Photo Courtesy of Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
“N ever forget where you come from” is a mantra I hold dear. Even though I’ve been honored to be a 2014 Cooke Young Scholar and a 2019 Cooke College Scholar, I never want to forget where I’m from. While I currently live more than eight hours away as a student at the University of Kansas, I feel a strong pull toward my ancestral home: the Rosebud Reservation in Rosebud, S.D., where I grew up.
When I’m on the rez, I’m in a whole different world compared to being here on my university campus. I think remembering and staying grounded with yourself are really important when coming to a university off the reservation. I’m the oldest of three siblings, and frequently remind my younger sister and brother to stay true to their roots as well. While it’s difficult to be away from my family and my people, my ambitions to go to college and get a degree in public health are also tied to my home.
We don’t have that many resources or opportunities on the rez, but with the Cooke scholarship, that was my way of getting my education. My dream is to go back to South Dakota and build a top-notch recreation center on the reservation after graduation. The lack of infrastructure and opportunity for young people is one thing I want to help improve for Rosebud.
“Since I was a young student, I have felt a strong sense of responsibility to get my college degree and return to Rosebud to help improve it.”
The Rosebud Reservation is home to more than 20,000 people belonging to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, although my people and I prefer to be called the Sicangu Lakota. “Sioux” was the name the newly formed United States government gave to the many different Indigenous peoples living in the American West and Midwest during colonization.
Since I was a young student, I have felt a strong sense of responsibility to get my college degree and return to Rosebud to help improve it. Native American reservations often suffer from high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and poor health care systems due to many systemic issues. For one, the U.S. government has historically underfunded public health, education, and safety infrastructure for Native Americans living on reservations despite their promise in numerous treaties to do so adequately.
I also feel passionately about sharing my Native American heritage with others, including the good parts about living on the rez. In the media, Native American reservations are often portrayed negatively because of the lack of resources and economic opportunity for Indigenous people. But there’s so much beauty I want the world to see too.
The rez builds you as a person and it builds your character. People should see that we come from powerful ancestry. Our teachings. Our beliefs. Our stories. It’s all bigger than what you see.
The Lakota people abide by seven values: respect, compassion, honesty, humility, wisdom, perseverance, and spirituality. I carry these values with me always, whether I’m on or off the reservation. They helped shape me into the person I am and fuel my passion for giving back to my community through education and opportunity. Never forget where you come from or your roots. That’s what made you who you are today.
— As told to Julia Florence
This story was adapted with permission from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. For more information on the Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars Program and the College Scholarship Program, visit jkcf.org.
Photo Courtesy of Liam Wrixon
Both my parents studied computer science, and from the moment I started school they encouraged me to pursue higher education. I grew up near Spokane, Wash., where my college journey began at Spokane Falls Community College. From there, I went to the University of Washington, then to Haskell Indian Nations University, where I am currently a senior set to graduate this spring. My major is environmental science, which is a good fit for me since I’ve always wanted to study something within biology. Environmental science provides a good overview while being interesting and impactful.
As a tribal university, Haskell is very supportive of Native students. While they have limited STEM majors, they offer a program allowing students to take classes at the University of Kansas (KU), which let me pursue specialized scientific disciplines. Through these classes, I realized I want to study entomology. I’ve always been interested in bugs but didn’t see it as the basis for a career until meeting my mentors and the entomology community at KU. I feel lucky to have a supportive group of researchers to help guide me. I’ve been participating in workshops at Haskell and attending seminars and outdoor activities at KU, including controlled burn workshops and light trappings.
“As a student and researcher, I try to embody persistence. I have struggled with anxiety and depression throughout my academic career, and I’ve learned it’s OK to feel intimidated and overwhelmed. Everyone feels that way at some point, and it’s always OK to reach out for help.”
Last summer I participated in an international Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) in Lesvos, Greece. This was an amazing experience where I studied heat tolerance in bees and the behavior of honeybees and ants. This REU was great for first-time international travelers like me. While experiencing phenomenal food and community-centric culture, I had incredible experiences visiting the Parthenon, the petrified forests of Lesvos, and Turkey. The REU gave me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore Greece while furthering my education and contributing to the scientific community. I am looking forward to presenting my research at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology conference this January.
Currently, I am a K-INBRE (Kansas Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence) scholar analyzing genetic relationships in an aquatic beetle found in South America. Through this research, I’ve gotten familiar with analyzing specimen traits to describe new species and creating family trees from genetic data. My K-INBRE research and REU solidified my decision to pursue a career in entomological research.
As a student and researcher, I try to embody persistence. I have struggled with anxiety and depression throughout my academic career, and I’ve learned it’s OK to feel intimidated and overwhelmed. Everyone feels that way at some point, and it’s always OK to reach out for help. It’s also normal to not know exactly what you are going to do later in life. I only recently focused in on what I want to study.
Having the ability to continue my studies, even without an end goal in mind, allowed me to take advantage of opportunities that came up later. These experiences have guided me toward pursuing graduate school. Another quality that helped me was the courage to put myself out there. Traveling for field research was scary but ended up being one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Courage allowed me to grasp opportunities instead of letting them pass by.
I also understand the importance of having role models. While I have stayed connected to my tribe through regional events, growing up so far away from our tribal lands in Oklahoma made me feel like a bit of an imposter. However, in 2019 I participated in my tribe’s leadership program. By meeting tribal leaders, forming friendships with other members, and delving into the culture, I connected with my tribe and felt truly at home. As an AISES member and Sloan Fellowship scholar, I’m glad to be extending the mission beyond institutional settings to support Indigenous communities.
In the future, I want to encourage others to pursue scientific career paths. Research is helping me develop skills tailored to the needs of the tribal community. Much of my tribe’s Indigenous knowledge was lost during colonization. I hope to follow in the footsteps of others in my tribe who have used their research to fill knowledge gaps and heal parts of our cultural identity.
— As told to Kathleen Carty-Fisher