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- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
- Creators: Tippeconnic, John
- Creators: Barth, Jonathan
In my thesis, I discuss the historical background that has led to the IRBs academics are familiar within universities they see today. In addition, I discuss the body of literature that addresses IRBs, human subjects, and the debate on which research should or should not be regulated by universities. I will then, critically analyze the established research protocols that exist in Arizona American Indian tribes. I use Darrell Posey's (1996) idea of Community Controlled Research (CCR) as the framework for my analysis. CCR dictates the people of the community decide the ways in which research is conducted. The purpose of my research is to create recommendations that will assist and inform tribes how to either, strengthen their existing protocols, or create a research protocol that will promotes Community Controlled Research.
to Global Climate Change. By employing a Diné philosophy based research methodology this study seeks to holistically reframe the lens that the Navajo Nation conceptualizes Global Climate Change. The study uses a comprehensive review of literature that pertained to four research questions. The research questions are: 1) What do Diné oral histories say about climate change? 2) How is the Navajo Nation going to mitigate and adapt to changes to the climate using Western knowledge? 3) How can Diné research methodologies help inform policies that will mitigate and adapt to climate change? 4) What type of actions and frameworks can the Navajo Nation use to generate meaningful policy? The study utilizes a Diné philosophy based analytical framework to focus on how climate change will affect the Diné peoples' A) spirituality, B) economic sustainability, C) family-community, and D) home-environment. The findings are: a) the Navajo spiritual ceremonies are process models that can be used to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change, and they must continue to be practiced. b) The economic development section revealed that economic security is not found solely in resource development, but in the security of ceremonial knowledge. The burden of the Navajo government however, is not to promote labor, but the ability for people to live into old age. c) Because families and communities drive Diné philosophy, Diné families and communities must remember how to treat each other with respect. The collective survival of the Navajo Nation always depended on this teaching. d) The findings of the home-environment section is that Diné have to acknowledge that their lives are fragile in the face of global climate change, and the only way that they can live happily is to trust the power of the stories of the ancestors, and seek to embody the Diné philosophy. This study succeeded as an honest attempt to apply an Indigenous Diné methodology to reframe Global Climate Change into a phenomenon that is survivable.
As technology has evolved over time and the U.S. population increases each year, this thesis focuses on the ways in which food production has shifted from the original farm to table to industrialized, processed food systems. Through a rationalization perspective, this research looks to the history and repercussions of industrial agriculture as it has shifted over time. The term over-industrialization is used to operationalize the state of our current production methods. These methods focus extensively on the least expensive and most rapid methods to produce large yields of food products and pay no mind to ethics, respect of culture, land, or quality of products. Today, there is a shroud the corporations have placed over food production to ensure a “what we can’t see doesn’t affect us” belief system. In this way, the thesis provides insight on past, current, and future methods of manufacturing. I conclude that although plausible alternatives are present, continued research and substantial producer and consumer changes must be our main priority.
Given the lack of research regarding designing culturally relevant housing for the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribe, this study aimed to identify and evaluate key architectural design approaches that support Sault Ste. Marie Native culture. Key research questions guided the theoretical framework of the study, as well as the analysis of the final results. The questions include “What architectural design strategies have been used in the design of contemporary Native American Architecture in which the communities have key similarities or cultural overlap with the Sault Ste. Marie Indians?”, “How effective are each of these strategies and approaches in supporting these cultures and community needs?”, and “What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of these strategies in the context of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians’ culture and needs?”. In-depth literature and historical reviews were conducted to provide design principles and a basis for a housing architectural guideline for the Sault Tribe. A survey approved by the Institutional Review Board and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians was then conducted to collect data on tribal members’ demographics, views on culturally relevant design, and level of agreement with the proposed guideline points. Key survey results showed that tribal members felt low levels of connection to the Sault Tribe and agreed that a design guideline was necessary for future tribal housing. Furthermore, the results of the survey showed a high level of agreement with the proposed principles relating to sustainability, spatial planning, and building technology. Results also showed tribal members’ disagreements with several of the proposed guideline points, which further supported the need for a tribal-specific architectural design guideline rather than one general to all tribes. Based on the survey results the proposed design points were then organized into a tribal-specific final design guideline. Housing designs for the Sault Tribe were then created using the guideline, within the context of a reservation site in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and the current needs of tribal members. The housing designs serve as visual examples of the applicability of the guideline. The survey data, final guideline, and design examples will be significant resources for developing the Sault Tribes' urban environment and promoting cultural practice and survivance. The research will also contribute to the body of knowledge relating to contemporary Indigenous architecture.
When you see someone who looks like you or sounds like you in a major magazine, film, or book, how does it really make you feel? Do you feel liberated? Do you feel seen and validated? Or perhaps you read a negative article or comment about your people that are solely based on stereotypes, would you feel ashamed or saddened by your thought processes following the comments made about you, from individuals who don’t even know you? Does this affect the way you look at yourself or present yourself to the world as a result? And if so, how? This creative project is a self-journey of analyzing the various ways my self-esteem has fluctuated in response to different types of representations or topics related to Indigenous peoples over the course of ten weeks. It consists of multiple vulnerable reflection essays and curation of 85+ Tik Tok videos in an attempt to answer why representation matters, how it matters, and what is our personal role in it from an Indigenous perspective.
An autoethnographic project of my last months in high school and the college scholarship process. Areas of focus include classist systems in American public education, school as a place of cultural disassociation, and redirection from systems of oppression present in academic policy.
