The Intertribal Drum of Radio: The Indians for Indians Hour and Native American Media, 1941–1951

Abstract

The Indians for Indians Hour, a Native Oklahoma radio show founded by Don Whistler (Sac and Fox) in 1941 and continuing to the present day, was from its start a landmark in Indigenous media history and community radio more broadly. The show’s extensive audio archive reveals the way it worked to connect many communities otherwise poorly served by mass media. Indians for Indians demonstrated under-recognized dimensions of radio during its so-called Golden Age, and helped build an intertribal community in twentieth-century Oklahoma.