She's not So Shy
The host of KNBA's "Earthsongs" loves the way radio keeps her connected to her Athabascan roots.
by Matt Nevala
"The Shyanne and Hunter Show" never really hit the airwaves and took off, and it wasn't Shyanne Beatty's fault.
Simply put, her co-host was something of a dog.
"Hunter, the wheel dog for our team, and I had our own little show," Beatty remembers from her childhood. "Hunter was my favorite and I loved him, but I had to fire him because he didn't contribute very much."
Beatty, 33, is Han Gwich'in Athabascan and grew up living a subsistence lifestyle in the eastern Alaska village of Eagle. Nowadays, listeners in Alaska and the rest of the country know her as a local personality on Koahnic Broadcasting Corp. affiliates such as Anchorage radio station KNBA FM-90.3. She has been host and producer of "Earthsongs," a nationally broadcast show featuring contemporary indigenous music, since 2006.
Beatty sits back in her chair, looking at the elaborate soundboard with its buttons and mixers, all the broadcasting bells and whistles, as she recalls some of her early memories of radio. The storyteller in Beatty comes out as she drifts back on her youth in Eagle, many, many miles from the Koahnic studio.
"Radio was everything, it was magical," Beatty says. "There were all kinds of stories from all over the world coming out of it. I was entranced by it.
"Those stories were my (televised) cartoons of sorts. We had no television or Nintendo as a young child. I remember the highlight of my day, hearing "Casper the Friendly Ghost."
"It was a lifeline for rural Alaska, a lifeline to the outside world."
Beatty remembers listening to trap-line chatter or waiting for weather reports to determine if mushing out to check the traps was a plausible idea. In an isolated area, the radio offered one way to stay connected to family and friends elsewhere.
"My grandparents could call into the station and say 'Happy Thanksgiving' to us from Ohio," Beatty says.
"Radio was everything, it was magical," Shyanne Beatty says of her days growing up in Eagle. "It was a lifeline for rural Alaska, a lifeline to the outside world."
Always Outgoing
Radio may have sparked a vibrant creativity born into Beatty.
"My name may be Shyanne, but I am not shy," she quips.
A lifelong singer, Beatty's exuberance and willingness to get out and about has always served her well. She left Eagle early in her high school years and attended schools in Ohio, Florida, Michigan and Arizona before graduating.
"I had no problem fitting in," Beatty says.
She worked for a while the Alaska Native Heritage Center upon returning to Alaska before eventually earning a fellowship from Koahnic, the Alaska Native governed and operated media organization. That's when she learned the radio ropes.
Shortly afterwards, Beatty headed to Seattle to study audio production from the Art Institute of Seattle. She graduated with an associate of srts degree.
She rejoined Koahnic in 2004 as a media instructor and traveled around the state promoting broadcasting careers to Alaska Natives.
"Most people don't know that Alaska Natives and American Indians make up less than 1 percent of the media – we're not even 1 percent," Beatty says.
Beatty said she was "slapped in the face" by a comment made by a young girl, who said she never saw herself on the radio or television because she didn't hear or see people like her in the media.
"I wanted them to become comfortable," Beatty says. "I grew up in rural Alaska, so I like to think the kids related to me more. A lot of them are very shy, but once kids warm up to you they have these amazing ideas."
Beatty is often surprised when Native artists she reveres thank her for bringing them on the show for an interview. "The music can be very underground," she says.
On the Air
Beatty's first forays into radio didn't necessarily lead to tons of microphone time.
"But as the luck of radio would have it, someone got sick…" Beatty said. "The stories of the janitor becoming a radio personality–it's true."
Beatty eventually took over as host of a four-hour weekday show on KNBA. Then came "Earthsongs"–Beatty's radio baby.
A large map of the United States rests on a wall in the hallway outside KNBA's studios. Some 60 or more push pins are stuck in the many locales around the country representing affiliates that carry "Earthsongs" each week.
"I really love to have this opportunity to share the music with all the world, to show indigenous music is not just 'pow-wow' music," Beatty says.
"It's reggae, hip-hop, alternative, all the genres – Native American music has all the varieties. These artists have great music and it's my responsibility to get it out there."
Beatty is often taken aback when a Native artist she reveres thanks her for bringing the artist on the show for an interview.
"The music can be very underground, but ('Earthsongs') is one place you can go and 'bam,' you get on 60 stations," Beatty says. "This is the show you want if you want to hear current Native music or hear about where the artist is coming from."
Being the host of "Earthsongs" carries a perk or two as well. Beatty makes the occasional trip Outside to attend awards shows and hobnob with the artists themselves.
Beatty will always remember her first meeting with Jim Boyd, a popular Native musician, at the Native American Music Awards in Florida a few years ago. Boyd knew Beatty's name from "Earthsongs" and asked whether she wanted to meet for coffee and chat about the show and Native music.
"We went to the Bad Ass Coffee Company and he bought me a 'sweet Ass' mocha," Beatty says with a hearty laugh.
Hosting a national show and surrounding herself with her people's music is a perk in and of itself to Beatty, who lives in Anchorage and is a foster parent to her 3-year-old niece. She's come a long way since trying to get Hunter the dog to cooperate on her old imaginary radio show back in Eagle.
"I get to take our Native voices and spread them everywhere," Beatty says. "It's more of an honor to do that than anything else."
Matt Nevala can be reached at 907- 348-2480, 800-770-9830 or .