Building the Native American
Internet Community

By Taylor Keen

We are over 775 indigenous Nations, geographically displaced across the North American continent. Our communities are rural, commerce deprived, and hungry. Despite the successes of a few tribes, gaming has not served as the economic panacea we once thought it would. We as Native peoples have much to offer the global community, from natural resources and efficient labor to our art and our applications of traditional science. Reaching the markets that value these is the challenge, and the Internet is a cost-effective means of reaching these individuals and businesses.
   In August of 1998, President Clinton directed the U.S. Department of Commerce, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Interior and tribes, to examine the technology infrastructure in Native communities. The results of this recent survey are sobering. Even with the "basic" building blocks of infrastructure (roads, utilities, and housing), rural tribal communities are way behind. For "advanced" infrastructure (Internet access, cellular, cable), the situation is even more bleak. Here are a couple of facts from the U.S. Department of Commerce 's 1999 report entitled Assessment of Technology Infrastructure in Native Communities: 39% of rural Native communities have telephones vs. 94% for non-Native ru r a l communities; 22% have cable TV; 9% have personal computers; 8% have Internet access. Only 17% of tribes have a technology infrastructure plan. Schools in rural Native communities fare much better. Ninety percent of the responding tribes say their schools and libraries are wired, thanks much to Clinton's past programs with wiring all schools by the year 2000.
   Bottom line? Tribes are building the basic blocks of infrastructure first before worrying about advanced infrastructure . Housing, roads, medical facilities are what we are focused on. This is important. We must walk before we run, yet, what about the future? I am gravely concerned, as most of the tribes are not thinking much about the future, technology, or more importantly how we are going to train our exploding young population for the new millennium.
   Is there outside help for Native peoples? From the White House 's "Digital Divide to Opportunity " — w h e re private companies are being asked to bring $17 million of telephone service to over 300,000 Native homes, to Microsoft Corporation giving $2.75 million in grants to tribal colleges for software and technology training, the private and public sector are addressing the inequity by investing millions of dollars. Even the Federal Communications Commission is targeting about a half million schools in the next year to be "wired" to the Internet. In the end, however, it is up to Native people to ensure that our communities are included in these and other Internet access initiatives. This is our future. We must embrace it for ourselves and for generations to come.
   The Internet is a powerful mechanism that can enable us to define who we are, instead of being defined by everyone else. Let's examine the multimedia landscape. Television has been detrimental to Native people's image through the crude deployment of stereotypes. This continues to this day. Cable TV and film have made some more positive inroads, yet the majority of work is from non-Native's depiction of Native people. The Internet is the new frontier, wide-open to us to make of it what we want. As the technology progresses, we can dictate what is "authentic" Native from our own perspective, whether or not it is the retailing of products and services, to the streamlining of our own films and documentaries.
   From Alaska to Florida to Hawaii there are Indian nations, all of which have strong cultures that are full of valuable knowledge and insights. We live in a world of "tomahawk chops," Columbus Day" and the "Romantic Savage." We must begin to utilize the global access afforded by the Internet to start educating the public about our Native communities and cultures, and we must start marketing the products and services that we have to offer.
   My message to Indian Country is to utilize the Internet and it's awesome power. Insist that the tribal or Native entity that you work for establish a Web page and tell the world about your efforts! More importantly, we must convince our tribal governments that we must plan for the future. We need long - term technology plans to ensure that our children will be trained in the new economy. We as Native people have much to offer the world and not just in our culture and art. We can offer them our products and the chance to tell the world who we are in our own words. After all, can Native America afford not to be on the Internet?

Taylor Keen, Omaha/Cherokee was raised in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and was educated at Dartmouth College and Harvard University. He is presently chief executive officer of www.BlackShoulder.com, a Native-operated Web site for Native American Art. Taylor has consulted with numerous tribes and Native organizations in the areas of finance, strategy and manufacturing. In addition he has served on several boards of Native non-profit organizations.