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Creating a positive space to train
American Indians / Alaskan Natives in
genomics
Formal introduction – Dine, Navajo
Ya'at'eeh! Shi ei Joslynn Lee yinishye.
Kiis’áanii nishli. Doo Todik'ozhi bashishchiin.
Aadoo Kiis’áanii da shicheii doo Ashiihi da shinali.
Hello. I am called Joslynn Lee.
I am of the Laguna Pueblo, born for the Salt Water Clan.
And the Acoma Pueblo are my maternal grandfather’s
people and the Salt Clan are my paternal grandfather’s
clan.
Joslynn S. Lee, Ph.D., Data Science Educator
[email protected]
In the Navajo way, this is how Navajos know where you come from and not
marry within clans for preservation purposes.
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Formal introduction - Kerese
Present talking points on AI/AN
Guwadzii Joslynn Lee, shawiiti hanu stah `che.
Joslynn Lee is of the Parrot Clan of my people.
Laguna Pueblo and Acoma Pueblo
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http://www.bia.gov/
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One voice, of many stories that come before
me
• Underrepresented of the URMs
• History of western education research and
Native communities
• How to engage Native populations
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Less growth of bachelors degrees in STEM
for AI/AN
Terminology
• Native vs Native American vs American
Indian and Alaskan Native Indigenous vs
First Nation
• Federally recognized tribe: 522 in US
• Reservation
• Elder
• Western Education
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http://www.bia.gov/
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SOURCE: National Science Foundation, NCSES, special tabulations of US DOE, NCES, IPEDACS, 2002–12.
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Where are these students going?
Where are these students going?
Workforce demographics for AI/AN in 2013
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Employed scientists and engineers, by bachelors degree total
46,000
Science occupations
6,000
Engineering occupations
2000
S&E-related occupations (health, teachers, technicians)
22000
Non-S&E occupations (art, sales/marketing, teachers)
17000
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• Assimilation of Native
Americans in Western
education
Workforce demographics for AI/AN in 2013
46,000
Science occupations
6,000
Engineering occupations
2000
S&E-related occupations (health, teachers, technicians)
22000
Non-S&E occupations (art, sales/marketing, teachers)
17000
– 1892 Army Officer Richard
Pratt
– Boarding schools
– Pratt's motto: “Save the
man, kill the Indian”
– teach Indian children the
skills necessary to function
effectively in American
society
80% of workforce is not in STEM
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SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Scientists and Engineers
Statistical Data System (SESTAT), 2013 (preliminary).
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What can explain this?
Where are these students going?
Employed scientists and engineers, by bachelors degree total
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Scientists and Engineers
Statistical Data System (SESTAT), 2013 (preliminary).
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Education was valued
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Chiricahua Apache tribe
A History of American Indian Education: http://www.edweek.org
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How to engage AI/AN populations?
Sequoyah
(Cherokee Indian)
Perfected the Cherokee
alphabet and syllabary in 1821
90% of Cherokees became
literate within 10 years
• Identify the Native students
–
–
–
–
Not stereotypical “brown” person
Last names are not relevant
Intermarriage
Rural vs urban
• Beginning of semester:
Charles A. Eastman, Ohiyesa
(Santee Sioux)
1858-1939
Santee Normal Training School
Medical doctor
Read and write Dakota Sioux language
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A History of American Indian Education: http://www.edweek.org
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“I invite those who would like to discuss any
religious or cultural beliefs that may arise during our
course. If you are unsure, my office is a safe space
to discuss this.”
– Student need to reciprocate in their own way
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Opened a can of worms
How to engage AI/AN populations?
• Are you really trained?
