NDN Science Show

Ethnobotany can be looked at in different ways. On one hand, it describes the people-plant relationships that Indigenous cultures have always relied on. And on the other, it can be seen as the discipline within science that studies these relationships, plant biology, and their stories. In this episode, we dive into definitions, some history, and we even talk about aliens a little bit. We also go over why we think this is an important topic and how we view plant relationships. Here are some of the main ideas we talk about: - Definitions of botany and ethnobotany - Differences between botany and ethnobotany - The history of ethnobotany - Our perspectives on plant relations - Seasonality and Gratitude ~ Links & Resources: [Cryptozoology](https://www.metaphysicsinstitute.org/program-info/specializations/cryptozoology) Merriam-Webster Definitions of [Botany](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/botany) and [Ethnobotany](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnobotany) [Ethnobotany History](

Today’s episode is all about coffee. AKA: the good old morning brew—the life-saving afternoon pick-me-up—and the fabled cup of Joe. But before we get carried away with all that, we get into some stats about coffee. Then we talk about some of the challenges of its production, preparation, transportation, roasting, and selling. This is a cherished drink that's faced a lot of controversy for centuries, having associations with revolutions, addiction, mold toxins, and the all-too-common "coffee jitters". At the end of the show, we talk about Indigenous farmers using coffee as a way to become more food sovereign. Here's some of what we talk about: - Coffee Stats and Facts - History and Revolutions - Mold toxins (mycotoxins) - How to avoid mold toxins - NDN Coffee Sovereignty ~ Links & Resources: Coffee Statistics: [Gallup](https://news.gallup.com/poll/184388/americans-coffee-consumption-steady-few-cut-back.aspx), [CreditDonkey](https://www.creditdonkey.com/coffee-drinking-statistics.html), [USGS](https://

This is a recording of the live-stream we did at SUNY-ESF for a class called Indigenous Issues in the Environment. The topic of this episode is Traditional Ecological Knowledge, also known as TEK. We start off by going over definitions of TEK, then we share our personal experience with it and how this idea has shaped our views as scientists. We also ask the students to define TEK and explore this in different contexts by asking the students questions and sharing some of the principles. Enjoy! Here are some of the main points we went over: - Definitions of TEK - Worldviews and Social Systems - The Challenge of Defining Words - Convergence of knowledge systems - Healing, Restoring, and Connecting to Land - Indigenous Research Agenda ~ Links & Resources: [TEK Definition (Berkes 1992)](https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=J2CNS64AFvsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=traditional+ecological+knowledge+berkes+1992&ots=KBjhGgyoKq&sig=nCL93lRQNGJmX0xAxjFs6SU-JlY#v=onepage&q=traditi

On today's show, we interview Dr. Robin Kimmerer. She's our major professor in the Sowing Synergy Program, she's an amazing botanist, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, and she's also written numerous articles about traditional ecological knowledge. Robin shares all sorts of interesting stories with us. She talks about her childhood, important mentors and her journey as an Indigenous scientist. Enjoy! In this episode, Dr. Kimmerer shares things like: - One of her favorite memories and her connection to plants - The role of culture and education in her life - Shifts in her thinking and reaching out to mentors - Restoration ecology and learning from plants - Ecological, Biocultural, and Reciprocal Restoration - Science paradigms and value systems - Robin's tips for being Indigenous in the modern world ~ Links and Resources: [Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants](https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass) [Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History o

Kaya DeerInWater is a close friend of ours and we’re excited to finally have him on the show. He’s the other member of our graduate cohort and we’ve wanted to have him on the show for over a year now. Kaya’s a dedicated and loving family man, he’s a brilliant botanist in the making, and he has a lot of knowledge about ecological restoration. Some of the main things we talk about today are: - Kaya’s childhood, his connection to culture, and academic background - How he got from California to graduate school in New York - Some of the challenges he faced doing his research - Where his love for plants started and made its way into his work - The usefulness of his research for other Indigenous communities - His children and the legacy he wants to leave them - Kaya’s 3 tips for being Indigenous in the modern world ~ Links & Resources: Bob Marshall Info: [Source 1](http://www.umt.edu/this-is-montana/columns/stories/bob-marshall-wilderness.php), [Source 2](https://www.bmwf.org/), [Source 3](https://www.wilde

