Blogs

Growing Native at Home

Submitted by Growing Native on September 10, 2012 - 7:51am

Every once in a while, the very idea of a documentary series exactly matches what’s going on at home. Such is the case with Growing Native.

I recently moved home to the Fort Hall Reservation after living in cities for most of my career. I couldn’t wait to experiment with food. The first thing we put into the ground: Blue Corn. Last year’s crop was healthy and this year’s corn was grown from last year’s seeds. We also dried corn, hanging it as art all over the house. We then ground much of that corn into meal and consume it often.

Any day now we’ll harvest again. The crop, like last year, is extraordinarily tall. Most of the stocks are about 8 feet tall.

My idea is to look at my garden as a consumer. What would it take for more families to add their own grown food to their regular diet? How much effort to really contribute to a better diet? The answers will roll out over time.

Here is a short slide show about last year’s crop.

- Mark Trahant, Growing Native advisory committee member
Teaching/Learning Digital Media in an Oklahoma Heat Wave

Submitted by tfiel on September 5, 2012 - 1:21pm

I recently taught digital media to a group of Southern Ponca students at White Eagle Oklahoma for the Standing Bear’s Footsteps project.The Class began with nine students who were selected the Ponca Tribal Education Department. The students varied in age from 10 to 14, that’s fifth to eighth grade, 4 girls and 5 boys. This was a six-week project, with classes held 2 ½ days per week.

A mission statement was written for our class –“Each student will have a positive and fun learning experience, exploring and creating digital media, as it relates to the project theme.” This was a summer project for the kids and I didn’t want it to seem like a regular school class. And as an instructor I wanted to keep it interesting and fun, a definite prerequisite for this age group.

For the first week the focus was learning the tools, a MacBook Air, a small handheld Toshiba HD camcorder that could also takes stills, and a Tascam digital audio recorder. A great mix of hardware and software that had to be learned and understand as each student headed down the digital path.

The Meaning of Home Row

As a first assignment, and to flesh out project ideas, I asked the group to use the computer to write about themselves, what activities do you like to do, places you like to go, things you like to do with your friends, a simple task-I thought.

I soon realized the students had little or no experience typing on a keyboarding. (Not taught anymore in school) You can ask adult students to write a story idea and they will look for the home keys, however this generation doesn’t have the same keyboarding skills to type quick paragraphs. At least not the way I was taught.

The hunt-and-peck method was something I realized this generation of students use for typing. No different than texting or gaming. And have you ever tried using the home row method with both hands on your I-Pad?

“It’s Indian Fair Hot outside”

In the first series of lessons I discussed the term “collaboration” and explained how I wanted to work in this way. I wanted the work to be theirs, with me assisting in any way that was needed, but in the end it was to be their work.

While I took on the task of teaching, I wanted the cultural aspect and project ideas in the hands of the tribal representatives. Each week we had a cultural resource person talk to the class. I wanted the students ideas to become the driving factor for their projects. I wanted it to be their own work, from their interest, and then they would own and be proud of their project.

I had hoped to get more projects from each student, however I do feel the experience was important for them. And the experience of working with the laptops, software’s, and equipment has given them a new sense of confidence and accomplishment.

I believe this project has outstanding aspects. The fact that the latest computer and digital hardware was brought into the tribe, their kids taught “how” to use it, then given to the tribe for use in the future is unprecedented. It is an investment that needs to be nurtured for the future.

Hindsight is 20/20

As I review the project and how lessons were delivered, I now think that setting aside the first two days for just teaching tribal history and culture may be a better strategy. In the past I would present the hands on task the first day, just to keep them engaged. However at their young age, there are still questions that need to be asked and answered by their tribal elders. It is imperative that all participants, students, staff, tribal planning group, are part of the “why” of digital media. Then we proceed to the “how.”

I do realize different groups have different needs and solutions, but any thoughts from other instructors would be appreciated.

MVTO

I want to thank Kay Shaw, from the Public Media Corp for having the vision and dollars to invest in the equipment, and for coming all the way to White Eagle to visit the students. And also being the keynote speaker for our graduation ceremony.

A thank you to Shirley Sneve and Brendan McCauley for offering the opportunity and continuing the vision to make projects like this possible.

And a major thanks to the Ponca Students who showed up every day for class, the parents who allowed them to attend, and the staff who gave of their time and energy during the project.

The project mission of the “Meaning of Home” is an on going quest for many of the young students. I hope the Public Media Corp’s (PMC) Digital Media Arts Club, and NAPT can continue to offer support for the next few years. Then I feel we will start seeing important productions and stories coming from the Southern Ponca kids at White Eagle, Oklahoma.

