{"id":237451,"date":"2018-03-20T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T16:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=237451"},"modified":"2023-11-08T20:51:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T01:51:19","slug":"nieman-fellow-battles-media-stereotypes-of-native-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/03\/nieman-fellow-battles-media-stereotypes-of-native-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"Battling stereotypes of Native Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
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Tristan Ahtone, pictured in the Harvard Museum of Natural History, is the fourth Native American journalist selected as a Nieman Fellow since the Nieman Foundation was established in 1938. <\/p>

Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tCampus & Community\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tBattling stereotypes of Native Americans\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\tLiz Mineo\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tNieman Fellow, a member of the Kiowa tribe, wants media to replace clich\u00e9s with understanding\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
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When the news about the protest at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation against the Dakota Access Pipeline burst into the spotlight in 2016, Tristan Ahtone<\/a> welcomed the chance for greater coverage of Native American issues.<\/p>\n

But soon Ahtone, a journalist and a member of the Kiowa tribe<\/a> of Oklahoma, grew dismayed at the way the media handled the stories about the first major indigenous protest since the 1973 Wounded Knee incident in South Dakota.<\/p>\n

Most media outlets, even the leading ones, Ahtone said, sidelined the central issues of tribal rights and the government\u2019s responsibility in the Dakota pipeline dispute, and instead replicated old stereotypes by typecasting the protesters as warriors, victims, or magical creatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the stories<\/a> focused on the prophecy of the black snake coming,\u201d said Ahtone at a coffee shop near Harvard Yard. \u201cEven the New York Times ran a story<\/a> saying that hundreds of Native Americans on horseback, their faces painted, were coming out of their tepees to join the protest, like it was a John Ford movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

A prize-winning journalist who has worked for \u201cThe NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,\u201d National Public Radio, and Al Jazeera America, Ahtone is at work on a set of guidelines for fair and accurate coverage of Native American lives and stories, as part of his stint at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow. The Nieman Foundation<\/a> chooses 24 journalists from around the world to come to Harvard for a year of academic study.<\/p>\n

Ahtone\u2019s guidelines will be based on an internal manual that he developed as head of the tribal affairs desk at High Country News in Colorado, his last post before coming to Harvard, to help reporters avoid clich\u00e9s, stereotypes, and racially insensitive terms when covering Indian lands and culture.<\/p>\n

He recommends, for example, identifying people by their specific tribes, nations, or communities rather than a catch-all phrase such as \u201cNative American group\u201d or \u201cNative American tribe.\u201d He also warns reporters not to fall into the trope of the white savior who attempts to explain or save indigenous communities, a concept common in popular culture, and to resist any temptation to use mythological creatures to explain complicated beliefs systems or problems. Among the terms to shun, he said, are \u201cBigfoot,\u201d \u201cdeer woman,\u201d \u201cghosts,\u201d or \u201cspirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Efforts to fight media stereotypes of indigenous people are not new. During Ahtone\u2019s tenure as vice president of the Native American Journalists Association<\/a>, the group published a list of terms that reporters should ditch, such as \u201cvanishing culture,\u201d \u201cdying language,\u201d \u201cbroken families,\u201d \u201ca warrior,\u201d or \u201csomething \u2018sacred.\u2019\u201d The list also includes \u201csinging,\u201d \u201cdancing,\u201d and \u201cdrumming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that the only way reporters can deal with Native Americans is to make them fit into a narrative filled with stereotypes,\u201d said Ahtone. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a typical Native American, just like there isn\u2019t a typical American. I\u2019d love to see a television series, a movie, or a story about Native Americans doing a regular job. My community is made of regular people. My grandfather was a teacher, my father worked for the United Nations. Many of us don\u2019t grow up in reservations.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n

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\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>

Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\n

According to the U.S. Census, 2.9 million, or 1 percent, of the U.S. population is of American Indian and Alaska Native descent, and nearly 80 percent of those people live outside reservations, mostly in urban areas. Ahtone was born in Phoenix but grew up across the country, with a brief stint in Pakistan, where the U.N. sent his father to work with refugees.<\/p>\n

