MuniWireless

Twenty families on the Sauk-Suiattle Indian reservation in the Cascade Mountains (Washington State) will be getting new Wi-Fi enabled computers, high-speed Internet access and computer training. This is part of an initiative to bring broadband to American Indian tribes in rural areas.Twenty families on the Sauk-Suiattle Indian reservation in the Cascade Mountains (Washington State) will be getting new Wi-Fi enabled computers, high-speed Internet access and computer training. This is part of an initiative to bring broadband to American Indian tribes in rural areas.

The contributors are the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians — Economic Development Corp. (ATNI-EDC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Verizon.

I am very enthusiastic about these initiatives and they should be more widespread than they are. While most people cite to distance learning as the most valuable service that broadband brings to Indian reservations, I think what is more important is that people in these remote communities can finally get news from all over the world, read other points of view and communicate with people so different from themselves.

Residents in the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Reservation are descendants of the original peoples who lived in the region of Sauk Prairie, near Darrington, Washington. The tribe has 200 members, most whom live near the reservation.

Links:
Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe

Related posts:

1. Louisiana gets $80M broadband stimulus grant
2. Event: 19 November 2009 – New Media, Technology and Internet use in Indian Country
3. Southern California tribal village goes wireless