Today, Chickasaw.tv is a high-definition, video-rich Internet network documenting the culture, legacy and continuing contributions of the Chickasaw people. Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw Nation, says the network does for the 47,000 Chickasaws worldwide, and the public as a whole, what that black-and-white set did for him as a 10-year-old: It opens doors to information they didn't have, or didn't have as readily before.

Having launched Jan. 1, the network already has drawn visitors from all 50 states and 50 countries, the latter including Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Brazil.

“We take a lot of pride in our history; it's very rich,” Anoatubby said. “We take every opportunity to share our story with our people and, obviously, with others as well because the network's accessible to whoever may want to visit.

“It's an outlet to show our people the many ways in which our culture is still thriving. Actually, we're creating new chapters in our history and our story and that story is being written every day.

“We bring these two things together — what has happened today and our rich history — and really one is very connected to the other.”

The Chickasaw Nation, created after the Chickasaws were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s, has a jurisdictional territory that includes 7,648 square miles of south-central Oklahoma and encompasses all or parts of 13 counties in Oklahoma.

To tell their story, both of past and present, the tribe went to Branded News Worldwide, a division of Oklahoma City ad agency Ackerman McQueen, to oversee the design and development of the network and its content.

The effort began last spring, involving more than 100 people, and led to the gathering of hundreds of hours of footage shot not only in Oklahoma but as far away as Mississippi and Alabama.

With nine channels and more than 1,200 videos, the network features CNTV news, with current events and public affairs coverage.

“It's been a revelation, I think, to everyone to have easier, greater access to the rich story of their history,” said Jeanette Elliott, executive vice president, creative services for Ackerman McQueen.

“There are Chickasaws around the world, and having an online capability like this allows them to reach out and touch their culture and understand and appreciate what's going on,” she said.

The options for information are plentiful whether it's “Hearing Elders Speak Chickasaw” on the History and Cultural Channel, or “Tours to Our Homelands: A Spiritual Connection” on the Destinations Channel or “Bedre' Chocolate” on the Commerce Channel.

Some 135 Chickasaw leaders, artists, historians and heroes were interviewed for Chickasaw.tv, including former astronaut John Herrington, archaeological specialist LaDonna Brown and Neal McCaleb, a former Oklahoma transportation secretary and former director of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“I'm a transportation guy so I make a comparison to transportation,” McCaleb said. “TV is like a bus system or a train system. It leaves at its own schedule, and it takes you where it wants to go. In other words, it's scheduled programming and your choice is get on it or don't.

“Whereas Chickasaw.tv is like driving your own car. You can leave from your doorstep, and go wherever you want to on your schedule.”

Anoatubby praised the immense amount of quality work of Ackerman McQueen and that of the Chickasaw people in making Chickasaw.tv successful. And he said that can only continue, because rather than being a finished product, the network is “if you want to, call it a living, breathing-type channel” where new information can be added and shared as needed.

“We may not live in the same fashion and the same manner that we did centuries ago,” Anoatubby said. “We live in different kinds of homes. We've adapted and adopted a different way of life when it comes to day-to-day, but still there's a lot of our past and our culture and our history that we embrace.

“It has to do, really, with identity. Our identity is a strong one and a strong identity leads to a strong Chickasaw Nation.”