Pueblos in the News

Check out the article about this exciting project linking pueblos to broadband internet by Margaret O'Hara published Jan 17, 2023 in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

"Taven Vallo, a 17-year old senior at the Santa Fe Indian School, spent his second year of high school working late into the night. After that day in March 2020, when a loudspeaker announcement told students COVID-19 necessitated an early spring break, Taven returned to the Pueblo of Acoma for online schooling — without much internet access at home. His household, including an elementary school-age sister trying to succeed in online learning and his mother pursuing a master’s degree at the University of New Mexico while working remotely, relied on a single Wi-Fi hot spot, the size of a smartphone. The hot spot could only manage about three users at a time, so Taven took the night shift, completing his school work from 10 p.m. to the early hours of the morning, around 2 or 3 a.m. Then, he was up at 6 a.m. 
to start a new school day. School administrators, tribal leaders and other organizations are working to better connect students like Taven and rural, tribal communities to reliable internet access, officials involved told U.S.  Sen. Martin Heinrich on Tuesday during a visit to the Santa Fe campus. It’s called the Santa Fe Indian School Pueblo Education Network, said Kimball Sekaquaptewa, SFIS’ chief technology officer. By late 2025, the hope is, it will connect American Indian communities from Santa Fe to the Zuni Reservation to fiber-optic internet access."

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/education/project-linking-pueblos-to-broadband-internet-well-underway/article_81d0544a-9210-11ed-983a-4fa4ad39be46.html