MPR reports about an upcoming show that features former Blandin Foundation Broadband Strategy Board Madonna Peltier-Yawakie…
The number of businesses owned by Native entrepreneurs and tribal governments is growing — and they’re becoming more diverse.
Casinos are still a vital source of revenue and jobs for many tribes in Minnesota, but a range of other small businesses are also creating economic development in indigenous communities.
Coming up at 9 a.m. on Monday, MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two Native business owners featured in the new MPR News series “Beyond the Bet,” exploring the diversification of Native entrepreneurship.
And, we want to hear from you.What questions do you have about doing business with Minnesota’s 11 federally recognized Native American tribal nations and communities? If you’re part of a Native community and run a business, what have been your biggest challenges and successes?
Call us during the 9 a.m. hour at 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828.
Guests:
Robert Blake is the founder and CEO of the solar installation business Solar Bear. He is also founder and executive director of Native Sun Community Power Development, a nonprofit organization that is building out an electric vehicle charging network on tribal lands and promoting clean energy through education and workforce training. He lives in St. Paul and is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe people in northern Minnesota.
The National Tribal Telecommunications Association hosted the 2026 Tribal Broadband Midwest Summit in Minnesota. I wrote about the first full day yesterday; today the conversation is all about AI. We got a practical introduction to AI and tribal leaders spoke about using AI to help preserve native languages. The presenters spoke about the difference between AI is a public for private environment.
Welcome from Godrey Enjady
Trying to get broadband to everyone
Learn to read contract and rules carefully
Teaching people how to use new resources and preserving culture
Understanding AI
AI is a shortcut for images
Using AI for language preservation
You need to verify AI results – good memory but not always right
Understanding AI in Tribal Broadband (language preservation)
Q: Is one AI tool (ChatGPT vs GROK…) and is paid worth it?
Each tool has a different benefit. Some folks have subscriptions to all; some none.
You get faster results and more use available if you pay. Creating code? You might want to pay. Simple question? Free is probably OK.
Try out a few tools and see what you like.
You do get different results if you use different tools.
Be cautious of uploading/sharing intellectual data with AI tools – even to have them help you figure something out. (Upload it becomes internalized with AI)
Q: Wat guard rails to you institute to keep data good?
It is a concern. Can’t let AI run amok.
The National Tribal Telecommunications Association hosted the 2026 Tribal Broadband Midwest Summit in Minnesota. It was fun to hear the stories from Minnesota and learn from what’s happening in other areas, such as Arizona. It’s clear to see that data center (emphasis on micro-data centers!) and AI are hot topics. Funding, and what’s happening with BEAD and other federal funding, is also a hot topic, although there are federal funds that are available exclusively to tribal areas. Shared barriers included questions about what may happen with federal funding, inflation and balancing POTS (landlines) with LEO (satellites).
Also very interesting to hear about the tribal perspective on sovereignty, which includes:
Local control
Ownership equals opportunity
Cost of dependency
Vision for the future
Welcome by Bill Rudnicki, Tribal Administrator, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Welcome – Godfrey Enjady
$500M for tribal broadband – how do we do it?
Meet your tribal networks
575 recognized tribes in the US
Difficult become tribal lands are remote
“We used to follow the buffalo to stay alive; now we follow the Internet.”
Permitting on tribal lands can be a complex thing.
Working on AI for language preservation. Fewer than 200 on tribe can speak conversational Apache back home.
Built a new data center – micro to meet the needs of our tribe.
Looking at Spectrum. You can do 5G with 3 channels government just gave tribal communities some spectrum.
We need to understand more about the tools that are being created to work with them.
Panel – Connecting Minnesota: Partnerships, Policy, and the Path to Border-to-Border Broadband
MTA (Brent Christensen) and OBD (Bree Maki tell a Minnesota Broadband Story
2008 – MN Leg mapped broadband
2013 – Leg creates OBD – housed in Dep of Employment and Economic Development (NOT Commerce)
2013 – created rules for grants
OBD has had 3 Executive Directors
Work to get stakeholders together
OBD does mapping twice a year with Connected Nation. ISPs do provide information
Working through BEAD and local legislation
Part of MN grant process has included a challenge process that allows the challenging provider to be specific about target area and let grant applicant rework the proposal.
No waste, fraud or abuse in broadband funding in MN.
Q: Where’s the tribal engagement?
