Tribal radio and AIROS Internet listeners were center stage for
two live broadcasts of powwows in Washington, D.C. and
Mashantucket, CT.
The MCI Center came alive with sounds of song and dance on the weekend of August 12-14,,when the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) held its second nationwide powwow. NMAI and AIROS were proud to bring this live event to listeners across Indian Country and around the world through the airwaves and over the Internet. More than a dozen tribal and community radio stations carried the powwow, bringing the drums to the airwaves over five different time zones.
Mary Sando-Emhoolah (Warm Springs/Wasco/Aleut) and Caleb Strickland (Lumbee) provided commentary for the AIROS network. The National Powwow featured emcees Dale Old Horn (Crow), Wallace Coffey (Comanche) and Jason Good Striker (Blood).
The Annual Feast of Green Corn & Dance, Schemitzun, hosted by Mashantucket Pequots of Connecticut was broadcast live, Aug. 26-28. The broadcast was picked up by over a dozen tribal and community radio stations. AIROS received e-mail from online listeners in 28 states and foreign countries who were happy that they too could tune in even if they were located in major cities like New York or Miami where there are no tribal radio stations to carry the broadcast live. One listener from Boston wrote in “[Your broadcast] sounds so good. First time in a long time that me and my family aren’t there … so I’m listening online. It’s bittersweet. It’s nice to hear the emcee in the background. I can feel the energy and wish I was there. Next year. You guys sound great. Thanks....” Another online listener wrote in “Thank you so very much for streaming the audio on AIROS and bringing the good energy of the Schemitzun Powwow to my home in San Francisco.”
This year’s radio hosts for the broadcast were Camille Lacapa (Hopi-Tewa/Ojibwe), Shirley Sneve (Lakota) and Caleb Strickland (Lumbee).