Timothy Antoine Giago Jr. (July 12, 1934 – July 24, 2022), also known as Nanwica Kciji, was an American
Oglala Lakota
The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority ...
journalist and publisher. In 1981, he founded the ''Lakota Times'' with Doris Giago at the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( lkt, Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Gr ...
, where he was born and grew up. It was the first independently owned Native American newspaper in the United States. In 1991 Giago was selected as a
Nieman Fellow
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University awards multiple types of fellowships.
Nieman Fellowships for journalists
A Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. In 1992 he changed his paper's name to ''
Indian Country Today
''ICT News'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a daily digital news platform that covers the Indigenous world, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and First Nations.
It was founded in 1981 as a weekly print newspaper, ''The ...
'', to reflect its national coverage of Indian news and issues.
Giago sold the paper in 1998. Two years later he founded ''The Lakota Journal'', which he sold in 2004 while thinking of retirement. In 2009, he returned to papers and founded the ''Native Sun News,'' based in
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
. He was also a columnist for the ''
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
.'' He founded the
Native American Journalists Association
The Native American Journalists Association, based in Norman, Oklahoma, on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is an organization dedicated to supporting Native Americans in journalism. The organization hosts the annual National Native Media ...
(NAJA) and served as its first president. When hired in 1979 to write a column for the ''
Rapid City Journal
The ''Rapid City Journal'' (formerly the ''Black Hills Journal'' and the ''Rapid City Daily Journal'') is the daily newspaper of Rapid City, South Dakota. As of 2021, it is the largest newspaper in South Dakota by total subscriptions, according ...
'', Giago was the first Native American writer for a South Dakota newspaper.
Early life and education
Giago, whose Lakota name was ''Nanwica Kciji'',
was born on July 12, 1934 and grew up at the Oglala Lakota
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( lkt, Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Gr ...
in
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
. He attended the Holy Rosary Indian Mission school.
He later wrote poetry and articles about the anger he felt at having his Lakota identity and culture suppressed.
He attended
San Jose Junior College in California and the
University of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...
.
Career
Giago served with the US Navy at the
San Francisco Naval Shipyard
The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city.
Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established i ...
, where he started writing because his commander noticed "he typed well" and assigned him to produce the base newspaper. Giago also wrote personal articles and poems about his
mission school
The Mission School (sometimes called "New Folk" or "Urban Rustic") is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District, San Francisco, California.
History and characteristics
This movement is generally considered to have ...
experience, first published in the monthly journal ''Wassaja'', run by
Jeannette and
Rupert Costo
Rupert Costo (1906 – October 20, 1989) was a Cahuilla writer, activist, publisher, and philanthropist. He was a co-founder of the American Indian Historical Society (AIHS) and the Indian Historian Press publishing company. Costo had many ca ...
of San Francisco during the 1970s.
Jim Carrier, then an editor of the ''
Rapid City Journal
The ''Rapid City Journal'' (formerly the ''Black Hills Journal'' and the ''Rapid City Daily Journal'') is the daily newspaper of Rapid City, South Dakota. As of 2021, it is the largest newspaper in South Dakota by total subscriptions, according ...
'', saw his work and offered Giago a column for $10 a week.
In 1979, his "Notes from Indian Country" became the first American Indian voice in a South Dakota newspaper.
Giago's hiring had followed
Wounded Knee incident
The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota (sometimes referred to as Oglala Sioux) and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied ...
in 1973 at the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( lkt, Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Gr ...
, which received international attention, and near civil war on the reservation during the next few years, but, as Carrier wrote later, "none of the state's 11 daily newspapers or 145 weeklies covered the mayhem in any depth, relying instead on the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
or printing nothing at all."
A year later the paper offered Giago a full-time position and he began to learn the newspaper business.
As a young reporter, he was sometimes told that he could not cover events at the Pine Ridge Reservation because he could not be "objective", an opinion which he questioned.
In 1981, Giago moved back to the reservation to begin the ''Lakota Times'' with Doris Giago (his wife at the time) as a weekly community newspaper to represent his neighbors' lives.
[ It was the first independently owned Native American newspaper; most papers published on reservations have been owned by tribal governments. In the beginning, he earned revenue by publishing the most complete list of ''pow-wows'' nationally and selling related advertising. This gave him needed independence on the reservation. He wrote editorials criticizing US and state policy related to Native Americans, and his columns were soon syndicated by ]Knight-Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...
