Internet access for Nevada tribes remains struggle despite new resources

Thu, Dec 30, 2021 (2 a.m.)

The Zoom meetings bring together members of Nevada tribes with groups eager to help them solve a significant problem: Poor online connectivity.

But those who most need the help from federal agencies such as Indian Health Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Emergency Management Agency struggled accessing the meeting, said Clifford Banuelos, public information officer for the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada.

Their phones don’t get a signal or they get disconnected midway through the call, Banuelos said. This happens often to people in the areas of Elko, Yerington, Duckwater and Ely, he said.

Help could be on the way.

Nevada tribes could receive much-needed funds to provide basic needs such as internet access through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that passed last month, but tribal leaders say a lot depends on hands-on help from state and federal agencies.

“It’s an exciting time,” Banuelos said. “If this is done right, it will be wonderful for Nevada tribes” and could help them get into the 21st century with essential services, he said.

It allocates $2 billion through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program that will help connect rural and underserved communities with high-speed internet, said Lauren Wodarski, communications director for Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who is part of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Of the 27 federally recognized tribes in Nevada, three do not have internet, and the majority have poor internet and cell service, Banuelos said.

“It would really be a shame that after this money is spent, our smaller tribes still don’t have the money to provide broadband and access to the internet,” he said.

Banuelos said that the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada submitted an application to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for $71 million for broadband on behalf of 11 tribes. Of that, $44 million is for infrastructure, including construction costs, installing the wiring, etc., and then $27 million for adoption and use, which will pay for personnel and sustainability costs, Banuelos said.

“We’re not expecting the full amount of money that we requested,” he said, “but we are hoping that we can work more with the state. Gov. Sisolak has been very supportive of us. We hope the state can assist us with infrastructure money.”

Link to disparities

Native students perform two to three grade levels below their white peers in reading and mathematics, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and they are 237% more likely to drop out of school and 207% more likely to be expelled than white students.

According to Indian Health Services, American Indians and Alaska Natives have a life expectancy 5.5 years less than all races in the U.S. They continue to die at higher rates than other Americans in many categories, such as chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, diabetes, unintentional injuries, assault and homicide, and suicide.

Those disparities directly correlate to a lack of virtual services, Banuelos said.

The Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada wants to coordinate more with universities to improve education, Banuelos said, but it is difficult to do that with a lack of infrastructure and internet.

“Can our Native Americans go home to their reservation and get online and get the instruction that the other students get?” he said. If not, “then they’re not competing on the (same) line as the others.”

A tribal person, who despite having a college education, is living a vastly different life due to lack of resources even if they’re only separated by a town no more than 10 miles away, Banuelos said.

Emergency response times can take more than two hours, he said, due to the lack of phone reception. Fort McDermitt has a two-hour response time for law enforcement or emergency services, getting their help from Winnemucca, and the Yomba tribes rely on Fallon or Battle Mountain services.

“The concern is always with us — making sure that people understand that Native Americans are humans,” he said. “We’re people just like you. But when there are certain things that we don’t have, it makes self-esteem go down.”

Getting the help

Brian Mitchell, the director of the governor’s office of science innovation and technology, said his department will be assisting tribes in the grant fund application process to install broadband.

They have already worked with 15 tribes to submit applications under the American Rescue Plan Act in which there was $188 million for tribal broadband, Mitchell said. The department will also provide some technical assistance to tribes in helping them understand what the process is, how to hold the construction companies accountable, and to keep up with a set timeline, he said.

“There’s a huge need for this across the country,” Mitchell said.

Debbie George, chair of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe, which is located about 90 miles northeast of Reno, said the tribe is getting help from the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada to install broadband in the colony.

The area has already been hooked up for fiber optics, George said, and all that is left is to install an underground conduit for the cables and then put in sidewalks. Currently everyone either uses Verizon or the local internet service provider, but soon broadband will be available for all of the homes, George said.

Using American Rescue Plan Act funds, the tribe also purchased internet boxes from Verizon to give out to community members and provided laptops to children who were going to school remotely, George said.

The initial grant awards are expected to come through either in January or February, Mitchell said. Once a project is awarded, it could take two to four years to see a project completed, Mitchell said, depending on the project and if infrastructure is already in place, as well as if there are any labor or fiber shortages.

“Ensuring universal access for all Nevadans to a broadband service that is affordable, reliable and scalable is the vision for the governor in Nevada,” Mitchell said. “This is something that we are very passionate about … that those in our tribal communities are just as connected as anyone living in Las Vegas.”

The disconnect

While there are billions of dollars in grants set aside for tribes to access, often the tribes that need it most do not have the capacity to apply, Banuelos said.

At least 10 tribes in Nevada do not have a grant writer, he said. Many do not have legal teams or program coordinators to help them understand the grants and then help them maintain the program once it receives the funds.

Usually the tribal chairperson who does not have a lot of business experience will get on a call about a funding stream available to them, and “they ask, ‘How do I get it? Could someone help me?’ Often the answer is no,” he said.

Tribes also have worried about grants in the past, as many operate on a reimbursement basis. Larger tribes with casinos and large enterprises can take out a loan, but many only operate a smoke shop, a gas station or a convenience store.

“For the small rural tribes, they don’t have that much money in their bank accounts,” Banuelos said, making it difficult to start a project with the expectation of being reimbursed later.

Then if they do get a grant to construct something or start a program, they might not have the personnel to maintain and keep the program going.

“You gave us a lot of money, but we don’t have any money for personnel costs, so how do we do this?” he said. “They have to shut it down. They won’t have the capacity to maintain the services.”

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