Tribal Broadband Bootcamps
Learn, build, and connect with people bootstrapping Indigenous Internet networks.
What is Tribal Broadband Bootcamp?
Indian Country often lacks decent Internet access. For decades, Tribes have been overlooked, ignored, and defrauded by telecommunications companies seeking to extract wealth from their people and land. Many Tribal leaders have concluded they need to build their own networks to ensure high-quality Internet access.
In 2021, a small group of people gathered in the southern California desert for the first Tribal Wireless Bootcamp. Organized by a loose collection of people with a long history of building and encouraging nontraditional broadband networks, the focus was on building, maintaining, and troubleshooting wireless networks in Indian Country.
In 2022, we held four additional Tribal Broadband Bootcamps, working with more than 20 Tribes, and added fiber optic training to the curriculum. We kicked off 2023 with a Bootcamp at Gila River Indian Community and are still adding new locations and opportunities to the calendar for the rest of the year.
The Tribal Broadband Bootcamps began as a conversation on how to build on the impressive work of the Internet Society's North American chapter in the Indigenous Connectivity Summit but has continued with the support of many Tribes, individuals, funders, and organizations.
These events are being organized by Matthew Rantanen and Christopher Mitchell, along with many others who have made important contributions. Videos and reflections on the first Tribal Wireless Bootcamp are available here. Additional articles about these events have been published here, here, and here.
If you want to attend a Bootcamp, help us to host or fund them, or just stay in the loop, use the form below to request an invite and stay informed about upcoming events.