photography: Darren Hull, Art Direction: Margo Yacheshyn
Jordyn Cates’ journey toward a career in clinical psychology has been a process of unraveling her family’s past to reconnect with her Indigenous roots. A member of the Okanagan Indian Band, she’s come to realize that her decision to study nearby at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus (UBCO) was partly driven by this desire to reconnect.
Cates’ experience with her family’s Indigenous community was limited to brief stays with her grandmother, who was often away working with Indigenous communities in BC and Yukon, “Living off-reserve with my mom while my grandma was contributing to different communities showed me you can still be connected to your community while not being right there,” says Cates.
While this link had felt natural in elementary school, where she was immersed in cultural activities, she says that as someone “very white passing,” she was shamed for being “whitewashed” in secondary school. Despite being wary of similar rejection when she arrived at UBCO, she was eager to lean into her Indigenous identity.
Her first two years of undergrad were spent struggling to keep up with the challenging workload. Then before her third year, Cates was accepted into UBCO’s Indigenous Research Mentorship Program (IRM) by Rachel Andreychuk, whom she credits for transforming her life’s trajectory.
Through this program, Cates not only connected with the university’s vibrant Indigenous community but also found her calling, working with psychology professor Dr. Zach Walsh in cutting-edge cannabis research. Fascinated by the motivations and repercussions of substance use, Cates was inspired by Dr. Walsh’s assertion that cannabis can be a therapeutic tool. “It was a weird moment within society when this substance that had been so demonized was now legalized,” Cates explains. “I started to learn how cannabis can be used for substitution, decreasing someone’s use of alcohol or opioids. What does this mean for Indigenous people who are disproportionately impacted by the toxic drug supply?”
Looking at existing cannabis research related to Indigenous peoples, Cates observed the vast majority reflected stigmatizing colonial bias. Her research with Dr. Walsh determined that more frequent use wasn’t necessarily problematic, and she presented the results of a study focusing on differing cannabis motivations by ethnicity at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction conference.
Fascinated by the motivations and repercussions of substance use, Cates was inspired by [her professor’s] assertion that cannabis can be a therapeutic tool.
Throughout this time, Cates stayed grounded by playing ringette (a winter sport similar to hockey) and helping her Kelowna team win the Western Canadian Championships twice. She was also becoming more immersed in her university’s Indigenous community, mentoring other students, and gaining new perspectives through an Indigenous studies course.
Attending her first AISES in Canada National Gathering at McGill University in Montreal was a particularly life-changing opportunity. Impressed by the opening ceremonies and meetings with passionate STEM students, Cates began planning a UBOC AISES chapter on the flight home. “It was so mind-blowing that these communities could connect on this big a level,” Cates says. “All Indigenous students need to see this — to have access to these resources. I wanted people who weren’t in STEM to see this collaboration.”
At the next gathering in Saskatchewan, Cates again felt a “huge flood of passion, drive, warmth, and support” and started working with student Chris Paul on establishing a UBCO chapter and applying for a special grant. Ahead of this year’s gathering, they’re planning cultural workshops and preparing OCAP (ownership, control, access, possession) training for members to understand the negative history of exploitative Indigenous research.
Now in her first year of a master’s program, Cates continues to work with Dr. Walsh and build partnerships with Indigenous communities. She’s come further than she ever believed possible while combining her research interests and Indigenous values. “I feel very fortunate to be here,” says Cates of her program, which allows her to give back to the community by addressing some pressing Indigenous issues. “Getting into this clinical psychology program is definitely a huge peak. It feels like coming full circle, like I had found gaps in literature and here I am sewing those gaps together.”
— Patrick Quinn
The beautiful Okanagan Valley in south central British Columbia is home to the Okanagan Indian Band, one of the seven bands of the Okanagan Nation. Like many tribes in the northwest U.S., the band speaks a Salishan (Salish) language.
Photo by Jessica Nagel
“Fun.” That’s the word Dr. Caleb Hickman uses to describe his job. As a supervisory biologist for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, he oversees nearly 37 projects in the Qualla Boundary, a 57,000-acre forested region of western North Carolina that is within the tribe’s ancient home.
Dr. Hickman is a busy man. He and his small team set bear-hair snares and cameras to study the black bear population. He set acoustic microphones to listen for the rare Indiana bat. He seeks ways to use the area’s elk population to boost tourism. He has reintroduced the sicklefin redhorse, a fish whose numbers were decimated by dams. Dr. Hickman even swims in swift currents in search of the giant hellbender salamander, which can grow to almost 30 inches in length and is a vulnerable species. “I’ve always been a jack of all trades,” he says. “I weave my way into different areas whether it’s working with mammals, reptiles, or even plants.”
A member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, he grew up in Pryor Creek, Okla., and learned the importance of being flexible early. He made the difficult decision to travel more than four hours away to earn his BA at Missouri Valley College, then earned his master’s at Missouri State and, eventually, after a six-year period of work, finished a PhD at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “I want to inspire kids to be OK with leaving their communities,” he says. “Stick it out. Things aren’t always easy. Work at it. Know that with grit and determination, you can make your career goals happen. Whatever you do, put everything into it.”
Stick it out. Things aren’t always easy. Work at it. Know that with grit and determination, you can make your career goals happen.
Ten years ago, Dr. Hickman jumped at the opportunity to come full circle and return to the land from which his ancestors were forcibly removed. His job puts him where ecology and biology meet. Whether he’s doing research or managing resources, all his work benefits the community.
Growing up, Dr. Hickman hunted, fished, and collected plants, and his identities as an Oklahoman and Cherokee were hard to tease apart. He lived next to a lake but didn’t know the Cherokees’ reverence for clean water was even a cultural thing. In his tribe’s culture “going to water” means spending time beside a creek to pray or going to a riverbank to wash away bad feelings. The draw to clean water was there, but a label of “cultural” was never given.
