Spectrum Sovereignty Institute

The digital divide in Indian Country is massive, and affects all areas of life, from education to economic development to emergency response (not to mention- access to art and entertainment). Nationally, institutions and the public are catching onto the impacts the digital divide has in Indian Country, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a 2021 American Indian Policy Institute analysis of FCC data, “just 67% of tribal lands in the continental U.S. have access to broadband internet, with the majority only having access to broadband speeds considered by the FCC to be less than ‘minimally acceptable. This gap is in part due to infrastructure, federal policy, and access to capital for Indigenous communities. But a huge part of the digital divide, now and in perpetuity is spectrum rights and access to the electromagnetic spectrum. 

For the past 5 years I have been working toward bridging the knowledge gap among tribal leaders and federal policy makers alike to help them understand the importance of securing spectrum rights for Indigenous peoples. While this issue compounds as the digital divide, the truth is that securing (or not securing) spectrum rights will affect Indigenous communities in perpetuity, as humans continue to study, communicate with, and venture into space, relying on the guidance of electromagnetic frequencies along the way. While important, this isn't just an issue of getting a signal at the Shiprock flea market anymore; the implications of spectrum rights are momentous and forever. 

The biggest challenge is changing federal policy. Unfortunately, the power to recognize Indigenous sovereignty over spectrum lies largely with the federal government, as the U.S. government has made the assumption that it holds exclusive rights to spectrum in present-day America. Thus far, policy makers have been extremely resistant to the idea of recognizing Indigenous spectrum rights, and to the possibility of change in this area.

My solution is to establish a Spectrum Sovereignty Institute (SSI) with the mission to continue educating policy makers, tribal leaders, and the general public about the issue of spectrum rights and their implications on Indigenous communities now and in the future. Justice for Indigenous communities is often centered around sovereignty and self-determination, and shifting the digital divide is no exception. Sovereignty means having the legal and jurisdictional breathing room to live the way we choose. Self-determination is a concept made of choices- what should we eat? how should we use our water and land resources? how should we educate our children? What methods of justice to we wish to deploy? In the context of the digital divide and spectrum rights, sovereignty and self determination means acknowledging the rights of Native Nations to manage their own spectrum licenses on their lands. This means Native Nations will have the authority to sell, lease, or use the rights to use the local spectrum, an invaluable natural resource, opening up myriad economic, social, and educational opportunities for each nation.

The current narrative around spectrum in present-day America is pay to play. The average spectrum license costs millions of dollars, and many Native Nations can't afford to purchase the licenses that are often the only way to affordably offer connectivity to tribal citizens. I hope to flip this narrative on its head. By educating tribal leaders and advocates around the issue of Indigenous spectrum rights, I hope to inspire action and help organize efforts to demand recognition of Indigenous spectrum rights, meaning tribal governments will become the ones in charge of managing spectrum on their lands without paying for it. 

The Spectrum Sovereignty Institute will be a hub of knowledge about spectrum management, including information on how to manage and keep existing FCC spectrum licenses, while working toward securing more spectrum rights for Indigenous peoples moving forward. Goals of SSI will be greater organization and conversation happening among advocates, allies, and tribal leaders about spectrum sovereignty on an international scale. The north star of SSI will be Native Nation securing the legal rights to, and managing the spectrum that will serve their citizens in a way that aligns with their priorities and community values. This may include legal and metaphysical experimentation with policy actions and radio equipment alike to see what serves an individual Indigneous community best. 

My vision for SSI includes content creation of materials that help people understand the significance of spectrum sovereignty for Native Nations. This could be in the form of videos, live panels, recorded talks, policy papers, podcasts, etc.. Existing and future materials will be organized on a SSI web page, which will be developed through this grant. The Spectrum Sovereignty Institute will also be established as an entity through this grant.

