Post by blackcrowheart on Jun 4, 2007 20:35:01 GMT -5
Native radio/Web program launched
by: Gale
Courey Toensing <
J. Kehaulani Kauanui, assistant
professor of anthropology and American Studies at Wesleyan Unvieristy in
Middletown, Conn., hosts a new weekly radio program called ''Indigenous
Politics: From Native New England and Beyond.'' MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - A
new weekly radio program and Web cast, called ''Indigenous Politics:
From Native New England and Beyond,'' was launched Feb. 5 from
Connecticut's Wesleyan University.
J. Kehaulani Kauanui, a Native Hawaiian and assistant professor of
anthropology and American Studies at the university, is the producer and
host of the program.
The program will air on Mondays from on the university radio station at
WESU 88.1 FM, with live streaming on the station's Web site at
www.wesufm.org. WESU's transmitter covers two-thirds of the state of
Connecticut and reaches as far north as Springfield, Mass., and south to
Long Island, N.Y. - a potential listening audience of several million
people. WESU recently became an affiliate of Pacifica Radio, with a
potential audience of millions more.
''Indigenous Politics'' features interviews with political leaders,
community activists and cultural authorities, as well as scholars whose
work addresses indigenous politics.
Kaunui's first show featured a long, in-depth interview with Suzan Shown
Harjo, Cheyenne/Hodulgee Muscogee and a poet, writer, Indian Country
Today columnist, lecturer, curator and policy advocate who has helped
Native peoples recover more than 1 million acres of land and numerous
sacred places as the president and executive director of the Morning
Star Institute, a national Native rights organization.
Harjo discussed a number of important current issues, including the
needed reauthorization of the Health Care Improvement Act, lawsuits that
would prohibit the Washington football team and others from profiting
from the use of ''Indian'' symbols, and ongoing efforts to protect
cultural and sacred places.
Alyssa Mt. Pleasant, Tuscarora and assistant professor of American
Studies and history at Yale University, hailed the program as a new
arena for American Native stories and analysis.
''Kauanui's radio show brings important American Indian and indigenous
voices to Connecticut's airways, providing crucial commentary rooted in
the scholarly research and activism of Native people and their allies.
This couldn't be more timely,'' Mt. Pleasant said.
Kauanui said her approach would not be journalistic in the sense of
representing all different viewpoints, but rather would focus on an
in-depth interview with one person and reporting from an indigenous
perspective.
''There are other places that represent all points of view, and I don't
think this program has to do that right now. I really want to privilege
the voices of Native New England. The show is also Native New England
and beyond but, first and foremost, I think we need to educate local
listeners of the struggle going on right here,'' Kauanui said.
A scholar who self-describes as technologically challenged, Kauanui was
tapped for the radio program by Ken Weiner, the station's public affairs
director.
She took a six-week training course along with the students and other
DJs, who are all community volunteers, and did two internships and
community service hours before taking a practical and written exam.
On Jan. 17, Kauanui did a live music show to mark the 113th anniversary
of the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.
''All the music I played affirmed Hawaiian sovereignty, so I've really
had a good time,'' she said.
Kauanui said she is motivated by several key issues affecting nations
across the country, most notably the fact that many tribes do not have
''basic'' federal recognition.
''Historically, recognition differed between state-recognized tribes
from the original 13 colonies and the 'treaty tribes' in the Western
states. More recently, the backlash against casino development has been
instrumental in the opposition to federal recognition. The conflation of
federal recognition with the specter of Indian casinos indicates that
most nontribal residents in these states refuse to uncouple questions of
tribal economic development - a question of a nation's political economy
- and the social justice issue of honoring the U.S. trust doctrine,''
Kauanui said.
The 21st century's ''most notorious cases'' involve two Connecticut
tribes - the Eastern Pequot and Schaghticoke tribal nations, Kauanui
said.
'''Citizens' rights' groups have bolstered the backlash in Connecticut
by state officials, which now implicates the federal process for tribes
across the entire U.S. Beyond Connecticut and New England, over 20 state
attorney generals across the USA are filing briefs to cut back tribal
jurisdiction by arguing that portions of the Indian Reorganization Act
of 1934 are unconstitutional. This new movement is being lead by
attorney generals Larry Long of South Dakota and Richard Blumenthal of
Connecticut. In the case of Connecticut, this new role marks a
180-degree turn. Just over 20 years ago, Connecticut played a major part
in pressuring Congress to federally recognize the Mashantucket Pequots
because the state was set to benefit financially,'' Kauanui said.
Future show will be aired with help from students Kalia Lydgate, Raffi
Stern and Amelia Dean Walker. All are volunteers.
Kauanui has lined up several interesting programs. Confirmed guests
include Richard Velky, chief of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation; Brian
Wescott, Koyokon Athabascan and Yup'ik, actor and film producer
currently working on a docudrama called ''We Are Still Here'' about the
life and time of Cahuilla elder Katherine Siva Saubel; and Randolph
Lewis, associate professor of American Studies at the University of
Oklahoma and author of ''Alanis Obomsawin: The Vision of a Native
Filmmaker.''
