The American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population is challenged with diverse learning styles, high-risk behaviors, low economic status, low enrollment predictions, lower total education achievement, or lower graduate level higher education. However, AI/AN doctoral degree recipients may be successful due to diverse sources of support. Data from 1992 to 2002 SED was analyzed using Chi square tests to observe the trends of the total number of AI/AN women receiving doctoral degree compared to trends to African-American/Black, Hispanic, Asian, White, Other / Unknown women doctoral degree recipients. A two-way contingency table analysis was conducted to compare the difference in the total number of AI/AN female doctoral degree students with female doctoral degree recipients in other races. The Asian, White, and Other/Unknown were found to be significant in total number of doctoral degree recipients when compared to AI/AN population from 1992 to 2002, year to year. In a follow-up pair wise comparison conducted to evaluate these differences between consecutive years for the groups only the Other/Unknown category was significant. In addition, each race experienced a decline in the total female doctoral degree recipients during 1999 to 2002. However, the AI/AN female doctoral degree recipient group experienced the most drastic decreases, - 26.9 percent from 1999 to 2000. More AI/AN women are enrolled in colleges however they may be inadequately prepared to progress to doctoral programs due to poor availability of sources of support. Therefore, a survey questionnaire was designed to provide descriptive information on sources of social, emotional, academic, and professional support that was available for AI/AN women doctoral degree recipients. On the survey sources of social, emotional, academic, and professional support during graduate school were asked to be selected from: Committee Chair, Committee Member, Graduate Faculty, Graduate Colleagues, Other Faculty, Spouse/partner, Family, Employer, Friend, Tribal Group, Elder, Mentor, or Other. All sources of support that applied were selected, as well as, top three main sources. Forty-six surveys were completed, and the most frequent source (91 percent) and most common primary source (41 percent) of support selected for survey respondents was their Committee Chair. The survey data analysis offers observations of frequencies of this scarcely studied population.

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American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth are disproportionally burdened by high rates of sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy, heightening their need for sexual health interventions that are aligned to their unique culture and social context. Media technologies, including the Internet, cell phones, and video games, offer new avenues for reaching adolescents on a wide range of sensitive health topics. While several studies have informed the development of technology-based interventions targeting mainstream youth, no such data have been reported for AI/AN youth. To fill this gap, I: a) quantified media technology use in a select group of AI/AN teens and young adults living in Pacific Northwest tribes and urban communities; b) identified patterns in their health information-seeking and media preferences; and c) worked with local tribes and partners to develop recommendations for designing culturally-appropriate technology-based interventions targeting Native adolescents. This research included: a) an anonymous, paper-based survey of over 400 AI/AN youths age 13-21 years; b) a systematic review of technology-based sexual health interventions; and c) a variety of community-based participatory research strategies to analyze findings, prioritize options, and generate recommendations for designing interventions that align with the culture, needs, and organizational capacities of the tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Technology use was exceptionally common and diverse among survey respondents, mirroring patterns reported by teens in the general population. Seventy-five percent of AI/AN youth reported using the Internet, 78% reported using cell phones, and 36% reported playing video games on a daily or weekly basis. Thirty-five percent reported that they would feel most comfortable getting sexual health information from the Internet, and 44% reported having done so in the past. Youth expressed interest in a wide array of interactive media features, and culturally-specific content that holistically encompassed their wide-ranging health interests and concerns. Tribal health educators expressed particular interest in adapting Internet-based skill-building modules and informational websites, and teens expressed interest in websites and videos. These findings are now being used by the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board to inform the development and adaptation of culturally-appropriate interventions targeting AI/AN youth in the Pacific Northwest.

Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) came under political scrutiny in the United States in 2009 during a climate of economic recession and governmental spending reductions. Since then, ANCs have faced increased governmental regulations that immediately changed the ways that their leaders previously achieved growth and success. The purpose of this explanatory case study was to identify elements of ANC strategic plans that lead to success and growth when operationally implemented. The central research questions investigated what executable strategic plans ANC leaders need to ensure sustainable business growth and what practices have led to success and failures. Data were collected from interviews with 4 ANC executives, monthly marketing reports, division status reports, and corporate strategic plans. The analysis included examining word frequency and comparative phrases in the semistructured interviews. Interpretive-constructivist case study analysis and logical reasoning of coded data revealed 2 main themes. The first theme consisted of the essential elements of strategic plans: corporate analysis, market analysis, customer analysis, competitor analysis, and resource allocation. The second theme was the importance of strategic planning as a formalized process. Specific implications for positive social change include leaders of ANCs instituting a formalized planning process and incorporating each essential element into the strategic plan to achieve short-term success and long-term sustainability to provide for Native Alaskan Shareholders in perpetuity. Broader implications for positive social change include leaders of small or disadvantaged businesses gaining competitive advantages by incorporating the results of this study into their strategic planning practices.

