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# Broadband Bootcamp for Great Lakes Tribes to Take Place in August
- URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/broadband-bootcamp-for-great-lakes-tribes-to-take-place-in-august/
- Published: 2025-07-08T20:41:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-11T05:50:17.000Z
- Description: Training equips Tribes with tools to build and manage their own Internet infrastructure.
- Author: Jennifer Michel
- Tags: Tribal, #with-siderail, Tribal Broadband Bootcamp, Matthew Rantenen, Christopher Mitchell, Great Lakes Region, Tribal broadband connectivity program

July 8, 2025 – From August 18-21, the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians will host a four-day Tribal Broadband Bootcamp on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. 

The Bootcamp aims to equip Tribal Nations with the skills to build, manage, and expand their own broadband networks. It will be the second held in the Great Lakes region, designed primarily for members of 36 federally recognized Tribes across Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Participants will be reimbursed for travel costs, room and board, and meals. 

The [first Tribal Broadband Bootcamp](https://tribalbroadbandbootcamp.org/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) took place in California in 2021, organized by **Matthew Rantanen** and **Christopher Mitchell**, co-founders of the broadband advocacy group [Waskawiwin](https://waskawiwin.org/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com), who hoped to build and encourage nontraditional broadband networks. 

[![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/97/29976d9d-89ea-4c77-8c0b-0e8a0eafed35/content/images/2025/06/bead_event_base_graphic-1.png)](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/speeding-bead-summit) 

***FROM SPEEDING BEAD SUMMIT**  
***Panel 1: How Are States Thinking About Reasonable Costs Now?**  
***Panel 2: Finding the State Versus Federal Balance in BEAD**  
***Panel 3: Reacting to the New BEAD NOFO Guidance**  
***Panel 4: Building, Maintaining and Adopting Digital Workforce Skills**

[All Videos from Speeding BEAD Summit ](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/speeding-bead-summit) 

Seventeen bootcamps have occurred since 2021, each with an agenda adjusted to the experiences and interests of hosting Tribes. Overall, the training program has hosted more than 400 participants from more than 70 Tribal Nations across the United States and Canada, Mitchell told *Broadband Breakfast*.

The training program, led by Rantanen and Mitchell, will unite tribal technology staff, community leaders, and broadband advocates for hands-on instruction in network design, deployment and management. 

Mitchell [told *Tribal Business News*](https://tribalbusinessnews.com/sections/economic-development/15204-sault-tribe-to-host-first-broadband-bootcamp-for-great-lakes-tribes?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com)the goal of the Bootcamp “is to connect people working in Indian Country on Internet access to build skills and share knowledge on how to make sure everyone is well connected.”

Participants will learn about fiber infrastructure layout, network management, and resource identification, as well as the implications of current federal policies, how Internet service providers can generate tribal revenue, and methods to expand tribal household connectivity. 

The Tribal Broadband Bootcamp program emerged as billions in federal funding for tribal Internet connectivity was granted during the Biden Administration via [the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/broadband-bootcamp-for-great-lakes-tribes-to-take-place-in-august/), alongside funding for other federal, state, and local broadband initiatives. 

Funding under TBCP targets connectivity gaps across Indian Country, as many federally recognized tribal lands do not have access to Internet service that meets the federal government’s standards of 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload speeds.

“For decades, Tribes have been overlooked, ignored, and defrauded by telecom companies seeking to extract wealth from their people and land,” the [Tribal Broadband Bootcamp website](https://tribalbroadbandbootcamp.org/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) states.

***Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated where the Tribal Broadband Bootcamp will take place. The event will take place in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.***