NATIVE AMERICAN ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

Linking Culture and Community in the Navajo Nation

Most college students in the United States take for granted ready access to computers and the Internet on campus. But for students in the remote Navajo Nation, this technology is a luxury.

Lewanda Tsosie lives in Many Farms, a small Arizona community in the middle of the 27,000-square-mile Navajo Nation. When she attended the tribal college she didn't have a personal computer. To complete her courses, she relied heavily on computers at the community's center, Chapter House.

“I needed the computers to do research papers, talk to my teachers, and firm up my schedule,” Tsosie said. “When the Chapter House was closed at the night, I would drive around struggling to find a computer I could borrow.”

Tsosie's experience is common in the Navajo Nation, were few residents have home computers and many live without phones. While nearly every American home has a telephone, only four out of 10 Navajo homes do. For many, the Chapter House offers the only phone and Internet service for miles.

As part of its Native American Access to Technology Program, the foundation has invested $5.9 million since 2000 to help Navajo Nation chapters bring the Internet to their communities. Microsoft donated software, and Gateway offered discounts on computers. Technical assistance came from Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, and the New Mexico State Library.

Before this partnership, only 17 of 110 Navajo chapters offered public access to computers and the Internet. Today, every chapter has a high-speed Internet connection, often provided by satellite hookups in remote areas.

Overall, the foundation has worked with 43 tribes in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah to provide computers, peripherals, training, and technical support for a total investment of $9.6 million. This program provided access to tools and technology to preserve local culture and heritage, as well as opportunities for communities to teach digital skills to its members.

There's little doubt that investing in technology reaps tremendous benefits for American Indian communities. But despite the triumphs of bringing the Internet to the Navajo Nation, there are many financial challenges in sustaining this service. A recent bright spot is the influx of federal funding—$2.8 million through the E-rate program—that helps offset network and connectivity costs. But additional funding and resources are needed to ensure that members of the Navajo Nation will continue to benefit from new technologies.

“Access to computers and the Internet is critical to the economic development of the Navajo Nation,” said Ernest Franklin, who works in the national Navajo government to ensure each chapter realizes the benefits of technology. Franklin also recognizes the importance of young people learning technological skills for education and work.

“Computer access has increased education opportunities for the more than 500 American Indians and Alaska Native people taking distance learning classes at Northern Arizona University,” said NAU Vice President Fred Hurst. The university has established four computer labs in the Navajo Nation.

“New technology is allowing students on the Navajo Nation and other rural areas to get degrees when they otherwise wouldn't be able to because of distance or technological barriers,” said Hurst. “These students then use their education to improve their communities.”