KUYI

KUYI
City of license Keams Canyon, Arizona
Broadcast area The Hopi Tribe
Branding Hopi Public Radio
Slogan Reservation Vibrations and World Music Rocks Northern Arizona
Frequency 88.1 (MHz)
First air date December 20, 2000
Format Native American / Public Radio
ERP 69,000 Watts
HAAT 124 meters (601 feet)
Class C1
Transmitter coordinates 35°48′29″N 110°16′23″W / 35.80806°N 110.27306°W
Callsign meaning KUYI = "Water" in the Hopi Language
Affiliations Native Public Media
Native Voice One
National Public Radio
Owner The Hopi Foundation
(The Hopi Foundation)
Webcast Listen Live
Website KUYI Hopi Public Radio

KUYI 88.1 FM, is a Native American Public Radio station in Keams Canyon, Arizona. The station, founded in 2000,[1] primarily features locally produced programming for the Hopi, Tewa, Navajo Native American tribal residents, surrounding communities in Northern Arizona, the Four Corners areas and streaming worldwide.[2] Other network programming is provided by Native Voice One. Top of the hour news updates from National Public Radio are aired Monday through Friday. Its musical programming is a mix of traditional Hopi and modern music.[3]

As of August 2012, KUYI was broadcasting to an audience estimated at 9,000 people. Its programs include a junior and senior high school class that broadcasts in Hopi, a morning Sunday show aimed at small children, and cultural discussions for adults that are held according to the lunar calendar, in keeping with Hopi tradition.[4]

The station's name, Kuyi, is also the Hopi word for "water."[5] A language revitalization project, The Shooting Stars Hopi Lavayi Radio Project, has been developed with the Polacca Head Start Center, broadcasting in the First Mesa Dialect for students.[2]

As of 2009, all programs were produced by Hopi tribal members.[1] Other local programming has included a weekly teen program by students of Hopi High School, and a health program in partnership with the Hopi Health Care Center.[6] In 2007, the station began presenting Annual "Listeners' Choice" awards. The categories for 2010 were: Best Traditional Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Male Artist, and Best Contemporary Artist; the awards celebration was held at the Hopi Cultural Center.[7]

The station played an important role in emergency response in 2010, due to its "69,000 watt signal [that] echoes across the canyons and bounces off the mesas that make up the 1.5 million acre reservation."[5] In January 2010, the Hopi reservation was without power for two days as the result of a winter storm. KUYI stayed on the air, even when larger radio stations in Flagstaff, AZ, were not operational, and provided emergency information to four counties.

Floods in July 2010 left the First Mesa Consolidated Villages without potable water or sewage. KUYI was able to keep its listeners informed for the three days it took for water trucks to arrive.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Radio Provides Vital Information To Rural Tribes". NPR. 2009-07-19. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Shooting Stars Hopi Lavayi Radio Project - KUYI". kuyi.net. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  3. ↑ Jesse Hardman, Maura R. O'Connor (2009-06-19). "Tribal Radio". Transom.org, a Showcase & Workshop for New Public Radio. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  4. ↑ Alexis Hauk (2012-08-15). "Radio Free Cherokee: Endangered Languages Take to the Airwaves". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Laurel Morales (2012-02-24). "Radio Essential To Tribes". Fronteras Desk. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  6. ↑ Michelle Tirado (2009-04-28). "More Native American Radio Stations Broadcast Via the Web". Yahoo! Voices. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  7. ↑ "KUYI Hopi radio hosts 'Listener Choice' awards - Navajo-Hopi Observer - Flagstaff, Arizona". Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  8. ↑ "KUYI Informs Community During Crises". National Center for Media Engagement. Retrieved 2012-11-27.

External links