FAQs
What is the goal of The Arrow Reporting Residency?
The residency program is focused on narrative reclaiming and revelatory storytelling. Each resident is expected to produce one publishable piece of paid reportage intended to enhance the understanding of the little-known Carlisle Outing Program and its generational influence on Native lives.
When are applications accepted?
We accept applications from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, 11:59 PM EDT. Apply here.
Who should apply?
Applicants do not need to be Indigenous to participate in The Arrow Reporting Residency, but preference will be applied to marginalized voices and allies seeking to reclaim the historic narrative behind the Carlisle Outing Program.
Because of the acute directive to support bottom-up reporting, we are interested in proposals from actual descendants of individuals who can trace their ancestral ties to Carlisle Outing experiences as documented in the historical record, through family collections and memory, and by way of clear observations of modern impact.
Additional focus will be given to stories with a direct connection to the following eastern Pennsylvania counties: Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery
How do I know if I have a link to the Outing Program?
There are currently 1,584 digitized Outing records available to search via the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center. It’s believed many more of these Outing records are yet to be digitized.
To search student Outing records:
Go to the “Explore Student Records” database
Under “Document Types in this File” select from the drop-down menu: “Outing Record of Student”
In the search box, “Title/Student name contains...,” type your relative’s name
Click “Apply” to run a search
To search Outing “Patron” records:
Go to the general search page here
Enter your relative’s name in the search box
Click Search (Multiple pages may be returned if your “Patron” hired numerous students over the course of the Outing program.)
Please note: exact spelling of surnames may be different from the historic record, so plan to work with multiple spellings
Why is there a focus on Eastern Pennsylvania?
While we recognize that the Outing Program dispatched Native children throughout the Eastern seaboard, including westward to factories in Detroit, our project is giving special consideration to proposals that can shed light on the eastern Pennsylvania experience where the Outing Program was most concentrated and the historical record most rich. We’re also hoping that non-Indigenous applicants will be inspired to take part in this project which is meant to advance pathways to healing, and truth and reconciliation for all Americans, not just Native Americans.
What do you mean by “modern impact?”
The historical record, in many ways, can easily be revealed through archival documents, photographs, and numerous research materials that have chronicled the Carlisle Indian Industrial School legacy over time. What is lesser known are the lasting impacts the assimilation experiment has had on families who are directly tied to these histories, either through bonds formed with families through the Outing Program or lives tragically pulled apart by them. By examining the modern impact, it is a way to advance efforts towards healing.
What kind of medium is expected?
Digital Essay (approximately 800 to 1200 words)
Photo Essay
Short Documentary (audio or video)
Oral History (audio or video)
Podcast or Radio Reporting
Any other mediums not discussed here, please contact us.
Will I be paid for my reporting?
Yes. The Arrow Reporting Residency will provide a $250 stipend for your participation in a daylong training session in mid-January 2022. Thereafter, Indigenously and its team of publishing partners will compensate program selectees for their journalism upon completion and publication of their assignment in the amount of $349 each.
What resources are available?
The Arrow Reporting Residency is a virtual program in which selectees are expected to participate in the location of their choice and provide their own access to the Internet and technology, such as laptops, iPads, cameras, or other devices to create content.
Indigenously will provide access to subscription-based research databases including Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com. We will also provide access to design software for photo, video, and audio editing, including graphic design, for those who need these programs.
Indigenously will also cover any licensing costs to publish archival ephemera such as photographs.
Do I need transportation or a travel budget to complete my assignment?
Not necessarily. Whether or not you want to travel to conduct your field reporting is up to you. But all proposed reporting should be planned as happening remotely and with few financial constraints. The Arrow Reporting Residency does not finance travel.
What is Indigenously?
Indigenously is an independent weekend e-newsletter authored by veteran journalist, Jenni Monet (Laguna Pueblo). Launched in June 2020, the newsletter delivers a thematic dose of journalism, links, art, factoids, giveaways, and more drawn from news and events shaping Indian Country and the Indigenous world. Indigenously: Decolonizing Your Newsfeed is free to subscribers. Sign up today.