At first glance Keith's book may lead casual readers to believe that these radio stations -- like all small, noncommercial (though not all are) stations on the margins of mainstream culture -- face only the same kinds of problems as their Anglo counterparts. Indeed they are underfunded, programs are produced with inadequate and obsolete equipment, heads are butt with boards of directors whose vision of the station often differs radically from the vision held by those that produce the programming and listen to it. These stations, however, also bear some additional and unique burdens as each struggles to hold together the remaining bits of cultures that have been decimated by more than two centuries of genocidal government policies.

Keith traces Native American presence on the airwaves from early isolated incidents through the impact of the 1965 Economic Opportunity Act (which allowed Native American organizations and tribes to plan and develop their own economic initiatives while bypassing the Bureau of Indian Affairs) to the early 1970's when a unique atmosphere which encouraged social activism and the acknowledgement of cultural identity provided fertile ground for the growth of Indian radio.

In 1969 Pacifica's Berkeley station, KPFA, regularly broadcast Radio Free Alcatraz. The station had loaned broadcast equipment to Native Americans who had taken possession of the former prison island. Between November of 1969 and mid-1971 KPFA broadcast regular proclamations and statements from the Island. According to Keith this incident served as a catalyst that spurred the creation of "Native-controlled broadcast outlets" in the U.S. at a time when activist groups like the American Indian Movement (AIM) were helping to develop an understanding of just how essential Indian access to media was.

SIGNALS IN THE AIR gives considerable space to documenting individual histories and the current state of affairs at many Native owned and controlled stations. Most of this coverage is given over to non-commercial outlets licensed to tribal organizations which seek to employ tribal members, provide programming of unique interest to the native audience that is specifically intended to preserve language and other aspects of tribal culture, and which try to serve a relatively small audience spread over the often huge geographic areas that make up Native reservations. All this while coping with the usual problems faced by small independent stations.

Sovereignty control of the airwaves is an issue that, like many of the rights granted to Native Americans by treaties with North American governments, is a complex matter of serious concern to native broadcasters as well as tribal governments. CKON is a station broadcasting to the Mohawk Nation located on both sides of the U.S. side and Canadian boarder from a transmitter on the Canadian side, on the authority of neither the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or the Canadian Radio and Television Commission. Its broadcast license has been issued by the government of the Mohawk Nation.

Keith writes: "Sovereignty is a major issue for most Native Americans, and the idea of the federal government playing a key role in the regulation of Indian media is one that does not sit well with them." The Indigenous Communications Association's Ray Cook agrees, "These signals belong to Indian territory and should not be subject to policies established by foreign governments." The organization's secretary, Joseph Orzco, says that while he would be wary of giving every tribal nation separate jurisdiction over licensing issues, "To act in a sovereign manner, I see the need to form a Native communication commission." The FCC, obviously, sees things quite differently.

Training is another issue that presents some unusual problems for Native owned and operated stations. The hiring of non-native and even non-tribal personnel is also one of the complicated and potentially divisive issues faced. Keith discusses at some length the problem of finding trained and qualified Native Americans to work at these stations. While many station managers simply consider themselves to be the reluctant operators of training schools for folks who are often themselves reluctant to embrace the medium, KABR-AM of the Alamo reservation in New Mexico throws itself wholly into its role of educator and trainer:

"KABR turns into a radio lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Grade school and high school students take part in the lab. They are taught how to operate equipment, produce programs, and speak on the air. The students are also encouraged to develop programs in the Navajo language, which helps them develop literacy in their own language as well as English.

"Tuning to KABR, listeners may hear a grade school student reciting a Native American poem, a junior high school student reading the community news, or a high school student hosting a locally produced show, like the "dedication Hour" or the "Alamo Children's Show."

KABR stands more as an optimistic exception, however. A different and more common story is told by broadcast consultant Mary Dinota:

"The economic conditions on most reservations have made it extremely difficult for Native owned and operated stations to hire and/or train sufficient staff to produce local programming ..., (O)ne of the major problems Native stations had in operating was the lack of trained local Native personnel. Too often it was necessary for licensees to bring in non-Natives to operate their stations. Outsiders, not knowing the local culture, were not able to adequately respond to local needs and this caused discord at some stations."

This problem is dramatically demonstrated by a recounting of the situation at the Pine Ridge Reservation's KILI-FM where non-Indian Tom Casey was hired on as acting station manager in 1990. KILI, with its roots in the radical past of AIM and the 1970's, began broadcasting in February of 1993 -- the 10th anniversary of the occupation of Wounded Knee. With that kind of lineage it's of little surprise that when Casey dismissed a regular member of the station staff for what he felt was, "(U)sing the airwaves as a soap box to convey her personal views on issues regarding the reservation," the shit, as they say, hit the fan.

