Debra Krol

About

Specialties: Native American community journalism, including science and environmental issues, economic development, business, Native American art; travel/tourism [both Native and mainstream]; and photojournalism.Indigenous storyteller Debra Utacia Krol is an award-winning journalist with an emphasis on Native issues, environmental and science issues, and travel who's fond of averring that "My beat is Indians." She is an enrolled member of the Xolon (also known as Jolon) Salinan Tribe from the Central California coastal ranges.Krol's forceful and deeply reported stories about peoples, places and issues have won nearly a dozen awards. Her guiding light is a precept expressed by one of her cherished mentors, the late Native Peoples Magazine publisher Gary Avey, which she keeps close to heart: “People love to learn, but they hate to be taught.”Krol seeks to leverage her extensive journalism experience in Native America and in the mainstream to tell the real story of Indian Country.With nearly 20 years’ professional experience, Krol has covered topics ranging from how the Tohono O’odham Nation addressed border incursions and Arizona tribal communities’ efforts to deal with Alzheimer’s disease, to how a diverse group of artists, gallery owners and activists worked to create a live/work arts overlay district in downtown Phoenix. Krol's Arizona Indian tourism guides have been distributed across the U.S., and her coverage of the impact of invasive species on Native communities have won her accolades.Krol has written for Indian Country Media Network, High Country News, Winds of Change Magazine (the journal of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society), the Official Arizona Visitors’ Guide and many other publications.She has also contributed articles and photos to two books, "First Families: A Photographic History of California Indians" (Heyday Books, 2007) and "Seaweed, Salmon, and Manzanita Cider: A California Indian Feast" (Heyday Books, 2008).