Uncategorized – Page 3 – Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development

October 3, 2017

“Professor S’s Reflections on Her Presentation at the Conference in El Paso, Texas this September” by DANSRD Professor Pat Sekaquaptewa

The title of the conference was the “14th Inter-American Symposium on Ethnographic Research in Education.’ Initially, I was trying to figure out how “ethnography’ or “the study and systematic recording of human cultures,’ primarily through oral histories, mattered in my own home community and what I could take away from this experience to teach Alaska Native students. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the experience in my own tribe, the Hopi Tribe in Arizona, was less one of our own people doing oral histories on our own community, and more a long and famous history of outsiders, especially anthropologists, doing traditional anthropological fieldwork in our communities.

The early anthropologist (think 1800’s) were intrusive and disrespectful, but the later anthropologists and ethnographers, like Mischa Titiev, Peter Whitely, and Justin Richland, have had a beneficial and even symbiotic relationship with Hopi and Tewa families and communities. As many of you know, I serve as a tribal appellate justice for my tribe. The Hopi Appellate Courts are often called upon to decide questions of Hopi constitutional and custom law – this has often included referring to the very careful documentation of Mischa Titiev on the Village of Old Oraibi in the 1930’s, in addition to the introduction of traditional expert witnesses testimony from the villages. Later, Peter Whitely worked with the Village of Bacavi to undertake his own academic research, but he also committed his time to research and write a second book on the history of the village at the request of the village. Finally, anthropologist and lawyer, Justin Richland, also a dear friend and colleague of mine, sits as a fellow tribal justice on the Hopi Appellate Court, and also assists with the research and funding needs of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office. Consequently, I have really come to value both the training, skills, and work of my non-Hopi colleagues. They work with us on our priorities and we get great things done together.

All that said, one of the main threads of the El Paso conference was this idea of “(De)Coloniality.’ This concept comes from the work of Walter Mignolo and is described in his article “Geopolitics of Sensing and Knowing, On (De)Coloniality, Border Thinking, and Epistemic Disobedience.’ In order for me to make sense of the concept of decoloniality, I had to tether it to real life experience, and for me that took the form of judging on the Hopi high court.

Ultimately, applying Mignolo’s definitions to this experience immediately raised troubling possibilities. First, he defines “decoloniality’ and “border thinking/sensing/doing’ as an assertion that western democracy and socialism are not the only two models to orient our thinking and doing, but the communal is another option. At first, I am down with this — what is more communal than the Hopi matrilineages and village life. Then Mignolo defines his “border epistemology.’ He talks about delinking from, in our case capitalism and political economy, and suggests that we go to “the reservoir of the ways of life and modes of thinking that have been disqualified by Christian theology since the Renaissance.’ I think, o.k., can do, the Hopi clans have been doing their own thing for 10,000 years or so, we still live on our aboriginal homelands, and most Hopis when I was a kid were still fluent in Hopi, the ceremonies still go and there is still a strong sense of Hopi worldview, duties and obligations, and values. I read on. Then Mignolo says “There are two choices once you delink, you either accept the humiliation of being inferior to those who decided that you are inferior or you assimilate, and to assimilate means that you accepted your inferiority and [that you are] resigned to playing the game that is not yours, but that has been imposed upon you.’ I think whaatt??? … I spent years losing my Hopi accent, getting good grades, struggled through 4 plus years of culture shock and barely passing grades at Stanford, nearly killed myself getting through law school at Berkley, and now he is telling me NOT to assimilate??? What about my entire tribe that adopted the U.S. government’s boilerplate tribal constitution in 1936 and which has set up an elected tribal council with a western style adversarial tribal court system, with its written tribal codes and court opinions? Not to mention Indian boarding schools. And I am a tribal judge reinforcing this system – working with the colonizing anthropologists! Sure, the system may have once been imposed, but now they are our institutions and we are in control of them — we are in the driver’s seat. Then, I read the Mignolo’s third option — “border thinking.’ And I wonder, is that what we are doing at Hopi border thinking?

To hear my answer, you should attend our re-presentations at DANSRD later this semester — TBD. My revised presentation title is: “Dialogues (Other’s Research & Judicial Deliberations) & Decoloniality — with a question mark — in the Native Homelands (Others’ Borderlands) & Implications for Teaching Native Students.’ I really hope to see you there!