Submitted by Tom Fields, Instructor
Native Sounds: Leanne Goose

Submitted by AIROS Native Network on September 5, 2012 - 7:00am

Leanne Goose (Dene and Inuvialuit) is from the Northwest Territories of Canada. She grew up traveling with her father’s band and began her musical career at a young age. Leanne's voice mixes soft, sultry and soul into a sound like no one can. Her music can go from blues to rock to country. Leanne loves music and enjoys sharing it with an array of audiences.

Leanne has released two albums Anywhere in 2008 and Got You Covered in 2011. Both Albums have earned Leanne a number of nominations and notoriety. Leanne is an up-and-coming songwriter and the Native American music community has taken notice.

Recently, Production Assistant Tobias Grant (Omaha) talked with Leanne after her performance on Stage 49 during the Gathering of Nations Powwow. Tobias asked Leanne about her sound and experience as a Native musician.

Interview with Leanne | Leanne's Website | Facebook Page | Reverb Page | Twitter Page | Subscribe to the Native Sounds Podcast
Using New Media: Employing New Technology

Submitted by eric on September 4, 2012 - 4:23am

This week I am presenting at an NAPT producer's workshop "Using New Media: Employing New Technology". I've posted my presentation here so that it can be downloaded for those at workshop and those who could not make it.
Native Media at Vegas PBS!

Submitted by professorshawna on August 31, 2012 - 1:31pm

If you’ve been following my blogs, of if you know me, you should know how passionate I am about Native media. In the recent years, I’ve taken a deeper interest in Native American Educational Media and decided to get yet another degree focusing on this subject. I’ve been involved with learning and teaching media for over 10 years now and I am starting to see the Native communities becoming more technically savvy, more involved in digital storytelling and more passionate about not only preserving traditional ways of life with video, but using technology as the new storytelling tool to pass on stories that were once only passed on orally.

Technology is becoming second nature in today’s society, but sadly, in a lot of Native communities, they tend to be behind the times or a few generations behind on the latest and greatest technological trends. It only took a few years, but my smart phone now works on the rez, albeit through roaming charges, but for Native-kind that is one huge step! Now that tribal nations have the access and ability to consume media through the Internet and cell phones, it is time for tribal nations to harness these gadgets towards educational teaching. Enter Shawna L. Begay.

With my dissertation, I hope to start developing educational media programming for tribal communities. Not only for my own Navajo Nation, but develop a model for other tribal communities to follow and perhaps use. When I think about educational media I always think of what I used to watch as a kid. Remember the days when we only had 13 channels? And we had to change the channel with a dial? I know I’m dating myself, but THE station to watch was PBS! Sesame Street, School House Rock, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Captain Kangaroo…. Awe… those were the days… Life was simple.

Being that PBS probably influenced my life in some small way, I thought it would be nice to see what they do and how they do it. After all, they are a non-profit station and they are kept in business only by the sole support of donations. Their goal is to educate everyone with programming for all ages. So it was very delightful to see that Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) offered a summer internship, partnering with national PBS stations. I was lucky enough to have already met some people at Vegas PBS during my studies at UNLV and was able to secure a summer internship with the help of NAPT with Vegas PBS’s Educational Media Services Department.

Working with Vegas PBS was very enlightening. I was able to meet people who work with educational technology, producers, directors, editors and educators. I sat in and helped with various productions. I was able get a fundamental overview of how the station is run and what kind of educational outreach they do for the community in Las Vegas. I was able to meet many different people with different backgrounds and educated them on the Native American population that resided in their backyard, so to speak.

Once I started working with the station I was given the assignment to work with the Vegas PBS American Graduate program and develop a short promotional video. American Graduate is a national program that uses public media to help students, parents and educators have access to resources to help deal with the drop out crisis with American high school students. I did a lot of research when I started with Vegas PBS to see what kind of promotional videos were available with American Graduate that were geared towards the Native American Population. There were none.

I started doing research on the Native communities that reside in the Las Vegas Area. The main tribes in the Vegas areas are the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe and Moapa Band of Paiutes. There are other tribes of course in Nevada, but I chose to focus on the area in which Vegas PBS does their outreach. Unfortunately, when talking to these tribal community members, they felt that they were left out from the rest of the population, they didn’t know that Vegas PBS has many resources to offer their youth in education. I hope that my presence with Vegas PBS and in the tribal communities will change the relationship in the future for the better.

I’m glad I got to work with NAPT and Vegas PBS. I was able to do a few things for the tribal communities and Native media. I was able to develop a short promotional video, having access to all the professional staff and equipment PBS uses. I was able to produce and direct the short piece and focused the American Graduate video on the Native American population. I was also featured in an article that pertains to the American Graduate initiatives across the United States.

