A ‘great gift’ to the Osage Nation

Multimedia skills being used on a Native American reservation…?

That is a foreign concept to all but maybe 10 tribes of the hundreds that exist in America. And only two tribes have independent news organizations with functioning Web sites -- the Navajo Nation and the Cherokee Nation. That isn’t enough.

I don’t know if the multimedia instructors and adjunct faculty at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute know of the great gift they gave to the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. Currently, the Osage Nation tribal government communicates with its members through a monthly newsletter. Tribal citizens demand this newsletter and defend it when it is threatened. Just think of the service a multimedia news site would bring to the tribe.

Showing the some 16,000 tribal members worldwide the Soundslides and video segments I am now capable of producing will change our culture. It will be a communications step forward in our tribal history that I think everyone is ready for.

I have to thank the following Freedom Forum leaders, staff and instructors: Jack Marsh, Karen Catone, Val Hoeppner, Danese Kenon, Anne Medley, Michelle Hedenskoog and Angie McDade, along with the fellow students I worked with and learned from (if I left anyone out, my apologies). The instructors broke down the tasks to the basics and ethics of what we wanted to accomplish with Soundslides and video. Doing so made it easy to learn the skills. Yes, it was a six-day explosion of multimedia, but I gleaned as much from the sessions as possible.

It helped that the experience was hands-on. From the beginning, the instructors put a camera and video camera in our hands and let us loose. We learned on the fly as well as from instruction.

What produces a warm feeling is that the instructors are on call for when I might need them, and I am looking forward to using my new skills. It was a real privilege.

One week vs. one semester

I have learned more in the past week during multimedia training at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute than I did in a semester of college. My experience in Nashville, Tenn., was rich and filled with useful knowledge.

The instructors gave me great constructive criticism that made me aware of how to improve my skills. They did it in a way that didn’t put me down, but rather inspired me to want to do better and achieve more.

By working in groups, I was able to use my own ideas and learn from the colleagues I was working with, whether it was a technique in editing or a better camera angle.

Sharing the stories we produced was one of my favorite times of each day. The stories consistently blew me away. We were lucky to be surrounded by such great journalists who got along so well and respected each other’s ideas. I’ve made many new friends, both among peers and instructors.

Thank you to the instructors for giving me important tools that I can use to further my career, to everyone at the Freedom Forum for organizing this event and taking care of the technical issues without a glitch, and for making it possible for me to be here. And thank you to my peers for making the week so much fun.