Buffalo’s Fire publisher honored with Tim Giago Free Press Award

I was honored to receive the inaugural Tim Giago Free Press Award on Saturday, Aug. 12, during the 40^th Annual National Native Media Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It’s visionary leaders like Tim who inspire people like myself to do more for the well-being of our communities through journalism.

Buffalo’s Fire, an independent online news publication, is the newspaper arm of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit media organization that envisions a world where democracy thrives for Indigenous people through an independent press.

The IMFA’s mission is to improve the civil liberties of Indigenous people through research, media advocacy, and nation-building. Our current work is focused on the aspect of nation building that strengthens tribal sovereignty. The revered American Indian legal scholar Vine Deloria Jr. has written extensively on the three pillars of tribal sovereignty.

On the Stage

I was thankful to share some words about Tim, an Oglala Lakota, when I was called to the stage to accept the Free Press award during the awards banquet. About 400 Canadian and U.S. journalists were in attendance for the awards ceremony at the Delta Hotel.

Prior to the awards, members voted to change the name of the Native American Journalists Association to the Indigenous Journalists Association, so future references will refer to the new IJA acronym.

We started the evening with a moment of silence to commemorate the first year of Tim’s death. On July 14, I attended his memorial in Rapid City, S.D. His family gifted me with a star quilt and said he would be proud to see me receive the inaugural Free Press Award from IJA.

We all know Tim tried to retire several times, but he could never stop writing. He wrote until the final months of his life and only stopped when he was too sick to write. Tim left an empty seat in his newsroom, but his fourth weekly independent newspaper, the Native Sun News Today, and his legacy live on.

I count Tim as one of the significant Native media role models in my early life. I grew up seeing two astounding American Indian journalists when I was a young woman growing up in North Dakota. Tim Giago and Harriett Skye were trailblazers in the media. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized how significant their work was and how it influenced me to become a journalist.

Tim was the founder of Indian Country Today, now known as ICT. He was an exemplary newsman who gave people a voice in his newspaper. As an independent newspaper publisher, he also used his media role to hold tribal government leaders accountable.

Third Pillar of Tribal Sovereignty

The latter role can be challenging for any reporter who wants to report on tribal governments. That’s because holding tribal leaders accountable falls into an overlooked pillar of tribal sovereignty, an obvious pillar that typically falls by the wayside of elected leaders.

Deloria outlines the three pillars of tribal sovereignty as self-determination, followed by a second pillar that calls for us to protect our sacred places and spaces. The third pillar implores tribal leaders to act in accordance with the will of the people.

This is the most overlooked pillar, and this is where Indigenous journalists in Canada and the United States play critical roles in improving the quality of life for our people. We amplify and reflect our community voices so our elected leaders can act according to the people’s will.

It’s this arm of reporting that can be most difficult for reporters covering tribal government. Reservation-based newspapers are often beholden to tribal governments for funding, office space, editorial oversight, and advertising dollars. I worked for tribal media as a teenager and as an adult.

FOI for Indian Country

I’ve also worked for the mainstream press in Nebraska, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. I always knew I would return to my ancestral homelands in North Dakota. When I moved home to the Fort Berthold Reservation, I became the director of our tribe’s radio and newspaper.

Working within the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, I knew there was a lot of information being kept from me and tribal citizens. I had several disagreements with tribal leadership. They ranged from budget reporting to being denied requests for media packets of tribal council agenda items.

After being fired for “insubordination,” I knew more had to be done to not only reflect the views of the tribe’s citizens but to hold the tribal government accountable. The recent release of the “Bad Press” documentary – a film about the Muscogee Nation’s censoring the tribe’s newspaper — beautifully highlights press freedom challenges in Indian Country.

The documentary reminds us that only 5 of 574 federally-recognized tribes have press freedom protections written into their tribal governance structures. Elected leaders across the country must do more to be accountable to our citizens. Journalists and the public need open records.

Our tribal communities lack access to tribal freedom of information protections, unlike existing federal FOIA and state laws.

What happens when our own governments deprive us of information? Individuals and organizations need information. It’s essential to our lives. We need it for research, trends, and to stay economically competitive. We need accurate information to make informed decisions.

The information helps us in key areas, such as learning, education, decision-making, innovation, creativity, communication, personal growth, safety, health, well-being, social interactions, cultural development, and economic vitality.

It’s time for tribes to evolve and strengthen their governance structures. We all need to do our part to firmly plant the third pillar of tribal sovereignty.

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear currently serves as an appointed board member of the Indigenous Journalists Association. An independent committee selected award winners.