Although Seneca-owned radio station WGWE (whose call sign derives from "gwe," a Seneca word roughly translating to "what's up?") broadcasts primarily in English, it features a daily "Seneca Word of the Day" feature prior to each noon newscast, broadcasts a limited amount of Seneca-language music, and makes occasional use of the Seneca language in its broadcasts in a general effort to increase awareness of the Seneca language by the general public.
The station, with a tower atop Fourth Street in the village of Little Valley, broadcasts a loosely defined classic hits format on 105.9 MHz and operates under the ownership of the Seneca Nation of Indians; the Seneca nation purchased WGWE's construction permit from Randy Michaels in early 2009.
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One song that stands out on the station's playlist is "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow," a song performed by Johnny Cash and written by Peter La Farge and Bob Dylan about the construction of the Kinzua Dam; it was the first song played upon the station's sign-on and is played every Friday at noon.
WGWE |
In 1964, the American country singer Johnny Cash recorded the song "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" (composed by the Native American folk singer Peter La Farge) about the Senecas' plight; the Seneca nation's owned-and-operated radio station, WGWE, plays the song at least once a week in remembrance, as does WPIG, the local country music station.