May 20
One of the biggest stories in the news last week was Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as “Open Internet;” although they make no mention of platforms or services. The FCC does not currently have jurisdiction to regulate the internet; hard to believe isn’t it?
Mar 11
Have you heard the term “Maker Movement?” According to Techopedia, “The maker movement is a trend in which individuals or groups of individuals create and market products that are recreated and assembled using unused, discarded or broken electronic, plastic, silicon or virtually any raw material and/or product from a computer-related device.” It’s kind of a more formalized name for the folks who have been part of the do-it-yourself or DYI lifestyle or ethic in a mash-up with technology.
Feb 17
Homahota Consulting’s Traci Morris, also an Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums Advisory Council member, spoke on February 10th, 2014 at the Tribal Telecom 2014 Conference. As a co-author of the forthcoming Digital Inclusion in Indian Country: A National Study on the Role of Tribal Libraries, along with Miriam Jorgensen, Research Director for the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona. Morris presented preliminary data from the Study regarding the state of the digital divide in Indian Country to be released later this spring.
Feb 13
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) recently released the fiscal year 2015 Indian Country Budget Request. This document is compiled in collaboration with tribal leaders, Native organizations, and Tribal budget consultation bodies and is intended to guide the Congress for use in the appropriations process for Indian Country.
Feb 5
State of Indian Nations | National Congress of American Indians
1/30/14 | Delivered by President Brian Cladoosby
On Thrusday January 29th, 2014, the National Congress of American Indians hosted the 12th Annual State of Indian Nations event. It was the first SOIN presented by the new NCAI President Brian Cladoosby. As usual, the event followed the State of the Union by a few days. Hosted at the Newseum in Washington D.C.; the event is streamed live and posted for viewing later (see the rebroadcast here). Listen to an interview with President Clasoosby on NPR here.
Jan 31
Chances are, you’ll be watching the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII this weekend and chances are, you’re excited to see the big-time advertisements too. As we know, companies go all out for this broadcast and there are often some memorable commercials. Well, we think you’ll be moved by the ad that National Congress of American Indians has just released. In fact, word on the street is that it isn’t just a piggyback ad, but that it will actually be aired during the Super Bowl. It’s titled Proud to Be.
Jan 24
Every year, just after the President of the United States gives the State of the Union address, the President of the National Congress of American Indians gives the State of Indian Nations address. This is where NCAI presents the goals of tribal leaders, opportunities to advance Indian country issues, and policy priorities for the year.
Read more
Jan 14
Late last year, we told you about the House Energy and Commerce Committee beginning the process of what they called a multi-year effort to rewrite and modernize the Telecommunications Act of 1996; which, in and of itself, is a rewrite of the Communications Act of 1934.
Jan 9
“…For her, she saw the world from a Chickasaw worldview, without the interference of English at all.”
—Josh Hinson, Director of the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program
(From the recent NPR article “What Happens When a Language’s Last Monolingual Speaker Dies”)
–She was the last person who knew the world only through Chickasaw.
I am not good at languages. I tried as an undergraduate to learn Spanish. I took an entire year of daily Spanish language classes and worked with a tutor the entire time and I was unable to learn more than a few simple phrases, not even enough to get me by living in the border state of Arizona. What I did learn was that I didn’t even know English grammar well enough to think about another language and its use of grammar.
However, I have to say, I’ve been hit hard by the news of the recent death of Emily Johnson Dickerson, the last monolingual speaker of the Chickasaw language. I did not know her, but she is symbolic and represents the passing of an age. Last year, I spent some time at the Chickasaw Nation and I learned that there were only about 70 some speakers of Chickasaw. At the time this alarmed me. But, late last week we learned that the last person who had only a Chickasaw worldview had died. Well, this –to me—is staggering. According to Chickasaw elder Catherine Wilmond, if we lose our language, the world will end (see her talk about this here).
Dec 10
Tribal reservations are among the most underserved and unserved areas in the country in terms of connectivity, with only 10% broadband penetration, nearly 30% not having access to plain old phone telephone services, many without access to 991 service, and where market forces do not encourage investment; this is where regulatory creativity is a must. As Congress begins the process of rewriting the Communications act of 1934, they must consider the needs of Tribal nations and Indian Country.
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