Public TV busts stereotypes

'Native Report' focuses on the positive“Native Report” started with four episodes during 2004 and grew into a full 15-episode schedule by 2006. Now the half-hour program has been requested by public stations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, California, North and South Dakota, Michigan, Wyoming, Florida and Virginia.

Done in a broadcast magazine style, each episode presents stories that focus on people or issues. There have been segments on healers, teachers, voting organizers, artists and journalists, along with well-known guests like former National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall and current NCAI head, Joe Garcia; Ernest Stevens Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association; Kevin Gover and Dave Anderson, both U.S. assistant secretaries of Indian Affairs; New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson, now a presidential candidate; and Keith Harper, one of the lead attorneys on the Cobell v. Kempthorne trust lawsuit.The show's style:The show's pacing reflects a patient, quiet style that allows people time to tell their own stories.

Johnson said he hopes that the show speaks to Indian and non-Indian people, breaks down stereotypes and erodes prejudices. He recalled how comedian George Carlin once claimed that he could end war if he could introduce everyone to everyone else in the world, creating the idea that “hey, I can't kill him. I know him.”