2007年VOA标准英语-Radio Station Provides Vital Link for People on

By Greg Flakus
Porcupine¹, South Dakota
28 August 2007
 

There are many ethnic² radio stations and broadcast programs in the United States, but there is only one fully³ independent community radio station serving the residents of a Native American Indian reservation. That is KILI radio on the Pine Ridge⁴ reservation in southwestern South Dakota. It operates from the top of a butte near the village of Porcupine and broadcasts in both English and the native Lakota language. VOA's Greg Flakus went there and filed this report on "the Voice of the Lakota nation."

Radio station KILI serves the Lakota community in the Pine Ridge reservation

The Pine Ridge reservation is the eighth largest in the United States and its close to 30,000 residents are spread out over nearly 9,000 square kilometers of hilly, rocky land.

Some people here are involved in ranching⁵, but this is one of the poorest places in the United States, with unemployment at around 70 percent and an average annual family income of just $3800.

For the Lakota people who live here and in the nearby Black Hills and Rapid City, KILI radio is a beacon⁶ of hope as well as a way of keeping in touch with the community at large.

Derek Janis, a volunteer, on the air

"Hey, everybody,” says Derek Janis, a volunteer broadcaster on air at the station, “I hope you are enjoying your day and things are good with you, because everything is good up here at KILI Radio, 90.1 on the FM dial…"

KILI roughly translates to "cool" or "awesome⁸" in English. The station provides news about activities and events on the reservation, as well as music -- ranging from country to hip⁹ hop⁷, with lots of native traditional singing as well.

Local college professors and students come in every week to discuss Lakota myths and stories. The station also does live broadcasts of tribal¹⁰ council meetings.

Melanie Janis and Business Manager Tom Casey on the station's porch

Melanie Janis is one of KILI radio's popular on-air personalities¹¹ who volunteers her time. "We are such a large reservation that we actually can warn people of tornadoes¹² or just little things going on, maybe someone is having a rummage¹³ sale. For me, it is just a way of giving back," she says.

One of the longest-serving members of the KILI Radio staff is Business Manager and Development Director Tom Casey. "The station has a way to connect people, keep people connected, information-wise, issue-wise, culture-wise, things that are happening in the community, things that are going on. It just connects people," says Casey.

Part of each day's broadcast is done in the Lakota language, which is still widely spoken by older people and is being taught to school children. The language was in danger of dying because of  government efforts to force American Indians to speak English in decades past.

Derek Janis in the station's main control room

Tom Casey says using Lakota on the station sends a powerful cultural message. "When the radio station first went on the air, February 25th, 1983, the first DJ [disc jockey] on the air spoke¹⁴ in both Lakota and English and that was really powerful."

That power is not lost on younger volunteer broadcasters, like Melanie Janis' 25-year-old son Derek. He is trying to learn more Lakota. "You hardly see young guys my age talking fluently. Everybody has slang words they mix in with the English, so it kind of gets broke up. I am working on it. I am trying to learn myself."

KILI radio is supported by donations as well as grants from charitable groups, and can be heard around the world on the Internet at www.kiliradio.org

1 porcupine   

n.豪猪， 箭猪

参考例句：

• A porcupine is covered with prickles.箭猪身上长满了刺。
• There is a philosophy parable,call philosophy of porcupine.有一个哲学寓言，叫豪猪的哲学。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

5 ranching   

adj.放牧的

参考例句：

• They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。
• This is a trade center in a ranching and oil-producing region. 这是一个牧场与产油区的贸易中心。

6 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

7 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

8 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

9 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

10 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

11 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

12 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

13 rummage   

v./n.翻寻，仔细检查

参考例句：

• He had a good rummage inside the sofa.他把沙发内部彻底搜寻了一翻。
• The old lady began to rummage in her pocket for her spectacles.老太太开始在口袋里摸索，找她的眼镜。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。