We're back! With another edition of Being Indigenous in the Modern World... This is a huge topic that spans many different fields of study and all sorts of scientific disciplines, so we decided that this should be an ongoing conversation. On today's show, we jump around a bit but eventually focus our conversation around graduate school, our research projects, and the lessons we've learned from going through the process of doing research with an Indigenous community. Particularly our home community on the Flathead Reservation. Although broad, this topic is pretty obvious to a lot of people. Being Indigenous in the modern world is something we're all facing on a day to day basis, but it's also something none of us is prepared for when we're children. We approach this topic in a light-hearted way and had a lot of fun putting this one together. Here are some of the main ideas we talk about: - The importance of historical context - An update on the challenges of graduate school - The potential benefits of ente

Anna Whiting-Sorrell was the first woman teacher's assistant for the Political Science Department at the University of Montana, she has a master's degree in Public Administration, and she's the first political scientist we've had on the show. She's served her community as the director of Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services... and she's also Annie's mom. In this episode of the NDN Science Show, Anna and Annie have a conversation about how we as Indigenous people need to heal our historic traumas and make sure we have a seat at the table were natives can defend natives. Anna believes deeply that Indigenous people need to tell their own stories. Enjoy! Here are some of the main ideas on this episode: - Anna's childhood and how alcoholism affected her siblings - Her perspective on gender rolls in the modern world - The long road to get her education and her work in politics - Cultural appropriation, being a 'token Indin', and walking in two worlds - The importance of having Indigenous voic

Today’s episode is about biopiracy… but first, we share an Indigi-Fact that turned out to be a cool surprise to both of us. After that, we dive into some history, a few definitions, a case study, and how biopiracy can affect Indigenous communities. We also explore some ideas for how this issue can be addressed now/in the future, and why this is such an important topic for Indigenous peoples around the planet. This one was interesting to bring together because it’s such a big topic that ties into things like intellectual property rights and discovery doctrines from Europe… and there’s a lot more to it so we’ll probably revisit this one again sometime soon. Enjoy! Here are some of the main ideas we talk about: - Biopiracy definitions and history - Intellectual property rights and patent law - Ayahuasca patents, culture, and place - Ideas and Potential Solutions ~ Links & Resources: [Seven Generations of Hominins](http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-family-tree) [The Leach and the Earthworm](http

Connecting to Place… what does it mean? This topic gets deep really quick and seems to be a fundamental aspect of human nature that philosophers and scientists have been talking about for thousands of years. So we figured... hey, if they've been at it for thousands of years, we can tackle it in an hour, right? Well, we did our best and seem to keep coming back to this notion that a connection with place has the power to heal. It also has the power to reveal knowledge and wisdom in a way that our ancestors were intimately familiar with. And we feel like it's one of the many ways for how we can begin to re-indigenize ourselves, no matter where you live. Some of the main ideas we talk about are: - IndigiFact/Stats - Philosophy of Place - History of Place - Photography as a way to gain insights about places - Personal Experiences with Place ~ Links & Resources: Voting Statistics from the [Fort Belknap Daily Herald](https://www.facebook.com/groups/Fort-Belknap-Daily-Herald-889137611181345/) [Wisdom Sit

