Native Nation Building Series to Premiere Nationally

University Communications
Jan. 20, 2006


The Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI) at The University of Arizona, under the auspices of NNI TV/Radio, will launch a new 10-part radio series, "Native Nation Building," in January 2006. The series was produced by NNI and the UAs KUAT Multimedia.

"Native Nation Building is designed to share with Native people and the general public the lessons about indigenous self-governance and economic development that NNI has learned through more than two decades of community-based research with Native nations," said Manley A. Begay Jr., NNI director and a citizen of the Navajo Nation.

Featuring a group of notable guests comprising governmental, business and community leaders as well as scholars and educators, the roundtable interview program chronicles the growing number of nation-building success stories currently taking hold across Indian Country and explores the roots of those successes.

"The 10 program segments examine different aspects of where, how and why indigenous nation building is taking place, as well as fundamental issues that affect Native nations' efforts to exercise sovereignty, restore economic vitality and shape their own futures," said Ian Record, NNI's curriculum development manager and producer of NNI TV/Radio.

Each 30-minute segment can stand alone, but taken together, the series offers a comprehensive overview of the ways Native nations are working to make self-determined community and economic development a reality.

"Native Nation Building" 10 segments include:

  • An Introduction to Nation Building; Constitutions and Constitutional Reform
  • Why the Rule of Law and Tribal Justice Systems Matter
  • Building and Sustaining Tribal Enterprises
  • Promoting Tribal Citizen Entrepreneurs
  • A Capable Bureaucracy: The Key to Good Government
  • Tribal Service Delivery: Meeting Citizens' Needs
  • Intergovernmental and Intertribal Relations
  • Strategy and Leadership
  • The Path to Self-Determination
  • Moving Towards Nation Building

The schedule for the television and radio programs is:

NNI TV: Beginning Jan. 20 on the UA Channel, located on Cox Channel 19 and Comcast Channel 76 in the Tucson area; broadcast weekly Fridays at 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. through March 26. For more information about the 10 segments and for updates on show times, visit the UA Channel Web site at www.uachannel.com or visit nni.arizona.edu/nativetv.

NNI Radio: Beginning Jan. 24, via the AIROS Native Radio Network and its tribal and public radio affiliates across the United States and Canada; broadcast weekly (two segments each week) through Feb. 21, 2006. For more information about Native Nation Building, including Webcast feed times, a place to sign up for podcasts, and a list of AIROS affiliates in your area, visit www.nativeradio.org. To hear samples from each of the program segments, visit the NNI Radio homepage at www.nni.arizona.edu/nniradio.

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Ian Record
Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy 520-626-0664
recordi@email.arizona.edu