11 tribal national in MN. Some tribes serve themselves and some are served by MTA members. MTA is working on building better roads to work together.
OBD also reaches out to tribal areas and attend meetings. The MN Broadband Task Force includes a tribal member.
Tribal areas can maintain sovereignty and work with consultants
New Mexico is also doing a good job.
Want to know more about what Paul Bunyan Communications is doing.
State workforce development is important.
MTA has been able to work with almost everyone in the last 16 years. Except RS Fiber.
Q: Has MN provided communities with AI policies that can work? Such as Open AI or ChatGTP.
Last Leg Sessions, we realized we could not have onerous AI laws and get BEAD funding. But still waiting for definition of “onerous.”
We had 9 AI bills introduced last session and they were ready-aim-fire bills. We need meaningful policy but we need to be mindful and purposeful. We need a Task Force with stakeholders.
There are lots of experts in the room.
Last words:
Keep tribal communities engaged.
Advocacy is important
Just Released: NTIA Funding Opportunities/Regulatory Update with Chris
Q: It can be difficult, especially going straight through FCC instead of a State Office buffer.
Q: What about reporting?
Main thing is reporting to FCC broadband data collection, which involves a lot of things.
ETC designation for tribes is important – making small steps
Sustainability funding
Broadband: A Look at the Minnesota Model
Q: How is EHP (Environmental and Historic Preservation) complex in tribal areas?
The challenge comes where you wait and aren’t sure what you might be disturbing with environmental concerns – for example prehistoric grounds that have not been previously disturbed.
Q: Is there a state support for a middle mile to step in and help with rights-of-way?
OBD can help convene potential partners.
Q: Are you looking to change the state speed goals?
It was aggressive when it was set. The goal is 100/20 by 2026 and we won’t make it. There is an appetite to raise the speed goals and it’s up to associations to encourage the legislature.
Nuts and Bolts of Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP)
Panel: Advanced Business Models for Sustainable Tribal Networks
Panel: Third Parties Can Ruin a Day
Tribal Broadband Partnership Success Story: Shakopee Mdewakaton Sioux Community and Nuvera
Q: Large providers can be difficult. Glad to hear a story of a good partnership? How long are your contracts?
3 year auto-renewal
Q: Have you worked with 2.5 spectrum?
We do have spectrum – and we’ll use it while we can’t get fiber to a location
Q: Have you thought about working with other tribes? (Branching out from Shakopee)
Currently we are not planning that – bt maybe in next 20 years.
Today, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce announced two new notices of funding opportunity (NOFO): one for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) and one for the Native Entities Grant Program (NEGP), the native entity set-aside under the Digital Equity Act.
Together, these NOFOs will make $790 million available to Tribal and Native communities to advance broadband connectivity on Tribal lands, promote infrastructure availability, and support other related activities.
“The NOFOs announced today build on NTIA’s work to achieve universal broadband availability, including on Tribal lands,” said Arielle Roth, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator. “By reducing unnecessary red tape, increasing flexibility, and maximizing the impact of federal dollars, these NOFOs help Tribal and Native nations focus on connecting their communities, not navigating bureaucracy.”
The application window opens today, June 17, 2026, and closes September 17, 2026. NTIA expects to make awards on a rolling basis beginning in Spring 2027. Additional information is available on NTIA’s BroadbandUSA website, including the TBCP fact sheet and NEGP fact sheet. NTIA will also host a TBCP 3 and NEGP NOFO Launch Webinar on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. You can register here.
These funding opportunities reflect reforms NTIA announced last year to streamline its Tribal broadband programs, reduce red tape for Tribal governments, promote greater flexibility, and better align NTIA’s grant opportunities with the connectivity needs of Tribal communities.
The Institute for Local Self Reliance (Community Networks) has launched their new Tribal Internet Networks Census Update. Here’s what they report on a high level…
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s research suggests that there are nearly 90 active Tribal Internet networks es appear to be prospective – they are considering or pursuing opportunities to get into Internet access.
Here’s what that looks like in Minnesota:
Black (Active Networks):
Aaniin
Active network
Retail, Business, Institutional Network
Fiber-to-the-Home http://www.aaniin.net/
Bois Forte Band Active network
Retail, Business, Public-Private Partnership, Institutional Network
Fiber-to-the-Home https://www.goctc.com/boisforte/
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
Active network
Institutional Network
Fiber
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
Active network
Retail
Fiber-to-the-Home
Yellow (Expected Network: Building and/or Funded):
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
Expected: Building and/or Funded network
Green (Prospective Network)
Lower Sioux Indian Community
Prospective network
There’s a lot to take in from the report from an historical and current perspective. If you haven’t read much or spoken to people about Broadband Sovereignty that is a piece that is interesting especially in context of issues emerging today with technologies such as AI.
