Reznet

Reznet photo by Tetona Dunlap

A Native Woman First

By Jaimie Little Eagle

VERMILLION, S.D.-Jodi Rave, a Lincoln Journal-Star reporter, said that her heritage comes before anything else, when she addressed American Indian Journalism Institute students June 2.

"I am a journalist, but above that I will always be a Native woman first," she said. "It means a lot to me to be able to tell the Natives what's happening."

Rave said she thinks AIJI is "the best starting program in journalism for Native Americans."

Newspapers want more Native American journalists than are available. And as one of the few Native Americans in the newsroom, she's had tough moments.

"There's been a lot of struggles," Rave said, "but there have been a lot of good people to help along the way."

Rave said her love for journalism began in high school when she worked for the school paper. She won a regional award for the first story she wrote.

After living in North Dakota for about 25 years, she moved to Wyoming where she attended Laramie County Community College. "The hardest thing was making the transition from the reservation to the major metropolitan area," Rave said.

For the past five years, Rave has been working at the Lincoln Journal-Star. Recently, she was awarded a Neiman Fellowship at Harvard University, a prestigious program that allows working journalists to spend a year studying. The program begins in August and lasts 10 months.

While there, she said, she plans to study tribal, state and local governments. She also plans to study a Harvard program that covers economic development on reservations.

She is a Mandan Hidatsa Indian from Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota. Her Indian name is Miada Agadish, which translates to "White Swan." Also, while reporting on the Pine Ridge reservation, her Hunka family gave her a Lakota name. The name she earned is "Wa ho ci win" which means, "Tells the people what's happening."

Rave also commented on a highly covered story about Jayson Blair, a former reporter for The New York Times, who lied about stories. A consequence of Blair's deception, Rave said, is "all or many of the programs that help minorities are going to face a lot more scrutiny."

She also said Blair, an African American, has gotten a lot more coverage than other colleagues who have committed similar offenses and who are white.

Jaimie Little Eagle, Standing Rock Sioux, attends Sitting Bull College in McLaughlin, S.D. She is a student of the Freedom Forum's 2003 American Indian Journalism Institute.