September 27, 2017September 27, 2017

Expanding Our Horizons: Attending the 14th Inter-American Symposium on Ethnography and Education

Last week we (Professors Jennie Carroll, Diane Benson, and Pat Sekaquaptewa) presented at the 14th Inter-American Symposium on Ethnography and Education in El Paso, Texas and across the border in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. The theme of this year’s symposium was “Crossing Borders: Disciplines, Languages/Cultures, and Spaces/Places.’ The symposium brings together scholars and students from North, Central, and South America and was conducted in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. We presented a panel entitled “Occupying the border: expanding spaces for Indigenous conversations in higher education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.’

The Symposium was amazing! We came back with expanded horizons and new knowledge to share with our colleagues and students. Each of us will be writing an individual post about our experiences and we are going to organize a presentation of our panel for faculty and students at UAF as soon as we recover from the travel to El Paso and back. In the meantime, here are a few photos of us enjoying learning and sharing with students and faculty from across the Americas.

Celebrating after our panel presentation with UTEP students.

September 18, 2017

So what’s all this talk about research anyways? by DANSRD/TM faculty Jessica Black

What comes to mind when you think of research? Surveys? Women and men in safari hats traveling remote parts of the planet, studying the “other’? Researchers staring at people, animals, or any other phenomenon jotting down notes with perplexed expressions? Or do you think of yourself, working alongside your community, brainstorming ideas for positive change? Do you think of creating new approaches and innovative interventions to tackle vexing problems? For example, do you think of cultural practices as possible interventions to expand well-being in your community? There are many approaches to research and research can be a powerful way to create meaningful change in communities. Also, research can be a lot of fun!

Let’s be honest, there was a time I felt that research was boring and actually never gave it much thought. I only wanted a job that would pay me a decent salary to live the life I wanted to live. However this all changed about ten years ago when I returned to school to work towards my PhD and it is there that I realized the value of research, how I might be able to make a meaningful impact as an Indigenous researcher, how fun research can be, and how there are new [at that time] approaches to research that placed communities at the helm of research initiatives and projects. This new paradigm, community-based participatory research (CBPR), encouraged researchers to partner with community members, organizations, and other researchers in an equitable ways, where all partners contributed expertise and shared in decision-making regarding the research (Israel, B.A., Schulz, A.J., Parker, E.A., & Becker, A.B., 1998). Novel idea, right?!? So why did it take us so long to get here?

Historically, much of the research conducted in Indigenous communities was let’s say immoral research and community-based participatory research (CBPR) was not the mode of operating. Overall, there was very much a colonial mentality when it came to researching and helping Indigenous people; outsiders claimed to know what was best for Indigenous people and carried out their research accordingly. A lot of the research that involved Indigenous people was conducted on them and not with them. According to Smith (2012) “research is probably one of the dirtiest words in the Indigenous world’s vocabulary (Smith, 2012)…as European colonizers set the standard for what is “right’, their research findings compared Indigenous societies against European standards and deemed Indigenous societies as backwards’ (Denzin et al., 2008). This colonial legacy of research has left a very bad taste in many Indigenous people and communities’ mouths and we [as researchers] are still clawing our way back from these early memories and impacts.

Research has since come a long way and while the days of conducting bad research are not entirely over they are quickly fading out as newer research paradigms are taking hold and changing the face of research in Indigenous communities. For one, many researchers are returning to their home communities or regions to conduct research initiated or desired by their communities. This has been my experience with research and with every research experience I learn so much; things I could do differently, aspects that worked, and Indigenous methodologies that I had not previously thought of and may use in future projects. So how did I go from not thinking about research to considering myself an Indigenous scholar you might ask? Let me rewind.

My journey towards becoming a researcher started ten years ago. I started a PhD program and while I knew getting a PhD would entail some research I was not aware the breadth and depth that research could cover. During my PhD I was exposed to various courses that covered a variety of approaches and methods one could use when conducting research. For example, one could use qualitative (i.e., primarily exploratory research) or quantitative (i.e., numbers or statistics to quantify a problem) and once the decision was made to conduct qualitative, quantitative, or a mix of both methods (i.e., mixed-methods research) to answer a research question, there were a variety of methods within each larger approach (e.g., quantitative) that I could use to help answer my research question. Confused? Not to worry, after my first year of courses my head was spinning. Qualitative? Quantitative? Mixed-methods? Yet I soon realized that 1) I needed to use methods that could help me answer my research question and 2) I needed to use methods that would be accepted by and have relevancy in the communities I worked with.

