SVDN Communications & Radio

The SVDN Communications and Radio Department oversees our multiple websites, social media accounts and our local radio station, KODA 93.5 FM. At the time of this posting, SVDN Communications oversees 2 websites, 26 Social Media pages, 1 Mobile App, as well as KODA 93.5 FM’s airwaves and live stream.
The history of SVDN Communication begins with “CANADA’S FIRST DAKOTA NATION RADIO STATION”. KODA 93.5 FM was started back in 1998 as a small satellite relay station for NCI-FM out of Winnipeg, MB. In the beginning, it was only “on-air” sporadically throughout the week as it was volunteer based. Many community members enjoyed going “live on-air”, providing our own community news, music and updates. Over the years to come, the Internet was gradually taking over, and radio was slowly being pushed aside, and KODA FM was no exception, gradually going off-air for several years throughout the 2000’s and 2010’s. Occasionally, our radio would go through an initial “reboot” phase, never quite getting the footing it needed to become a mainstay.
As the internet gradually became the world’s choice of communications, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation would shift mediums in how we inform our members. SVDN launched a website early on, but early success was hard to gauge as we had no real metrics to measure its success. Along with the internet came “Social Media”. Some SVDN departments would test the waters to keep communication flowing with the community. These departments would have some moderate early success.
After several SVDN websites and domains went to the wayside, we redesigned and relaunched svdngovernance.com under our own control and ownership in 2016. At the same time, a concerted effort was made to consolidate all it’s communications methods and start coordinating the delivery of our information to our community members. Our website and social media footprint grew exponentially over the next 3 years, including another soft reboot of KODA 93.5 FM. By 2018, SVDN was delivering information to the community and its members around the world through monthly newsletters, Year in Reviews/Annual Reports, Calendars, Website, Social Media and on occasion, through the KODA FM airwaves.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is really where our SVDN Communications department grew. With the need for immediate and current information, KODA FM was relaunched on a more permanent basis, with active daily updates on the air waves and finally on the internet with our KODA Livestream.
As of 2023, SVDN Communications currently has 4 permanent staff members and has an open door for summer student and youth training opportunities. Our talented multimedia staff lives with one foot in the analog world and one foot in the digital. We handle most of SVDN’s photography, video, audio needs. We are able to distribute throughout our 2 websites, 26 social media pages, 1 mobile app, and both KODA 93.5 FM’s airwaves and live stream, doing our best to maintain a quality and professional look to reflect our pride in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

Communications Contact Info:

Communications
communications@svdngovernance.com
204.815-1302

Elton Taylor:
Communications Coordinator
elton.taylor@svdn.ca

Daniza DePaola:
Media Productions Coordinator
daniza.depaola@svdngovernance.com

Bryden Speiss:
Communication Media Editor
bryden.speiss@svdngovernance.com

Bill Taylor:
KODA FM Announcer & MC
koda@svdngovernance.com
204.818.7718

KODA FM’s Hours of Operation:

Monday: 10:00 a.m – 4:00 p.m
Tuesday:10:00 a.m – 4:00 p.m
Wednesday:10:00 a.m – 4:00 p.m
Thursday:10:00 a.m – 4:00 p.m
Friday:10:00 a.m – 4:00 p.m