Stories about the Native American experience should go beyond platitudes of addiction, alcoholism, suicide, unemployment, and poverty, which perpetuate stereotypes of Native Americans as victims, said Ahtone. \u201cI can\u2019t believe news organizations are still sending reporters to Pine Ridge,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are 567 tribes across the nation, and they still go to Pine Ridge to report the same old story of poverty and despair.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a reporter, Ahtone wrote stories about the importance of tribal radio stations as a lifeline to their communities, the poise of Native American cowboys riding in Indian rodeos, and the contributions of Navajo and Seminole veterans and code talkers in World War II. He also reported on the difficulties of registering voters among Native Americans who live off the grid, and the opposition of the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation to a government plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that spans their land.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, mainstream media need to be accountable for its seeming lack of interest in covering Native American issues on a regular basis and for not hiring more reporters and editors of color, Ahtone said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to embrace technology, you can also embrace diversity,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cI\u2019d like to see a newsroom that is representative of the United States, and I\u2019d like to see media organizations committed to cover indigenous people\u2019s struggles and contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahtone is the fourth Native American Nieman Fellow, following Conroy Chino \u201984, a member of the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico; Tim Giago \u201991, a member of the Ogala Lakota of South Dakota; and Jodi Rave Spotted Bear \u201904, a member of the Mandan-Hidatsa, and Lakota.<\/p>\n

After his stint at Harvard, Ahtone plans to go back to Colorado and continue bringing to light the voices and stories of Native Americans. In a way, he sees his work as part of the endeavors of the Kiowa tribe to record their history, which included battles and peace treaties, and smallpox and cholera epidemics, from the 19th century Kiowa calendars and Kiowa drawings<\/a> to the more contemporary Kiowa Six<\/a> artists and photographer Horace Poolaw<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having more American Indian journalists in newsrooms would help foster understanding of indigenous communities, said Rave, executive director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople often like to describe Native people as invisible,\u201d said Rave in an email. \u201cWe\u2019re not invisible. If you look for us, we\u2019re here. We have our own tribal governments, our own constitutions, our own police departments, our own land, our own hospitals, our own treaties with the United States, and so on. We have a rich and vibrant culture. An American Indian journalist typically understands all these issues and can accurately capture the nuances of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A profile of Tristan Ahtone, a 2017\u20122018 Nieman Fellow and a member of the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma. 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","mediaId":237483,"mediaSize":"full","mediaType":"image","mediaUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_031_2500-1.jpg","poster":"","title":"Battling stereotypes of Native Americans","subheading":"Nieman Fellow, a member of the Kiowa tribe, wants media to replace clich\u00e9s with understanding","centeredImage":true,"className":"is-style-full-width-text-below","mediaHeight":1667,"mediaWidth":2500,"backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_031_2500-1.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Tristan Ahtone, pictured in the Harvard Museum of Natural History, is the fourth Native American journalist selected as a Nieman Fellow since the Nieman Foundation was established in 1938. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_031_2500-1.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Tristan Ahtone, pictured in the Harvard Museum of Natural History, is the fourth Native American journalist selected as a Nieman Fellow since the Nieman Foundation was established in 1938. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_031_2500-1.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Tristan Ahtone, pictured in the Harvard Museum of Natural History, is the fourth Native American journalist selected as a Nieman Fellow since the Nieman Foundation was established in 1938. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tCampus & Community\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tBattling stereotypes of Native Americans\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tLiz Mineo\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2018-03-20\">\n\t\t\tMarch 20, 2018\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t7 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tNieman Fellow, a member of the Kiowa tribe, wants media to replace clich\u00e9s with understanding\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>When the news about the protest at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation against the Dakota Access Pipeline burst into the spotlight in 2016, <a href=\"https:\/\/tristanahtone.net\/\">Tristan Ahtone<\/a> welcomed the chance for greater coverage of Native American issues.<\/p>\n<p>But soon Ahtone, a journalist and a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiowatribe.org\/\">Kiowa tribe<\/a> of Oklahoma, grew dismayed at the way the media handled the stories about the first major indigenous protest since the 1973 Wounded Knee incident in South Dakota.<\/p>\n<p>Most media outlets, even the leading ones, Ahtone said, sidelined the central issues of tribal rights and the government\u2019s responsibility in the Dakota pipeline dispute, and instead replicated old stereotypes by typecasting the protesters as warriors, victims, or magical creatures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2016\/10\/18\/dakota-pipeline-protesters-confront-the-black-snake-were-living-by-the-fire\/\">stories<\/a> focused on the prophecy of the black snake coming,\u201d said Ahtone at a coffee shop near Harvard Yard. \u201cEven the New York Times ran a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/24\/us\/occupying-the-prairie-tensions-rise-as-tribes-move-to-block-a-pipeline.html\">story<\/a> saying that hundreds of Native Americans on horseback, their faces painted, were coming out of their tepees to join the protest, like it was a John Ford movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A prize-winning journalist who has worked for \u201cThe NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,\u201d National Public Radio, and Al Jazeera America, Ahtone is at work on a set of guidelines for fair and accurate coverage of Native American lives and stories, as part of his stint at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow. The <a href=\"http:\/\/nieman.harvard.edu\/\">Nieman Foundation<\/a> chooses 24 journalists from around the world to come to Harvard for a year of academic study.