Rez Radio 91.3 Kopa Fm

With just 100 watts of power, a paid staff of two and volunteersbehind the microphones, KOPA is modest in size, but the littleradio station on the Pala reservation has some big goals.

One of only two radio stations in the state to broadcast from anIndian reservation, Pala Rez Radio airs original shows and has avision of reacquainting tribal residents with their traditionalnative language.

"When I was learning about Cupa, I thought, 'What is it, what'sthe language, who speaks it?'" said station manager John Fox."Well, hardly nobody. Nobody speaks it as a first language, and youcan probably count on one hand the number of people who speak itfluently around here."

Fox said the station plays a word-of-the-day in Cupeno, thelanguage spoken by the Cupa people in their traditional homeland ofWarner Springs before the federal government moved them to Pala in1903.

Last week, Eric Ortega, the only other paid employee at thestation, was preparing to premiere his show "Pala Lives, Past andPresent," scheduled to air at 11 a.m. every Friday.

"It's going to be geared toward Pala and the Pala community,"Ortega said. "We're going to be interviewing people on thereservation and talking about things that they remember as a child,things that are happening now and how they compare the two. I'mtrying to stay away from the politics behind it."

The station went live last February on frequency 91.3 FM,broadcasting a 100-watt signal from a 60-foot tower outside theKOPA headquarters in a converted sewage treatment plant buildingbehind Pala headquarters.

The signal is just strong enough to clearly reach Interstate 15about six miles away, and Fox said the station can be heard as faraway as Bonsall, Pauma Valley and parts of Fallbrook.

It also can be heard online at www.palatribe.com/pala-radio.

Kilma Lattin, a former elected member to the Pala Tribe'sexecutive committee, said he proposed the radio station afterseeing a need for communications during emergencies and to createmore transparency between the reservation residents and theirgoverning board. He is the host of the politically oriented show"Pala Nation," which airs at 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays.

"It's interesting because I present a more conservative viewthan they usually have here, and my conservative view sometimes isin conflict with some of the mainstream beliefs they have here onthe Indian reservation," he said.

Lattin said the tribe invested about $500,000 to set up KOPA,which Fox described as a Class A station allowed to have 6,000watts, although it uses only 100 to protect the reception of otherstations near its frequency.

But it's not all about politics, heritage and emergencies. Thestation also has broadcast local sports and music, including theTuesday afternoon 1970s music show, "Mark's Groovy Trip."

Recognizing a need

Fox said the Pala tribe began discussing the need for a radiostation after wildfires in 2007 and 2008.

"People weren't getting information," he said. "When things gobad around here, as far as utilities, they really go bad. The ideaof having this radio station here for emergencies appealed tothem."

Fox has worked at several radio stations since beginning hiscareer in 1976, but retired from the business to sell vehicles afew years ago after finding himself holding down jobs at threestations in three cities. As a Fallbrook native with a long historyin radio, he was lured back to the field when he learned Pala waslaunching a new station.

Fox organized a 24-hour schedule that includes talk shows from 9a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every day. The station carries "Democracy Now"and "Free Speech Radio News" from Pacifica Radio and "NativeAmerica Calling" from Native Voice One, and Fox does a local newsshow at noon.

"It's not terribly heavy," he said about the news show. "It's alot of land-use and very local things with Pauma, Pala, ValleyCenter, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Rainbow. And sports. We're all bigsports fans here."

Fox said he had hoped to create language lessons on Cupeno atthe station but hit a few roadblocks. For now, he and Ortega saidthey hope to at least teach the meaning of some words andphrases.

"On my first show, we're going to talk about the word cheme,"Ortega said. "It means 'we' in Cupeno, and you combine it with theword na, which means father, and it becomes chemena, which is 'ourfather.'

The station's call letters are broadcast on the hour along witha recording of an Pala elder saying, "Chemesh ataxem Kuupangax," or"We the living people from Cupa."

Ortega's first guest was Jane Blackmon, who was scheduled totalk about holiday traditions she remembers from growing up on thereservation. His scheduled guest next Friday is longtimereservation resident Gilbert Mojado, and tribe Chairman RobertSmith is scheduled for the third week.

Among the station's playlist are two songs sung in Cupeno by alocal tribe member recorded in the studio by Fox.

KOPA tunes

Mark Gleason, who also has a long history in radio, hosts"Mark's Groovy Trip" from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays.

"I love it," he said Tuesday at the station. "Today, I'm playing1976."

Besides just playing music, Gleason likes to give his listenerssome facts behind each tune. After playing Firefall's "You Are theWoman" on Tuesday, he told listeners the song was the biggest hitfor the band, which was formed by members of the Flying BurritoBrothers.

"I have some loyal fans," Gleason said. "Not in the thousands.Not in the hundreds, really."

Fox said he developed the station's playlist during the 10months he worked on setting up the station. After taking a portablerecorder to various places in Pala, Fox said he played music andasked people what they liked. Southern rock and modern country wereamong the favorite styles, and Fox said he created an eclecticplaylist unlike any that can be heard from San Diego to LosAngeles.

Rez Radio 91.3 Kopa Fm

Source: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-pala-rez-radio-features-shows-on-language-pala-2012jan22-story.html

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