KILI Radio Better Prepares to Stay on the Air During Emergencies

By Kyler Edsitty

KILI Radio Station Manager Oi Zephier and KILI Radio Board Member David "Tally" Plume drafting the station's Emergency Management Plan.

Rapid City, SD, July 8, 2025 – KILI recently partnered with Native Public Media (NPM) to develop a customized Emergency Management Plan through a two-day, hands-on training.

"Every aspect of the training was helpful in guiding the development of the Emergency Management Plan," said KILI Radio Station Manager Oitancan Zephier. "I learned we had shortcomings and need to improve, especially since we have high winds, prairie grass, and severe thunderstorms."

Zephier's words reflect the growing urgency across Tribal communities as climate-related disasters become more frequent and more severe. With wildfires, tornadoes, and extreme winter storms increasingly threatening South Dakota, KILI Radio, the Voice of the Lakota Nation, is taking proactive steps to protect its people.

Tribal radio stations like KILI serve as first informers during emergencies, ensuring that critical, and often lifesaving, information reaches the community when other systems fail. Whether internet or cell service is down, radio endures, especially in remote or rural areas where other forms of communication are less reliable. At KILI, that vital information can be shared in the Lakota language.

KILI's participation in the training is part of a broader effort by Native Public Media to help Tribal stations prepare for both natural and man-made disasters. Founded in 2004, NPM is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing Tribal radio and television stations across Indian Country. Its Emergency Management Plan Training, built on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) strategies, helps Tribal broadcasters create community-driven plans that are grounded in local realities.

During the training, KILI's staff and its licensing official explored the four key phases of emergency management: prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. They assessed the station's ability to remain on-air in a crisis and examined the types of hazards that could affect operations. With support from NPM trainers, they developed protocols for different scenarios, including wildfires, tornadoes, and blizzards, and walked away with a draft Emergency Management Plan tailored to their geography and community needs.

A central component of the training was the Capabilities Assessment. On day one, participants conducted a classroom review of the station's staff, equipment, and facilities. Day two included an in-person tour of KILI's current facility to ground those assessments. One of the biggest takeaways was the importance of tracking the useful life of equipment and knowing when it was placed into service.

This lesson comes at a pivotal time for KILI, which is in the process of renovating its operations and constructing a new station building. Insights from the training will directly inform decisions about equipment upgrades, emergency power needs, and broadcast resilience, laying the foundation for a stronger, more disaster-ready facility.

KILI Radio, located on the Pine Ridge Reservation, has a clear mission: to empower voices, connect communities, and foster cultural enrichment. According to its website, KILI is committed to serving the Lakota people and beyond with authentic, diverse, and informative programming, always with Indigenous perspectives at the center.

But during a crisis, that mission takes on new urgency.

Radio stations like KILI not only broadcast Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages, but also provide real-time updates on road closures, shelter locations, and emergency services. In times of distress, the station becomes a lifeline—one that now stands stronger thanks to its Emergency Management Plan.

For Zephier and the KILI team, the training was more than a checklist. It was a wake-up call and a path forward.

Despite the increasing threats posed by climate change and infrastructure gaps, KILI Radio is reaffirming its commitment to its community. When the next storm hits or the winds rise, the Voice of the Lakota Nation will be ready and still on the air.

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