117

O

Oahu, 37,55,79,93,108

Office of Management and Budget. See U.S.

Executive Office of the President

Office of New Mexico State Senator, 98

Office of Self-Governance. See U.S. Department

of the Interior
162 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

Office of Technology Assessment, See U.S. Congress

Office of the Governor of Montana, 100

Oglala Lakota College, 28,53

Oglala Sioux, 56-57,75

Ojibwa Community College, 48

Ojibway/Ojibwe, 13,28,30

Oklahoma, 4,48,63,66

Oklahoma State University, 52,101

Oneida Nation of New York, 3,4,29,62,68,102,117

Oneida Nation (online) Treaties Project. See Home

page

Onondaga, 30,36

Oregon, 4,5

Oregon State University, 101

Otoe-Missouria, 14

OTA. See U.S. Congress, Office of Technology

Assessment

OTA Native American Resource Page, See

Home page

OTZ Telephone Cooperative, 10

P

Pacific Islands, 13

Pacific Islanders in Communications,

3,5,7,28,45,98,119

packet-switching, 25

Partnership(s), 4,11,12,21,69,98-99,112,116-117

PCS spectrum license. See Telecommunications

policy, Personal Communication System spectrum license.

PEACESAT, 107

Pearl River Reservation, 47

Pine Ridge High School, 53,54

Pine Ridge Reservation, 23,28,53,56

Plan(ning), 4,7,97,98-99,107

Policy. See Telecommunications policy, Information

policy, or Indian policy

Policy status quo, 91,92

Polynesian Voyaging Society, 81

Population profile. See Native American(s)

Prairienet. See Computer networking.

President Bush, ,37,84

President Carter, 105

President Cleveland, 77

President Clinton, 73,84

President Nixon, 73,83-84

President Reagan, 84

Privacy. See Information Policy

Prodigy, 60

Project Jukebox, 30-31

Project Vote Smart, 67

Punana Leo Hawaiian language preschool program, 

24

Public awareness. See Culture

R

Radio, See Telecommunications technology

REA. See U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural

Electrification Administration

Red Lake Elementary and High Schools, 30

Regional Bell operating companies, 116

Regulatory authority. See Telecommunications

policy

Repression. See Culture

Republic of Palau, 121

Republic of the Marshall Islands, 121

Research, 13,120-122

Reservation(s), 2,32,43,74,76

Rock Point Reservation, 47

Rocky Mountain Telecommunications Association,

116

Rogers State College, 48

Rural Electrification Administration. See U.S.

Department of Agriculture

Rural Systemic Initiatives, 52

Rural Utilities Service. See U.S. Department of

Agriculture

RUS. See U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural

Utilities Service

S

Sacred Sites. See Culture

Safe Drinking Water Act, 86

Salish Kootenai College, 6,48,101

San Carlos Apache Tribe, 4,75

Satellite, See Telecommunications technology

Sealaska Corp., 76

Security. See Information policy

Self-determination. See Indian policy

Seminole, 47,89

Sequoyah High School, 4,52

Shoshoni, 86,113

Silicon Valley, 25,59

Sinte Gleska University, 52

Sioux, 5,47,113

Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Telecommunications Committee, 69,97

Skagit Indian Reservation, 64

Small Business Administration, 104,105

Smithsonian Institution, 105

Software. See Telecommunications technology

Solidarity Foundation, 21

South Dakota, 4,10,23,28,46,49,52,53,56,63,104

Southwest Museum, 34

Sovereignty. See Indian policy

Space Technology Applied to Rural Papago Advance

Health Care, 56

Spirituality, See Culture

Standing Rock College, 48
Index | 163

Stanford University, 59

Suicide rate. See Native American(s)