The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Broadband Project is seeking to connect with individuals regarding their ownership interest in tribal allotment lands.
Those whose names are listed below are asked to contact Sally Fineday, Donovan Staples or Rebbecca Woods at 218-335-8263.
Certified letters were sent to each person on the list in July 2025.
Individuals may also choose to complete an online response form at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P75ZZRS. A QR code is also available for direct access to the form.
The article includes a specific list of names they have tried to contact. I’m sharing this on the off chance that I reach something that Leech Lake hasn’t but also because the straightforward approach to expansion.
Yesterday, I was driving to family brunch on Sunday and tuned in at just the right time to MPR to hear an interesting story of tribal broadband. Here’s the description from the Click Here website…
To live in the modern world, you have to be online. But in many places, that connection still doesn’t exist. So people aren’t waiting. They’re building their own internet—creating and running their own providers from the ground up. And in the process, redefining who gets to connect… and who gets to decide.
It’s a story of need, ingenuity and the power of community. They touch on non-tribal public broadband but the example they give is a tribal community. The podcast captures what I’ve heard from folks in the field about the importance of sovereignty.
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as of 2024, 93 percent of all US residents had access to internet services with “advanced telecommunications capability”—that is, 100 megabits per second of download speed and 20 megabits per second of upload speed (represented as 100/20 Mbps)—compared with only 76 percent of people living on tribal lands (FCC 2024). And 76 percent may be an overestimate—FCC data have been criticized for overstating broadband access on tribal lands (GAO 2018).
And provide recommendations…
In this report, we provide an overview of the major federal programs aimed at supporting broadband infrastructure and share findings and best practices from 15 interviews conducted with individuals working to expand access to high-speed internet in Native communities. Interviewees represented tribal broadband providers, tribal governments, state governments, technical assistance providers, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, and other advocates supporting tribal broadband access and sovereignty, defined as the right of tribes to govern their communities without interference (Klingbeil et al. 2023). Informed by these interviews and a review of federal funding opportunities, we find the following:
◼ Federal investments have significantly expanded internet access in many Native communities, but others are still left out.
◼ Some tribal governments that received these initial broadband infrastructure investments may face challenges maintaining and operating service into the future because of limited administrative, financial, or technical capacity.
◼ To overcome unfavorable relationships with private internet providers and to sustain adequate internet service in the long run, many tribal governments, tribal broadband providers, and other stakeholders are prioritizing tribal ownership of broadband infrastructure.
Based on these conversations, we identify best practices for tribal governments and tribal broadband providers seeking to access federal broadband funding, build necessary infrastructure, and maintain reliable broadband access. These include the following:
◼ When applying for federal grant opportunities, plan early, leverage technical assistance and partnerships, and prepare applications that can be adapted for other programs.
◼ Develop business, operations, and maintenance plans early in the application process to ensure the proposed broadband project will be financially, technically, and statutorily viable for the community.
◼ Invest in workforce development and build external partnerships to boost local technical capacity without compromising sovereignty.
These conversations also elevated recommendations for other stakeholders seeking to expand and maintain broadband infrastructure in Native communities:
◼ Federal agencies could refine funding opportunities to be more responsive to community needs by providing technical assistance throughout the grant application process, prioritizing tribal ownership of broadband infrastructure, and waiving matching requirements. To make investments more effective in the long run, agencies could provide technical assistance or additional financial support for infrastructure maintenance (not only for construction).
◼ State and local governments could offer more direct technical assistance and provide alternative funding sources to tribal governments and tribal broadband providers.
◼ Philanthropic organizations can increase their support by focusing investments on Capacity building, training, and technical assistance, while organizations with the financial capacity can contribute directly to infrastructure deployment and operations
The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa (also referred to as Ojibwe) has officially begun construction on a foundational fiber optic broadband expansion project in northern Minnesota that is poised to bridge the digital divide for thousands of Tribal residents.
The ambitious undertaking is supported by a significant $20 million grant awarded under the 2021 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, marking a major step forward in modernizing infrastructure for the sovereign nation.