Thus, I quickly realized that the questions I wanted to answer for my PhD would best be answered using qualitative methods. I used the methods of semi-structured interviews, observations, and photographs to answer my questions. These methods allowed me to sit down, have a cup of coffee or tea with my participants, and listen to them as they told me stories about their lives. These methods allowed me to travel with my participants out in the boat, observing the way they lived their life, and learn from the knowledge they demonstrated through everyday actions and living. These methods allowed me to conduct research in a respectful and culturally appropriate way. I felt good conducting research. Sometimes I had to ask myself “is this really research?’ because it was so much fun and didn’t align with what I always had imagined research should be.

Conducting research as part of my job has given me meaning and purpose. The research projects I am engaged in align with my values and the values of the communities I work with. For example, one of the projects I am engaged in works alongside Alaska Native communities to identify traditional fish and wildlife management practices as traditionally practiced and will use this information to influence current management practices and decisions. Another research project I work on documents the strengths and resilience that lie within Alaska Native communities with the intent that these strength and resilience factors will help to prevent suicide.

I have come to realize that research is important; it can be conducted in culturally relevant ways, and can positively impact a community if done correctly, that is alongside a community. I have come love research; research inspires me to work harder, so that I can make meaningful change in this world and move forward initiatives that start at the community level. I wake-up each day, looking forward to my job, and what the day will bring, knowing that though my work I am working to change lives for the better and that makes me proud to call myself an Indigenous researcher.

September 11, 2017

RU WREEDIN N WRIGHTIN ENUFF? A Guest Post by Professor Jenny Bell Jones

WHAAAT? Someone put this c*** on an academic blog … and that someone is an Emeritus Professor …REALLY… POOR…???

OK, now that I have your attention let’s get serious. I am going to “talk story’ about reading and writing and how they are intimately connected as well as why it really matters that we do them both well. If you have ever taken any of my classes you will know I assign a lot of reading. Some of you have complained about the reading assignments; “too long’, “too many’, “too advanced, difficult, complicated etc.’ If you are in my 100 level courses you may think I’m picking on you with the readings but please put these thoughts to rest … I get exactly the same complaints from graduate students about too much reading! And yes, they complain about too much writing as well.

First things first; reading and writing are intimately connected. You will not be able to write well unless you spend time reading the types of documents you hope to write. If you want to become a judge and write legal decisions you will need to read a lot of them. Want to write reports about global warming? Better start reading what is already out there. Interested in obtaining funding for language and culture revitalization? You will need to read about successful projects that have been undertaken and look at the proposals that were submitted. If your dream is to write a historical novel then I really recommend you read some of those before you start on your own.

Reading is not easy for everyone; I am dyslexic and I read very slowly and had to really work hard to improve my speed and comprehension when I started college at 50. After I sobered up back in 1982 I found I had pretty much lost the ability to read so I retaught myself by reading every novel Louis L’Amour ever wrote. Definitely not academic material but it got me going and the repetition was very helpful. Starting with something that was easy gave me confidence to go on to harder stuff. Today I still take a break from more serious reading by picking up a good historical novel every so often and I’ve learned a lot about the world from them in addition to increasing my reading speed.

Writing is hard; if it was easy we would not need to spend years learning how to do it correctly. Notice I used the word “correctly’ … this is very important but a lot of us tend to ignore it. Some of us struggle with the idea that we need to write correctly because we feel that the requirement for “correct’ writing is a colonial imposition that we should not have to comply with. I fought with this as an undergraduate as I confronted the thinking that writing correctly would somehow make me “less Native’ until I really thought it through. Yes, writing came to us from colonization but it is a tool and a very useful one and, like any other tool, it should be used properly. We would never try to load a 30.06 rifle with 30.30 shells nor would we try to use straight gas in the chainsaw (or if we do we will only do it once) so why would we allow ourselves to write sloppily? We don’t misuse the other tools that colonization brought so why would we misuse something as important as writing, the tool that allows us to communicate with people all over the world?

