As a final example of the ways that First Nations are taking on operations and maintenance of networking technologies, consider a community-based mobile phone project. Remember the Washaho Cree First Nation at Fort Severn, which we learned about earlier?
That community is one of several in northern Ontario that can now access a locally owned and operated cellular phone service. The 400 or so people living in this fly-in community continue to practice a land-based lifestyle: hunting, trapping, and being out on the land. They have also established a local cellular phone service called Keewaytinook Mobile, which was set up in 2009. This system involves a 200-foot tower with a coverage radius of 30km. It connects to the rest of the world through the Northern Indigenous Community Satellite Network (NICSN), which is a non-profit partnership between KNET, Broadband Communications North in Manitoba, and the Kativik Regional Government in the Inuit region of Nunavik (Quebec).
The mobile phone project was undertaken in partnership with Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tribal Council and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. It involves several First Nations across northwestern Ontario who are working together to establish cellular phone links in the region. An article in the Canadian Journal of Communication tells the development story of Keewaytinook Mobile. Read “A New Remote Community-Owned Wireless Communication Service: Fort Severn First Nation Builds Their Local Cellular System with Keewaytinook Mobile”.
The Keewaytinook Mobile project involved several public and private sector partners, including the province of Ontario’s Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. KNET, working closely with local leadership, also signed an agreement with a commercial provider to lease a portion of commercial wireless spectrum for cellular use. This arrangement involved a partnership with the Dryden Municipal Telephone System, which has roaming agreements with many telecommunications companies.
Spectrum Sovereignty
Darrah Blackwater of the Navajo Nation in the US describes Spectrum as “the invisible radio waves in the air around us that… carry digital information” (Blackwater, D., Nov 29, 2019, Time for the ‘well-meaning man’ to return spectrum rights to Native American tribes).
The frequency of the waves occurs across a limited range regulated by the FCC in the US. Only a certain range of frequencies can carry information and any frequency can only carry so much information at the same time.
The FCC makes it “nearly impossible for Tribal Nations to even participate in auctions to lease local spectrum” (Blackwater) and the big companies that do control the spectrum provide no or poor service to rural and tribal areas creating and maintaining a digital divide, in which approximately “six out of 10 homes in rural, tribal areas lack a broadband internet connection”.
In a move toward Spectrum Sovereignty, the FCC created the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Window in 2020, which allows tribes in rural areas to “directly access unassigned spectrum over their Tribal lands” (FCC), with the requirement that they provide an acceptable level of coverage within a two year period.
Blackwater describes spectrum as “a critical natural resource no different than water, air, sunlight and minerals”, access to which can “empower tribal communities” to create their own internet solutions which can in turn contribute to improvements in health, education, economic development and the revitalization of language and culture. (2019).
According to this December 2020 TechDirt.com article the project is already proving successful, among other things, by providing crucial broadband access to students during the COVID19 pandemic.
Spectrum Sovereignty in Canada
Similar ideas have been discussed in Canada but so far have yet to be realized. This article on the CRTC site by Julia Szwarc looks at the history of Indigenous radio in Canada, including the licensing of radio spectrum by the CRTC. An article by non-profit organization The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) speaks about spectrum sovereignty in the context of the Canadian state but makes no mention of Indigenous sovereignty. Nonetheless, they argue that to advance the public interest a nation must “exercise effective control over the… communication networks upon which the social/economic life of the nation depends”, similarly to Blackwater they compare network resources to resources like the “high seas, atmosphere and electromagnetic spectrum”, claiming that the Internet is now an essential aspect of contemporary life upon which our “shared future” depends, and to which, therefore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights applies.
If one accepted this argument, it supports a parallel claim that Spectrum Sovereignty has a similar meaning for Indigenous people on application of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
To improve access, Rural Remote Broadband Systems policy (as documented by Dr. Greg Taylor) or Indigenous spectrum licenses (such as those provided to Tribal Entities in the U.S.) could be considered. This article from the Wire Report (Sept. 30, 2021) discusses opportunities for Indigenous peoples in Canada to secure access to spectrum resources. It notes that Indigenous advocates propose a range of approaches — from set-aside spectrum for Indigenous communities to full spectrum sovereignty, which is described as “the idea that Indigenous communities should have exclusive rights to the electromagnetic spectrum that exists over their lands”.
Meanwhile, First Nations in Canada continue to find ways to assert digital self-determination with infrastructure and service projects like those undertaken by the Washaho Cree. To learn more about the KM project by following this link to two short videos.
Today, First Nations own and operate Keewaytinook Mobile in partnership with KNET and others. Most of the revenues go towards operational costs, with a percentage collected in a common fund to help with future expansion. This project resulted in economic development opportunities in the involved communities. For example, it creates jobs for a local technician and administrator in charge of selling phone cards and phones, and supporting minor technical issues. KNET provides assistance with issues like infrastructure design and funding applications. Do you know of any other First Nations community networking projects?