Supply and demand, 64,91

Swinomish Indian Reservation, 64

Syracuse University, 121

Systems. See Telecommunications technology

T

Taos Telecommunity. See Computer networking

Telecommunications infrastructure,

4,8,43-44,62-65,91,101-103,107,118

Telecommunications policy, 6-13,73-90,92

Broadcast license, 87-88

Cellular license, 88-89

Communications Act of 1934, 111

Diversification of broadcasting ownership, 87

FCC notice of inquiry and rulemaking, 111

FCC policy on minorities, 87-90,111

Frequency spectrum, 11,90,110

Government-to-government relationship (with

regard to telecommunications), 112

Interoperability of telecommunications, 110

Joint federal-state telecommunications board,

12,92,111

National Information Infrastructure, 70,105,107

Personal Communication System spectrum license, 88

Regulatory Authority, 11

Tribal self-determination (with regard to telecommunications), 111

Tribal sovereignty (with regard to telecommunications), 109,112

Universal access/service, 11-12,92,110,113-116

Universal Service Fund, 12,114,116

Telecommunication(s) technology, 2,17,39

Bandwidth, 43

Compact-Disc Read-Only Memory,

27-30,41,59-60

Digital, 10

Distance education, 44,96

Electronic Benefits Transfer, 42,66,68-70

Electronic Date Interchange, 103

Electronic student records, 44

Genealogical Information System, 37

Geographic Information System,

26,37,43,58,60-62

Global Positioning System, 62

Information system, 26,42

Integrated Services Digital Network, 51,60

Kiosks, 35,42,68-70

Microwave, 115

Multimedia, 23,34,40,53-54

Radio, 24,31,34,41,44,45-46,87-88,98

Satellite, 2,6,41,43,57,63,69,100,108

Software, 2,23,40

Switch 56, 60

Systems, 42-43

Telefacsimile, 2

Telemedicine, 53-57,97

Television, 2,5,25,31,34-35,41,44,47,87-88

Videoconferencing, 2,26,40,44,49,58,65-

66,80,96,100

Viewers and players, 41

Wireless, 2,41,53-57

See also Computer networking

Telnet. See Computer networking

Telephone, See Telecommunications technology

Telephone cooperative(s), 12

Television (stations), See Telecommunications

technology

Three Affiliated Tribes (Arikara, Hidatsa, and

Mandan), 89

Tiers of Service, 8,43

Tlingit, 14,63

Tohono O’Odham, 56

Tohono O’Odham Tribe Utility Authority, 4

Traditions. See Culture

Trans-Alaska Pipeline, 115

Training, 18,103

Tribal Self-Governance Demonstration Project, 67

Tribal telephone providers, 4

Tsimshian, 76

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, 75

Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, 41,62,63,75

TV. See Telecommunications technology, Television

U

Unemployment. See Native American(s)

Uniband, Inc., 62,63

Uniform Resource Locator. See Internet

Unistar Entertainment, 63

United National Indian Tribal Youth, 21

United Native American Network, 5,63,64

United Native American Telecommunications,

63,64

Universal access/service. See

Telecommunications policy

University of Alaska, 8,30,37,101

University of Hawaii, 4,8,36,55,96,101

University of Illinois, 121

University of Michigan, 61

University of Montana, 48

University of New Mexico, 4,98,101

University of North Dakota, 48

URL. See Internet, Uniform Resource Locator

U.S. Code, 67

U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas

Islands, 13,121
164 | Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges

U.S. Congress, 4,64,82,85,95,100,103,106-107,111-

112,114-115

Office of Technology Assessment,

2,4,11,15,48,73,90,92,95,106,109,120,121,122,

123

U.S. Constitution, 82

U.S. Customs House, 34

U.S. Executive Office of the President,

Office of Management and Budget,

14,107,108,121

USDA. See U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 85,100

Extension Service, 109

Rural Electrification Administration,

104-105,108,116

Rural Utilities Service,

4,12,92,104-105,108,114,115,116

U.S. Department of Commerce, 85

Census Bureau, 2

Economic Development Administration, 105

National Institute of Standards and Technology,

107

National Telecommunications and Information

Administration,

10,11,12,47,48,49,92,103,105,107,108-110,115,

120

U.S. Department of Defense,

Advanced Research Projects Agency,

25,25,52,98,105

Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 52

Army Corps of Engineers, 27,105

Army Research Office, 52

Office of Naval Research, 52

Tripler Army Medical Center, 55

U.S. Department of Education, 38

Office of Indian Education, 46,105

Regional educational research laboratories, 105

U.S. Department of Energy, 85

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 4,98

Los Alamos National Laboratory, 4,98

Sandia National Laboratory, 98

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

Administration for Native Americans,

10-11,37,38,53,67,86,92,105,108-109

Indian Health Service,

10-11,36,62,67,69,82,92,94,98,108-109

U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,

100

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 46,105

U.S. Department of Labor

Employment and Training Administration, 61

Native American Programs Division, 105

U.S. Department of the Interior, 85,100

BIA Division of Energy and Mineral Resources,

5,109

BIA Geographic Data Service Center, 5,61,109

BIA Land Titles and Records Office, 62

Bureau of Indian Affairs,

10-11,37,67,82,92,93,98,100,104,108-109

Bureau of Land Management, 61,105

Fish and Wildlife Service, 105

National Park Service, 26,37,85,86,105

Office of Self Governance, 66

U.S. Department of Justice, 85

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Highway Administration, 61,105

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 55

USF. See Telecommunications policy, Universal

Service Fund

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and

Information Science, 32

US West, 88-89,114,120

Utah, 4,7,52,114

V

Values. See Culture

Videoconferencing, See Telecommunications

technology

Virginia, 60,70

Visible Human Project, 56

W

WAN. See Computer networking, Wide Area

Network

Washington, 4,5,7,49,64

Washington State University, 101,121

Well-being. See Native American(s)

Western Montana College, 69

Western Rural Telephone Association, 116

White Earth Reservation, 28

White House, 100

Wide Area Network. See Computer networking

Wireless, See Telecommunications technology

Wisconsin, 43,46,49

Women, Infants, and Children program, 42

World Wide Web. See Computer networking

W.W. Keeler Complex, 4,52

Wyoming, 86

Y

Year 2000 Scenario, 3,5

Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., 55

Z

Zuni, 59-60

Zuni Watershed CD-ROM Project, 59