<\/p>\n<p>Ahtone\u2019s guidelines will be based on an internal manual that he developed as head of the tribal affairs desk at High Country News in Colorado, his last post before coming to Harvard, to help reporters avoid clich\u00e9s, stereotypes, and racially insensitive terms when covering Indian lands and culture.<\/p>\n<p>He recommends, for example, identifying people by their specific tribes, nations, or communities rather than a catch-all phrase such as \u201cNative American group\u201d or \u201cNative American tribe.\u201d He also warns reporters not to fall into the trope of the white savior who attempts to explain or save indigenous communities, a concept common in popular culture, and to resist any temptation to use mythological creatures to explain complicated beliefs systems or problems. Among the terms to shun, he said, are \u201cBigfoot,\u201d \u201cdeer woman,\u201d \u201cghosts,\u201d or \u201cspirits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to fight media stereotypes of indigenous people are not new. During Ahtone\u2019s tenure as vice president of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.naja.com\/\">Native American Journalists Association<\/a>, the group published a list of terms that reporters should ditch, such as \u201cvanishing culture,\u201d \u201cdying language,\u201d \u201cbroken families,\u201d \u201ca warrior,\u201d or \u201csomething \u2018sacred.\u2019\u201d The list also includes \u201csinging,\u201d \u201cdancing,\u201d and \u201cdrumming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems that the only way reporters can deal with Native Americans is to make them fit into a narrative filled with stereotypes,\u201d said Ahtone. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a typical Native American, just like there isn\u2019t a typical American. I\u2019d love to see a television series, a movie, or a story about Native Americans doing a regular job. My community is made of regular people. My grandfather was a teacher, my father worked for the United Nations. Many of us don\u2019t grow up in reservations.\u201d<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>When the news about the protest at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation against the Dakota Access Pipeline burst into the spotlight in 2016, <a href=\"https:\/\/tristanahtone.net\/\">Tristan Ahtone<\/a> welcomed the chance for greater coverage of Native American issues.<\/p>\n<p>But soon Ahtone, a journalist and a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiowatribe.org\/\">Kiowa tribe<\/a> of Oklahoma, grew dismayed at the way the media handled the stories about the first major indigenous protest since the 1973 Wounded Knee incident in South Dakota.<\/p>\n<p>Most media outlets, even the leading ones, Ahtone said, sidelined the central issues of tribal rights and the government\u2019s responsibility in the Dakota pipeline dispute, and instead replicated old stereotypes by typecasting the protesters as warriors, victims, or magical creatures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2016\/10\/18\/dakota-pipeline-protesters-confront-the-black-snake-were-living-by-the-fire\/\">stories<\/a> focused on the prophecy of the black snake coming,\u201d said Ahtone at a coffee shop near Harvard Yard. \u201cEven the New York Times ran a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/24\/us\/occupying-the-prairie-tensions-rise-as-tribes-move-to-block-a-pipeline.html\">story<\/a> saying that hundreds of Native Americans on horseback, their faces painted, were coming out of their tepees to join the protest, like it was a John Ford movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A prize-winning journalist who has worked for \u201cThe NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,\u201d National Public Radio, and Al Jazeera America, Ahtone is at work on a set of guidelines for fair and accurate coverage of Native American lives and stories, as part of his stint at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow. The <a href=\"http:\/\/nieman.harvard.edu\/\">Nieman Foundation<\/a> chooses 24 journalists from around the world to come to Harvard for a year of academic study.<\/p>\n<p>Ahtone\u2019s guidelines will be based on an internal manual that he developed as head of the tribal affairs desk at High Country News in Colorado, his last post before coming to Harvard, to help reporters avoid clich\u00e9s, stereotypes, and racially insensitive terms when covering Indian lands and culture.<\/p>\n<p>He recommends, for example, identifying people by their specific tribes, nations, or communities rather than a catch-all phrase such as \u201cNative American group\u201d or \u201cNative American tribe.\u201d He also warns reporters not to fall into the trope of the white savior who attempts to explain or save indigenous communities, a concept common in popular culture, and to resist any temptation to use mythological creatures to explain complicated beliefs systems or problems. Among the terms to shun, he said, are \u201cBigfoot,\u201d \u201cdeer woman,\u201d \u201cghosts,\u201d or \u201cspirits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to fight media stereotypes of indigenous people are not new. During Ahtone\u2019s tenure as vice president of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.naja.com\/\">Native American Journalists Association<\/a>, the group published a list of terms that reporters should ditch, such as \u201cvanishing culture,\u201d \u201cdying language,\u201d \u201cbroken families,\u201d \u201ca warrior,\u201d or \u201csomething \u2018sacred.\u2019\u201d The list also includes \u201csinging,\u201d \u201cdancing,\u201d and \u201cdrumming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems that the only way reporters can deal with Native Americans is to make them fit into a narrative filled with stereotypes,\u201d said Ahtone. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a typical Native American, just like there isn\u2019t a typical American. I\u2019d love to see a television series, a movie, or a story about Native Americans doing a regular job. My community is made of regular people. My grandfather was a teacher, my father worked for the United Nations. Many of us don\u2019t grow up in reservations.