Hi Nikki, good question. The collaborative fieldwork featured in the video was the first year of the project, and in the next year we are hoping to engage more Ute students at the three tribes in more in-depth projects. We're planning to create and connect with opportunities that might range from elder-youth workshops, to undergraduate internships, to science fair projects that highlight Ute TEK.

Thanks for the comments, Noah. Our goals for the Ute youth participants over the course of the five year project (we are in year 3) are to have an increased interest in both Traditional Ecological Knowledge and STEM, to see themselves as STEM learners and practitioners, and in the long-term, increased STEM education and workforce participation. Our evaluation for this audience and these goals has been in-depth interviews, both on camera and via phone after the summer field trips. We're finding that the youth (and elders) are definitely interested in the connections between STEM and TEK, and are excited to see themselves as TEK practitioners. In the next phases of the project we may focus more on how students build STEM identities. 

This video is actually one of nine videos we created for our exhibit on the project. The other videos are available to view on vimeo https://vimeo.com/showcase/5723628 The "Youth, Elders, and Scientists" and "Next Generations" videos have more footage of the youth talking about their experiences.

Liz

Those are both great questions! Let me answer the second one first:

The Ute elders and the scientists from the Dominguez Archaeological Research Group had already been working together on a number of projects, so we were very fortunate to build on the relationships and best practices that they had developed over the past decade. One of the takeaways from our first year of field work was we ensured that the TEK experts always spoke first when were looking at different archaeological sites, ecological zones, historic locations. We found that it was effective for the science experts to engage as part of the TEK-centered conversation, but that it was much more challenging for the TEK experts to thread their perspectives into conversations that were initiated from a "science" perspective.

The first question is really interesting. Dr. Kelly Kindscher, an ethnobotanist and one of our scientist partners would probably say that his work already ties into those key relationships with living things. I'll be curious to ask that question of some of the archaeologists on the project. I know that some of them have mentioned a shifting focus to "Cultural Landscapes", and I'm curious how that is playing out for them in more detail.

Thank you for the reply, Liz!  Love the piece about having the TEK experts speak first; it seems like a simple approach, but I imagine one that requires consistent intention and attention.  And as a biochemist (with no field work) I can't say that I ever felt a strong connection to living things and nature through my work, though many years later I lament the opportunities missed to create such ties. With our work now with middle graders, I'm more and more interested in supporting development of STEM identities through non-human-centered views of the natural world. Thank you for sharing this work!

Hi Catherine, 

We're just about to start on the teacher training and K-12 outreach components of the project this summer and the upcoming school year. For educators our medium-range goal is increase ability and motivation to teach both Ute content and STEM skills. Because Colorado social studies standards have Colorado history primarily at 4th grade, we think we may have some opportunities to explore how elementary educators can combine STEM and social studies in innovative ways. Now I'm thinking we'll have to document this on film for next year's showcase.

Relatedly, I wonder if any part of the program connects Indigenous ways of living in nature with ideas about conservation?

To answer both of these questions:

 Our hope is that this project is bringing together the two ways of knowing, and making more explicit the ways that they are deeply connected, and possibly form a whole. The evaluation interviews are highlighting the places that there are deep connections. The interviews are also highlighting what motivates an understanding of those connections. Is it a conversation ethos? Is it coming from a deep sense of identity, and desire to maintain a cultural identity, or transform a cultural identity? Great questions for us to explore further!

Yes, I have, and this is awesome! In fact, I have asked my project team to look at is.

The researchers do talk about an "app" to facilitate making the maps. Can you tell me more about that or give me the name and contact of someone who could? I have a project starting up in June that has Tribal youth collecting stories about their local environment and talking to Tribal elders and leaders about the decision-making process they go through to let the youth make high-quality podcasts about it. I would love to see if we could try to use the App.

Brian: The Indigenous Mapping Project looks amazing, and it's no great to see a practical, high-tech, complex solution to some of the questions of cultural IP that we've been pondering. I'm exciting to explore that project more, and see if there are ways to work together.

Thanks, Toran!

Jonathan, thanks for watching the video. That's a great suggestion. We've been working mostly with the Education Departments at the Ute Tribes, and I know building that stronger network between informal science education, formal K-20, and the tribes is big goal for everyone involved. The Fort Lewis STEM project is a great potential partnership.

Great question, and great opportunity for me share one of my favorite videos that we created for the Ute STEM exhibit on display at History Colorado. This video was made in June 2018, during fieldwork in the San Luis Valley. https://vimeo.com/showcase/5723628/video/317367005

At the 3:40 mark, Jazmin Caremonoros, one of the youth participants from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, talks about her own response to being in these landscapes.