. After his criticism of AIM's violence on the reservation, his offices were fire-bombed. Despite his criticism of programs, he gradually earned the respect of tribal governments, and gained their support for his independence during difficult years.
Through the years, Giago hired and trained numerous Native Americans, some of whom later moved on to other papers and media to become successful in journalism. He also founded the Native American Journalists Association
The Native American Journalists Association, based in Norman, Oklahoma, on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is an organization dedicated to supporting Native Americans in journalism. The organization hosts the annual National Native Media ...
(NAJA) and served as its first president. To encourage American Indian participation in the media, the NAJA Foundation provides scholarships and summer internships to journalism students who are Indian. The foundation also holds three major seminars a year for working Indian journalists, publishers and the business side.
Gradually Giago expanded his paper's coverage to all the Indian reservations in South Dakota, then to American Indian issues nationwide. To reflect its national coverage, in 1992 he changed the name of the paper to ''Indian Country Today
''ICT News'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a daily digital news platform that covers the Indigenous world, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and First Nations.
It was founded in 1981 as a weekly print newspaper, ''The ...
''. In 1998, Giago sold the paper to the Oneida Nation
The Oneida Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Oneida people in Wisconsin. The tribe's reservation spans parts of two counties west of the Green Bay metropolitan area. The reservation was established by treaty in 1838, and was allotted to ...
, based in New York. At the time it was grossing $1.9 million annually in ad sales. By 2005, it was the largest Native American paper, reaching 50 states and 17 countries.
In 2000, Giago founded ''The Lakota Times'' and sold it in 2004 to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe ( dak, Wakpa Ipakṡaƞ oyáte) are a federally recognized tribe of Santee Dakota people. Their reservation is the Flandreau Indian Reservation. The tribe are members of the Mdewakantonwan people, one of the sub-tri ...
, thinking he would retire.[Tim Giago: "Announcing the Native Sun News"](_blank)
, ''Indianz.com'', March 9, 2009, retrieved July 8, 2011 After the ''Times'' stopped publishing, Giago founded the ''Native Sun News'' in 2009 in Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
, committing to his style of investigative journalism as well as broad coverage of Indian news. It is published on paper only. He also was a columnist for the ''Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', an online news source.
Personal life
Giago and his first wife, Doris, with whom he started the ''Lakota Times'', later divorced.[ She became the first Indian journalism professor at ]South Dakota State University
South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...
(SDSU) and also the first tenured Native American Professor in SDSU history. She retired as professor emeritus in 2014. His second wife was named Jackie. He had twelve children.[
Giago died from complications of cancer and diabetes in ]Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
, on July 24, 2022, aged 88.
Books
*''The Aboriginal Sin: Reflections on the Holy Rosary Indian Mission School (Red Cloud Indian School)'', poetry, San Francisco: Indian Historian Press, 1978.
*''Notes from Indian Country'', K. Cochran, 1984. Non-fiction.
*''The American Indian and the Media'', Minneapolis, MN: National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1991.
*''Children Left Behind: The Dark Legacy of Indian Mission Boarding Schools'', Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishing, 2002.
Honors
* The ''Lakota Times/Indian Country Today'' won more than 50 awards from the South Dakota Newspaper Association while Giago was publisher;
* 1985, H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...
Award for journalism;["Tim Giago", Native American Authors](_blank)
ipl2, Internet Public Library (consortium), retrieved July 3, 2011
* 1991, Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
Nieman Fellowship
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University awards multiple types of fellowships.
Nieman Fellowships for journalists
A Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. ...
;
* University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
Distinguished Journalism Award;
* 2007, the first American Indian inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame"Niemans in the News"
Nieman Foundation, Harvard University, retrieved June 29, 2011. Note: At the time, the state had "nine Indian reservations and 59,000 Indians."
References
External links
*
"About 'Wassaja' (San Francisco), 1971–1979"
''Chronicling America'', Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giago, Tim
1934 births
2022 deaths
20th-century American journalists
20th-century Native Americans
21st-century American journalists
21st-century Native Americans
American male journalists
American newspaper founders
Deaths from cancer in South Dakota
Deaths from diabetes
HuffPost writers and columnists
Journalists from Montana
Journalists from North Dakota
Journalists from South Dakota
Lakota people
Military personnel from South Dakota
Native American journalists
Nieman Fellows
People from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota