Rogers State University’s television station, RSU-TV, will be airing special programming in November to focus on Native American history and contemporary issues as part of the national Native American Month.
During the week of Nov. 17-22, RSU-TV will broadcast the Native American-themed programming, which will be hosted by area high school students, as well as RSU students. The students were given hands-on experience – both in front of the camera and behind the scenes – by producing short spots that gave them an opportunity to highlight the Native American programs at their schools.
“Because of the strong Native American culture in our area, we thought it was very important to actively participate in the celebration of Native American Month,” said Virgle Smith, RSU-TV general manager. “And by being able to bring in the students to give them first-hand experience with the station’s operations, it was definitely a win-win situation.”
Area schools participating in the program include: Claremore High School, Dewey High School, Hominy High School, Pawnee Public Schools, RSU and Tulsa Public Schools.
RSU-TV broadcasts at 2.75 million watts and reaches an audience of about 1.2 million people within a 75-mile radius. The station is Oklahoma’s only full-powered television station operated on a public university campus. RSU-TV is a key component to RSU’s distance learning programs, which includes telecourses and live interactive programming.
RSU-TV broadcasts under the call letters KRSC on UHF channel 35, Claremore and Tulsa cable channel 19, and more than 70 cable systems in northeastern Oklahoma and southern Kansas.
The programming schedule will be:
Sunday, Nov. 17 – hosted by RSU’s Native American Student Association
7 p.m. “The Art of Being Indian: Filmed Aspects of the Culture of the Sioux.” This program provides an overview of the cultural heritage of the Sioux from their early days in the northeastern part of the country to their “Golden Age” of adaption to the plains of the Dakotas.
7:30 p.m. “Savage Country: American Indian Mascots in Oklahoma High School Football.” Hugh Foley, assistant professor in the Department of Communications and Fine Arts at RSU, examines the issues surrounding the use of American Indian mascots by high school athletic teams in Oklahoma. Featured in the documentary are Native American middle and high school students, high school teachers, tribal leaders and higher education professionals.
8 p.m. “Waasa-Inaabidaa – We Look in All Directions/ Episode One: Gakina Awiiya – We Are All Related.” The first of a six-part television documentary series about the second largest tribe in North America, the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe (Chippewa) nation of the upper Great Lakes region. This program explores the Anishinabe/Ojibwe’s relationship with the land which is based on respect, sharing, humility and responsibility.
Monday, Nov. 18 – hosted by Hominy High School’s American Indian Student Association.
7 p.m. “Pride and Power to Win.” This program tells the success story of Baboquivari High School in Sells, Ariz., a Tohono O’odham community, as it improved its school. The program shows how the entire community joined forces to turn the school around by utilizing their traditional tribal-consensus method of problem solving.
7:30 p.m. “Whispers: The Chumash.” The program explores the world of the Chumash Indian community of southern California. Through interviews and archival footage, we see how the modern Chumash have preserved their culture, dance and folklore.
8 p.m. “Waasa Inaabidaa – We Look in All Directions/Episode Two: Gwayakochigewin – Making Decisions the Right Way.” This episode reveals insight into the tribe’s leadership and governance, the decision-making process, and the roles of the individual in relationship to the family, the community, the clan and the Creator.
Tuesday, Nov. 19 – hosted by Tulsa Public Schools Indian Education.
7 p.m. “Beyond the Reservation Road.” The program tells how the Cherokee community of Cherry Tree, Okla., came together to build a ball field. Their grassroots efforts pulled together the community to battle high unemployment and school dropout rates, rising crime, and teenage pregnancy.
7:30 p.m. “Whispers: The Gabrielino/Tangva.” This program portrays the cultural survival of the Gabrielino/Tongva native people, the former inhabitants of the coastal region near Los Angeles County, Calif.
8 p.m. “Waasa Inaabidaa – We Look in All Directions/Episode Three: Gaa Niinigooyang – That Which is Given To Us.” This episode examines the Anishinabe/Ojibwe’s economy and survival, their traditional subsistence lifestyle based on the seasonal cycle and their relationships between the group, the individual and the environment.
Wednesday, Nov. 20 – hosted by Operation Eagle from Dewey Public Schools.
7 p.m. “Storytellers of the Pacific (Program 1)” The show examines how a people come to have an identity. Spokespeople include Greg Sarris, Chief of the Miwok of California; Eni Faleomavaega, the non-voting elected Samoan Representative to the U. S. Congress; native Hawaiian DrNoa Emmett Aluli, Chairman of the Kaho’olawe Island Reserve Commission; and Angel Santos of the Chamoru people of Guam.
8 p.m. “Waasa Inaabidaa – We Look in All Directions/Episode Four: Binaadiziwin – A Healthy Way of Life.” This installment explores the Anishinabe/Ojibwe belief that a healthy way of life requires maintaining a balance between mental, physical, spiritual and emotional aspects of a person.
Thursday, Nov. 21 – hosted by JOM/TitleIV Programs at Pawnee Public Schools.
7 p.m. “Storytellers of the Pacific (Program 2)” This episode examines the issue of self-determination through the words and stories of four cultures which have had to struggle to keep their cultures intact: the Nisqually people of the Pacific Northwest, native Hawaiians, the Seri people of the Sonoran Desert of northern Mexico, and the Aleut people of Alaska’s Pribiloff Islands.
8 p.m. “Waasa Inaabidaa – We Look in All Directions/ Episode Five: Gikinoo’amaadwin – We Gain Knowledge.” This program explores the connection between the traditional Anishinabe/Ojibwe family structure and how individuals acquire knowledge through the four phases of life.
Friday, Nov. 22 – hosted by Claremore High School’s Indian Club.
7 p.m. “Honorable Nations.” This program tells the story of two communities – the Seneca Indians and the citizens of Salamanca, N.Y., as they struggle to renegotiate an archaic 1892 lease just before it expired in February 1991. Salamanca is the only city in the U.S. that is situated entirely on Native American land, making it a city within a nation within a nation.
8 p.m. “Waasa Inaabidaa – We Look in All Directions/ Episode Six: Ojibewnowin – Ojibwe Oral Tradition.” The final installment explains the importance of the Anishinabe/Ojibwe language, its near disappearance and its renewal today.