Future program topics will include Hawaiians and the politics of federal
recognition; Native feminisms; same-sex marriage bans in Indian country;
indigenous environmental issues; U.S. militarism and indigenous peoples'
service; domestic violence and restorative justice; indigenous language
revitalization; sports teams and Indian mascots; the U.S. presidential
election and American Indian voters; indigenous peoples and the prison
industrial complex; contemporary land rights; Indian gaming and the
politics of casinos; and indigenous
youth movements.
by: Gale
Courey Toensing <
J. Kehaulani Kauanui, assistant
professor of anthropology and American Studies at Wesleyan Unvieristy in
Middletown, Conn., hosts a new weekly radio program called ''Indigenous
Politics: From Native New England and Beyond.'' MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - A
new weekly radio program and Web cast, called ''Indigenous Politics:
From Native New England and Beyond,'' was launched Feb. 5 from
Connecticut's Wesleyan University.
J. Kehaulani Kauanui, a Native Hawaiian and assistant professor of
anthropology and American Studies at the university, is the producer and
host of the program.
The program will air on Mondays from on the university radio station at
WESU 88.1 FM, with live streaming on the station's Web site at
www.wesufm.org. WESU's transmitter covers two-thirds of the state of
Connecticut and reaches as far north as Springfield, Mass., and south to
Long Island, N.Y. - a potential listening audience of several million
people. WESU recently became an affiliate of Pacifica Radio, with a
potential audience of millions more.
''Indigenous Politics'' features interviews with political leaders,
community activists and cultural authorities, as well as scholars whose
work addresses indigenous politics.
Kaunui's first show featured a long, in-depth interview with Suzan Shown
Harjo, Cheyenne/Hodulgee Muscogee and a poet, writer, Indian Country
Today columnist, lecturer, curator and policy advocate who has helped
Native peoples recover more than 1 million acres of land and numerous
sacred places as the president and executive director of the Morning
Star Institute, a national Native rights organization.
Harjo discussed a number of important current issues, including the
needed reauthorization of the Health Care Improvement Act, lawsuits that
would prohibit the Washington football team and others from profiting
from the use of ''Indian'' symbols, and ongoing efforts to protect
cultural and sacred places.
Alyssa Mt. Pleasant, Tuscarora and assistant professor of American
Studies and history at Yale University, hailed the program as a new
arena for American Native stories and analysis.
''Kauanui's radio show brings important American Indian and indigenous
voices to Connecticut's airways, providing crucial commentary rooted in
the scholarly research and activism of Native people and their allies.
This couldn't be more timely,'' Mt. Pleasant said.
Kauanui said her approach would not be journalistic in the sense of
representing all different viewpoints, but rather would focus on an
in-depth interview with one person and reporting from an indigenous
perspective.
''There are other places that represent all points of view, and I don't
think this program has to do that right now. I really want to privilege
the voices of Native New England. The show is also Native New England
and beyond but, first and foremost, I think we need to educate local
listeners of the struggle going on right here,'' Kauanui said.
A scholar who self-describes as technologically challenged, Kauanui was
tapped for the radio program by Ken Weiner, the station's public affairs
director.
She took a six-week training course along with the students and other
DJs, who are all community volunteers, and did two internships and
community service hours before taking a practical and written exam.
On Jan. 17, Kauanui did a live music show to mark the 113th anniversary
of the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.
''All the music I played affirmed Hawaiian sovereignty, so I've really
had a good time,'' she said.
Kauanui said she is motivated by several key issues affecting nations
across the country, most notably the fact that many tribes do not have
''basic'' federal recognition.
''Historically, recognition differed between state-recognized tribes
from the original 13 colonies and the 'treaty tribes' in the Western
states. More recently, the backlash against casino development has been
instrumental in the opposition to federal recognition. The conflation of
federal recognition with the specter of Indian casinos indicates that
most nontribal residents in these states refuse to uncouple questions of
tribal economic development - a question of a nation's political economy
- and the social justice issue of honoring the U.S. trust doctrine,''
Kauanui said.
The 21st century's ''most notorious cases'' involve two Connecticut
tribes - the Eastern Pequot and Schaghticoke tribal nations, Kauanui
said.
'''Citizens' rights' groups have bolstered the backlash in Connecticut
by state officials, which now implicates the federal process for tribes
across the entire U.S. Beyond Connecticut and New England, over 20 state
attorney generals across the USA are filing briefs to cut back tribal
jurisdiction by arguing that portions of the Indian Reorganization Act
of 1934 are unconstitutional. This new movement is being lead by
attorney generals Larry Long of South Dakota and Richard Blumenthal of
Connecticut. In the case of Connecticut, this new role marks a
180-degree turn. Just over 20 years ago, Connecticut played a major part
in pressuring Congress to federally recognize the Mashantucket Pequots
because the state was set to benefit financially,'' Kauanui said.
Future show will be aired with help from students Kalia Lydgate, Raffi
Stern and Amelia Dean Walker. All are volunteers.
Kauanui has lined up several interesting programs. Confirmed guests
include Richard Velky, chief of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation; Brian
Wescott, Koyokon Athabascan and Yup'ik, actor and film producer
currently working on a docudrama called ''We Are Still Here'' about the
life and time of Cahuilla elder Katherine Siva Saubel; and Randolph
Lewis, associate professor of American Studies at the University of
Oklahoma and author of ''Alanis Obomsawin: The Vision of a Native
Filmmaker.''
Future program topics will include Hawaiians and the politics of federal
recognition; Native feminisms; same-sex marriage bans in Indian country;
indigenous environmental issues; U.S. militarism and indigenous peoples'
service; domestic violence and restorative justice; indigenous language
revitalization; sports teams and Indian mascots; the U.S. presidential
election and American Indian voters; indigenous peoples and the prison
industrial complex; contemporary land rights; Indian gaming and the
politics of casinos; and indigenous
youth movements.