\u201d<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>When the news about the protest at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation against the Dakota Access Pipeline burst into the spotlight in 2016, <a href=\"https:\/\/tristanahtone.net\/\">Tristan Ahtone<\/a> welcomed the chance for greater coverage of Native American issues.<\/p>\n<p>But soon Ahtone, a journalist and a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiowatribe.org\/\">Kiowa tribe<\/a> of Oklahoma, grew dismayed at the way the media handled the stories about the first major indigenous protest since the 1973 Wounded Knee incident in South Dakota.<\/p>\n<p>Most media outlets, even the leading ones, Ahtone said, sidelined the central issues of tribal rights and the government\u2019s responsibility in the Dakota pipeline dispute, and instead replicated old stereotypes by typecasting the protesters as warriors, victims, or magical creatures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2016\/10\/18\/dakota-pipeline-protesters-confront-the-black-snake-were-living-by-the-fire\/\">stories<\/a> focused on the prophecy of the black snake coming,\u201d said Ahtone at a coffee shop near Harvard Yard. \u201cEven the New York Times ran a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/24\/us\/occupying-the-prairie-tensions-rise-as-tribes-move-to-block-a-pipeline.html\">story<\/a> saying that hundreds of Native Americans on horseback, their faces painted, were coming out of their tepees to join the protest, like it was a John Ford movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A prize-winning journalist who has worked for \u201cThe NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,\u201d National Public Radio, and Al Jazeera America, Ahtone is at work on a set of guidelines for fair and accurate coverage of Native American lives and stories, as part of his stint at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow. The <a href=\"http:\/\/nieman.harvard.edu\/\">Nieman Foundation<\/a> chooses 24 journalists from around the world to come to Harvard for a year of academic study.<\/p>\n<p>Ahtone\u2019s guidelines will be based on an internal manual that he developed as head of the tribal affairs desk at High Country News in Colorado, his last post before coming to Harvard, to help reporters avoid clich\u00e9s, stereotypes, and racially insensitive terms when covering Indian lands and culture.<\/p>\n<p>He recommends, for example, identifying people by their specific tribes, nations, or communities rather than a catch-all phrase such as \u201cNative American group\u201d or \u201cNative American tribe.\u201d He also warns reporters not to fall into the trope of the white savior who attempts to explain or save indigenous communities, a concept common in popular culture, and to resist any temptation to use mythological creatures to explain complicated beliefs systems or problems. Among the terms to shun, he said, are \u201cBigfoot,\u201d \u201cdeer woman,\u201d \u201cghosts,\u201d or \u201cspirits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to fight media stereotypes of indigenous people are not new. During Ahtone\u2019s tenure as vice president of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.naja.com\/\">Native American Journalists Association<\/a>, the group published a list of terms that reporters should ditch, such as \u201cvanishing culture,\u201d \u201cdying language,\u201d \u201cbroken families,\u201d \u201ca warrior,\u201d or \u201csomething \u2018sacred.\u2019\u201d The list also includes \u201csinging,\u201d \u201cdancing,\u201d and \u201cdrumming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems that the only way reporters can deal with Native Americans is to make them fit into a narrative filled with stereotypes,\u201d said Ahtone. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a typical Native American, just like there isn\u2019t a typical American. I\u2019d love to see a television series, a movie, or a story about Native Americans doing a regular job. My community is made of regular people. My grandfather was a teacher, my father worked for the United Nations. Many of us don\u2019t grow up in reservations.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"tagName":"figure","align":"wide","className":"wp-block-table","templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/columns","attrs":{"verticalAlignment":"center","isStackedOnMobile":true,"templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/column","attrs":{"verticalAlignment":"center","width":"","templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"sizeSlug":"full","align":"none","id":237484,"blob":"","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_103_2500-1-scaled.jpg","alt":"","caption":null,"lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkDestination":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\n\t<figure 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wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_072_2500-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-239454\"><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-center media-cluster\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-center media-cluster\">\n\t\t\t\t","\n\t\t\t\t\t","\n\t\t<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-center media-cluster is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_103_2500-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-237484\"><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_072_2500-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-239454\"><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"tagName":"figcaption","className":"wp-element-caption","templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"className":"wp-element-caption--caption","align":"","content":"\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>","innerContent":["<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>"],"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"className":"wp-element-caption--credit","align":"","content":"Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p>","innerContent":["<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p>"],"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p>"}],"innerHTML":"<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption\"><\/figcaption>","innerContent":["<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption\">","<\/figcaption>"],"rendered":"<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption>"}],"innerHTML":"<figure