Built in 1819 by the U.S. government, Fort Snelling sits at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. This place is called a “bdote” by the Dakota people. Oral traditions describe bdote as the site of Dakota creation. Treaties in the nineteenth century allowed the U.S. government to dispossess the Dakota of this land. Fort Snelling is connected to many important points in U.S. history. It operated as a military post until the mid-twentieth century, and was a training or processing site for U.S. servicepersons who fought in the Civil War, U.S. Indian removal campaigns, and World War Two, among others. Dred Scott lived as a slave at Fort Snelling. Following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, about 1,600 Dakota people were forcibly concentrated below Fort Snelling, where nearly 300 died. Shortly after, the U.S. government banished the Dakota from Minnesota. Today, Fort Snelling exists as “Historic Fort Snelling.” Run by the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS), the site offers a living history program which interprets Fort Snelling “as it was” in the 1820s—before much of these events of import occurred. This portrayal is geared toward schoolchildren and white Minnesotans, and focuses on the premise of peaceful U.S. settlement in the American West. This study describes Fort Snelling’s history, and address peoples’—both Dakota and other Minnesotans’—objections to the circumscribed interpretation of history at Historic Fort Snelling. By better revealing the memory alive at this site, most specifically the popularly ignored Dakota memories of Fort Snelling and bdote, this study hopes to convey what scholar Avery F. Gordon would term the “hauntings” present but unacknowledged at Historic Fort Snelling. This study concludes that in order to express the density of memory at Fort Snelling, MHS and Historic Fort Snelling must acknowledge that the Dakota people and their stories are crucial to its history. Further, these institutions must recognize that oppressive structures like U.S. colonialism allowed for Fort Snelling’s creation and operation. These structures and the hauntings they produce are still alive on this land, and onsite historical interpretation at Historic Fort Snelling must transform to reflect these living memories. / text

The objective of this research is to determine the effect the North Dakota Ethanol Production Incentive has on ethanol plant survivability. This thesis uses a stochastic simulation to show the financial performance of an ethanol plant with and without subsidy support. Historical corn and ethanol prices are used to simulate market conditions a typical ethanol might face. Using the forecast prices, an ethanol plant balance sheet was created to show how a plant would perform in normal market conditions, as well as how the plant would perform with the Ethanol Production Incentive and also with alternative subsidy structures that were developed. The results showed the Ethanol Production Incentive was the most effective subsidy tested and it does appear to improve plant balance sheets to a certain extent during a downturn.

Assessment is necessary in many programs to be certain that expected outcomes are being met. Without curriculum evaluation, higher education faculty would be unaware if students are competent in the skills and knowledge that the faculty thought they were teaching. New curriculum competencies related to dietetics are introduced every five to seven years from the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE). CADE establishes the minimum requirements of foundation knowledge, skills, and competencies for institutions to train entry level dietitians. Even though a variety of criteria have been proposed to evaluate curricula, no common model or format is used because of the differences in each program, college, or university. The purpose of this study is to evaluate North Dakota State University's (NDSU) dietetics program through students' understanding and knowledge as demonstrated by the change in pretest and post-test scores to ensure they are meeting competencies. The Dietetics Program Assessment Test is made up of questions contributed by each instructor in the dietetics program at NDSU regarding their particular area of expertise. The effectiveness was assessed by comparing students' Dietetics Program Assessment pretest scores, taken during sophomore year, with their post-test scores, taken during senior year. This evaluation was used to determine if pretest scores predict program course grades or if high pretest results indicate a more successful student. Therefore, the scores could be used as a selection criterion for acceptance into the dietetics program if there is a strong correlation. Results from students in the Coordinated Program in Dietetics (CPD) were compared to those in the Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) and those not accepted into either program to see if there is a difference between the groups. The test was also divided into dietetics core content areas (community nutrition, medical nutrition therapy/clinical, food service, basic nutrition/lifespan, and management) to see if there was an area in which students were scoring poorly. Pretests were taken by 122 pre-dietetics students; of these, 46 were admitted into the CPD, 29 were admitted into the DPD, and 47 were not admitted into either program. A paired t-test found there to be a significant difference (p<0.0001) between individual mean pretest scores and post-test scores, which means students' knowledge about the area of dietetics had greatly improved through courses throughout each program. A t-test found there was not a significant difference between either the pretest scores (p=0.9847) or the post-test scores (p=0.4263) of those in the CPD and DPD programs. In all of the core dietetics content areas the average percentage of correct questions improved from the pretest to the post-test, and each content area had a similar improvement, roughly a 25 percentage point increase. Using an exact Kendall's Tau Test to examine the association between pretest score and final course grades, no significant difference was found in all of the core dietetics courses expect for Food Selection and Preparation Principles (HNES 261) (p=0.0324). In conclusion, since no one content area on the post-test appears to be lacking more than any other, it would appear that the students are learning from all courses. Due to the lack of association between all core dietetics course grades and pretest scores along with the small sample size, pretest scores should not currently be used alone or as one of the selection criterion for admittance into either dietetics programs.

