Page 38 - Winds Of Change Conference Wrap Up 2018

Indigenous Data Sovereignty: How Scientists and Researchers Can Empower Indigenous Data Governancebarrier for Native students in a classroom. She spoke to the need for indigenization of the curriculum so that Indigenous people can see themselves in it. Across the world Burgart has found that Native people emphasize interconnectedness and closeness to the land. She is working for a world where oil and gas companies will emphasize those things as well and consider the cumulative impact of their projects on the land rather than “silo” their approach.Indigenous Data Sovereignty: How Scientists and Researchers Can Empower Indigenous Data GovernancePresenter Lydia Jennings began by asking attendees to respond to several questions: What is data? What is data governance? How does your community govern data? How can we engage non-tribal entities to support data governance? She de ned data sovereignty as the concept that stored information is subject to laws, and Indigenous data sovereignty as the right of Indigenous peoples and nations to govern the collection, ownership, and application of data, which derives from an inherent right toself-government. Jennings urged reclaiming data sovereignty through governance and decolonizing data. She illustrated the idea that replacing non-tribal entities and norms with tribal is critical through a “data paradigm”: “By Them for Them” is “data about us”; “By Them for Us” is “patronizing”; “By Them with Us” is “rhetoric”; and “By Us for Us” is “Indigenous data sovereignty.” She pointed out that the effort to reclaim data is global, having started with the Ma-ori. The Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona is active in this area. She concluded by pointing out that there are many supports, including the United Nations, for the rights of Indigenous people to self- determination in data sovereignty. As a scientist Jennings urged attendees to take at least one law class to become familiar with the issues that affect communities and to understand the reciprocal relationship between nation building and data rebuilding.I-Spy: A Native American CIA O cer’s StoryThis session started with the story of TeeCie, a Native American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)of cer and how, despite not being what is typically considered a good student, she became an analyst at the agency. The students in attendance were then encouraged to take part in an activity called “What’s in the Box?” Participants were tasked with using their analytical skills, as well as the clues provided to each of ve groups, to not only determine from afar what was hidden in a box placed at the front of the room but also present their ndings, explaining their level of certainty and why they reached that particular conclusion. The analysis exercise encouraged being brave and supporting your peers. The students were instructed that it’s OK to say you don’t know something, but it’s still important to add value, collaborate, and draw on your expertise. All ve groups were able to piece together the fragmented information and correctly determine that the box held a compass.Language Preservation: Indigenize Your Career Field This popular session was presented by Alaina Maker, Osage, who teaches 19 classes a week. She talked about how Native languages can follow the example ofCherokee, where native speakers are working with Google on translating text to speech. She emphasized the need for Indigenous people in organizations like Microsoft, Google, and Apple to ght for the preservation and proliferation of Native languages, saying, “We don’t live in two worlds; we want to indigenize the world around us.” One attendee pointed to the fact that most pro cient speakers are elders, emphasizing the urgent need to sit and talk with them to learn the language. The session then broke into smaller groups where participants brainstormed ideas on how to incorporate traditional languages in everyday life.Picking Your Top CollegeThis session offered advice to pre-college students on how to make the best use of the research behind the Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students roster, published in the annual Winds of Change Special College Issue. Presenters Karen English, Amy Norcross, and Kristen Goodfriend of the magazine staff explained how to use the data and outlined some important data points to look for, like graduation rate, costs, class size, and campus resources for Native students. Each attendee was given a copy of the current College Issue for reference.A Road Map to a Career in STEM: Planning the Routes, Discovering the Detours, and Locating Roadside AssistanceDr. Susan VanderKam and Meredith LaSalle-Tarantin, both from Princeton University, discussed ways to make the journey to and through college less intimidating. After providing an overview of career options available in each STEM eld, they mapped out a general path to those careers, highlighting what training is required for speci c professions and noting that the38 WINDS OF CHANGE • OKC » 2018 AISES National Conference Wrap-Up aises.org