class=\"wp-block-group wp-block-table alignwide\">\n<\/figure>","innerContent":["<figure class=\"wp-block-group wp-block-table alignwide\">","\n","<\/figure>"],"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-group wp-block-table alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-center media-cluster is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_103_2500-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-237484\"><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_072_2500-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-239454\"><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>According to the U.S. Census, 2.9 million, or 1 percent, of the U.S. population is of American Indian and Alaska Native descent, and nearly 80 percent of those people live outside reservations, mostly in urban areas. Ahtone was born in Phoenix but grew up across the country, with a brief stint in Pakistan, where the U.N. sent his father to work with refugees.<\/p>\n<p>Stories about the Native American experience should go beyond platitudes of addiction, alcoholism, suicide, unemployment, and poverty, which perpetuate stereotypes of Native Americans as victims, said Ahtone. \u201cI can\u2019t believe news organizations are still sending reporters to Pine Ridge,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are 567 tribes across the nation, and they still go to Pine Ridge to report the same old story of poverty and despair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a reporter, Ahtone wrote stories about the importance of tribal radio stations as a lifeline to their communities, the poise of Native American cowboys riding in Indian rodeos, and the contributions of Navajo and Seminole veterans and code talkers in World War II. He also reported on the difficulties of registering voters among Native Americans who live off the grid, and the opposition of the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation to a government plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that spans their land.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, mainstream media need to be accountable for its seeming lack of interest in covering Native American issues on a regular basis and for not hiring more reporters and editors of color, Ahtone said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to embrace technology, you can also embrace diversity,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cI\u2019d like to see a newsroom that is representative of the United States, and I\u2019d like to see media organizations committed to cover indigenous people\u2019s struggles and contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ahtone is the fourth Native American Nieman Fellow, following Conroy Chino \u201984, a member of the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico; Tim Giago \u201991, a member of the Ogala Lakota of South Dakota; and Jodi Rave Spotted Bear \u201904, a member of the Mandan-Hidatsa, and Lakota.<\/p>\n<p>After his stint at Harvard, Ahtone plans to go back to Colorado and continue bringing to light the voices and stories of Native Americans. In a way, he sees his work as part of the endeavors of the Kiowa tribe to record their history, which included battles and peace treaties, and smallpox and cholera epidemics, from the 19th century Kiowa calendars and <a href=\"http:\/\/anthropology.si.edu\/naa\/exhibits\/kiowa\/kiowa.htm\">Kiowa drawings<\/a> to the more contemporary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobsonhouse.org\/kiowa-five\/\">Kiowa Six<\/a> artists and photographer <a href=\"http:\/\/nmai.si.edu\/explore\/exhibitions\/item\/?id=953\">Horace Poolaw<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having more American Indian journalists in newsrooms would help foster understanding of indigenous communities, said Rave, executive director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople often like to describe Native people as invisible,\u201d said Rave in an email. \u201cWe\u2019re not invisible. If you look for us, we\u2019re here. We have our own tribal governments, our own constitutions, our own police departments, our own land, our own hospitals, our own treaties with the United States, and so on. We have a rich and vibrant culture. An American Indian journalist typically understands all these issues and can accurately capture the nuances of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>According to the U.S. Census, 2.9 million, or 1 percent, of the U.S. population is of American Indian and Alaska Native descent, and nearly 80 percent of those people live outside reservations, mostly in urban areas. Ahtone was born in Phoenix but grew up across the country, with a brief stint in Pakistan, where the U.N. sent his father to work with refugees.<\/p>\n<p>Stories about the Native American experience should go beyond platitudes of addiction, alcoholism, suicide, unemployment, and poverty, which perpetuate stereotypes of Native Americans as victims, said Ahtone. \u201cI can\u2019t believe news organizations are still sending reporters to Pine Ridge,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are 567 tribes across the nation, and they still go to Pine Ridge to report the same old story of poverty and despair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a reporter, Ahtone wrote stories about the importance of tribal radio stations as a lifeline to their communities, the poise of Native American cowboys riding in Indian rodeos, and the contributions of Navajo and Seminole veterans and code talkers in World War II. He also reported on the difficulties of registering voters among Native Americans who live off the grid, and the opposition of the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation to a government plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that spans their land.