Amna Nawaz: For many tribal communities in America, internet access is not as easy as logging on to a computer.
The FCC reports that nearly 28% of tribal land residents do not have access to high-speed broadband, compared to 1.5% of urban residents.
The Biden administration is providing funding to change this.
But as Maria Staubes, a student reporter at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, explains, better connectivity may not be enough.
Maria Staubes: This Tohono O’odham Nation construction project brings rural Arizona into the 21st century.
TONYA JOAQUIN, Vaya Chin Resident: Internet connection is a little sparse on reservations here, so it’s all over the place.
Maria Staubes: The Tohono O’odham Department of Public Works is installing a fiber-optic network to provide high-speed internet to the public.
This is thanks to a $10 million grant from the Department of Agriculture.
Tonya Joaquin: We’re moving further and further into the age of technology, and we don’t want to be left behind.
Maria Staubes: Bayatin resident Tonya Joaquín says high-speed internet will improve her family’s education and health care.
Tonya Joaquin: We live about two, two and a half hours away from town.
My son calls.
So he sees doctors at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
There’s no need to drive there.
We conduct home visits via the internet.
Kristan Johnson, Tohono O’odham Public Works Department: We are able to educate and teach tribal members of all ages.
Maria Staubes: Kristan Johnson manages operations for the tribe’s primary internet service provider.
She says broadband provides an opportunity for economic development.
Kristan Johnson: Whatever they’re doing, whether they’re a basket weaver or a dressmaker or a harvester, they can put it on the internet and sell it and they can help themselves. .
Maria Staubes: The public welcomes investment in broadband infrastructure, but high on the list is the need for full deployment of broadband infrastructure in Native American communities and access to computers and smartphones at home. There are fundamental barriers to access and understanding how to use broadband infrastructure. Please use them.
Brian Fickett, general manager, Tohono O’odham Department of Public Works: Some seniors don’t even know what the Internet is.
Maria Staubes: Brian Fickett is the general manager of an agency that provides internet and cell phone service to tribes.
Brian Fickett: These people will be able to connect at home just as they would outside the reservation.
Maria Staubes: Here at Tohono O’odham Community College, our computer literacy training program educates 10 members in each district on how to use the Internet.
Man: Here’s the subject.
Maria Staubes: Lessons are as easy as sending an email.
Anselmo Ramon is one of the leaders of this program.
Anselmo Ramon, Tohono O’odham Community College: We train from the basics of the components and move on to keyboard functions, turning them on and off, and so on.
Maria Staubs: We have students of all ages here.
Some people are tech savvy.
JUANITA HOMER, Student: It’s been over five years since I used a computer.
So this really helps me learn more.
Maria Staubes: Some people are starting fresh.
Francine Jose, Student: That’s really new to me.
Everything is new to me.
I’ve never used a computer.
Maria Staubes: Funding for computer training courses only lasted two years, so Anselmo Ramon devised a plan to improve computer literacy across tribal nations.
It relies on students passing on their newly acquired knowledge.
Anselmo Ramon: So in training the trainers, we want to train 10 people.
Now you want those people to train another family member, friend, or colleague.
Maria Staubs: This is a practical solution because tribal members understand that before they can run with high-speed internet, they must first learn how to walk.
On “PBS NewsHour,” I’m Maria Staubs from Cronkite News on Tohono O’odham tribal lands.
