Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University

Not having accurate contemporary, historical and place-based curriculum drafted in consultation with tribes is a huge disservice and a violation of the trust agreements the United States government entered into with its sovereign nations. Through a single state case study, this research explores how a tribally written curriculum attempts to address this violation by examining the state context of the Native American education landscape and state policy. This research utilizes the theoretical frameworks of Red Pedagogy, Tribal Critical Theory and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy to explore the intentions of the tribal curriculum writers and the professional development provider of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Tribal History curriculum unit; Oregon’s American Indian/Alaska Native Education State Plan, and the legislative policy of Senate Bill 13. The study concluded with the following implications for policy, theory, and practice: Indigenous curricular endeavors that center indigenous values, incorporate local context are important, and acknowledge the role of colonialism and are just part of the larger systemic response of decolonization; Implementation challenges are rooted in a colonized paradigm and expanding reform to the educator preparation and policy realm is critical so that all educators (Native and non-Native benefit); Addressing power and hegemonic structures in contexts outside of education (with the local indigenous communities) create a larger and necessary accountability scope; Indigenous knowledge is nuanced, varied, and evolving and thus, needs robust professional development that incorporates best and promising practices in concert with local indigenous communities for both inservice and preservice fields; And without policy and state incentives, the implementation challenges will continue. / 10000-01-01

abstract: In the First Innovations Initiative at Arizona State University students are exposed to the culture of innovation and the entrepreneurial process through two courses situated intentionally within an American Indian sustainability context. In this action research dissertation, a summer field practicum was designed and implemented to complement the two in-classroom course offerings. The first implementation of the new summer field practicum was documented for the two participating students. A survey and focus group were conducted to evaluate the spring 2011 classroom course and, separately, to evaluate the summer field practicum. Students in the spring 2011 course and summer field practicum reported that they were stimulated to think more innovatively, gained interest in the subject area and entrepreneurial/innovation processes, and improved their skills related to public speaking, networking, problem solving and research. The summer practicum participants reported larger increases in confidence in creating, planning and implementing a sustainable entrepreneurship venture, compared with the reports of the spring in-classroom participants. Additionally, differences favoring the summer practicum students were found in reported sense of community and individualism in support of entrepreneurship and innovation. The study results are being used to revamp both the in-classroom and field practicum experience for the benefit of future participants. Specifically, the American Indian perspective will be more fully embedded in each class session, contemporary timely articles and issues will be sought out and discussed in class, and the practicum experience will be further developed with additional student participants and site organizations sought. Additionally, the trans-disciplinary team approach will continue, with additional professional development opportunities provided for current team members and the addition of new instructional team members. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Higher and Postsecondary Education 2012

abstract: This study identifies the flora of the Eagletail Mountain Region, an area covering approximately 100,600 acres, located in west-central Arizona that includes the Eagletail Mountains, Granite Mountains, portions of the Harquahala Valley, and Cemetery Ridge near Clanton Well. The region is located about 129 km (80 mi) west of Phoenix and 24 km (15 mi) south of Interstate 10. Plants were collected over a six-year period, beginning September, 2004 and ending May, 2010, including two wet winters and two wet summers. A total of 702 collections were made covering 292 species that represented 63 families. Additional information on the region included in the thesis are: 1) an analysis of the climate, based on 20 years of rainfall records; 2) a description of the geology and its influence on plant distribution; 3) a prehistory and history identifying archeological sites; 4) an analysis of food plants used by the Native Americans that suggests how they were able to live in the region; 5)a paleo-botanical history based on an evaluation of pack-rat midden collections from mountain ranges around the region; 6) a comparison of the trees, shrubs, and perennials of the Eagletail Mountain Region with those of the Sierra Estrella and Kofa Mountains; and 7) a survey of non-native species. The habitats that the plants occupied based on climate and soils included were: 1) the bottoms and sides of sandy/ gravelly washes, 2) bajada slopes-volcanic soils, 3) bajada slopes-granitic sandy soils, 4) slot canyons/rock outcrops, 5) desert pavement, and 6) open valleys. Each habitat has its own characteristic species composition and distribution. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Biology 2012