The massive project aims to overhaul the existing connectivity landscape across the Bois Forte Reservation.
Once completed, the new network will deliver a high-speed, future-proof up to 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) fiber-to-the-home network to over 2,097 largely-underserved Native American households, businesses, and community anchor institutions.
The article goes on to give a history and environmental scan for the project moving forward.
This special issue of the Journal of Community Informatics presents a collection of articles exploring the historical trajectory and contemporary convergence of grassroots telecommunications policy advocacy in Indian Country. The articles in the special edition posit that Tribal Digital Sovereignty (TDS) has emerged as a definitive governance framework for Tribal Nations, evolving from decades of work by scholars and practitioners at the intersection of federal Indian law, telecommunications, digital equity, and tribal self-determination. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a pivotal catalyst for this evolution, recasting broadband from a luxury to an essential lifeline and exposing deep-seated disparities in connectivity. This crisis opened an unprecedented opportunity for Tribal Nations to take a seat at the policy table and invest in infrastructure through historic federal investments through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These investments have allowed Tribal governments to move beyond bridging the digital divide toward creating community-led solutions shaped by sovereignty and self-determination.
Despite a shifting political and funding landscape, Tribal Nations have successfully transitioned from reactive investments to proactive self-determination in the digital realm. This special issue examines TDS as an umbrella framework encompassing both Network Sovereignty—the authority over physical infrastructure—and Data Sovereignty—the governance of information and its transmission. The articles document how Tribal governments can and are actively institutionalizing long-term strategies, including the development of regulatory codes and protocols to protect governmental and other data. By tracing historical inequities alongside recent advancements, this collection highlights a foundational shift: Tribal Nations are no longer passive beneficiaries of federal policy but are the primary architects of digital futures grounded in their unique cultural, political, and legal foundations.
The issue includes the following articles. I just had to pull out one beautiful line:
If research is ceremony, then data is sacred. Indeed, data is kin.
The articles are as well written and a fascinating look at how we got to where we are..
America’s Rural Future: Brookings–AEI Commission on U.S. Rural Prosperity is a bipartisan initiative co-chaired by former Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, and former Governor Chris Sununu, a Republican. America’s Rural Future brings together a cross-section of the country—spanning diverse backgrounds, regions, values, and industries—to inform its work to develop policy solutions for rural prosperity. On October 23, the America’s Rural Future visited White Earth Nation in Minnesota for a conversation on how tribal communities are advancing broadband connectivity, capital access, and small business development. Speakers discussed the role of the community college, particularly as it relates to building pathways for youth to remain in place or to return home. Expert panelists: Nate Mathews, Executive Director of Tribal Utility Commission, White Earth Nation Bridget Guiza, Customized Education Coordinator, White Earth Tribal and Community College Mary Metelak, Co-Owner and Vice-President, B&T Meats Nearly one in five Americans lives in rural communities, and their contributions are vital to the nation’s economic, cultural, and social fabric. The Commission brings together leaders from across industries to develop long-term, pragmatic solutions grounded in rural realities—focused on ensuring a fair shot, no matter the zip code. Senior Fellow Tony Pipa (Brookings) and Brent Orrell (AEI) lead the research efforts supporting the Commission’s work. To learn more about our research, visit: brookings.edu/americasruralfuture
Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Representative Dr. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.-25) introduced the Tribal Internet Expansion Act of 2025, legislation to help expand telecommunications and information services to Tribal communities.
“This legislation strengthens the foundation for expanding broadband and telecommunications access to Tribal Lands, supporting the needs of communities to utilize technologies so vital to economic growth and success,” said Senator Schiff. “I’m proud to join Representative Dr. Raul Ruiz in this effort to bridge the digital divide and ensure that this necessary resource is reliable, accessible, and affordable in every region.”
“Access to reliable, high-speed internet is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity,” said Congressman Ruiz. “For too long, many Tribal communities have been left without the dependable, affordable broadband needed for students to learn, patients to access care, and families to stay safe and economically secure. TheTribal Internet Expansion Act will strengthen the Universal Service Fund, so it better serves Indian Country and helps ensure Tribal Nations have the digital infrastructure they need to fully participate and thrive in today’s online world.”
