Publications

By: Ed Galindo, Sky Pete, Chris Cleveland, Barb Pete, Casey Bartrem, Tod Shockey, and Lori Lambert, 24 May 2022

Abstract This essay seeks to understand the many “ways” or modalities that American Indian students and the community learns and understand new concepts. We provide insights into the reasons of “why” and “how” American Indian people gain new knowledge. We provide an examination of four days of instruction to American Indian students on the Duck Valley reservation in Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada. The first educational objective was to understand the process to capture some “problem” beavers in live traps and move them to a more suitable stream on the mountains of the reservation. Our second educational objective introduced students to the methods of measuring water quality and reporting these findings. To build these American Indian students understanding of water analysis, students investigated the water quality of the beaver habitat and compared these results to the water quality in their homes. Inherent in these objectives was the appropriate and safe handling of the beavers, both for the sake of the beaver as well as the safety of the students. We provide evidence that learning can occur both outside and inside a classroom. Through the learning process of “Two-Eyed Seeing” developed by Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall, it becomes clear that the consideration of Indigenous World Views and Western Science methods can lead to richer understandings. 

By: Ed Galindo, Lori Lambert, and Tod Shockey, 9 April 2022

Abstract In the fall of 2021 Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics were brought together for the virtual event “Gatherings to Transcend Barriers: For this Generation and Those to Come.” In the series of presentations over the course of the two-day event, individuals shared the story of their research, their projects, and individual hopes and aspirations. This paper presents a discussion of that gathering.

By: Cleve Davis, 12 January 2020

Abstract The federal government has a unique relationship with American Indians and Alaska Natives and part of this relationship is to provide support and protection as a treaty and trust responsibility. This study focused upon the federal commitment to health care delivery in the United States by examining total and program level funding overtime to the Indian Health Service. The study made comparisons with other health care spending priorities in the United States to understand how funding to the Indian Health Service ranks. Based upon the Department of Health and Human Services’ fiscal year congressional justifications, funding to the Indian Health Service has increased since 2007. However, the total spending amounts to a mere $2,485 per American Indian/Alaska Native person and total dollars allocated per American Indian/Alaska Native person was lowest among all groups examined. Low health care spending by the United States contributes to the disproportionally higher death rate among the American Indians and Alaska Natives population. The comparatively low level of fiscal appropriations to the Indian Health Service despite the high need raises questions about equality, democracy, and representation within the federal health care system and its ability to meet those needs.

By: Cleve Davis, 2 February 2019

Abstract Native biodiversity has countless benefits to all peoples, but probably no more so than the people of Indigenous societies. However, with global biodiversity declining at unprecedented rates the loss is contributing to the erosion of Indigenous cultures, languages, and health. One place, where biodiversity decline has occurred at an excessive level is the Palouse prairie in the Pacific northwest. Prior to contact with Euro-Americans, the Palouse prairie was once a vast garden for Indigenous peoples. Although Indigenous peoples have relied upon the biodiversity of the Palouse for millennia, very little of the natural prairie remains. The purpose of this study was to quantify what remains of the garden (prairie) and to assess the abundance of culturally important native plants. Using remote sensing, it was found that only 1.7% of the garden remains within the region. Analysis of plot-based data revealed the frequency of food, medicinal, and other beneficial native plants is low. Steps should be taken to preserve the genetic diversity of the region before threats eliminate important native plant species. Establishment and tending to natural gardens, legal protection of prairie, and incentives to landowners to conserve prairie on private lands may help reduce the decline of native plant biodiversity.