abstract: This dissertation explores complex representations of spiritual, social and cultural ways of knowing embedded within engraved ivory drill bows from the Bering Strait. During the nineteenth century, multi-faceted ivory drill bows formed an ideal surface on which to recount life events and indigenous epistemologies reflective of distinct environmental and socio-cultural relationships. Carvers added motifs over time and the presence of multiple hands suggests a passing down of these objects as a form of familial history and cultural patrimony. Explorers, traders and field collectors to the Bering Strait eagerly acquired engraved drill bows as aesthetic manifestations of Arctic mores but recorded few details about the carvings resulting in a disconnect between the objects and their multi-layered stories. However, continued practices of ivory carving and storytelling within Bering Strait communities holds potential for engraved drill bows to animate oral histories and foster discourse between researchers and communities. Thus, this collaborative project integrates stylistic analyses and ethno-historical accounts on drill bows with knowledge shared by Alaska Native community members and is based on the understanding that oral narratives can bring life and meaning to objects within museum collections. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Art 2013

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Community colleges and for-profit institutions are considered open-access institutions and serve a large proportion of the United States student population. Furthermore, research confirms that students who are minorities, disadvantaged, and nontraditional attend these institutions in greater numbers than highly selective institutions. However, little is known about how these students choose between these two types of open-access institutions. The purpose of this study was to acquire a deeper understanding of the discriminating factors that influence these pathways and determine a predictive model of choice that is generalizable to undergraduate students choosing to attend open-access institutions. The study used the undergraduate portion of the 2011- 2012 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12) as its data source. NPSAS:12 contains a sample of about 95,000 undergraduate and about 16,900 graduate students enrolled between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012 in approximately 1,690 Title IV-eligible institutions of higher education in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The results of the study indicate that the odds are higher for students attending for-profit colleges and universities than public two-year colleges to: be female; have independent status (24 years of age or older); have dependents; be Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian and Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander; use higher amounts of financial aid; either not have a job or work fulltime; be less likely to attend college part-time; have higher college GPAs; and attend larger institutions. When restricting the sample for at-risk and non-traditional students, the odds for Hispanic and Latino and American Indian or Alaska Native students attending FPCUs increased, whereas the odds of Black or African American students attending FPCUs decreased. The results, implications for policy and practice, and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Dental caries is the most common chronic disease in children, and prevalence rates are disproportionately higher in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) recommends annual oral health screening for children in Head Start programs using the Basic Screening Survey (BSS). The 2014 study was a follow-up to a 2010 national survey of AI/AN children ages five and under that assessed oral health outcomes such as untreated decay, decay experience, urgent need for treatment, presence of sealants and decayed, missing and filled deciduous teeth (dmft) scores, and investigated the changes in Early Childhood Caries (ECC) prevalence from 2010 to 2014 in the Indian Health Service (IHS) Nashville Area. A gap analysis was completed comparing current recommended practices among dental clinics that participated in the IHS ECC Collaborative ASTDD Framework to Prevent and Control Childhood Tooth Decay (ASTDD Framework). Due to historical mistreatment of AI/AN populations in research, and out of respect for the sovereignty of the Tribal Nations that participated in the study, there limited data was made available for this study. In 2010, 579 children were screened in the Nashville Area; 1231 children participated in 2014. While there was a statistically significant, yet clinically small 9.36% reduction of untreated decay from 2010 (30.33%) to 2014 (27.49%), the ECC Collaborative did not reach their objective of a 25% reduction. There was also a significant increase in urgent need for treatment (3.17% in 2010 to 4.35% in 2014), and in presence of sealants (4.54% in 2010 to 10.01% in 2014). Gaps in best practices identified were related to need for increased risk assessments and enhancing policy development. Based on study findings and the limited access to data on Tribal and Area levels, development of culturally appropriate policies that are unique to individual Tribal needs, and focus on perinatal care, is recommended. Individual Tribal programs also need to be evaluated and surveillance needs to be continued to establish trend data. All program evaluations and research should be conducted in an ethical manner that is community-based and considerate of the needs of the Tribe.

More Americans voted in the 2020 elections than in any other in 120 years, and the majority supported the Democratic candidate - Joseph R. Biden, Jr. In 2020, Biden won 26 states, including Arizona, where he won as the first Democrat in the presidential elections since 1996. With a small margin of only 10,457 votes, every vote was essential. In Arizona, 412,256 people identify as American Indian and Alaska Native and their support for the Democratic candidate proved to be decisive in the 2020 elections. However, only little has been written about American Indians and Alaska Natives and their voting habits. Existing studies suffer from examining only one tribe or state, are old or ambiguous. American Indians and Alaska Natives are also often excluded from collecting and reporting data, and when included, the data is either inaccurate or put them in "the other" category. This work is the first to examine Native American voting in the 2020 presidential election. It aims to prove that the Native vote was one of the aspects that helped Biden win the elections since Native Americans traditionally support the Democratic candidates. To prove my thesis, I compared the results of the 2016 and 2020 elections from the precincts overlapping with tribal lands in Arizona and conducted a quantitative analysis of...