Native American Television

Native American Television, NATV, Inc.
Inform, Educate, Entertain
Coming soon in 2007!
NATV is on its' way to you. All the information on this site will be updated with all the developments on when and where you can get podcasts, television and all forms of content from Native America brought to you by Native Americans.
Subscribe to the NATV blog and watch the bulletins for all updates and new information.
Native American Television's Official Website
www.NATV.org
NATV is television content to inform, educate, entertain and inspire by Native Americans for Native Americans. It is training for our people in the areas of television production, technology, the environment and many other important areas both in the in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and in your backyard! It is creating job opportunities, hope and empowerment for our people now and in the future!
NATV, Native American Television based out of Washington, DC is Federally Trademarked.
________________________________________
LEADERSHIP
NATV is led by a dynamic Board of Directors, all of whom are Native Americans, and an experienced management team. The organization has also established a National Advisory Council of distinguished Americans who are outstanding leaders in their professions and is in the process of creating a Tribal Elder’s Council of Native American leaders.
Check the blogs for the full and official listings.
________________________________________
THE OFFICIAL "ABOUT US"
NATV is the acronym for Native American Television, Inc.; the first Native American nonprofit Television-Radio-Web-Podcast multimedia news network and technology training organization located in Washington, DC. As NATV advances through the stages of multimedia production, our primary vehicle for day-to-day news coverage and information to and from tribal communities will be our digital website located at www.NATV.org and here on our Myspace site, located at www.myspace.com/natvonline . This section, ABOUT US, provides visitors with basic information about our organization.
PURPOSE
NATV was originally established for the purpose of training Native American students in news reporting while producing quality television programming about Native American issues, history and culture.
MISSION STATEMENT
NATV’s mission is to train Native Americans to use multimedia technology to enhance communication among Tribal Nations while informing and educating our fellow Americans about Native American issues, history and culture.
GOALS
1. To create a nationwide grassroots network of Multimedia -trained and politically savvy news reporters and media technicians who will provide news and information to and from all of Native America;
2. To establish the first nationwide, nonprofit Native American multimedia broadcasting network, to and from Washington, D.C.;
3. To establish a permanent technology training center and institute that offers professional certification (or provides college course credit in cooperation with Colleges and Universities) to Native American students;
4. To control our own message and how it is presented in all areas of the News, Public Affairs, Culture and Entertainment and to do so in an Honorable, Cutting Edge Manner-through and effective, powerful, visual and technological medium.
OBJECTIVES
1. To provide training to a minimum of 50 Native American students per year with job skills in Digital Studio Production and Web Development, while educating them in the fundamentals of Journalism, Environmental Studies, and Government Relations—with an emphasis on acquiring knowledge of the world around them via the news;
2. To establish a minimum of 50 partnerships with tribal communities, tribal colleges and Native American organizations that will help provide NATV with more students to train and job opportunities to fill;
3. To organize a nationwide network of trained students in a minimum of 100 tribal communities who will provide NATV with news reports and content from their tribal communities to enable NATV to launch America’s first Native American multimedia network station in Washington, D.C.
BACKGROUND
NATV is a 501c3 nonprofit news organization, incorporated as Native American Television on June 8, 1990. Founded by the late Charles “Chuck” Kaster, NATV was established for the purpose of training Native American students in news reporting while producing quality television programming about Native American issues, history and culture.
For over a decade, NATV operated primarily from Chuck’s basement where he had established a media center to train Native American students in studio production and field work. Off-site and in the field, NATV covered numerous Native American events, such as Native American PowWows held on the national mall in Washington, D.C.; the opening of the Smithsonian Institution’s American Indian Museum; and the American Indian Inaugural Ball of 2001. In 1996 and 1997, NATV worked closely with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to produce videos of their Schemitzun Pow Wows, and during the summer of 2005 reported on the National Pow Wow held at Washington’s MCI Center.
As a news gathering organization, NATV has covered a multitude of issues of importance to Native America such as Education, Environment, Health Care, and Housing, in addition to the more controversial issues of Gaming, Sovereignty, and Trust Reform. On numerous occasions, the organization has provided video production assistance to other organizations that are also involved with Native Americans such as the American Indian Society and the National Congress of American Indians. There is every expectation that NATV will continue to provide these same quality services in the future, but with a greater emphasis on technology.
TRANSITION TO A DIGITAL FUTURE
When NATV was formed, television was the predominant communication vehicle for viewing news in American and throughout the world. Then, NATV's sole mission was to train Native American students in television news reporting and studio production. Today, with more and more news organizations moving toward 24/7 multimedia coverage, NATV is using the Internet and digital technology as its primary means of communication. In keeping with NATV's mission, our primary focus is on technology training (via web development and studio production) to help Native American students become more competitive in a global environment, as we work to enhance better communication among Tribal Nations. In essence, we are answering the educational Call to Arms articulated by New York Times correspondent and author Thomas L. Friedman in his popular bestseller “The World is Flat” by committing ourselves to seeing that “No American Indian Child is Left Behind.”
Just as acquiring technology skills in Web Development and Digital Studio Production will enhance a student’s ability to obtain technology-related jobs, NATV's Journalism, Environmental Studies and Government Relations educational curriculums will enable students to develop a more thorough understanding of the News Media as well learning how American federal government works. With studio production and training facilities strategically located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, NATV is convenient to the national newsmakers in all branches of the federal government; bureaucrats and other policymakers; corporate business leaders and trade associations; scholars and educators; our fellow citizens, and our colleagues in the news media.
HONORING OUR FOUNDER: THE CHUCK KASTER STUDIO
NATV's studio, bears the name “The Chuck Kaster Studio,” to honor the memory of NATV's founder who died in September 2002. “Chuck dreamed of having a permanent facility to train Native American students in news gathering and television production. This studio, which houses America’s first Native American Television-Radio-Web-Podcast network multimedia network station in Washington, D.C., is the first step in fulfilling Chuck’s dream, and it recognizes his commitment to helping Native Americans” says Kaster friend and professional colleague Randy Flood.

________________________________________
What Can You Do?
Get ready! That means everyone, from those of you who want to be students of the technology and training programs, to those who want to contribute content.
________________________________________
Tax-deductible contributions made payable to "Native American Television" or "NATV" can be mailed to:
NATV, Inc.
PO Box 1754
Williamsburg, VA 23187
Or visit the new Donations page atwww.natv.org/donations.htm
_______________________________________
Comments on This Space
We love them! Thank you so much for visiting this site and leaving your words and comments of support.
Note: We don't accept HTML, poetry and other image comments on this site for the sole reason that it is considered "artistic content" and the decisions for what will be aired on NATV both online and on the air will be made by the appropriate staff.
________________________________________
Welcome to the first National Native American Television station and training organization in the US!