The Tribal Internet Expansion Act of 2025 will update the Communications Act of 1934 to explicitly include Indian Country and expand essential broadband access to rural, insular, and high-cost Tribal and Indigenous communities. With roughly one in four people on Tribal lands still lacking access to reliable, high-speed internet, the bill helps ensure that federal broadband and telecommunications programs better address persistent connectivity gaps in these historically underserved areas.
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today that it is working on reforms across its Tribal broadband programs to reduce red tape for Tribal governments, promote flexibility, and align NTIA’s grant opportunities to better serve Tribal connectivity. Specifically, these reforms will streamline the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) and the native entity set-aside from the Digital Equity Act through a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support Tribal broadband access.
NTIA intends to launch the new NOFO in Spring 2026 and will make available any remaining tribal broadband funding (estimated to be at least $500 million).
“NTIA’s goal is simple: stretch every dollar as far as possible to achieve universal Tribal connectivity and better serve Tribal communities’ needs,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth. “This strategic realignment of our Tribal grant programs will reduce administrative burdens, prevent duplication, and ensure consistency across NTIA’s broadband initiatives. Most importantly, it will maximize the impact of this funding, helping to connect as many Tribal households as possible.”
NTIA will continue to award equitable distribution grants, but all further infrastructure and use and adoption grants will be awarded under the Trump Administration’s new rules. NTIA will also soon be announcing a formal Tribal Consultation to allow Tribal governments to provide input on the next funding round.
The funding for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program stems from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 ($1 billion) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ($2 billion). In total, NTIA has already made 275 awards totaling $2.2 billion with TBCP funding. Through TBCP’s first NOFO, NTIA awarded more than $1.87 billion in funds through 226 projects impacting more than 400 Tribes. NTIA’s second TBCP NOFO has awarded $360 million in funds across 48 projects. NTIA is continuing to make Equitable Distribution awards under the second NOFO. NTIA is not rescinding any obligated awards.
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Vice Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, today demanded answers from Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Arielle Roth about why the Trump Administration has frozen the distribution of nearly $1 billion in congressionally-approved broadband grants to Native communities.
NTIA has frozen the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP), leaving roughly $980 million in Round 2 funding unobligated despite applications closing in March 2024. Additionally, $294 million in grants announced in December 2024 have not been distributed, and existing grant recipients report concerns that NTIA may impose new requirements or claw back previously awarded funds. …
To date, the TBCP has awarded $2.24 billion to 275 Tribal projects across the nation, including approximately $100 million to 19 projects in the State of Washington and $89 million to projects on Hawaiian Home Lands in the State of Hawai’i.
The Timberjay has a nice article on the history of broadband in parts of St Louis and Koochiching Counties – from NESC middle mile in 2015 to the Bois Forte-CTC extensions today. It’s proof that, like Rome, FTTH was not built in a day. I’m going to share an abridged version below, but I strongly suggested checking out the original.
Roughly a decade ago, the Northeast Service Cooperative strung a massive web of fiber across northeastern Minnesota. But what you’re seeing today isn’t a duplication of that work. It’s the follow-through. Thanks to a partnership between NESC, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and the broadband company CTC, more than 2,000 homes and businesses around Lake Vermilion’s south shore, Pelican Lake, and Nett Lake are finally getting high-speed broadband service. …
NESC’s “freeway” network was completed in 2015 after four years of construction and $43.5 million in federal investment. The goal wasn’t to wire every house. It was to build a middle mile, essential infrastructure that future projects could plug into.
Joe Weber, divisional director for the NESC middle mile system, said the project was originally built to serve schools, libraries, governments, and other public entities in places where private providers couldn’t justify the cost of running fiber. …
The original network spanned eight counties and connected about 320 public facilities. Since then, it has grown to over 1,300 miles of fiber stretching from Cambridge to Grand Portage.
The Bois Forte–CTC project wouldn’t have been feasible without the NESC backbone. Without it, CTC would have faced the enormous expense of building long stretches of new fiber just to link the project area to the larger internet. By tapping into NESC’s existing system, those costs were avoided. …
A common question that’s cropped up in recent months is whether a network built in 2011 to 2015 can keep up with the skyrocketing internet demands of 2025 and beyond. Both Weber and Buttweiler say that’s not a concern with fiber optics.
“The fiber itself has not changed at all,” Weber said. “The same investment 12 or 13 years ago is still working with new technology.”
s appear to be prospective – they are considering or pursuing opportunities to get into Internet access.
Black (Active Networks):