Keith writes:

"The day following the firing, Casey was confronted in his station office by the disgruntled former employee, her husband (a prominent member of the reservation's tribal council) and members of the local AIM chapter.... When Casey refused to reinstate the canceled program, the terminated employee struck him in the face with her fist.

"Soon the reservation police were involved and Casey was being escorted daily to his office past a protest camp..., which set up its headquarters in the station's front yard. The camp remained in place until the frigid winds of winter arrived, at which time the issue had lost considerable steam, since Casey's actions had been upheld by several courts, both tribal and otherwise."

Casey justified his actions throughout. While many protesters chafed he pointed to the fact that KILI is owned not by the tribe but by the "independent broadcast entity Lakota Communications," whose goal, he pointed out, was to "provide fair and impartial programming for all members of its listening audience."

Tribal interference is a major issue facing Native operated stations even when non-Indians are not involved. Here especially the examples provided in SIGNALS IN THE AIR will ring familiar to anyone involved in the station politics of non-commercial broadcasting. Pete Coffey states in part:

"As a 10-year veteran of radio, not just Indian radio, the biggest issue I see is tribal governments dictating or attempting to dictate station policy and practice to those who know radio and have been trained to act impartially in preparation and reporting of tribal news -- whether good or bad."

Michael Keith continues:

"E.B. Eiselein is sympathetic to Coffey's perspective adding: 'Tribal leaders can be a real barrier to Native stations. I found that many tribal leaders don't really understand what tribal radio is all about and its potential for serving tribal members.'"

Language and cultural issues are of immense importance for most Native stations. Nearly all of the stations surveyed broadcast some portion of their schedule in the tribal tongue. Ironically, Keith reports, this is often a programming decision that never seems to leave listeners satisfied. Some listeners want more of the local language, some want less, some want none. Some Anglo listeners are among those most supportive of Native language programming and tribal members may be those most opposed to it. It requires a balancing act by station management not unlike that which is required when scheduling music programs. Traditional tribal music? Contemporary Native American music? C&W? Classic Rock? Alternative?

In any event the choices are crucial. They must be made carefully and chosen with the hope of accommodating most, if not all, constituents. Preservation of indigenous cultures is of utmost importance to these broadcasters:

"Despite the presence of Indian stations, the language and culture of Native Americans continue to be the target of mainstream animosities. This disapproval adds to the importance of the role of Indigenous media, says (E.B.) Eiselein. 'They are the first line of defense in many respects..."

Stations failing in this important role will likely be roundly criticized. Eiselein is again quoted by Keith:

"A station staff has to have cultural skills if the station is to live up to its expectations and the expectations of those people relying on it across the reservation. The problem is that too many of those who are broadcasting out there are more culturally Anglo than they are Indian."

The approaches taken by the Native American broadcasters struggling to reach their audiences -- their communities -- vary widely and most stations (like their Anglo counterparts) are still searching for a successful path. As much as Michael Keith's book, SIGNALS IN THE AIR, may suggest a commonality between Native and Anglo broadcasters and the problems they face, one difference is quite clear. An understanding of just who populates "the community" and why these stations must succeed in reaching them is far clearer to Native broadcasters than it often is to their Anglo cousins. "In contrast to 'mainstream media,' Native American broadcast outlets are able (to the extent that they do not let themselves be co-opted by 'mainstream' values) to be clear voices for the people and culture they represent. They are free to express the values of their own unique cultures in both their Native language and in English. They are free to provide a forum for the expression of their needs and desires... In short, they can be a liberating and creative force in their mission to get the 'word' out to their communities," says Joseph Gill.

Keith's book is an interesting and informative look at a part of North American broadcast history that is, like the people it strives to serve, widely ignored and denied by the dominant culture. While it offers no solutions, no panaceas, it does conclude with a succinct statement by Peggy Berryhill of just what the future of Native broadcasting is:

"As the century closes and we find urban and rural communities grappling with broadcast technologies that promise 'interaction' and 'on-line communities,' we still find radio at the fore front of human interaction. Native stations will take their place along side all the other media linked by the common bonds of community, and they will do for Native people what the mainstream cannot. We will still be Indians or Native Americans or 'the People,' but we will not be reduced to a soundbite or a 6 a.m. Sunday morning time slot."

This review appears in the Fall, 1995, issue of Radio Resistor's Bulletin. A quarterly publication devoted to the issues and concerns of those involved in or who are critical listeners to non-commercial/alternative radio around the world.

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