Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-184). Also available on the Internet.

This research is an exploration of students' meaning making around physical concepts through connections to students' funds of knowledge. This qualitative case study, influenced by Indigenous methodologies, focused on two Native students in a tribal college introductory physics course, exploring the personal, cultural, and philosophical connections that were voiced in dialogic interactions among the students and instructor. The data were collected through audio recordings of class sessions and reflective journaling by the instructor/researcher. Analysis identified dialogues in which meaning making took place, and the funds of knowledge that students brought to bear on these dialogues. The results of the analysis of these meaning-making occasions are presented by physical concept. For both students, the cultural connections they brought in were ways for them to incorporate their out-of-class identities and to consider their cultures from a scientific perspective. The influence of the students' personal connections was just as important as that of the cultural connections; the shared classroom context was also a valuable resource in the for collaborative meaning making. Both students both enjoyed examining the philosophical and spiritual implications of physical ideas; these dialogues provided windows into students' thinking that would not have been accessible in other ways. The students also made meanings about the nature of science that meshed with their identities and created a space for them to identify as scientists, and both came to view science as part of their cultural heritage. Allowing students free reign to make connections and empowering them to make decisions about their own learning were means of encouraging students to develop meaningful conceptual understanding. By investigating the meanings students made around physical content, we can learn about what motivates them, what is important to them, and potentially how to structure curricula that will better support their meaning making in other courses.

The aim of the study is to examine the perceptions of rural people towards the demarcation issue in KwaZulu-Natal. The debate on land and land ownership and control has existed since Africa's invasion by colonists. A rhetorical question posed by Richard A. Lobban, Jr, author of "Africa Divide", "if European colonialism has not altered the African continent, how would modern political geography differ?" Questions of this nature have been through many a geographer's mind. The "Scramble for Africa", resulted in Africa being cut up into portions. Colonial boundaries fissured natural territorial boundaries and split clannish groups of similar languages. The twentieth century was rife with civil wars resulting from clan divisions that arose among African nations. South Africa, especially KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is no exception to conflicts. Tensions between local government and tribal authorities have soared since the question of regionalism in South Africa emerged from the 1994 democratic elections. South Africa was demarcated during apartheid into four provinces and as part of the democratic transformation further divided into nine provinces. With the new re-demarcation national government felt a need to incorporate rural areas into local government structures, for financial support. The study attempts to link demarcation and socio-cultural factors of rural communities towards the concept of demarcation. However, particular attention is given to socio-economic elements of the community under study, what is demarcation, objectives of demarcation, the role of tribal authority and local government and more especially how these issues play a role in the lives of the rural community. Furthermore, in order to ascertain the extent to which the Demarcation Board had addressed the issue of demarcation in rural areas. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of Durban-Westville, 2002

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

M.A. / This study sought to provide guidelines for the development of strategies for the socio economic empowerment of traditional leaders. Traditional leaders have performed the development function even prior to the establishment of local government structures. The Constitution of the country does not clearly state the role of traditional leaders. It, however, gives clear disposition of the role of local municipalities and thus creates a vacuum between the two structures. The research explored the socio economic issues in KwaZulu-Natal and also the role that could be played by traditional leaders to enhance sustainable development in rural areas. A qualitative research approach was applied with purposive sampling strategy in this study. Structured questionnaires were formulated and used with focus groups. Two focus groups were conducted with traditional leaders and one with a professional group. The findings of the study confirmed that there were problems experienced by traditional leaders when performing the development function. This had resulted in traditional leaders not being sure of what role they could play in relation to the functions of municipal councils. It also revealed the tension that existed between traditional leadership structures and municipalities. However, the study also indicated the training of traditional leaders to become effective in developmental strategies of the province KwaZulu-Natal and also gave an exposition of the strategies for the socioeconomic empowerment of traditional leaders. / Prof. J.B.S. Nel

Native American women have been historically disadvantaged as victims of domestic violence. These hardships were primarily due to a policy that limited Native American tribes’ criminal jurisdiction over non-Native individuals on Native American reservations. This policy changed with the passage of the Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction (SDVCJ) in 2013. This qualitative case study employed the social construction of target populations conceptual framework to explore the experiences of tribal officials and judicial officers of the Tulalip tribe. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 9 key informants selected through purposeful sampling on the basis of their role within the Tulalip tribe’s SDVCJ. Data were sorted, organized, and coded by hand using a deductive thematic analysis to identify key themes. The key themes were leadership, protection against domestic violence, healing, accountability, training, and increased work. These conclusions may be useful to extend protection to individuals not protected under SDVCJ, which include Native American children, men, and elders who may also be victims of domestic violence.

This study explores how the existence of traditional leadership alongside democratic governance within the local sphere of government affects traditional communities. It focuses on the relationships between traditional leadership and other key governance institutions at the local sphere; that is local government, administration of justice; community safety and land administration and how these relationships are translated in traditional communities. The key elements focused on include the roles of the different institutions, the role and position of the traditional community in governance, the need for institutions of governance to uphold their Constitutional mandates including the principles of democracy enshrined in the Bill of Rights within the Constitution. Through the use of the case study method of research, focusing on the Mamaila (Kolobetona) Traditional Community and the Lemondokop Village in particular, the study affirms the position held by some scholars that there is dual governance within the local sphere of government where the institution of traditional leadership exists. Furthermore, this study reveals that the relationships between traditional leadership and the other institutions of governance vary depending on the mandate of such institutions within the traditional community. The question is how such varied relationships affect the traditional community. To answer the above question I separated my findings into two chapters, focusing on perceptions and experiences of community leadership and community members respectively. This study shows that while dual governance is entrenched within the traditional community, and the key actors have found a way of accommodating each other and balancing their roles, the traditional community is at the mercy of traditional leadership because of the authority over communal land. The traditional community is not well conversant with the rights they have over the land and hence their development needs are driven by an elite who is more concerned about entrenching his authority than promoting community development.

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In order to more fully inform moves toward equity in emergency management (EM), this research seeks to describe a general landscape of professional Tribal EM, and in particular, to examine how Tribal emergency managers and Tribal Nations are situated in relation to the EM enterprise (EME), and how they are doing resilience in their Tribal Nations. The findings presented in this dissertation reflect efforts to explore and document Tribal emergency managers' descriptions of their work and their perceptions about its context as they seek to do resilience in their Tribes. Specifically, qualitative interviews were conducted with Tribal emergency managers whose Tribal Nations span the United States. Findings indicate that there is significant variation among Tribal nations in terms of EM structures and capacities; Tribal emergency managers engage in a wide array of activities to promote resilience in their communities; and Tribal EM is becoming increasingly professionalized. Importantly, however, the research also uncovered a paradox in which Tribal emergency managers, both implicitly and explicitly excluded from the EME in many ways, find themselves doing resilience in the context of an increasingly popular disaster resilience paradigm that both increasingly shifts the burden of resilience to the local level, and expands the range of tasks associated with successful resilience processes. The dissertation concludes by discussing conceptual and practical implications of the research as well as directions for future research in this area.