Geoconnections: The Impacts of Geoscience Education Informed by Indigenous Research Frameworks

Darryl Reano, Purdue University

Abstract

All of the work described in this dissertation involves the use of Indigenous research frameworks to design research projects, to facilitate communication with Indigenous communities that I have collaborated with, and also to teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students. Indigenous research frameworks emphasize the importance of place in relation to the integrity of cultural values espoused by many Indigenous communities. This entails a respect for the spirituality component of Indigenous people because this is often directly tied to relationships between the land, animals, and plants of their local environments. While some research has been conducted to help understand Indigenous people’s understandings of geoscience, less emphasis has been placed on recognizing and leveraging common connections Indigenous students make between their Traditional cultures and Western science. Thus, the research presented in this dissertation identifies connections Indigenous learners make between geology concepts and their everyday lives and cultural traditions in both formal and informal settings. Some of these connections have been integrated into place-based geoscience education modules that were implemented within an introductory environmental science course. Qualitative analysis, using a socioTransformative constructivism theoretical lens, of semistructured interviews after implementation of a Sharing/Learning program for an Acoma pilot project, implemented informally, and for a series of geoscience education modules at a private university provides evidence that elements reflective of the use of sociotransformative constructivism (e.g. connections between global and localized environmental issues) were acknowledged by the participants as particularly impactful to their experience during implementation of the geoscience-focused activities. In addition to the socioTransformative theoretical perspective, Indigenous research frameworks (i.e. Tribal Critical Race Theory) were used to contextualize the educational interventions for two different Indigenous communities, Acoma Pueblo and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Tribal Critical Race Theory was not used to analyze the semi-structured interviews. Instead the Indigenous research frameworks were used to ensure that the research practices undertaken within these Indigenous communities were respectful of the Indigenous community’s cultural values, that Indigenous data sovereignty was paramount, and so that the research objectives were transparent. In addition, permission to publish the results of this research was sought from the governing entities of both Tribal Councils of Acoma Pueblo and the Yakama Nation. The impacts of using socioTransformative constructivism and Indigenous research frameworks to implement the Acoma Pueblo pilot project resulted in the privileging of the Indigenous perspectives. This was made evident by the sharing of Traditional knowledge about Acoma culture and history throughout the entire Sharing/Learning program. Also, during a group discussion at the end of the Sharing/Learning program, Acoma Pueblo Elders utilized their power to define the connections they made between geology and their cultural knowledge for themselves, and in their own words. The holistic approach of the Sharing/Learning program included inviting Acoma Pueblo community members of all ages to participate. This served the interests of the Acoma Pueblo community because one of their primary cultural values is the sharing of cultural knowledge within an intergenerational framework. The Sharing/Learning program met this objective.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Ridgway, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Indigenous studies|Native American studies

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