Tulalip tribal members who live around the globe can now tune in to news from their homeland, thanks to a Web site that streams the tribes’ cable television channel.
From Tulalip’s Heritage High School basketball games to lessons in Lushootseed, the traditional Coast Salish language, KANU-TV offers a look at life on the Tulalip Indian Reservation that is totally free, and available to anyone.
“We have 1,384 (tribal) members that live off the reservation,” Tulalip General Manager Shelly Lacy said. “They live all over, and we’ve had comments that people like being able to be in touch with us, and see what’s going on in Indian Country.”
The tribes’ communications department began airing its own cable channel in 2000. There are at least two other cable channels dedicated to American Indian news, but KANU-TV is the first to offer Web streaming, said Lita Sheldon, manager of the tribes’ communications department.
The upgrade brought other new features.
Now, when Lacy presents her weekly General Manager’s Report, she sits in front of a virtual set — a computer-generated backdrop that can be changed in an instant.
Viewers can watch Lacy’s report at any time, and even choose from an archive of the weekly reports that dates back nearly a year.
The Web streaming includes everything KANU-TV airs, including “Native Nation Building,” a program about tribal sovereignty filmed at the University of Arizona’s Native Nations Institute, and Rez Robics, an exercise show produced by the Navajo Nation.
KANU-TV’s Web site also offers episodes of “NorthWest Indian News,” which is produced by the Tulalip Tribes communications staff.
The news program began with one episode every two months in 2003. This year, Sheldon plans to produce one episode per month.
“There’s so much news in Indian Country that we’d love to see it go weekly, or even daily,” Sheldon said. “We can make use of Indian reporters all over the place.”
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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