Darrah Blackwater: Indigenize the Internet How to close the digital divide by respecting tribal sovereignty

Indigenous Graduate Education in Science and Engineering in the Southwest Presents 

Darrah Blackwater “Indigenize the Internet: How to close the digital divide by respecting tribal sovereignty”

Abstract: Broadband internet and the tools necessary to access it are critical for economic development, education and employment opportunities, and public health and safety for tribal nations and their citizens. Broadband internet is an essential utility, especially during this global pandemic, which is disproportionately affecting tribal communities. Native Nations face many hurdles on their paths to connectivity. Access to backhaul, hardware, funding, and electromagnetic spectrum (spectrum) are important pieces of the broadband puzzle. This talk will focus on federal policies relating to telecommunications in tribal communities, including those relating to spectrum, and how specific changes to these policies will result in closing the digital divide in Indian Country. This talk mirrors my law journal article titled Broadband Internet Access: A Solution to Tribal Economic Development Challenges, which will be published in the Indigenous People's Journal of Law Culture and Resistance at UCLA later this year.

Biography: Darrah Blackwater is from Farmington, New Mexico and is a citizen of the Navajo Nation. Blackwater is pursuing her J.D. from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law. In 2014, Blackwater walked 1,388 miles across China with her walking partner, Ann Liang, to raise money for the New Day Foster Home and to advocate for children and adults with disabilities. Upon returning from China, she worked on the Navajo Reservation, teaching tennis and nutrition education, and co-leading a teen outreach program. She spent her 1L summer working in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C. with the Udall Congressional Internship. She spent her 2L spring semester back at the Department of Interior doing an internship under the Inspector General. Last summer she worked as a clerk at Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker, a federal Indian law firm in Washington D.C.. She is a fierce advocate for Indigenous peoples, and is focusing her energy on the fight for spectrum sovereignty. In her free time she enjoys wandering the globe, playing tennis, writing, and hiking with her dog, Kai.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020 11:00 AM