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, mainstream media need to be accountable for its seeming lack of interest in covering Native American issues on a regular basis and for not hiring more reporters and editors of color, Ahtone said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to embrace technology, you can also embrace diversity,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cI\u2019d like to see a newsroom that is representative of the United States, and I\u2019d like to see media organizations committed to cover indigenous people\u2019s struggles and contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ahtone is the fourth Native American Nieman Fellow, following Conroy Chino \u201984, a member of the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico; Tim Giago \u201991, a member of the Ogala Lakota of South Dakota; and Jodi Rave Spotted Bear \u201904, a member of the Mandan-Hidatsa, and Lakota.<\/p>\n<p>After his stint at Harvard, Ahtone plans to go back to Colorado and continue bringing to light the voices and stories of Native Americans. In a way, he sees his work as part of the endeavors of the Kiowa tribe to record their history, which included battles and peace treaties, and smallpox and cholera epidemics, from the 19th century Kiowa calendars and <a href=\"http:\/\/anthropology.si.edu\/naa\/exhibits\/kiowa\/kiowa.htm\">Kiowa drawings<\/a> to the more contemporary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobsonhouse.org\/kiowa-five\/\">Kiowa Six<\/a> artists and photographer <a href=\"http:\/\/nmai.si.edu\/explore\/exhibitions\/item\/?id=953\">Horace Poolaw<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having more American Indian journalists in newsrooms would help foster understanding of indigenous communities, said Rave, executive director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople often like to describe Native people as invisible,\u201d said Rave in an email. \u201cWe\u2019re not invisible. If you look for us, we\u2019re here. We have our own tribal governments, our own constitutions, our own police departments, our own land, our own hospitals, our own treaties with the United States, and so on. We have a rich and vibrant culture. An American Indian journalist typically understands all these issues and can accurately capture the nuances of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>According to the U.S. Census, 2.9 million, or 1 percent, of the U.S. population is of American Indian and Alaska Native descent, and nearly 80 percent of those people live outside reservations, mostly in urban areas. Ahtone was born in Phoenix but grew up across the country, with a brief stint in Pakistan, where the U.N. sent his father to work with refugees.<\/p>\n<p>Stories about the Native American experience should go beyond platitudes of addiction, alcoholism, suicide, unemployment, and poverty, which perpetuate stereotypes of Native Americans as victims, said Ahtone. \u201cI can\u2019t believe news organizations are still sending reporters to Pine Ridge,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are 567 tribes across the nation, and they still go to Pine Ridge to report the same old story of poverty and despair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a reporter, Ahtone wrote stories about the importance of tribal radio stations as a lifeline to their communities, the poise of Native American cowboys riding in Indian rodeos, and the contributions of Navajo and Seminole veterans and code talkers in World War II. He also reported on the difficulties of registering voters among Native Americans who live off the grid, and the opposition of the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation to a government plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that spans their land.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, mainstream media need to be accountable for its seeming lack of interest in covering Native American issues on a regular basis and for not hiring more reporters and editors of color, Ahtone said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to embrace technology, you can also embrace diversity,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cI\u2019d like to see a newsroom that is representative of the United States, and I\u2019d like to see media organizations committed to cover indigenous people\u2019s struggles and contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ahtone is the fourth Native American Nieman Fellow, following Conroy Chino \u201984, a member of the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico; Tim Giago \u201991, a member of the Ogala Lakota of South Dakota; and Jodi Rave Spotted Bear \u201904, a member of the Mandan-Hidatsa, and Lakota.<\/p>\n<p>After his stint at Harvard, Ahtone plans to go back to Colorado and continue bringing to light the voices and stories of Native Americans. In a way, he sees his work as part of the endeavors of the Kiowa tribe to record their history, which included battles and peace treaties, and smallpox and cholera epidemics, from the 19th century Kiowa calendars and <a href=\"http:\/\/anthropology.si.edu\/naa\/exhibits\/kiowa\/kiowa.htm\">Kiowa drawings<\/a> to the more contemporary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobsonhouse.org\/kiowa-five\/\">Kiowa Six<\/a> artists and photographer <a href=\"http:\/\/nmai.si.edu\/explore\/exhibitions\/item\/?id=953\">Horace Poolaw<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having more American Indian journalists in newsrooms would help foster understanding of indigenous communities, said Rave, executive director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople often like to describe Native people as invisible,\u201d said Rave in an email. \u201cWe\u2019re not invisible. If you look for us, we\u2019re here. We have our own tribal governments, our own constitutions, our own police departments, our own land, our own hospitals, our own treaties with the United States, and so on. We have a rich and vibrant culture. An American Indian journalist typically understands all these issues and can accurately capture the nuances of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n","\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>When the news about the protest at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation against the Dakota Access Pipeline burst into the spotlight in 2016, <a href=\"https:\/\/tristanahtone.net\/\">Tristan Ahtone<\/a> welcomed the chance for greater coverage of Native American issues.<\/p>\n<p>But soon Ahtone, a journalist and a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiowatribe.org\/\">Kiowa tribe<\/a> of Oklahoma, grew dismayed at the way the media handled the stories about the first major indigenous protest since the 1973 Wounded Knee incident in South Dakota.