<p> This dissertation examines the recognition of Indigenous territorial rights amidst the development of small hydropower in the Puelwillimapu Territory, which traditionally spans the R&iacute;os and Lagos regions of southern Chile. Around the world, small hydropower (internationally defined as generating between 1&ndash;10 megawatts, in Chile defined as generating 20 megawatts or less) is embraced as a more sustainable alternative to large reservoir hydropower in the transition to renewable energy. However, growing scholarship recognizes that small hydropower can create significant social and ecological impacts. This ethnographic and institutional research collaboratively examines small hydropower impacts in the Puelwillimapu, providing a process-oriented analysis of how Indigenous rights are recognized, and small hydropower is developed. A collaborative research approach with the Alianza Territorial Puelwillimapu, a Mapuche-Williche ancestral alliance, examines rights, conflicts, and small hydropower impacts. Research traces how small hydropower affects Puelwillimapu physical and spiritual territory. This approach emphasizes how to blend participatory mapmaking among other methods with <i>Trawun</i>, a traditional form of meeting of the Mapuche Pueblo. Ultimately, analysis centers on encounters between the two clashing logics in small hydropower conflicts: Chilean institutions and Mapuche-Williche cosmovision. </p><p> As the five case studies analyzed here demonstrate, regulating small hydropower by megawatt is inadequate for preventing the repercussions experienced in Mapuche territory. Small hydropower&rsquo;s careless boom also signals that, paradoxically, small hydropower has too much regulation to be easily developed, but not enough to safeguard Indigenous rights or environmental protection. The regulatory design of the Environmental Impact Assessment process is incapable of upholding ILO Convention 169 standards, an international treaty for Indigenous rights ratified by Chile in 2008. </p><p> Contrary to the official tendency to explain environmental management as a technical process, this dissertation explains recurring politics involved in small hydropower development and conflict. In scoping for the Environmental Assessment process, private consultancy companies enact a divisive <i> politics of recognition</i>, which furthers a historical pattern of territorial fragmentation in Mapuche territory. Second, a <i>politics of knowledge </i> is evident in how knowledge is recognized and produced in the Environmental Assessment process. Private consultancy groups are granted an interpretive role in the assessment process, underestimating environmental impacts while creating enduring social divisions in Mapuche-Williche communities. Inaccurate and limited scientific data is privileged over ancestral knowledge that suggests small hydropower exacerbates climate vulnerabilities such as seasonal drought. In response, the Alianza Territorial Puelwillimapu articulates a <i> politics of scale</i> through combining territorial mobilization and formal administrative and legal action. They seek justice in Chilean institutions in part by demanding that they be consulted at the scale of territory. As attempts for conflict resolution and dialogue continue to fall short of protecting territorial rights, the international realm becomes a more viable alternative for rights recognition. Broadly, this work contributes to geographic questions involving critical cartography, collaborative methodologies, water governance, and the transition to renewable energy. It aims to inform international scholarship on small hydropower regulation and impacts, and Indigenous rights recognition. </p><p>

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This research will address how the monumental organization of Kincaid Mounds was put together through time. The measurable variability in the potential performative presentation of the mounds and structures of Kincaid will be treated as an archaeological dataset for the exploration of social change. This dataset will emphasize the topological relationships among earthworks, structures, and the ancient Native Americans living within and actively constructing the site and their society. The dynamics of change in the public presentation of these earthworks will relate to public practice and changing political strategies, a local history indicative of Kincaid’s internal social processes and political trajectory in the broader Ohio Valley and Mississippian culture.

The purpose of this study was to determine how policies regarding remedial education can influence the experiences of students who identify as low socioeconomic (SES) Native American women at a Midwestern community college. This study proposed to use interpretive policy analysis and phenomenological qualitative research to learn more about how low SES Native American women view their experiences in the classroom. An interpretive policy analysis determined how various interpretive communities understood policies, how they enacted these policies in the classroom, and how students reacted to them. For the qualitative research portion, I interviewed three low SES Native American women at a community college and three of their instructors. I found that this institution’s policies considered the cost and value of education as paramount. Subsequently, the Native American students I interviewed found themselves on the outside of the college, isolated and struggling to succeed.

American emigrants frequently encountered Native North Americans during the overland trail migrations of the 1840s-1860s. This study examines the frequency and nature of those interactions in two geographic sections: the first half of the trail, from the Missouri River to the eastern slope of the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, and the second half, from the western slope of South Pass to Oregon City, Oregon. While the predominant historiography of these migrations has focused on a binary of hostile or non-hostile interactions between Indians and emigrants, the focus on violence has obscured the larger issue of frequent and amicable interactions between emigrants and Indian peoples along the overland route. Factors such as trade, the availability of resources, and cultural differences influenced the nature of these inter-ethnic interactions, which varied from the beginning of the trail on the Plains to the end of the trail on the Columbia Plateau.

Master of Science / Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources / Candice A. Shoemaker / Low fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and low physical activity (PA) levels are linked to increased risk of chronic diseases such as overweight and obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases. American Indians/Alaska Natives (NA) seem to be even more susceptible to these chronic diseases when compared to the general United States (U.S.) population, though little research has been conducted on smaller NA tribes. Gardening has been shown to increase vegetable consumption and be a means of PA. The purpose of this study was to see if gardeners of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe (PBPN) in Kansas were more likely to have positive health indicators than non-gardeners. The objective was to discover if PBPN gardeners were more likely than non-gardeners to eat the daily recommended amount of fruit (2 servings) (Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, 2015a), eat the daily recommended amount of vegetables (3 servings) (Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, 2015b), meet the weekly recommended amount of PA (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009), perceive their health to be good, and determine if PBPN gardeners meet the weekly recommended amount of PA through gardening activities. Surveys were utilized to gather gardening and health information for PBPN tribal members. Data was coded and descriptive and contingent statistical analyses were performed. Gardeners were more likely than non-gardeners to eat the daily recommended amount of vegetables, the daily amount of both FV, and meet all FV and PA recommendations. Most gardeners met PA recommendations through gardening activities. Gardeners were not more likely than non-gardeners to eat the daily recommended amount of fruit, meet the recommended amount of PA, or to perceive their health as good. Encouraging gardening seems promising as a means of encouraging healthy lifestyles.