Internet: The Physical Web (1.3)

It's easy to imagine the internet as a sort of intangible, omnipresent force by which the entire globe is perfectly interconnected. However, this mindset ignores the litany of personnel it takes to run such infrastructure; the hardware installation required and the technical acumen to do so; geographical constraints such as terrain and weather; and government subsidies/federal funding that allow such projects to take place. In the heart of "Indian Country", such ignorance is impossible.

Whether internet access is acquired through broadband, WiFi, DSL, dial-up, mobile phone data, cable or satellite--it requires physical installation of some kind, somewhere. Towers are constructed, fiber-optic cables are buried or hung, satellite dishes are deployed, spectrum is purchased and allocated and fought over; and all of this requires power.

Duarte said of her initial dive into the connection between technology and sovereignty that, "Instead of assuming that Native peoples do not have access to ICTs [Information and Communication Technologies] and asking what factors and conditions limit access, I asked how individuals design and utilize ICTs toward tribal goals." (89) This is an important step in reframing how we think of digital access and the responsibilities we have when building frameworks and digital content. Ask not what the people could have done to ensure their inclusion; assume global inclusion, and build accordingly. If one's product is not reaching a particular region, that's a business problem, not a consumer problem.

Nevertheless, many tribes have taken their lack of connectivity into their own hands. There are at least twenty native-owned-and-operated telecom companies, servicing their reservation lands where larger national or regional companies fall short. When one such company, TDVnet, built their systems they had to think innovatively to supply power to their hilltop towers; initially utilizing helicopters to place large generators and batteries, the Native personnel eventually retrofitted their generators with solar panels and wind turbines, and began repositioning satellite dishes outside of their designated operations to maximize the reach and strength of their signals across the surrounding valleys. (94)

For a dive into Indigenous networks across America, visit https://muninetworks.org/content/indigenous-networks

In our area alone, we can see that the Yakama, Coeur d'Alene, and Nez Pierce Reservations all have a robust network in place; the Colville Reservation, however, where tribes ranging from the Cascades all the way to Spokane were forcibly relocated, is currently without.

The situation elsewhere in the country is far more dire, still:

The south-eastern region of the United States, despite being home to the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations' large reservations, boasts no Indigenous networks whatsoever.

Duarte further explains that while self-determination describes the rights of tribes to design and implement social programs, "economic self-determination refers to the right of tribes to support tribal enterprises that best meet community needs. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s investment in broadband Internet services, geared toward economic self-determination, relates to the inherent sovereign right of the four bands of the Peoples of the Plains to live and work within their homelands." (81) If a tribe is "allowed" to remain on reservation land, but are incapable of sustaining themselves off of that land, what are they truly being afforded beyond petulant, malicious compliance? Since we have legally agreed that recognized tribes are to be allowed to remain within a particular boundary, we are obligated to consider that boundary as within the scope of our social responsibility. For tribes to remain sovereign, economic self-determination is both vital, and mandatory.

Duarte, Marisa Elena. Network Sovereignty : Building the Internet across Indian Country, University of Washington Press, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wsu/detail.action?docID=4987329.

Created from WSU on 2023-01-26.