April 21, 2016

Earth Day has become an important focal point in the national dialogue on creating a sustainable future. This Friday, a radio broadcast will feature women primarily from the Navajo Nation sharing their views on the future of energy.

Beth Osnes, associate professor of theatre and dance at the University of Colorado Boulder, developed the half-hour radio documentary with partners from the Navajo Nation. This show is being syndicated by Native Voice 1 and will premiere at 12:30 p.m. Mountain Time on KNBA, an Alaskan radio station. The broadcast will be live streamed: http://knba.org/post/earth-day-radio-special#stream/0

“The broadcast shares stories that reflect indigenous women's views, beliefs, concerns, values and hopes about energy,” said Osnes. “The creation of this program is our effort to include their voices in the authorship of a new story for our energy future.”

Osnes worked closely on the radio broadcast with Adrian Manygoats of the Navajo Nation as part of the Navajo Women’s Energy Project, a group they co-founded. Before recording the stories, Osnes and Manygoats met with women to discuss how they felt about energy issues and to listen as the group developed possible solutions to current energy problems.

“We were given the opportunity to talk about serious issues in creative ways through art, dance, improvisation and poetry,” said Manygoats, who is from Flagstaff. “It was very empowering.”

The radio documentary features seven stories ranging from a young Navajo mother who is pursuing an environmental management degree while her husband works for a coal company, something that conflicts with her values, to a community health worker who describes how energy deprivation impacts people's lives. Winona LaDuke, an environmental activist, Nani Chacon, an arts activist with Honor the Treaties, are featured voices on the broadcast.

The team decided to develop a radio broadcast, since it is the natural way that many indigenous communities connect to the outside world and to people on other reservations, which are often miles apart. Radios also use less energy than television.

“Since radio is auditory only, it really allowed us to focus specifically on women's voices and it allowed them to speak for themselves and be heard across the air waves,” Osnes said.

The project was funded partly through a grant from the Office for Outreach and Engagement. Osnes also has used theatre with Navajo Nation members and other communities to raise awareness among youth about clean energy as a part of Inside the Greenhouse, a CU-Boulder initiative for creative climate communication.