As a Native American, I know I get all excited when I see another Native Americans on television or the big screen, even though it may be Adam Beach. I get excited because I know how hard it is to get placed in front of the camera. It is especially hard for Native American’s to get roles that are not stereotypical. Those roles are few and far between, but they do exist. So as a Native American woman, it was important for me to develop a video, geared towards the positive outlook of Native Americans, especially on a topic that is near and dear to my heart-educational success.

Although I have taught video production classes and been involved with several productions, this was one of the first that I was able to have full control over. I was actually surprised when Vegas PBS had the confidence in me to take a professional crew out in the field and produce a video using all their professional gear that the regular station uses for broadcast! Producing is a lot of work! And producing requires you to communicate effectively, because if you don’t, the whole entire system breaks down! But ultimately, what matters the most in media is to tell a story. Tell a compelling story.

PBS has been around since I can remember and has a great model to look at when developing educational media. I am happy to say that upon completing my summer internship, Vegas PBS has asked me to continue working with them part time in the future while I continue my Ph.D. studies at UNLV. Although the American Graduate video is complete, it has the potential to broadcast during November, Native American Month. Therefore, we are not planning on distributing the video until after it airs. So as of now, I am getting ready to go into pre-production for the broadcast segment for American Graduate, focusing on the Native American population.

The producers program that NAPT offers helps place Native Americans in public media spots. It is important for the Native voices to be heard. NAPT has allowed me to be in a public media position that can benefit the Native American population and for that I will forever be grateful. Thank you NAPT and Vegas PBS, I aspire to continue my work in educational media far into the future.

Shawna L. Begay is a Ph. D. student and graduate assistant at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas studying Educational Technology. She holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Chapman University in Film Production with an emphasis in Editing and Sound Design. She was also a faculty member at the Institute of American Indian Arts, College of Contemporary Arts teaching video production classes from 2007-2011.
A 'First Nations Experience'

Submitted by tsmith on August 27, 2012 - 12:47pm

I spent 10 weeks as a Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) Multimedia Intern at KVCR/First Nations Experience (FNX) public television station in San Bernardino, Calif.

I learned about the internship opportunity through NAPT's email newsletter, while I was finishing my graduate program at the University of California Berkeley. I was very interested in the possibility of being placed at KVCR/FNX, so when I submitted my application the channel was one of my top requests.

FNX is a channel that was developed out of a partnership between KVCR and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. The channel is housed in the KCVR public television station, which is on the San Bernardino Valley College campus. The channel has only been on air for a year.

Being that FNX is a brand new venture and features all Native American and indigenous programming I was very enthusiastic about the internship. The channel has a very small staff of less than ten people. The staff met at least twice a week to discuss strategies for programming, social media, networking, and program acquisitions. My perspective was always welcome during the meetings. I learned that a lot of decision making goes into what is broadcast to the public.

One of the primary assignments I was given when I started with KVCR/FNX was building the channel's YouTube site. I worked along with a small team of staff members who were developing a social media strategy for the channel. My job was to research the YouTube sites of other television network channels with similar niche appeal and see how they utilized their sites. I worked with the channel's graphic designer on getting a background template and an avatar photo for the YouTube site. For video content, I was able to get eight promotional videos from the channel's production manager. I posted a video every few days.

About two weeks into the internship, I was also assigned to contribute a weekly blog focusing on Native American youth for FNX Beat. During the course of the internship I posted eight entries. This task took me to Morongo, Soboba, Torres Martinez and La Jolla reservations. I also reported stories from events that took place in Los Angeles. I appreciated this assignment because it gave me the opportunity to interact directly with tribal communities. I was able to get a great deal of feedback about what people thought about the channel. Tribal people I spoke with were excited that someone was there to recognize the accomplishments of their young people.

As part of my deliverables for NAPT, I shot, edited, and produced a 3-minute video that focused on the 2012 Native Summer Pipeline to College. The program is hosted annually by Pitzer College along with Western University of Health Science. This year, 22 Native American high school students stayed in residence halls on the Pitzer campus for two weeks. During the course of the program the students attended workshops, visited reservations, and participated in cultural activities.

I could not imagine a better summer internship placement than at KVCR/FNX. Being that the channel is a start up, so much is needed. I was able to directly apply a lot of the technical media skills I had learned in graduate school. It also gave me the opportunity to learn about the day-to-day operation of a public television station and how monumental something like a 24/7 Native American program channel is.

I am pleased to report that I have been asked to stay and work under contract at KVCR/FNX for another six months as the channel's social media coordinator. Naturally, I am very honored. I am also grateful to NAPT for selecting me as an intern and placing me at KVCR/FNX.
Apache 8 All-Women Firefighter Crew a "First"

Submitted by jess.kinser on August 21, 2012 - 7:06am

This month, ChristianPost.com wrote a blog about the Apache 8 all-women firefighting crew.

