KILI Radio

[Andre Cramblit]

Native American Indigenous Cinema & Arts

homepage: www.thenaica.org

blog: http://thenaica.org/nucleus/carole.php


NO MORE SILENCE: BRINGING BACK THE VOICE OF KILI RADIO

For anybody driving west through the prairie expanse of South Dakota,  
something changes once you cross the Missouri. You soon come upon the  
moonscape terrain of the Badlands followed by the dramatic melding  
into the pine-covered Black Hills. If you’re into drinking in the  
local ambience and turn off your iPod and satellite radio you’ll  
discover something else. The intermittent radio signal of a station  
that is nothing like what most of us have listened to before.

The DJs occasionally speak in Lakota; sometimes interspersing the  
dialect with English in the same conversation. They broadcast live  
from pow wows, inform listeners about healthy lifestyles, school  
events and tribal meetings, discuss local issues, and play music. The  
playlist is especially eclectic; traditional and pow wow along with  
with pop, contemporary Native music and hip hop to appeal to younger  
listeners.

KILI Radio, broadcast “high atop Porcupine Butte” on the Pine Ridge  
Reservation, calls itself the “Voice of the Lakota Nation.”  
Recognizing the physical isolation of Pine Ridge and nearby  
reservations, you appreciate the importance of having a venue  
residents can tune into to keep in touch with neighbors who may  
literally live an hour’s drive away. But that voice has been  
silenced. This past April a lightning strike knocked out their  
transmission tower, and with it, the community connection in Pine Ridge.

The station is still broadcasting and is accessible through live  
streaming on their website. Whereas you and I and thousands across  
the globe can find out about the upcoming school board meeting, a  
majority of those in Pine Ridge cannot. Access to the internet is  
simply not an option for many in this poorest of poor reservations  
and the fact that a housewife from Stuttgart can tune in while an  
elderly resident of Kyle is unable to seems more than ironic.

Repairing the tower could cost up to $200,000. Raising that amount,  
which will enable the station to receive a matching grant, may seem  
insurmountable. It’s not—literally millions of tourists travel  
through South Dakota each year, many stopping in at the local pow  
wows and sipping a soda at Big Bats. These folks might be tiresome  
and at times obnoxious fixtures to Lakota residents but they are also  
potential supporters of the reservation they swarm each summer.

For that reason, let’s hope KILI puts the word out beyond South  
Dakota and Indian media outlets. Let’s do our part as well. The voice  
of the Lakota nation has already been silenced too long.

Website: http://www.kiliradio.org
(KILI radio is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All donations are  
tax-deductible.)

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