Tribal Digital Village
In the chapter “Connection at Ewiiaapaayp Mountain: Indigenous Internet Infrastructure" in the book Race After the Internet, Christian Sandvig recognizes and writes about the efforts made a group of men in order to help bridge the gap between Indian reservations and their access to the Internet. The founders of this project, Matt, Michael, Joseph along with the donations made by research scientist Hans-Werner, have been successful in creating what is now known as the Tribal Digital Village, or TDV for short. The Tribal Digital Village was initially an “experimental university project.” However with the time, effort and dedication of the men looking to help these Native American tribes enter the world of cyberspace, the Tribal Digital Village has been able to blossom into a continually progressing beneficial program. As Sandvig eloquently explains it:
“Over nine years the TDV grew from a connection to just one computer lab (the Pala Learning Center with the “Internet access is limited…” sign) to serve about 1,500 users on seventeen Indian reservations.” (p.176)
Undeniably the efforts made by Tribal Digital Village have helped to advance Native Americans access to and knowledge about the Internet. By providing resources ranging from printers and computers to the construction of twenty-three backbone steel towers, which have made the speed of the Internet eight hundred times faster than it previously was on the various Reservations. Unequivocally the Tribal Digital Village has had huge effects on the accessibility of Internet available to Indian Tribes. However, while many people believe the Tribal Digital Village is a step in the right direction towards equal access, there have been some mixed reviews about the program especially when it comes to the opinions of the Tribe members and its leaders.