This study was carried out in the Souris and Turtle Rivers in North Dakota. The aim of this study was to develop multi-element fingerprints of the Souris River and Turtle River sediments and to evaluate the suitability of these fingerprints to assess the geographic origin of potential pollutants of the two rivers. Preliminary analysis of Souris River sediment samples confirmed that the multi-element fingerprinting can be used to assess the sediment and contaminant loading patterns. Laboratory experiments were performed to assess the validity of linear mixing assumption in multi-element fingerprinting studies. The results of these experiments verified the assumptions and showed that there is a statistically significant spatial and temporal variation in the element concentrations depending on their mobility and re-deposition. Field studies were conducted in the Souris River and Turtle River to assess the variation of element concentrations in the top riverbed samples along the main rivers and their tributaries. The sediment contribution from the tributaries and the phosphorus concentrations in the main channel were used to calculate the phosphorus contributions from the tributary sediments to the Souris River. The differences in phosphorus contributions from tributaries were related to land use, underlying geology, and the size of the watersheds of the tributaries in the Souris River watershed. Similar analysis was used in the Turtle River to calculate Arsenic, Cadmium and Selenium contribution from the tributaries to the Turtle River. The differences in the contribution of these elements were related to the underlying geology and the size of the watersheds. This study provides a detailed analysis of element concentrations and relative sediments and element loading rates from the tributaries to the main rivers along the Souris and Turtle Rivers in North Dakota. The multi-element fingerprinting technique can be successfully used as a tool to identify the relative contribution of sediments and assessing and tracing pollution sources in rivers. Multi-element fingerprinting provides a relatively low cost, rapid tool for sediment tracking, without the need for addition of exotic chemicals such radio-tracers or dyes to natural ecosystems. / North Dakota State University. College of Science and Mathematics / North Dakota State University. Department of Biological Sciences. Environmental Conservation Sciences Program / North Dakota Department of Health / ND INBRE / North Dakota Water Resources Research Institute / North Dakota State Water Commission

Thesis advisor: Henry Braun / School reports mandated by NCLB demonstrated that AI/AN students have the lowest achievement among focal subgroups. What has not yet been investigated are the achievement differences among AI/AN students: public low density school students scored significantly higher than public high density school students who scored significantly higher than BIE school students on the NAEP 8th grade mathematics achievement test in 2009. The NIES data made it possible to reliably estimate and investigate these differences. Nine derived risk factors and seven risk indices were created using both NAEP and NIES student, teacher, and school questionnaire data. Chi-square and OLS regression analyses were performed to better understand the achievement patterns between states and across school density types within states. The final OLS regression models were more similar across states within school density types than across school density types within a state. Four out of the six final models captured the data well with the adjusted R-squared values ranging from 0.31-0.38 (the other two final models had adjusted R-squared values of 0.24 and 0.11). The results of the OLS regression models in five of the six strata showed that the NAEP Social/physical risk index was significantly associated with lower student achievement. The final model for the South Dakota BIE school students included completely different predictors than the final models for the other five strata, possibly related to the extreme poverty on the reservations in South Dakota. There was a discrepancy in most strata between the number of students labeled as being ELL and the number of students who stated they spoke a language other than English at home at least half of the time or more. These and other results suggest that schools should focus on forming stronger connections with the students’ families both because of language barriers and parents’ previous experiences in school. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