We are not “decolonizing’ by writing poorly; poor writing equals poor communication and it makes the writer look bad whether they come from a colonized population or not. I will spend hours helping students whose writing skills need improvement, and I am very sympathetic to the challenges of learning to write in a language other than ones heritage language, but I have very little time for those who continue to write poorly using the excuse that they are decolonizing by doing so. If we want to convey a positive message about decolonization it helps if our audience can read and understand our work.

We also need to be cautious about “writing the way we talk’ … there is a place for that but usually not in academic writing because if writing the way we talk means writing in a local dialect only a very limited number of readers will understand us. Here is an example: a number of years ago I was sitting in the bus station in Edinburgh, Scotland, waiting for a bus to Aberdeen and struck up a conversation with a mother and young son who were going to Dundee. When the little boy heard I lived in Alaska he looked up at me and asked “Witsit likeby yeurbut’. I understood him because I used to speak a similar dialect but most of you would have had no idea that he was asking “What is it like where you live?’ Unless we are actually writing about the use of local dialects and want to provide an example we should translate before we write so that we can reach the widest possible group of readers.

If we want to write using a heritage language then we need to provide a good translation unless we want to limit our audience to other readers of that language. Would it be nice if our readers took the time to learn our language? Yes, of course it would, but the reality is that most people will not, so we need to consider the goal of our writing. If we want to reach a wide audience then using a language that a large number of people can read and understand is very helpful. People today are probably not disrespecting us or our language by not learning it; we all only have so much time to learn new things and spending a lot of time to learn a language that we may never actually use is not an option for most of us.

Is there ever a time when it is OK to write sloppily? In the humble opinion of an old lady the answer is no. Like it or not, others form opinions about us based on what they see us do. Hunters who do not care for their catch properly are generally not well regarded when others see spoiled meat. Fish and meat allowed to go to waste show disrespect for the animals that gave themselves. Misuse of tools and transportation equipment indicates carelessness. Sloppy writing suggests that we don’t care very much how we are perceived by others and that we have not taken time to do it right. We also run the risk of having our writing misunderstood by the recipient. We are disrespecting ourselves and our readers when we do not take the time to make corrections even when doing so is very easy.
What to do to improve? Yes, you knew they were coming … the bullet points …

– Practice reading. Don’t just read the required readings, add others by using suggested reading lists and reference lists. Read something several times if you need to.
– Don’t limit your reading choices to authors you know you will agree with. Make a point of including works by writers with different backgrounds and opposing points of view.
– Set aside time to read without distraction. Forget all that nonsense about multi-tasking. Turn off the devices and the TV.
– Read for fun. At least once every month or two read something that has nothing to do with school requirements.
– Dump the excuses and make the effort. Reading is a visual skill, one that connects the eyes and the mind so, if you are a visual learner, don’t let that deter you from reading.
– Practice writing. We don’t give you all those writing assignments because we love grading. Practice makes perfect and the more you write the better you will become provided you take note of our corrections and suggestions.
– Get a style guide and learn how to use it. Ask someone to help if you do not understand how to use. I did not do this and have always regretted it.
– Take the time when you write an email and always use spell check. Consider who your recipient is and address them respectfully…’Hey Dude’ is not a respectful way to address an instructor. If you are in doubt about the academic title, “Professor James’ is always a good default. Be very careful about forwards and carbon copying so that you do not include unintended recipients.
– Use the advice of Dr. Emil Notti and “Be determined’. We may not all become brilliant writers but we can all become proficient if we work at it and proficiency is what counts.

In closing, reading and writing are the weapons of the modern warriors. Use them both to the best extent of your ability and do everything you can to become expert marksmen with these weapons. And remember… this piece was written by someone who quit school at fourteen and never completed 8th grade. If I can do it you can too!

September 5, 2017September 5, 2017

DANSRD Tips for a Successful Semester

As your semester gets going the faculty of DANSRD would like to provide you with some tips on how to start your semester off right.

Professor Stern: Find your anchors while in school. For some students, anchors could be faculty or staff that you feel comfortable talking with. For others, anchors could be clubs on campus where you socialize with other students with common interests. Whatever your anchors, it is important to feel connected to places and people especially as the stresses of school kick in. Reach out to others as needed – it can be the difference between struggling through a situation alone or having a network of support around you.

