News by, for and about Indian people.

That’s the idea behind Tulalip-based North West Indian News, a television broadcast network that has been helping American Indians tell their stories from their own perspectives since its launch in 2003.

The network, one of few in the country, has blossomed from a small operation shown in the Seattle and Bellingham areas into an expanded production online and on more than a dozen channels, spanning Hawaii to New Zealand.

The program employs 15 reporters from various tribes, including three local Lummi Nation members.

This year marks the first year the network will employ all native reporters and crew, giving native journalists and technicians an opportunity to break into the field.

The road hasn’t been easy, said Freddie Lane, a reporter for North West Indian News and editor for Lummi Nation’s Squol Quol newspaper.

The Tulalip Tribes, the main financial sponsor, began considering funding the project nearly five years ago at $27,500 an episode. However, they faced a barrier of distrust from tribe members, often fostered by negative experiences with the mainstream press.

“(NWIN reporters) always run into (distrust) even as natives,” said Lane, adding that well-intentioned non-native reporters can often botch facts or take a quote out of context. “A lot of things get really sensitive.”

NWIN News Director Jim Browder, who is not a tribe member, said the network strives to dispel myths and misconceptions, and to create a better understanding of tribal issues among nonnatives, who comprise 95 percent of the viewers.

“Writing for, about, and on behalf of the tribes to be viewed by a nonnative audience is a bit like translating a foreign language and culture to another,” said Browder, also a producer-director for Bellingham’s KVOS-TV.

“Everybody was more than a bit dubious,” he added. “A lot of people were not that interested in taking a risk to support us until they saw the product.”

Ever since, Browder said, reactions to NWIN has come full circle, with daily requests to be placed on new news channels, or to help start new tribal television networks.

Mel Sheldon, chairman of the Tulalip Tribes board of directors, said the project has given participating tribes a sense of pride. “A lot of times, the only understanding non- Indians have of Native Americans is Western movies and stereotypes,” he said. “We want to share our culture and show that we’re just as much human beings as the next person.”

Lane said NWIN gave him the opportunity to progress from doing voice-overs of prewritten material to writing and reporting his own stories on camera. His first original NWIN story covered a totem pole raising in Bella Coola, B.C.

“It was a challenge and it was agonizing, but it was a great opportunity to let (superiors) know I can actually write and produce and film and edit,” said Lane, who hadn’t had previous formal journalism training.

“I’ve always wanted to better myself as a professional in this field,” Lane added. “When you get to a point where you are actually doing the news, it’s tough, but the payoff is very rewarding to see natives in the mainstream.”

Now, native journalists and supporters are looking toward the future.

“There’s no national cable network for Native Americans and I’m surprised, as far as we’ve come,” Lane said. “I think it’s just around the corner.”

Browder said the station is as large as it will be for a while, but said he’d like to see staff become full-time, yearround employees in the future.

Sheldon said NWIN has helped create a kinship among different tribes.

“To fund, sustain and expand NWIN is a dream come true,” he said. “This is the beginning of another journey for Indian people. Hopefully some day NWIN will go nationwide.”