For no good reason, the future of a small but essential radio station in Becker County, Minnesota, is very much in doubt. The station is KKWE, a public radio station, otherwise known as Niijii Radio.

“We might have to go dark,” KKWE General Manager Margaret Rousu told me.

Niijii means friend in the Ojibwe language, but Congress and Donald Trump have hardly been friendly to KKWE. They rescinded all $180,000 in federal funding to the station. That’s about a 40% cut in the station’s revenue. It’s a catastrophic blow.

“It’s a tragic cut,” Rousu said. “All they are doing is hurting communities in need.”

KKWE is a unique gem located in Callaway, Minnesota. It serves the White Earth Nation, but also has many devoted listeners who are not Native Americans. Niijii Radio plays all sorts of music

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