{"id":39572,"date":"2025-12-06T10:18:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T15:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/tribal-radio-funding-flows-but-future-remains-uncertain-after-clawback-of-public-media-money\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T10:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T15:18:09","slug":"tribal-radio-funding-flows-but-future-remains-uncertain-after-clawback-of-public-media-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/tribal-radio-funding-flows-but-future-remains-uncertain-after-clawback-of-public-media-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribal radio funding flows, but future remains uncertain after clawback of public media money"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Oitancan<\/a><\/p>\n

Oitancan \u201cOi\u201d Zephier, manager of KILI radio in Porcupine, South Dakota, works on the station\u2019s 2026 budget on Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo by John Hult\/South Dakota Searchlight)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

PORCUPINE \u2014 For the past few weeks, Oitancan \u201cOi\u201d Zephier has labored among piles of vinyl records nearly 2 feet high.<\/p>\n

KILI-FM, the Porcupine, South Dakota-based tribal public broadcasting station Zephier manages, has gone digital and no longer needs the records.<\/p>\n

The station is selling the records, because what it needs is cash.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s despite a last-minute deal brokered by South Dakota Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds to find funding for tribal stations when Congress voted in July to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.<\/p>\n

Like other public stations, KILI has typically been awarded money through the corporation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were kind of planning for getting nothing, really, and that\u2019s part of where the sale of the records came about,\u201d Zephier said.<\/p>\n

The July legislation, signed into law by President Donald Trump, rescinded $1.1 billion in federal funding for the corporation and caused it to wind down operations. South Dakota Public Broadcasting, which received 20 percent of its budget from the corporation, laid off seven people, eliminated a locally produced show and reduced the output of two other local shows.<\/p>\n

Rounds\u2019 handshake deal with the White House included a promise to provide $9.4 million for 38 tribal stations in highly rural areas, given the dearth of options for things like emergency alerts across remote swaths of tribal land.<\/p>\n

According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indigenous Connectivity and Technology, award notices have gone out to KILI, as well as to KOYA in St. Francis, which serves the Rosebud Reservation, and KDKO in Lake Andes, serving the Yankton Sioux Reservation. A funding award is expected for KLND in McLaughlin, which offers programming for the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River reservations, according to a statement from the BIA.<\/p>\n

In an email, Rounds told South Dakota Searchlight that future money can be requested on an annual basis, through the appropriations process instead of through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team continues to work with the administration to make certain these radio stations stay open and operational so they can continue to serve their communities for years to come,\u201d Rounds said.<\/p>\n

New process, old concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, speaking less than 24 hours after President Trump signed a bill to reopen the federal government after the longest shutdown in history, Zephier said he\u2019s concerned about the reliability of annual awards from Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little more difficult,\u201d Zephier said of the appropriations process.<\/p>\n

He took over at KILI after years working in administrative roles for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and area schools, which also rely on federal funding.<\/p>\n

Consternation over inadequate federal funding is a regular throughline for tribal nations in South Dakota.<\/p>\n

The Oglala Sioux Tribe has thrice sued the Interior Department over law enforcement funding, most recently last month. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe won a case against the Indian Health Service after the agency closed the reservation\u2019s only emergency room.<\/p>\n

Zephier said the station\u2019s BIA award funding could come as soon as this week. It matches the funding the station got through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30.<\/p>\n

The $235,000 won\u2019t solve the station\u2019s long-term funding problems, though. It covers about 70 percent of the station\u2019s $350,000 annual budget, the rest of which the station raises by underwriting and collecting fees from tribal programs that lease time for programming.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s enough to get by, as long as nothing goes wrong.<\/p>\n

Zephier pointed to the station\u2019s wind turbine, a three-blade machine with two functional blades, and to its solar panels, some of which are cracked and in need of repair. Both systems help power the station, located on a stretch of highway outside the village of Porcupine.<\/p>\n

One of the station\u2019s two computers is new, or at least new to Zephier. It\u2019s a 2017 system, which he bought because fixing the 12-year-old computer he\u2019d been using would\u2019ve cost more than the replacement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need new equipment,\u201d Zephier said. \u201cWe need a new emergency alert system, and that\u2019s going to cost us about $170,000 alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, future years<\/strong><\/p>\n

KILI was featured in a New York Times story that highlighted how important tribal stations are in their communities. Zephier grew up hearing Lakota speakers and powwow music on KILI, and it\u2019s one of the area\u2019s primary sources of information on tribal government, schools and community events.<\/p>\n

KILI has raised $80,000 in donations since the summer, and $50,000 came from a single donor after the story ran in the Times.<\/p>\n

John Miller, the longtime manager of KOYA in St. Francis, spoke to South Dakota Searchlight moments before a meeting about a middle school sports broadcast.<\/p>\n

Miller got notice that KOYA would get federal funding for the current fiscal year a few months ago. He declined to say how much funding came through for the station, but did say \u201ceverything\u201d it does is covered by federal dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were one of the lucky ones,\u201d Miller said, in that KOYA got its funding assurances before the government shutdown, which lasted from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12.<\/p>\n

Not all stations have gotten notice of federal funding, according to a BIA spokesperson. In an email to South Dakota Searchlight, the agency declined to offer the dollar amounts awarded to individual stations. Previously, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting made a list of its awards publicly available.<\/p>\n

The BIA said it is \u201cworking to accelerate the implementation of onetime funding to support 38 radio stations and one television station that provide emergency public safety information to tribal communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The money for tribal public broadcasting came from \u201cpreviously appropriated federal funds\u201d to \u201csupport tribal communications infrastructure,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n

The email did not address questions about funding beyond 2025.<\/p>\n

The post Tribal radio funding flows, but future remains uncertain after clawback of public media money<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/div>

Oitancan \u201cOi\u201d Zephier, manager of KILI radio in Porcupine, South Dakota, works on the station\u2019s 2026 budget on Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo by John Hult\/South Dakota Searchlight) PORCUPINE \u2014 For the past few weeks, Oitancan \u201cOi\u201d Zephier has labored among piles of vinyl records nearly 2 feet high. KILI-FM, the <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> December 6, 2025<\/p>\n

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