<\/p>\n<p>Most media outlets, even the leading ones, Ahtone said, sidelined the central issues of tribal rights and the government\u2019s responsibility in the Dakota pipeline dispute, and instead replicated old stereotypes by typecasting the protesters as warriors, victims, or magical creatures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2016\/10\/18\/dakota-pipeline-protesters-confront-the-black-snake-were-living-by-the-fire\/\">stories<\/a> focused on the prophecy of the black snake coming,\u201d said Ahtone at a coffee shop near Harvard Yard. \u201cEven the New York Times ran a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/24\/us\/occupying-the-prairie-tensions-rise-as-tribes-move-to-block-a-pipeline.html\">story<\/a> saying that hundreds of Native Americans on horseback, their faces painted, were coming out of their tepees to join the protest, like it was a John Ford movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A prize-winning journalist who has worked for \u201cThe NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,\u201d National Public Radio, and Al Jazeera America, Ahtone is at work on a set of guidelines for fair and accurate coverage of Native American lives and stories, as part of his stint at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow. The <a href=\"http:\/\/nieman.harvard.edu\/\">Nieman Foundation<\/a> chooses 24 journalists from around the world to come to Harvard for a year of academic study.<\/p>\n<p>Ahtone\u2019s guidelines will be based on an internal manual that he developed as head of the tribal affairs desk at High Country News in Colorado, his last post before coming to Harvard, to help reporters avoid clich\u00e9s, stereotypes, and racially insensitive terms when covering Indian lands and culture.<\/p>\n<p>He recommends, for example, identifying people by their specific tribes, nations, or communities rather than a catch-all phrase such as \u201cNative American group\u201d or \u201cNative American tribe.\u201d He also warns reporters not to fall into the trope of the white savior who attempts to explain or save indigenous communities, a concept common in popular culture, and to resist any temptation to use mythological creatures to explain complicated beliefs systems or problems. Among the terms to shun, he said, are \u201cBigfoot,\u201d \u201cdeer woman,\u201d \u201cghosts,\u201d or \u201cspirits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to fight media stereotypes of indigenous people are not new. During Ahtone\u2019s tenure as vice president of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.naja.com\/\">Native American Journalists Association<\/a>, the group published a list of terms that reporters should ditch, such as \u201cvanishing culture,\u201d \u201cdying language,\u201d \u201cbroken families,\u201d \u201ca warrior,\u201d or \u201csomething \u2018sacred.\u2019\u201d The list also includes \u201csinging,\u201d \u201cdancing,\u201d and \u201cdrumming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems that the only way reporters can deal with Native Americans is to make them fit into a narrative filled with stereotypes,\u201d said Ahtone. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a typical Native American, just like there isn\u2019t a typical American. I\u2019d love to see a television series, a movie, or a story about Native Americans doing a regular job. My community is made of regular people. My grandfather was a teacher, my father worked for the United Nations. Many of us don\u2019t grow up in reservations.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-group wp-block-table alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-center media-cluster is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_103_2500-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-237484\"><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/011118_ahtone_072_2500-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-239454\"><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Jon Chase\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\n<p>According to the U.S. Census, 2.9 million, or 1 percent, of the U.S. population is of American Indian and Alaska Native descent, and nearly 80 percent of those people live outside reservations, mostly in urban areas. Ahtone was born in Phoenix but grew up across the country, with a brief stint in Pakistan, where the U.N. sent his father to work with refugees.<\/p>\n<p>Stories about the Native American experience should go beyond platitudes of addiction, alcoholism, suicide, unemployment, and poverty, which perpetuate stereotypes of Native Americans as victims, said Ahtone. \u201cI can\u2019t believe news organizations are still sending reporters to Pine Ridge,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are 567 tribes across the nation, and they still go to Pine Ridge to report the same old story of poverty and despair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a reporter, Ahtone wrote stories about the importance of tribal radio stations as a lifeline to their communities, the poise of Native American cowboys riding in Indian rodeos, and the contributions of Navajo and Seminole veterans and code talkers in World War II. He also reported on the difficulties of registering voters among Native Americans who live off the grid, and the opposition of the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation to a government plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that spans their land.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, mainstream media need to be accountable for its seeming lack of interest in covering Native American issues on a regular basis and for not hiring more reporters and editors of color, Ahtone said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to embrace technology, you can also embrace diversity,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cI\u2019d like to see a newsroom that is representative of the United States, and I\u2019d like to see media organizations committed to cover indigenous people\u2019s struggles and contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ahtone is the fourth Native American Nieman Fellow, following Conroy Chino \u201984, a member of the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico; Tim Giago \u201991, a member of the Ogala Lakota of South Dakota; and Jodi Rave Spotted Bear \u201904, a member of the Mandan-Hidatsa, and Lakota.