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Past research regarding historical trauma in the Lakota, one of the three major groups of the Oceti Sakowin or Sioux, has contributed to the historical trauma theory, but gaps continue to exist. The purpose of the study was to examine the historical trauma experiences and grief responses of individuals who identify as Oceti Sakowin, specifically the Nakota and Dakota, including present experiences. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was the study's methodology and the conceptual framework of this research was historical trauma theory, which refers to the persistence of trauma and transmission of trauma from generation to generation. Participant interviews were conducted using a researcher-designed interview schedule. Participants were Oceti Sakowin who identify as Nakota or Dakota and who were over the age of 18, and a total of 8 participants were interviewed. This research yielded themes about how the phenomena affected the participants, which can provide insight into how others who have had their own experiences relate to the phenomena. These themes were concerns and pain about ancestors' experience, concern for personal experiences but hope for the future, and the loss of the past is the sorrow of today. Increasing the knowledge of historical trauma and historical trauma grief responses can lead to better understanding that leads to positive social change through greater empathy and sensitivity toward those who have had these experiences, which can increase respect toward the traditions and cultures of others as well as culturally informed interventions to address historical trauma and grief.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore Dakota Aboriginal caregivers' involvement in their children's education. The needs of Aboriginal parents, who may share different perspectives regarding the purposes of education, have been ignored historically because of North American assimilation policies. Thus, listening respectfully to the voices of the Wahpeton Dakota caregivers and understanding their involvement in their children's education has been the intent of this research. Qualitative research techniques were used to elicit narratives through semi-structured interviews. The participants in this research were able to reflect back to their childhood educational experiences- traditional and formal- and accept the sometimes troubled experiences that their education provided. Resilience prevailed, as the Aboriginal parents and care givers in this study envisioned a positive future for their own children.<p> The participants' narratives reflected similar, yet different expectations for "formal" education. In mainstream research literature, when educators define parent/care giver involvement, the ideal parent has been described as somehow directly involved in the school setting. This thesis challenges that perception and creates a different understanding of education for Wahpeton caregivers and its relevance to their children's lives. The Wahpeton parents and caregivers saw education as much more than academics. This viewpoint has the potential to provide a much more balanced, inclusive education process for our Aboriginal children.

This thesis attempts to render architectural agency and aesthetics within the typological discussion of the data center in the rural American landscape. The disciplinary question of the role of architecture and aesthetics in data center design is related to earlier examples of factories and warehouses during modernity. The data center alters the traditional representative role of architecture; they are massive, horizontal buildings that are only conceivable from an aerial perspective, driven by logistics and efficiency. This thesis engages these issues by focusing on the point at which the architectural and programmatic problems of the data center converge, the building form and envelope. This thesis engages the building envelope as an expanded surface that considers not only logistical and environmental issues, but also engages the social and political architectural questions related to the identity of the data center in the rural landscape.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore Dakota Aboriginal caregivers' involvement in their children's education. The needs of Aboriginal parents, who may share different perspectives regarding the purposes of education, have been ignored historically because of North American assimilation policies. Thus, listening respectfully to the voices of the Wahpeton Dakota caregivers and understanding their involvement in their children's education has been the intent of this research. Qualitative research techniques were used to elicit narratives through semi-structured interviews. The participants in this research were able to reflect back to their childhood educational experiences- traditional and formal- and accept the sometimes troubled experiences that their education provided. Resilience prevailed, as the Aboriginal parents and care givers in this study envisioned a positive future for their own children.<p> The participants' narratives reflected similar, yet different expectations for "formal" education. In mainstream research literature, when educators define parent/care giver involvement, the ideal parent has been described as somehow directly involved in the school setting. This thesis challenges that perception and creates a different understanding of education for Wahpeton caregivers and its relevance to their children's lives. The Wahpeton parents and caregivers saw education as much more than academics. This viewpoint has the potential to provide a much more balanced, inclusive education process for our Aboriginal children.