The first American Indian-owned radio station, KILI, in Porcupine, SD, is relocating after more than forty years at its current home. Known as “The Voice of the Lakota Nation,” the community-driven station will move closer to Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The project, as detailed by KILI Radio Board of Directors President Bill Means to South Dakota Public Broadcasting, is expected to cost between four and five million dollars, with costs escalating due to recent spikes in material prices. To support this venture, KILI Radio is reaching out for donations, leveraging PSAs and mailing campaigns directed at their supporters.
The station’s goal extends beyond simply relocating. KILI hopes their new facility will serve a a training ground for local youth aspiring to break into radio and plan to collaborate with district schools and colleges.
KILI Board Member Tally Plume discussed the station’s further importance to the community, saying, “It’s a clearinghouse for information of what’s going on with our tribal government, and it’s a vehicle for getting information out to people in addition to what’s already available with social media. We pride ourselves on representing things accurately as opposed to what happens on social media with rumors. I think the radio station tries really hard to report facts.”
While no date is set for the move’s completion, KILI leaders say the station will remain fully operational throughout the transition.
