This case explores the impact of a blockbuster series of books and films, “The Twilight Saga,” on the Quileute Indian Tribe and the small town of Forks, Washington. The Quileute Indian Reservation and the town of Forks are the setting for the “Twilight” series. Twilight is a story of teenage love between Bella Swan, and a vampire, Edward Cullen. The character, Jacob Black, portrayed as a member of the Quileute Tribe and a werewolf, is also vying for Bella’s affection. Numerous fan clubs have organized around Club Jacob and Club Edward. The case raises questions about the impact of popular culture and the dynamics of community economic development. The case also raises the question about whether this is a story of opportunity or cultural exploitation?

This case tells the story of disputes and organizing efforts over Indian treaty rights in Wisconsin and Washington state and an attempt to sell a beer in Washington State in the late 1980’s that came to be labeled as “hate in a can.” Dean Crist, a pizza parlor operator from Minocqua, Wisconsin came to Washington with a campaign to stop what he called treaty abuses by American Indians by introducing “Treaty Beer.” This mobilized Indian and non-Indian groups and led to high level political discussions about what should be done. One of the authors of this case was the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs at the time this event occurred.

There is a need for American Indian people to be in control of the production and distribution of information due to the long history of being passive consumers of what the dominant society considers important, but tribally controlled broadcast facilities are rare and the communication business is rapidly changing. KSKC Public TV is housed at Salish Kootenai College, which holds its licenses. Since its launch in 1987, the television station has expanded service area, attracted national interest, and become a model for other tribes and tribal colleges. With recent budget shortfalls, the College has said it can no longer afford to fully support the local public television station. In 2007, a donation was requested from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, which enabled support of the station at $100,000 for that year. For the following year, the tribes continued to support the station. These donations are continuing but the tribe recently decreased the donation by 25%. This case raises questions about the importance of tribally controlled media and how a tribally owned and operated television station might be retained.