Tribal Radio: Forging Cross-Cultural Connection Through Storytelling

Eddie Box, Jr. in the old KSUT studios. Photo courtesy of KSUT.

On the road from Pagosa Springs to Mancos, you can scan through the usual variety of easy listening, sports and talk radio to keep you entertained, but one station that emerges from the static will draw you in and wrap you in a story woven to capture your imagination. Tribal Radio on public radio’s KSUT tells the ordinary stories of extraordinary Native American people in Southwest Colorado. 

On any given day, you might be transported to 1994 and recall the lively sights and sounds of your last high school football game while Adam Red of the Southern Ute Tribal Council recounts his 47-yard field goal kick that helped Ignacio High School win against local rivals, Bayfield. Another day, you’ll shed tears of heartbreak and joy alongside former Southern Ute tribal judge Pearl Casias as she tells her granddaughter about the loneliness of growing up in Denver after her teenage brother was murdered, and then she laughingly laments how he always made her be the cowboy in a game of Cowboys and Indians.

Storytelling is not just a way to pass the time — it’s how we pass down lessons that shape our society and it’s essential for the survival of any culture. When it comes to Native American culture, which is famously rich with lore, the word “storytelling” might conjure a timeless tradition of enchanting legends whispered late at night around the campfire, but for KSUT executive director Tami Graham, the real focus is on giving a voice to the contemporary, everyday stories of the people who are the original residents of Southwest Colorado. 

“There’s an opportunity for deeper understanding across cultures here, especially a deeper understanding from non-native community members of Native American reality and culture, and not just in a romanticized way,” she says.

Presentation of $1 million check from Southern Ute Tribal Council to KSUT staff for capital campaign matching gift. Photo by Christopher Marona.

Graham explains that this deeper understanding comes not just from exploring long-vacated cliff dwellings or admiring ancient rock art, but learning about how native people live among us today, knowing the challenges they face and acknowledging the valuable contributions they make to our society in spite of those challenges. This, she says, is what can help forge better cross-cultural understanding in the Four Corners region.

“More pressing than ever right now is the need for awareness and acknowledgement of the history of systemic racism. There's so much that needs to be unpacked and stories that need to be told, and having an authentic voice that can share those stories is really important,” explains Graham. And arguably, no medium is better poised than radio to uphold the oral tradition that largely defines native culture.

Sitting on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Ignacio, the station signed on back in 1976 as one of only eight tribal stations in the country at the time. In those days, it was housed in an antiquated former Indian Services medical center building, had a 10-watt signal and functioned as a communications service for tribal members with programming mostly in the Ute language. With support from the public and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, it has flourished over the years to cover five counties and has recently upgraded to a brand-new, custom-built facility required to keep up with their exponential growth.

The call letters, which stand for Southern Ute Tribe, actually comprise two signals. On Four Corners Radio, where NPR programming is blended with diverse musical playlists, you’ll hear contemporary native musicians like Mohican Indian flute player Bill Miller spotlighted between the latest music from popular musical acts like Lake Street Dive and Jason Isbell. Nudge the dial a little to the right and you’ll find the second signal, Tribal Radio, which is rich with tales of everyday native life in locally-produced shows like Native Braids and Native Lens, as well as tribal culture, news and many delighting hours of rhythmic tribal music, which Graham maintains is a top reason for anyone to tune in: “There’s something about listening to traditional powwow music that just stirs your soul, it’s like listening to the drumming of the land.”

Groundbreaking and blessing with contractors and members of KSUT board and Southern Ute Tribal Council. Photo courtesy of KSUT.

Though KSUT has always been a forward-looking enterprise, the height of the pandemic found them reprising their original role as an important means of communication for tribal members.

“We’re in an area with limited broadband, especially out in tribal lands where there’s no internet access, so people were really relying on KSUT for information about the pandemic. It was back to the core of what radio was intended for in the very first place. It helped us in a way to connect even deeper in realizing how important radio truly is in rural communities. It was a lifeline,” recalls Graham.

But more than simply being a monument to the past, KSUT stands out as a beacon signaling a bright future for Native American people. The station is in the process of partnering with Fort Lewis College — where there are now 170 different tribes represented in the student body — to create journalistic training and opportunities for Native American students. Also in the works is the hiring of a tribal media center director to further the development of tribal content programming specific to Native American storytelling and cultural preservation of the region’s tribes through language preservation projects. 

Though it’s had 45 years on the air, it seems like KSUT is just now hitting its stride. They’ve recently completed a state-of-the-art, 5,000 square foot broadcast facility with the help of public funds matched by the Southern Ute Tribe, and staff are reveling in their two new on-air studios, three production rooms and a performance studio where they can host live performances by touring musicians from all over the globe as life returns to normal. Up next, KSUT is taking over the Pagosa Folk and Bluegrass festival and the Four Corners Folk Festival to bring people of all backgrounds and cultures together to celebrate our diversity through live music and community.

“I feel like the world is our oyster. We’ve worked really hard to build this literal foundation of having this beautiful new facility and now we just get to serve our community in all the ways that we’ve envisioned for years,” concludes Graham.

Originally published in the Fall 2021 issue of Spoke+Blossom.