The Fight for Indigenous Spectrum Sovereignty - Indigenous Rights Activist Darrah Blackwater - Impact Everywhere

Indigenous spectrum sovereignty refers to the idea that Native Nations should have exclusive rights to the electromagnetic spectrum that exists over their lands. Darrah Blackwater is a citizen of the Diné Nation, also known as the Navajo Nation, and today we sit down with her to talk about her activism in raising awareness about this issue. In 2017 alone, the United States made $41.7 billion by auctioning off spectrum: airspace containing radio waves that wireless internet connections use. Many of the areas containing this spectrum exist on traditionally indigenous lands. If these indigenous groups had the rights to this spectrum and could build infrastructure to use it, it would present a solution to the challenges of economic development on tribal lands. 

Our conversation with Darrah begins on the subject of racism and ignorance, and how to best respond to people who say offensive things about issues they have never thought about. From there, we dive into the subject of spectrum sovereignty, and Darrah talks about the different ways that lack of access to spectrum is throttling indigenous groups that live on the land where this resource exists in abundance. She talks about how spectrum should be considered a basic human need in 2021, the challenges of getting the U.S government to recognize this, and the different ways she is trying to fight back. Wrapping up, we talk to Darrah about her latest project — hiking across the Colorado Trail to raise awareness about the dispossession of native groups from so-called ‘untouched’ or ‘pristine’ lands in America. Check out one of the following links for the full episode:

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Key Points From This Episode

Approaching microaggressions and other difficult topics with curiosity to avoid making others with different perspectives feel defensive. 

The digital divide is becoming increasingly harmful to those without connectivity. Living without connection exacerbates wealth and opportunity inequality. This has only deepened with COVID-19.

Connectivity and spectrum access are provided exclusively through government auctions to large companies who can afford it like T-Mobile, Sprint, etc. who then use their infrastructure to offer services. Without access to spectrum, community network development projects are not possible. 

Despite numerous treaties, Native Americans have historically had to fight to preserve access to every natural resource. Spectrum sovereignty is the next resource being fought over. These waves are naturally occurring, and as sovereign nations apart from the United States, they deserve the rights to their waves.

The U.S. government does not want to give up spectrum sovereignty, claiming that ‘spectrum’ is not specifically stated in treaties but this is slowly changing. The Nation of Hawai’i recently won the rights to their spectrum and successfully installed their own infrastructure to provide connectivity to their people.

Darrah uses hiking as an opportunity to reconnect with stolen indigenous lands, and to educate the people she meets along the way. Her adventures give her access to the hiking community, who help amplify her message.