<\/p>\n<p>After his stint at Harvard, Ahtone plans to go back to Colorado and continue bringing to light the voices and stories of Native Americans. In a way, he sees his work as part of the endeavors of the Kiowa tribe to record their history, which included battles and peace treaties, and smallpox and cholera epidemics, from the 19th century Kiowa calendars and <a href=\"http:\/\/anthropology.si.edu\/naa\/exhibits\/kiowa\/kiowa.htm\">Kiowa drawings<\/a> to the more contemporary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobsonhouse.org\/kiowa-five\/\">Kiowa Six<\/a> artists and photographer <a href=\"http:\/\/nmai.si.edu\/explore\/exhibitions\/item\/?id=953\">Horace Poolaw<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI come from a long line of people who have documented our time and our community,\u201d Ahtone said. \u201cMy work is a continuation of their work. I\u2019m not idealistic enough to think that I can change the world, but I know I\u2019ll be doing my part if I keep doing what I do and help others do a better job in covering Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having more American Indian journalists in newsrooms would help foster understanding of indigenous communities, said Rave, executive director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople often like to describe Native people as invisible,\u201d said Rave in an email. \u201cWe\u2019re not invisible. If you look for us, we\u2019re here. We have our own tribal governments, our own constitutions, our own police departments, our own land, our own hospitals, our own treaties with the United States, and so on. We have a rich and vibrant culture. An American Indian journalist typically understands all these issues and can accurately capture the nuances of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3230,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2008\/05\/nieman-names-28-fellows-from-u-s-and-abroad\/","url_meta":{"origin":237451,"position":0},"title":"Nieman names 28 fellows from U.S. and abroad","author":"harvardgazette","date":"May 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard has named 28 journalists from the United States and abroad to the 71st class of Nieman Fellows. They include print reporters and editors, online journalists, columnists and editorial writers, broadcasters, a photojournalist, and a filmmaker.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9344,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2009\/05\/nieman-foundation-chooses-24-for-its-72nd-class-of-nieman-fellows\/","url_meta":{"origin":237451,"position":1},"title":"Nieman Foundation chooses 24 for its 72nd class of Nieman Fellows","author":"harvardgazette","date":"May 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard has selected 24 journalists from the United States and abroad to join the 72nd class of Nieman Fellows. The group includes print and multimedia reporters and editors; radio and television journalists; photographers; book authors; a filmmaker; and a columnist.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16960,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2007\/05\/nieman-foundation-announces-u-s-international-fellows-for-2007-08\/","url_meta":{"origin":237451,"position":2},"title":"Nieman Foundation announces U.S., International Fellows for 2007-08","author":"harvardgazette","date":"May 31, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Thirty U.S. and international journalists have recently been named to the 70th class of Nieman Fellows at Harvard University.","rel":"","context":"In "Arts & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Arts & Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17492,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2003\/05\/nieman-names-66th-class-of-fellows\/","url_meta":{"origin":237451,"position":3},"title":"Nieman names 66th class of fellows","author":"gazetteimport","date":"May 29, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Thirteen U.S. journalists and 12 international journalists were recently appointed to the 66th class of Nieman Fellows. Established in 1938, the Nieman program is the oldest midcareer fellowship for journalists in the world. Fellowships are awarded for an academic year of study in any part of the university to working\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":340407,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2022\/03\/brent-renaud-remembered-by-fellow-journalists\/","url_meta":{"origin":237451,"position":4},"title":"Dangers of journalism leave Nieman Fellows grief-stricken","author":"Lian Parsons","date":"March 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Nieman Class of 2022 honored Brent Renaud, a 2019 Nieman Fellow who was killed in Ukraine while working on a documentary about the global refugee crisis.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brent Renaud.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/032222_Nieman_264-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/032222_Nieman_264-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/032222_Nieman_264-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/032222_Nieman_264-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50999,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2010\/07\/u-s-grants-visa-to-journalist-and-nieman-fellow\/","url_meta":{"origin":237451,"position":5},"title":"U.S. grants visa to journalist and Nieman fellow","author":"harvardgazette","date":"July 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The U.S. State Department has reversed its decision to deny a visa to leading Colombian journalist Hollman Morris. He is now free to travel to the United States, where he will begin a yearlong fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108352576"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237451"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280275,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237451\/revisions\/280275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237451"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=237451"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=237451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}