photo: The Steam ConnectionDanielle Boyer (above) and Nate Raynor were interviewed on Native America Calling in April. Boyer was interviewed for an online Q&A distributed by Logitech about her work making robotics accessible to all children.
Dr. Serra Hoagland is co-editor of the new book Wildlife Stewardship on Tribal Lands: Our Place Is in Our Soul, published in May. This comprehensive resource includes the expertise of nearly 100 Native scholars and wildlife professionals to guide readers on best practices for incorporating Indigenous knowledge and working effectively with tribal communities. Dr. Hoagland, a liaison officer with the U.S. Forest Service, was the 2020 winner of the AISES Most Promising Engineer or Scientist Professional Award.
James LeMoine, founding president of the McMaster University AISES College Chapter and a 2021 IBET (Indigenous Black Engineering and Technology project) Fellow at his school, was profiled on the Faculty of Engineering’s webpage. He is a PhD student in mechanical engineering.
Dr. Kate Rahbari was featured in the article “A Match Made Indigenous: Celebrating Incoming Native Resident-Physicians” in the Forbes magazine “Innovation Healthcare” newsletter. A physician-scientist, she plans to specialize in ob-gyn. Read more about Dr. Rahbari in the Summer 2021 issue of Winds of Change.
Back in 1992 artists Marlene Watson and Lee Sprague proposed installing a Turtle Island monument in the City of Berkeley, Calif. Now finally approved, the monument is expected to be installed in 2024. Native News Online quoted Watson in the article “30 Years Later, Berkeley California Landmark Preservation Commission Approves the Turtle Island Monument” about the importance of the project to inspiring Native youth.
Asa “Ace” Samuels, recently a senior biology major at the University of Oklahoma, was profiled by the OU Daily in May. An advocate for Indigenous students on campus, Samuels was a member of several organizations and was elected to serve as “Mr. Indigenous OU,” an ambassador role that represents both the university and Indigenous people.
Daniella James gave the commencement address at San Carlos Apache College. Read more about James in the 2022–2023 Special College Issue of Winds of Change.
In May Montoya Whiteman, managing director of editorial and special projects, participated in a panel on “The Enduring Appeal of Native Magazines” on Native America Calling.
AISES Board of Directors member Dr. Adrienne Laverdure was a featured speaker at an event observing the 50th anniversary of the INMED (Indians Into Medicine) program at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
AISES Director of Student Success Dr. Johnny Poolaw participated in a panel on Native America Calling on the topic “Native Graduation: Perseverance and Accomplishment.”
Among the participants in the Voices of Women panel “Pathways to Resilience: Promoting Indigenous Success” at New Mexico Tech in March was Zabari-Obyoni Bell. A post-bac research fellow at Harvard, she described how attending the 2022 National Conference in Palm Springs made her feel comfortable at an Ivy League school. Also on the panel was Dr. Kristina Gonzales-Wartz, a research scientist at the Center for Personalized Diagnostics at Arizona State University. For more on Dr. Gonzales-Wartz, see the Fall 2020 issue of Winds of Change.
Nate Raynor, who teaches at the Mescalero Apache School, was awarded a grant to help his students advance in STEAM studies, including a project on air quality. He was interviewed on Albuquerque, NM’s KOB4 News. Watch the video here.
As part of its observance of Women’s History Month, the Society of Women Engineers reissued a 2022 episode of its Diverse podcast that featured AISES CEO Sarah EchoHawk on the topic of “Community and Indigenous Peoples.” The discussion, which centered around access to STEM education and careers, is available here.
EchoHawk was also quoted by Ohio station WKYC on the topic of “Growing STEM: Examining the Roots of the Disciplines in Native American Culture.” She pointed out that part of engaging students in STEM is assuring them that Indigenous people have always been scientists.
Prairie Public Broadcasting program “Dakota Datebook: Teachings of Our Elders” featured an interview with Dr. Twyla Baker on the subject of Native Identity. Dr. Baker is the president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College and a former chair of the AISES Board of Directors.
An article in Cherokee One Feather about activities of the pre-college STEM-E club at the Kituwah Academy in Cherokee, N.C., quoted teacher and club co-leader Jessica Metz, who pointed out that the club incorporates the AISES Indigenous STEM values: S (Spirit), T (Traditions), E (Elders and Equity), and M (Meaning).
At nearly 1,000 pages, the new book by photographer and author Matika Wilbur represents the work that took her to all 50 states to capture the “true essence” of contemporary Indigenous America. On the cover of Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America is AISES Council of Elders member emerita Dr. Henrietta Mann. Also profiled in her book is AISES Council of Elders member Faith Spotted Eagle. Wilbur spoke about her ambitious project in her keynote address at the 2023 Leadership Summit.
Living Legacy:Dr. Peter Edmund Jones
This column celebrates pioneering Indigenous people in STEM who helped establish a heritage of accomplishment, perseverance, and service. In this issue we meet Dr. Peter Edmund Jones, 1843–1909, a physician-activist and the first duly licensed Indigenous medical doctor on this continent.
The first licensed Indigenous physician in North America, Dr. Peter Edmund Jones was born in Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1843. He was the son of Mississauga Chief Reverend Peter Jones, an Ojibwe Methodist minister to the Credit River Mississauga, and Eliza Field, an affluent British woman. His father died when P.E. Jones was 12, and the son determined to follow in his father’s footsteps working with the Mississauga people. P.E. Jones had a largely non-Indigenous education, first in public schools then at the Toronto School of Medicine and Queen’s College, where he studied medicine. Still, he firmly identified as Indigenous and spent a lifetime walking in — and connecting — two worlds. He began his practice near the Credit River Reserve, served two terms as Mississauga chief in the 1870s and 1880s, and was appointed Indian agent to the Mississaugas from 1887 to 1896. During his time as chief and Indian agent he maintained his practice and was a respected physician for both the Mississauga and Six Nations Haudenosaunee. Throughout his career Dr. Jones was also an activist working to secure civil rights, especially voting rights, for Indigenous Canadians, while retaining their legal status and culture.