Thursday, March 5, 2009

Native American Youtube: RezKast Announced by Coeur d'Alene Tribe

PLUMMER, Idaho — What do Native Americans wear on weekends? Hopeedee asked a series of white people.

Feathers, furs and buffalo skins, were the replies.

What do Native Americans do on weekends? Hopeedee, a 35-year-old Indian woman, asked.

Run buffalo off cliffs, one person offered.

The videotaped comments were from Hopeedee's recent posting on RezKast, a sort of YouTube for Indians operated by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.

RezKast offers a mix of the silly and the serious, including videos of Indian religious and cultural ceremonies, comedy bits, sporting events, travelogues and music videos, all from a Native American perspective.

It's part of the Coeur d'Alenes' commitment to making their people computer-savvy, said Valerie Fast Horse, director of information technology for the 1,900-member tribe in northern Idaho.

"There are very few tribes doing this," Fast Horse said. "I have very few peers in Indian country."

Rezkast was launched last July and has about 200 active posters, including Indians from across the United States and Canada, Fast Horse said.

Recent comedy offerings include a raunchy television weather report from a forecaster named "Red Cloud," a promo for a false television show called "C.S.I., Regina," and a video ad for "Indian Wal-Mart," which turned out to be a series of garbage trash bins. There was also a version of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" sung to the pounding of Indian drums and featuring "six Indian tacos."

A regular poster to RezKast is Hope Mathews-Herrera of Oklahoma City, who said she goes there when she gets a "powwow Jones."

Read more of the article about RezKast here.

Or check out RezKast yourself.

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