The Chief Little Wolf Capital Building of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana. Photo by Jimmy Emerson
Sometimes there are hazards in being an Indian journalist
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Columnist
www.nsweekly.com One of the benefits of working at a dude ranch in Montana is meeting guests from all over the world who to come to experience the wilderness and western way of life. Recently, one of them at the Hawley Mountain Guest Ranch was Dr. Rod Camp, presently the Phillip McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim at Claremont McKenna, California. He serves as a member of the Advisory Board, Mexico Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Smithsonian and among many other things is a frequent consultant to national and international media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, and British Broadcasting System. He is the author or numerous articles and thirty books on Mexico and finally received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from St. Olaf College for his scholarship and teaching on Mexico. Those are only some highlights from his extensive resume – he even has his own Wikipedia section! Dr. Camp who insisted upon being called simply “Rod” was very kind and gracious, sharing his views and thoughts about the challenges facing indigenous journalists. He spoke of the perils facing our Mexican colleagues who write about government, especially political corruption, inefficiency, lack of transparency and even more so, when they cover organized crime – in Mexico that would be the drug cartels with suspected involvement from governmental officials, perhaps even law enforcement. In Mexico, a horrendous number of journalists have assassinated (killed) for such reporting and though that does not happen in America, there are parallels between the Mexican and Native American journalism experiences.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Sometimes there are hazards in being an Indian journalist (Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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