My personal mission is to advance the sovereignty and self-determination of Indigenous peoples globally, largely in the telecommunications space, but also beyond that. I'm doing this by making sure an invaluable resource (spectrum) is in the hands of community stakeholders. I spend much of my energy taking actions that protect Indigenous rights to self-determination in colonial spaces. I think of this as offering resistance in a colonial space, and it includes authoring academic papers on how to advance Indigenous sovereignty, submitting comments through the federal register on issues that affect Indigenous communities, speaking up at city council meetings, educating people on important legal and historical Indigenous issues, and creating art that helps to simplify and explain the complex legal framework of federal Indian law. I do this because I believe that education is a pathway to greater compassion, healing, and reconciliation in our world today. While it doesn't happen every day, I have seen amazing things happen after I've taken the time to share my experience as an Indigenous woman with someone who holds the keys to make life easier for Indigenous people. 

I am the right person to lead this initiative because I have been working on this issue for five years, and I am a citizen of the Navajo Nation. 

I have talked with Indigenous peoples invested in this issue globally, from Guatemala to New Zealand to Canada. Through these conversations I have gained a depth of understanding about this issue that I hope to continue sharing far and wide. 

Further, I'm an attorney and an experienced policy advocate with ties to the Indigenous connectivity community in the U.S. and abroad. 

I have been creating and compiling information about Indigenous spectrum rights for years, and it's one of the goals of my company, Blackwater Consulting (established 10/2023) to advance Indigenous spectrum rights and close the digital divide in tribal communities. I've spoken about this issue at global conferences including the Indigenous Connectivity Summit and Rightscon, and with the Chairwoman of the FCC. However, actually establishing the Spectrum Sovereignty Institute will be a new aspect of this ongoing initiative, which is why I chose "Pilot". 

I'm applying to Solve because it's an amazing opportunity to tap into a community of people with similar values, ideas, and worldviews, who can also help me grow. Personally and professionally I am ready and excited to grow by putting myself in with people who can challenge my thoughts to help develop and evolve my ideas in necessary directions. Because my background is largely in law and policy, it helps me to connect with people who have a better understanding of the physics and technology behind radios, transmitters, and electromagnetic spectrum in general, which may help inform new technologies and policies that better serve Indigenous communities. In short, I believe my association with the MIT Solve program and those who make it will be mutually beneficial because it will be a meeting of completely different minds on a common and vastly important issue. 

I am an Indigenous person; a citizen of the Navajo Nation. 

Since the first U.S. spectrum auction in the early 1990's, the United States has made $258 Billion from spectrum auction revenue. The SSI will advocate for restorative justice, meaning the future recognition of Indigenous spectrum rights, and potential back pay for past spectrum license fees collected by the US government on tribal lands. This would be a significant economic shift in spectrum policy, potentially providing a huge source of revenue, especially for urban tribes or tribes with a large land base.

I expect to be fighting for Indigenous spectrum rights for my entire career, which is just beginning. The Spectrum Sovereignty Institute will be a small but significant step toward the goal of spectrum sovereignty for Indigneous Nations. 

Goals will be qualitative and quantitative, in how many people are educated, what policies get changed, and the results of those actions in the daily quality of lives of people living on tribal lands. 

Knowledge powers this solution, but spreads through myriad technologies and potential experiments with technologies such as radio equipment for any purpose on tribal lands. For example, FCC licenses are largely for radio stations or cell networks, but many Native Nations could benefit from licenses and equipment that allow for weather pattern mapping and radio astronomy. With more rights to spectrum and more funds from license revenue, Native Nations can purchase and experiment with technologies that meet the needs of their communities. SSI will help every step of the way as much as possible. 

Santa Fe, NM

I am the head of my company, Blackwater Consulting. I work with four contractors who help me with various tasks from marketing to bookkeeping to tech support. 

I started this work in 2019.  

As a Navajo-female owned business, diversity is inherent. I started my business because I saw a need for the perspectives of women of color in STEM and STEM policy.

Blackwater Consulting is a single member LLC. The Spectrum Sovereignty Institute will be a subsidiary of Blackwater Consulting.