The more commonly known Navajo firefighters specialize in "hot spots" and extend their expertise nationwide when needed. The surprising team is the women from Fort Apache--the Apache 8 Crew, who also answer the call when needed across the U.S.

Formed in the mid-1970s, the Apache 8 Crew was elite, particularly since jobs were scarce on the Reservation. For the past 30-years, these women have put their lives on the line and left their families for days, weeks, months, to face the wildland fires that beckon their expertise and skill.

The can-do attitude and strategic mindset of these women proved in an unprecedented time that these when women--especially Native women--could perform the same work as there male counterparts and do so with pride and courage. These women soon laid fears and doubts of their abilities to rest. They could do everything the job required including the intense training, the long hikes with intense equipment weight strapped to their backs, and daily maintenance of the Reservation grounds to keep it environmentally safe.

This is just a quick highlight of what these amazing women represent for all women, Native culture, and history. To find out more, watch Apache 8 on DVD!

Read the blog post from ChristianPost.com.
Growing Native Northwest

Submitted by Growing Native on August 20, 2012 - 1:40pm

The footage from the 24th Annual Canoe Journey in the Pacific Northwest has been processed. Here is a sneak peek at some of that footage as host Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho) speaks to the indigenous people of the area about their culture and traditions.

In the teaser you'll see a traditional Tulalip Tribes' trade route and its restoration back to its natural beauty, harvesting of the plant, camas, traditional Tulalip carvings into thousand-year-old cedar trees, and images of the Lushootseed Language Camp, all to the sound of music from the Potlatch Protocol.

The Annual Canoe Journey takes place each spring and summer where the Tulalip Tribes join other coastal Salish tribes in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia for a journey that brings friends together for weeks of connection with traditions, family bonding and physical, spiritual, and emotional well being. Preparation for this several hundred mile journey along the water highways of coast Salish ancestors include Spring meetings in which young and old share lifeways, values, and personal experiences and avoid non-productive pursuits such as substance abuse and domestic violence.
How to Get More Yous Looking at Your Tube

Submitted by eric on August 14, 2012 - 4:25am
Here are a few tips for getting more people to watch your videos on YouTube.
1. Keywords are key. Save the ones that you will always use in a Google Doc, copy and paste the keywords into the keywords field. Then add all the words unique to that particular video.
2. Post a link to your website or a related website at the beginning of the description. Make sure the URL is short. This won't get you a whole lot more views, but it will get you more visits to your site as a result of posting your video.
3. Make sure that you have a nice and short description about your video in the first two or three lines of your description field.
4. Pick the best image for your YouTube video. If you sign up for Google for Non-Profits you can actually upload related images instead of just picking from the three random images that YouTube gives you.
5. Embed the video on your site and post it on Facebook and twitter.
6. Keep your videos short.
7. Promote your video in one big campaign. There is a rumor that if you get a big spike within the first 48 hours that you have a great chance of being selected as a YouTube featured video. While that may be a longshot. People are more likely you click on a video if they see it has been viewed a lot in a short period of time, so it doesn't hurt to follow this rule anyway.
8. Create playlists for series and link to that, so that people will just start watching all of the related videos, one after another.
9. Have a featured video on your homepage. Change it out when you can.
10. Use YouTube as a social media platform: subscribe to other channels, like other videos, etc. Remember the best way to get followed is to follow someone.
11. Look at your analytics and learn from them, including what sites are sending you a lot of traffic through video embeds, etc.
12. Use “Audience Retention” in your individual YouTube video Analytics to see at what points people are watching the most (or least), to get feedback on your video, so that you can post videos that get people watching your videos all the way until the end.
Native Sounds: Cody Blackbird

Submitted by AIROS Native Network on August 7, 2012 - 12:00pm

Cody Blackbird is Eastern Band of Cherokee of North Carolina and Dakota. Cody is the youngest recipient for "Flutist of the Year" by the Native American Music Awards. He travels throughout the year performing and as a motivational speaker for Native American youth. Cody is a rising star in Indian Country and is experimenting with new things by way of flute songs. Cody collaborated with Frank Waln (Rosebud Sioux) of Nake Nula Waun on their song, “Hear my Cry." And, their song was nominated for "Best Hip-Hop Song" at the Indian Summer Music Awards.

Cody feels blessed that he can travel and share his music. Cody does not consume drugs or alcohol and lives by his traditional values. Recently, Production Assistant Tobias Grant (Omaha) talked with Cody after his performance on Powwow Alley during the Gathering of Nations Powwow.

Interview with Cody | Cody's Website | Reverb Page | Twitter Page | Subscribe to the Native Sounds Podcast