“Don’t drink water unless it’s rolled over five rocks and a salamander’s back” is a saying Dr. Hickman learned from elders after moving to North Carolina. “That traditional ecological knowledge means the water is clear. It’s clean,” he points out. “From a scientific perspective, salamanders are an indicator species that lives in fast-flowing water, which also means the water is safe.”
Dr. Hickman is based in the town of Cherokee, within the Great Smoky Mountains. When not in the field or writing reports, supervising staff, or doing statistical studies, he might be unwinding with a fast game of Indigenous stickball, a Native sport that predates lacrosse. In both games the stick is about the same size, but in stickball the basket is tiny and holds a golf ball-sized ball. Stickball’s Cherokee name is anetso (ᎠᏁᏣᎣ) — it means “little brother of war.” But no matter how rough a match is, players participate in ceremonial cleansing afterward. “Sometimes you wash a guy who hit you. It’s a way to let things go but also solidifies bonds,” Dr. Hickman says. “When the game is over, it’s over.”
Just as he plays hard and enjoys it, he works hard and looks forward to the challenges. Comparing his work to choosing a different adventure every day, he prizes being creative and being outside. “You get to think outside the box,” he says. “It can be like a scavenger hunt running around and catching animals. The hallmark of this job is having the ability to adapt. This is the best field — there’s nothing else like it.”
— George Spencer
On the wall of an Alabama cave, writing in the Cherokee syllabary describes a ceremony held in 1828 before a game of Indigenous stickball, a violent ancient sport once used to avoid war in settling conflicts.
MSU photo by Erin Brush
AISES National Conference graduate research award winner, PhD candidate, and aspiring professor, Stephanann Costello is quickly becoming a global expert in a fatal disease. “I’m part of an interdisciplinary team studying a rare neurodegenerative disease called Familial dysautonomia. This disease is inherited, so these patients start exhibiting symptoms when they are infants. There is no known cure, and most therapies only target symptoms,” Costello explains.
Costello is Aleut, a people whose ancestral lands are the Aleutian Islands of modern Alaska and Russia. The tribe’s ancient lifeways reflect their coastal home — unlike the more familiar feather headdresses, the traditional Aleut headdress is composed of seashells and beads.
Born in Washington state, Costello moved with her family to Oregon before finally settling down in Butte, Mont. In high school, one of Costello’s teachers recognized her talent and urged her to take advanced placement chemistry — a life-changing decision. “I fell in love with my chemistry class,” says Costello. “My teacher was great at showing us real-world applications of the foundational knowledge of chemistry we were learning by giving us examples of research and development within chemistry and related fields. I thought it was truly amazing that research could be a career option.”
I fell into the health-related research fields very quickly and I love them.
Costello went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a minor in biology at Montana Technological University. The undergraduate research opportunities at Montana Tech, and encouragement from her undergraduate advisor, and the prospect of working with her current mentor, Dr. Valérie Copié, inspired her to pursue graduate studies at Montana State University. Costello will soon be earning a PhD in biochemistry supported by the MSU Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership program and the Montana INBRE (IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence) Native American Graduate Fellowship. “I worked on several research projects centered around human health that utilized unique resources to combat health disparities, not only in my community but also on a larger scale regarding antibiotic-resistant pathogens,” she says. “I fell into the health-related research fields very quickly and I love them. I never want to leave them.”
Costello’s current research focuses on the degraded interaction between the host’s metabolism and the gut-microbiome and nervous system in Familial dysautonomia patients. “The nerves that communicate between the gut and the brain are damaged due to the developmental and progressive nature of FD, which disrupts communication between these systems,” Costello explains. “The central metabolism is a huge communicator between the gut and the brain, and when one system is disrupted, they all negatively feed back into the other.” She says that her focus is understanding and studying the metabolism of these patients. “I want to see how we can target the metabolism to try and prevent further symptom development and disease progression,” she adds.
Like many students engaged in research, Costello has experienced impostor syndrome, which can be one of the most significant challenges of graduate school. It appears as the psychological distress students feel when they doubt their own skills and accomplishments to the point that they fear being exposed as an impostor. This feeling can be even more pronounced in students who are struggling with their Native identity and how well that identity fits — or doesn’t fit — in an academic setting.
Costello, a soon-to-be Native PhD, offers some valuable advice: “Part of my struggle with impostor syndrome is that because I’m Aleut, and I do share that, I have been concerned that my success is only a result of me representing a minority.” Coming to AISES, hearing the same story from other minorities, and the support and affirmation from Dr. Copié have been powerful in helping her overcome the doubt that she should not be claiming her Native identity. The realization that she would still be producing the work she is, whether she talks about being Native or not, has helped her recognize that, while she may not know everything, she does know a fair amount. Specializing in a field at her level makes her an expert. “I have the support of all of these people who believe in me even when I don’t,” she says. “And that says something for itself.”
An AISES member for five years, Costello has presented at every in-person AISES National Conference since 2018. Her most recent oral presentation was awarded first place in the graduate research category. The support from family, academic advisors and mentors, and AISES will help Costello on her journey to becoming a leading Native American professor. “The overall feeling I get from AISES is that everyone there really cares about your success even though they don’t know who you are,” she says. “Everyone is so supportive — it feels like a giant family when we get together. Every time I come back from AISES, I’m just raving about it for a month!”
— Tyler Rust
Russian fur traders gave the name “Aleut” to the Unangan people they encountered in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Russian exploitation and the 19th-century Gold Rush decimated the Native population, but the Aleuts are actively reclaiming their traditions.