Enrolled Nimiipuu/Nez Perce member Daniel Spaulding at ISU during the workshop
"Reclaiming Our Stories" during Indigenous Peoples Day.
By BREE BAKER
Sho-Ban News
POCATELLO — Daniel Spaulding, enrolled Nimiipuu/ Nez Perce tribal member, led the workshop “Reclaiming Our Stories: Indigenous Radio and Representation” October 14 at Idaho State University’s Indigenous Peoples Day event.
“As we gather today on traditional Shoshone-Bannock lands, let us remember the responsibility that we carry, every time we speak we are speaking for the generation that came before us and those that are yet to come. Let us continue to reclaim our stories, share them boldly, and to make sure they are heard, not just today but every day.” It’s an honor to share a space with you all today as we come together on Indigenous Peoples Day, to reflect on who we are, where we come from, and where we are heading.” Spaulding said.
He shared why tribal radio is important and how it is a lifetime to his community and many tribal communities.
Spaulding introduced himself in Nez Perce sharing he is a proud member of the Nimiipuu Nation, born and raised in Lapwai, Idaho. He is a storyteller, keeper of words, and a protector of our voices, Spaulding works at the KIYE- Voice of the Nimiipuu Nation, the tribal radio station in Kamiah, Idaho on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. He is the host of a radio show on the station “Conversations with Daniel” and a host of the “Brown Sound” podcast with his friend Javier Gomez. Being on the radio was not a part of his plan, he was an International Studies major, minoring in Spanish.
He got his start in radio at KUOI the University of Idaho’s radio station, which ultimately led to his job at KIYE. “For the longest time, the tribal radio was ran by non-natives, so no one really listened or even knew we had a radio station.” When he was approached to apply, they wanted to turn that around and make it a station for the people. In 2016, his mom encouraged him to apply for the radio coordinator position with the tribal radio. When he was hired he had a Live Lunch Hour Hip Hop and R&B which gained a lot of popularity in his community. After five years at the radio station, he wanted to try something new and started his radio show, “The Conversation” where he interviewed popular native celebrities such as Devery Jacobs, Gary Farmer, Deb Haaland. He even interviewed two former Miss Shoshone-Bannock Queens Sequoia Dance-Leighton and Stormie Perdash.
This year Spaulding won Idaho’s Best Radio Show where he was the only native in the award ceremony. He said it was a big win not just for him but for native broadcasters. He was recently hired at Boise State Public Radio as a reporter and producer for a new up-and-coming radio show “Our Living Lands,” which will focus on climate change and its effects in native communities.
KIYE- The Voice of the Nimiipuu Nation, went on air on August 30, 2011. It is the only tribal radio station in Idaho, it’s CPDE-funded station also gets funding from the tribe’s internet services which provides operation costs. KIYE is Nimiipuu-owned and operated. Spaulding shares Lapwai, Orofino, and Kamiah are three towns on the Nez Perce Reservation, he finds it cool that all three towns are represented within the radio station. KIYE amplifies Indigenous perspectives by having Nez Perce language lessons relating to the season, examples given were in the summer they share salmon fishing, camas digging, and huckleberry picking phrases. Language recordings come from different voices and all generations from young kids to the elders. Spaulding enjoys getting to go out in the community and record those. He also said Tom Williamson, lead singer of Lightning Creek a Nez Perce drum group, who hosts “At the Drum with Tommy” airs at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday where they play powwow music.
Spaulding explained most radio stations charge for airtime but at KIYE they do not charge tribal departments or businesses because they believe in amplifying native voices. KIYE radio station often collaborates with NMPH (Nimiipuu Health), the Clearwater Casino, Úuyit Kímti (New Beginnings- the domestic violence program) and other tribal departments and businesses on the reservation. Spreading awareness on different topics related to each program. He mentions how they focus on the positive things that happen on the reservation while debunking stereotypes and racism. He shares how the local news outlets do not paint the tribe in a positive light, and only shares up the “bad stuff,” which is often related to drugs, alcohol, and violence. Spaulding said tribal radio gives them the ability to speak directly to their communities, unfiltered, and in their own languages and from their own perspective. “Providing a space where we can amplify the voices of our elders, our youth, our leaders, and our everyday warriors who are fighting to keep our cultures alive. It can be used as a tool for education, empowerment, and connection,” he said.
Spaulding talked about reclaiming our stories as Indigenous people and why it’s essential that we take control of our own narrative. “For far too long our histories and experiences have been told by others filtered through lenses that don’t reflect the depth, complexity, and beauty of who we are. From textbooks to Hollywood, we have seen ourselves misrepresented and sometimes completely erased.”
He said our stories are the very essence of who we are and our identity and how they have been stripped from us and retold in ways that serve other people’s agendas. “Today we are reclaiming our stories and telling our truths with our own voices and on our own terms. When we tell our own stories we honor our ancestors and future generations, we carry forward the teachings that have sustained us since time immemorial. The wisdom of our land, the language of our people, our relatives, and the strength of our community. These stories are our resistance, our resilience, and our power. And by sharing them with the world we remind everyone we are still here, we are not relics of the past, we are a living breathing culture with vibrant traditions and visions for the future.”
Media has the power to shape perception and when we control our own narrative, we can break the harmful stereotypes that have been used against us and replace them with the truth, he continued. “We can show the world diversity, creativity, and the strength that defines us as Indigenous people.” Positive Indigenous representation in the media is not just a goal, it’s a necessity. “When our people see themselves reflected in the stories that are told, it affirms our place in the world and tells our children their experiences matter and their dreams are valid, and they are seen.”
He concluded by saying “Qeci’yew’yew” which means thank you in Nimiipuu (Nez Perce).
Spaulding said he was thankful and honored to be here. “Especially because I think events like this are really important.” He gave a huge shoutout to Effie Hernandez for inviting him down to Idaho State University, “And to the Shoshone-Bannock community thanks for letting this Nimiipuu in.”