Pecwan School runs its program with a diesel generator and a radio phone, but those days will soon be gone.
The Yurok Tribe has been trying for several years to supply basic telephone service and electricity to tribal members and residents living on the upper reservation.
"California is a state known for its modern technology and luxurious homes," the tribe states in a recent grant application. "The shame is that most Californians do not know that some of the state's first inhabitants live without power and telephones and the other daily necessities that the rest of the state's citizens take for granted."
The tribe received $3 million from the U.S. Rural Utilities Service and has recently been awarded $2.5 million by the state Public Utilities Commission under the state Rural Telecommunications Grant Program.
With those grants and some tribal funds, it is hoped that by the summer of 2006, all residents on the reservation will have basic phone service and electricity available to them.
"We're leveraging these dollars to provide both phone and electrical service," Planning Director Peggy O'Neill said.
Right now, 61 percent of homes in the upper reservation are without power, and nearly 100 percent lack phone service.
A bill by Patty Berg was recently sent to the Governor's Office, seeking his signature on a bill that would extend by two years the life of the Rural Telecommunications Grant Program, which was originally established in 2001 to bring service to places like the Yurok Reservation. Due to the budget crunch, that allocation was dropped from the 2002-2003 budget.
"The on-the-ground effect of extending the sunset date is that it gives this program a chance to work -- it was crippled in its early days by the budget crisis," said Will Shuck of Berg's Sacramento office.
The Yurok Tribe was awarded its money from the grant program in the first round, receiving the maximum $2.5 million allocation. Trinity and Placer counties also received grants.
For the Yuroks, it couldn't come too soon.
In May, when authorities were on the trail of suspected killer Francisco Medina Loya, residents had no warning that he may be near and no knowledge of why the roads were closed.
Now, with some aid from the state and federal governments, some changes have been made and more are on the way. The Weitchipec Store, for instance, has a phone and an ATM machine so that residents can finally make frequent use of their debit cards. Already, 13 homes have phone service that previously did not, and over the next two years that service will be extended to cover schools, homes and government offices.
"We're shooting for 100 percent coverage," said Peggy O'Neill, tribal planning director. "When the bids come in, we'll see what we can afford."
Tribal executive director Troy Fletcher said he was proud of his planners and grateful to Patty Berg for making "basic telephone service available to rural communities like the Yurok Reservation."