• Know your on-campus resources
• Understand traditional ecological
knowledge (TEK) perspective
– American Indian resource centers
– Multicultural center
– Department of American Indian studies
– learn how to read the environment
– values and skills comes from elders
– knowledge, is passed down through the
generations (oral language)
– interconnectedness (land, water, air, space,
beings)
– harmony
• Professional organizations
– American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
– Society for Advancing Chicanos and Native Americans in
Science (SACNAS)
• Government entities
– National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Policy
Research Center (http://www.ncai.org/prc)
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How to engage AI/AN populations?
– Plants are sacred, protocol
– Animals are relatives, we do not harm
– Blood and tissues are our own, keep track
• Culturally appropriate manner (i.e. Model
organisms)
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Corn - Zea mays subsp
Genetics and domestication
Creation stories, gift to people
Example: Tádídíín (corn pollen) is a
fundamental aspect of Navajo traditional
culture
– it comes from the tassels of a mature corn plant
– can only be collected by a female
– communicating with the Navajo Holy People
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Response to long-term storage of gene
banks
“Seeds are living beings that exist within a web
of relationships, they are connected to the
human who plants the seed, the microbes that
live in the soil alongside the seed, the soil
itself, the harvester, and those who use and/or
consume the plant. These relationships are
reciprocal and constitutive, which means that
both seeds and humans are entities formed by
and simultaneously forming life’s actions
around themselves.”
Breen, S. D. (2015) Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.
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Animal specimens
• Lizards
• Example: “shicheii” maternal grandfather
or horned toad
– do not kill or harm our grandfathers nor
horned toad
Louie Hena
Tribal elder of
Tesuque Pueblo
According to this perspective, humans must recognize and protect those
relationships through prayers or other signs of respect and connection.
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Plants are sacred
•
•
•
•
• Understand what sample collection may
overstep
Nicholas-Figueroa, L. (2015)
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• Rational for organisms will vary between
tribes
– they helped in creation stories
– are relatives
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Take away points sample handling
• My perspective
How to engage AI/AN populations?
• Understand what sample collection may
overstep
– Respect any specimen you handle
– Plants are sacred, protocol
– Animals are relatives, we do not harm
– Blood and tissues are our own, keep track
• As a TA in labs
• If you see something, say something approach
– Understanding where they came from
• American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)
• repository
• Culturally appropriate manner (i.e. Model
organisms)
• What about data?
– Treat just like a real sample
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How to engage AI/AN populations?
– no Navajo words for computer or keyboard or
Internet
– technology without cultural relevance was
meaningless to the Navajo elders
http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2010/01/it-across-navajo-nation
Examples of Science and Culture
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– female Navajo workers produced were
used in devices such as calculators,
missile guidance systems, and other early
computing devices
– Weaving, like all Navajo arts, is done with
unique imagination and craftsmanship
• 2009: Navajo librarian Jeannie
Whitehorse
– information technology could change their
lives
– group of women how to design their rugs
— an art form for which Navajo are
renowned — using an online paint
program
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How to engage AI/AN populations?
• Integrate science into their culture
http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/indigenouscircuits/http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2010/01/it-across-navajo-nation
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Conclusion
• Need to train more Native students
– Make a long-lasting and genuine commitment
– Get involved with public community events
– Biological sciences
– Computer science
– Mathematics and statistics
• STEM outreach
• career workshop (powwows, flea markets)
– Meet the tribal council / liaison, elder
• Maintain a safe and inclusive space
• Culturally appropriate approach to
genomics
• the natural world (land/water/air)
• tribal concerns (environment/health disparity)
• giving back to community
– Curriculum integration
• water quality, microbial genomics
• evolutionary relationships
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• 1965-1975: Fairchild Corporation’s
Semiconductor Division on Navajo
Reservation
• Understand we value technology and
culture, even with language barrier
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Acknowledgements
How did I get interested in science?
Booth: 503
I explored nature on the
Navajo and Pueblo
reservations, filled with plants
and animals.
Oral stories from my
grandparents explained how
nature works.
The iPlant Collaborative is funded by a grant from the National Science
Foundation Plant Cyberinfrastructure Program (#DBI-0735191).
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