STEM Learning, STEM Identity - Indigenous Science
Native Skywatchers - "Indigenous Ecosystem Learning" - Year Three
The Native Skywatchers research and programming initiative has been recording, mapping, and sharing Indigenous sky and earth place-based knowledge for eighteen years. From NASA to Fond du Lac Tribal College to the Minnesota Department of Education, the Native Skywatchers Summer Workshops for Educators, has decades of experience at the forefront of working at the intersection of science, culture, and art for the benefit of all. Native Skywatchers has served over 350,000 people and continues as a leader in Indigenous science methodology and research with long-term broad impacts.
This Native Skywatchers project, “Indigenous Ecosystem Learning”, is an expanded version of the “We are Stardust” and its related branch, “Ocean Voices-Sea and Stars” projects. Support from the Heising-Simons Foundation has given Indigenous students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate more deeply in science, culture, and art...to dare to be engaged with authentic data and scientific tools. Students participate. Students voices lead.
The focus of Year 1, was on STEM Identity & Light. The focus of Year 2, was STEM Identity & Sound. The focus of Year 3 STEM Identity, Indigenous Science ...With a direct challenge to all participating students ... Identify a problem due to the Anthropocene and Propose a solution.
* Native Skywatchers' Teams in the three-year "Indigenous Ecosystem Learning" initiative are:
Little Singer Community School, Winslow, Arizona
Volcano School of the Arts and Sciences, Big Island, Hawai'i
Amethyst School, Bacalar, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Strategy: Indigenous teams of students and educators do research, form a community, and produce multimedia content integrating science, culture, art, and personal connection. Working in co-learning communities with scientists, elders, and artists we elevate our STEM identities, transform narratives, and create more inclusive learning... for the benefit of all.
Framework: The core framework for the Native Skywatchers initiative is rooted in a teaching called ‘Two-Eyed Seeing’ or Etuaptmumk as explained by our Mi ‘kmaq elders:
"Two-Eyed Seeing is learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing, and to use both these eyes for the benefit of all.
(Bartlett, Marshall and Marshall 2012, 336)
“Living in the Anthropocene (epoch level human caused planetary mass destruction) can be overwhelming and disheartening. As human beings we carry the gift of wisdom, and yet somehow over the generations, we made choices that disconnected us from nature and our roles and responsibilities to all life. Using the power of art and science, we can revitalize our identity and redirect our choices by anchoring in the present and acknowledging the sacredness of life. We can do better.” -Annette S.Lee, Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator - Annette S. Lee, DSc, PhD, MFA, MFA, Presenting at Fete de la Science-Oceanopolis, Brest, France, June 2024
Themes:
Year One - STEM Identity and Light
Year Two - STEM Identity and Sound
Year Three - STEM Identity ... Light & Sound - Response to Times of Crises
