Native Public Media Strengthening and Expanding the Voice of Native America

The struggle of Native America has long been the struggle for freedom.  Fundamentally, the freedoms that are so important to all Americans are the same freedoms that are important to Native people:  to be able to make our voices heard and make our own decisions about issues affecting our lives, our health, our safety, our governments, and our homes.  The effort to secure these freedoms, however, has time and again been undercut by a centuries-long legacy of economic and cultural exploitation and the resulting socio-economic conditions that have long kept Native people poor and powerless. 

It was not until the late 1960s and early 1970s, partly as a result of a federal policy shift toward self-determination that the 562 federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Native Communities were able to begin planting seeds of economic and community development. This economic development is enabling much-needed investment in vital community organizations.  Tribes are developing tribal courts as well as cultural institutions that are revitalizing language, preserving tradition, and celebrating Native culture.  Native Americans living on and off traditional homelands are developing the skills and resources to sustain our way of life, including the use of media to tell our own stories. 

Media has a vital role to play in supporting this economic and community development.  The capacity of Native people to access, operate, produce, participate in and control our own media is critical to the future of Native America.

Native Public Media (NPM) promotes healthy, engaged, independent Native communities by strengthening and expanding Native American media capacity and by empowering a strong, proud Native American voice.

The Changing Media Landscape and Native Media Opportunity

Radio has traditionally been the medium of choice for Native America.  Native people have developed 33 public radio stations, mostly based in tribal homelands.  Radio has been and will continue to be an important media outlet for Native people, especially on tribal homelands, in part because of its relative low-cost and its capacity to serve geographically isolated communities. 

However, many tribes and other Native communities do not have or are not able to create radio stations.  In some cases, there is no available frequency.  In other cases, the financial resources simply do not exist to invest in the establishment of a new station.

The dramatic changes in media over the past two decades present both challenge and opportunity to Native America.  The rapid development and adoption of new media pose the risk that Native communities, traditionally underserved by communications technology, will fall increasingly behind.  And yet, as underserved peoples in some other parts of the world have recognized, advances in technology can offer opportunities to “leap over” traditional infrastructure.
 
Native Public Media grew out of the strong commitment of leaders within Native public radio to expand the voice of Native America.  While retaining close connection to Native public radio, the leaders of the initiative quickly recognized that the key goal – expanding the voice of Native America – requires a long-term strategy that includes, but also transcends, radio.  The name reflects the organization’s explicit decision to empower Native people across the United States to participate actively in all forms of media, and to do it on our own terms.

Native Public Media is committed to advancing policies and strategies that enable Native people to utilize technologies – whether traditional or new – that offer the best opportunities to develop healthy, engaged and independent Native communities. 

Key to these policies and strategies is the recognition that every Native community is different and has the right to determine for itself how it chooses to utilize media.  Throughout its work, Native Public Media acknowledges and supports tribal sovereignty and self-determination and firmly supports the right of all Native people across the United States to participate in media actively and on our own terms. 

The power of Native media lies, fundamentally, in its capacity to make the voices of Native people heard – both within Native America and beyond.  Native media facilitates economic development, builds community, empowers political involvement and celebrates creativity.  It provides Native people across the United States with a forum for discussing our own future, resolving our own problems and telling our own stories.  Native media is more than media:  it is voice.  It is the power to speak.  It is the power to be heard.

Native Public Media envisions a future in which all Native people across the United States are able to access and participate in media on our own terms.  This vision is achievable:  the proliferation of new technologies, coupled with economic and political reconstruction in Native America, is making it increasingly possible for Natives to create and sustain media platforms that effectively serve our needs and engage our communities.  Through proactive advocacy, flexible planning, and creative skill-building, NPM will lead the way toward a new media future for Native America.