Professor Carroll: Make a master schedule of all of your assignment, presentation, and exam due dates for the semester to see where you have multiple assignments due or other bottlenecks and then make a plan to deal with your busiest times. Can you get an assignment done early? Will your professor let you move a due date forward or back? Can you schedule your presentation date now so that you get the best time for your schedule? Part of time management is knowing what is ahead and planning for it!

Professor Ramos: Know your resources if you need help. The UAF Writing Center can provide you telephone tutoring service if you are not able to come to their campus location, call 907-474-5314 and make an appointment. The Library has Off-Campus Services. You can call or email them, explain what you need, and they will send the library materials to you. Call 907-474-7406 or email uaf-ocs@alaska.edu.

Professor Sekaquaptewa: If you encounter any problems, or if you have questions, or just uncertainties, let your professor know. We can always help you work around difficulties. Do not wait until the deadline or the end of the semester to ask for help!

Professor Bell: Communicate effectively. Use the right subject for your email so that your professor knows you are corresponding about a specific class. Be formal or at the very least polite in your communications with instructors and be sure to read through your message before you send it to make sure it says what you intend. Sending a professional looking email message is a very good habit to get into; using “hi” to start out a message to a friend is fine but a message to a professor is better written to include their title … “Hi Professor X” or “Good morning Professor X” shows respect. Last of all, be timely with your requests … asking to be excused from class after class is over is not a timely request!

Professor Brooks: Establish routines for your classes, studying and homework. Building a weekly plan can help you ensure you are taking care of the necessary tasks. Try to be consistent with your routines so they begin to become almost automatic and if something happens to interrupt your routine, being consistent will make it easier to get back on track. Over the years, I have observed that many students fail to factor in how much time they need to read BEFORE they can effectively complete their assignments. I would encourage you to establish a routine that includes time for course readings.

Professor Black: Prioritize school first: Create studying times each day, even if you don’t have an assignment due, and use that time to read ahead or start an outline for a paper due at the end of the semester. For example, if you have a fun weekend planned, make sure you get your homework and reading done first, so you can relax for the rest of the weekend and yet be prepared for the next week’s classes. This also gives you time to ask for help if you don’t understand an assignment. Prioritizing school will help you to do your best and also help you to feel more relaxed.

Professor Meckel: Take care of yourself while in college. Along with taking classes, having study time, and finding balance with social and academic pursuits remember your health is important. A healthy diet is important in warding off illnesses and keeping your brain active. Finding time to exercise is also a great way to maintain balance in your body and to process your thoughts. Being mindful of personal health will be benefit your academic experience.

What tips do you have for your fellow students?

August 28, 2017

Welcome to the DANSRD Blog

We are the Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development, of the College of Rural and Community Development at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This blog will be a platform for dialogues about issues specifically relevant to rural Alaska and Alaska Natives, and more broadly to communities in the Arctic and Circumpolar North and Indigenous communities throughout the world.

The department hosts two distinct, but complementary programs, the Alaska Native Studies BA and the Rural Development BA and MA, and our faculty have expertise and interest across a broad range of subjects from Alaska Native arts and cultures to sustainable community development to the law as it relates to Indigenous peoples. It can be difficult to articulate the breadth of our programs and faculty. Yes, we have an Alaska Native and Indigenous focus, but we also focus on development of communities throughout Alaska and the Circumpolar North. Yes, we have an Alaska and Circumpolar North focus, but we also look to learn from development experiences and processes throughout the world, particularly with Indigenous peoples and rural areas. In everything we do we try to bring a unique approach that encourages students and faculty to bring their own cultural foundations to understand and solve broader social and development issues. We have a passion for communities, a passion for positive change, and a commitment to helping students apply what they learn to make a better future.

We will post on department activities and events, teaching techniques and issues with our unique style of blended and distance education, and cultural, social, and economic development issues relevant to Alaska and the Circumpolar North and to rural Indigenous people throughout the world.

Ultimately, we hope that this blog will become a forum for dialogues across the many communities that share our interests and a space for faculty, students, and community members to share their experiences. Welcome!