What's New

AIROS announces a new music service expected to be launched in September 2005. The service is being funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide 4 - 6 hours of music programming to stations daily through the AIROS Network.
8/22/05

In early 2005 the new Center for Native American Public Radio (CNAPR) began operations with funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, after years of careful assessment and planning. CNAPR's operations will be overseen by the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and guided by an advisory council of Native American station and community leaders. The center will help coordinate the work of the Native American Public Radio System, comprised of 32 Native-owned public radio stations located across twelve states, American Indian Radio on Satellite (AIROS) in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Koahnic Broadcasting in Anchorage, Alaska.

Loris Ann Taylor (Hopi and Acoma) is the new Executive Director and Peggy Berryhill (Muscogee) is Director of Services and Planning. Carol Pierson, NFBC President and CEO, will provide administrative support and staff capacity.
For more information go to www.cnapr.org or www.nfbc.org.
8/22/05

Aboriginal Voices Radio increases power by more than 400%
June 21st was National Aboriginal Day in Canada and radio listeners in Toronto area were able to celebrate the day by listening to expanded coverage of Toronto's Radio Station. With the increased power, AVR now reaches over 3.5 million people in the Greater Toronto Area. AVR plans to expand radio services across Canada starting with Ottawa and Calgary, continuing to Vancouver, Edmonton, Kitchener/Waterloo and Montreal. AVR's mission is the communication of the Native perspective by featuring Aboriginal music along with hourly news and information reports, pubic affairs programs, a national telephone call-in show, and other spoken word features addressing the needs, interests and concerns of Canada's increasingly urban Aboriginal population.
7/12/04

Information about the Native radio stations supported by Mexico's Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas is available in Spanish at a newly-designed website View www.ini.gob.mx (In Spanish), then click "Programas y Proyectos" to find a description of the "Sistema de Radiodifusores Culturales Indigenistas" or click "Directorio" to find a list of the 19 INI radiodifusoras, radio stations, and their addresses. INI estimates that the potential audience for its stations includes more than six million indigenous people living in nearly 1,000 small towns and in cities.
For information about on-line translation tools, enter here.
9/16/02

Programs On-Air and Webcast

In August and September 2005 the following radio specials are being broadcast by AIROS. On August 12-13, the NMAI National Powwow is being broadcast live from Washington, D.C., with host drums Midnite Express, Yellow Hammer, and Bear Creek. N. Scott Momaday's drama The Indolent Boys will be heard as a one-hour radio play the week of August 16 in the "Specials" timeslot. Starting on September 18 (at 1 pm ET) and as one-hour feeds (at 2 pm ET) from September 19 - 24, a six-hour documentary on the 2004 opening of the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall will be played; "The Opening Moment: An NMAI Celebration" was produced by NMAI and Koahnic Broadcasting Corporation.
For more information go to www.airos.org/specials/index.html.
8/4/05

Four one-hour documentaries on health issues produced by the Native Media Resource Center will premiere this year on AIROS, including "Combatting Diabetes: Food for Thought," a program on the 12th Annual Wellness and Spirituality Conference, and a collection of vignettes about health care practices in Indian country.
For program and broadcast information go to www.airos.org.
8/22/05

Wisdom of the Elders Radio, produced by Rose High Bear and distributed by AIROS, has produced its second series of eight one-hour radio programs, which began broadcasting in Spring 2005. Native Nations Along the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Trail features indigenous elders, tribal historiams, storytellers, and song carriers from 13 nations along the eastern portion of the Trail, including Shawnee, Otoe, Omaha, Yankton Sioux, Arikara, Mandan, Hidatsa, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Blackfeet, and Shoshone.

Hosted by Arlie Neskahi (Navajo), each program includes a historical introduction concerning expedition and tribal history, which provides the context for the regular cultural arts features:

• Elder Wisdom. Producer: Brian Bull (Nez Perce)
  
• Sacred Landscape. Producer: Judy Bluehorse Skelton (Nez Perce and Cherokee)
  
• Tribal Rhythms. Producers: Milt Lee (Cheyenne River Sioux)) and Jamie Lee
  
• Contemporary Rhythms. Producers: Milt and Jamie Lee
  
• Turtle Island Storytellers. Spotlight on tribal storytellers and their tales

This series has been funded by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail System, National Parks Service, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and CPB.
For a detailed website go to www.wisdomoftheelders.org.
8/22/05

Opportunities

For information about the opportunities to produce a radio program for American Indian Radio on Satellite (AIROS) Network, go to www.airos.org.
8/4/05

Call for Scripts
Deadline: November 15, 2005
Native Radio Theater is an initiative to bring audio theater to Native radio via AIROS, using works by Native authors, playwrights, and recording artists. Short works, ten-minute plays and one acts will be considered in all genres, with preference given to contemporary Native stories. This project of Native American Public Telecommunications and the theater program "Native Voices at the Autry" is beginning in the first year with planning funds from The Ford Foundation. This year a national panel comprised of five industry professionals will select a maximum of 12 scripts for the short list. From this list 1 to 3 scripts will be chosen for cash awards and production at the National Audio Theater Festival's audio theater workshop in West Plains, Missouri in June 2006. All submitted scripts must be received by November 15 with modest entrance fee, and selections will be announced in mid-April.
For more information about this project and about opportunities for indigenous theater and audio artists, go to www.airos.org/theater or www.museumoftheamericanwest.org/visit/nativevoices.php.
8/23/05

Awards

The Native American Journalists Association announced the NAJA 2005 Media Awards at their 21st annual convention in Lincoln, Nebraska, August 11 - 14. For Best Radio News, Tina James-Tafoya of National Native News won 1st Place for "Red Lake Shooting Update" and 3rd Place for "Delaware Federal Recognition." André Morriseau of Aboriginal Voices Radio won 2nd Place for "Pocahontas and Geronimo Discover England." For Best Radio Feature Story, Antonia Gonzales-McConkey of National Native News won 1st Place for "Drum Work." Anne Keala Kelly won 2nd Place for "Native Hawaiians Losing Their Land" on Free Speech Radio/WBAI-FM, New York. Carole Nez won 3rd Place for "Bush and Kerry at UNITY," on KUNM-FM, Albuquerque.
For more NAJA information go to www.naja.com
8/22/05

Recent Programs Online

For listing of Native radio programs that are online, click here.

** indicates that a short description of the film can be found in the PDFs of titles screened at the 1995, 1997 and 2000 Native American Film and Video Festivals. To open the PDF sorted by title, enter here.

Image credit: Carlos Efraín Pérez being interviewed by Marcelino Pinto, 2000 Native American Film and Video Festival - Photograph by Amalia Cordova, NMAI