Here's another excerpt from the live-stream event we did at the AISES National Conference on October 6th. This an interview with Ronin Ruerup and will be the last download we'll be releasing from the AISES conference for this year. Ronin's from Alaska and he was the last guest we had for that day. He's Tlingit and had a lot of amazing things to say. His interests range from Sea Otter Populations to the consultation process and oil/mineral exploration. ~ Here are some of the main ideas we talked about: Word Uses, Meanings, and Redefinitions... Indian - Indigenous - Savage "Traditional Enemies", Turtle Island/Indigenous War, and Old World War Russian Colonization of Alaska and Sea Otter Populations Alaskian Native Voices in Natural Resource Management The Value of Balance The Past is Important to Our Future, but it doesn't determine it Sovereignty and Land A Bunch of Random Live Stream Stuff! Ronin's 3 Tips for Being Indigenous in the Modern World Consultation and Restoration in Alaska Compared to

For this episode, we took a section of the live-stream event we did at the AISES National Conference on October 6th and turned it into a podcast download. Mikaela Montoya was the first person brave enough to step up to the mic and b.s. with us for a while... and it turned out great! She had a lot of powerful messages to share and we're glad to help her share them. This conversation was a lot of fun and it was cool to meet another Native scientist hard at work in her own community. ~ Some of the main ideas we talked about: Honor the Past - Be the Future Leadership, Adaptability, Responsibility Inside-Out vs Outside-In Thinking Mikaela's 3 Tips for Being Indigenous in the Modern World What kind of medicine are you carrying with you? Thinking with your head and your heart ~ Links & Resources: [AISES National Conference](http://conference.aises.org/) [Original Instructions](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2828070-original-instructions) ~ [Like this show? Leave us a review here](https://itun

Although being wrong is a part of being a scientist, correcting yourself when you recognize that you're wrong is also a part of it. On today's show, Annie and Turtle correct themselves on a few of the mistakes that they made in previously released episodes... Mostly sciency-type mistakes about facts and stuff. Here are a few of the main points that were corrected and reflected about: - 100th Monkey Pseudoscience - The Number of Federally Recognized Tribes in the US - Operculums or Plastrons... which would you choose? - Triassic, Jurassic, THEN Cretaceous - Janzen's research wasn't in Africa - What's up with NDN Time? ~ Links & Resources: [100th Monkey Phenomenon](https://hilo.hawaii.edu/~ronald/HMP.htm) [21 Grams Experiment](http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/05/13/1105956.htm) Different Numbers for Number of Federally Recognized Tribes... [567](https://www.doi.gov/tribes) or [573](http://www.ncsl.org/research/state-tribal-institute/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx)? Or [Ho

This is a special episode where Annie, Turtle, and their fellow grad-student Kaya DeerInWater came together for a "workshop" on this idea of bringing worldviews together for [biocultural restoration](https://ndnscienceshow.podiant.co/e/365aeab21a8e76/). We talk about Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Scientific Ecological Knowledge, how these are different/similar, and some examples of successful projects we've come across in our graduate studies. Interestingly enough, we didn't really do much of a workshop... mostly due to the 50-minute timeframe we were working with. But also because we put this together on short notice and overestimated how much we could actually get done. It worked out well though! We were able to get through the content and at least engage with the audience a little bit. The audio was recorded live so bear with us on some of the strange sound levels you might encounter. This is a cool episode and we hope you enjoy! Main Ideas: - Knowledge Integration - Knowing a Sense of Place - Tw

Today we talk about the Decolonization Movement and how this is something that's much larger than one word alone. We both agree that the exact word you choose isn't so important, but understanding the meaning behind the word is what matters most. So, we dive into exploring what the word decolonize means and where it comes from, and also some of the different kinds of decolonization that exist and where we might be able to apply these lessons in our own communities. We don't have all of the answers, but we're constantly curious about questions like: Why is decolonization important? Who colonized and who got colonized? What impacts has this had in the world? When did colonization happen? When did the Decolonizing Movement begin? There's a whole lot more and we realized pretty quickly that we can't cover everything in an hour-long episode, so we did our best to stay focused on a few main points. Here's some of the stuff we talked about: - IndigiFacts - Definitions of Decolonize - Land Relations... family or

Being Indigenous in the modern world is a challenge that we face every day on reservations in the United States, and it's something none of us are prepared for when we're children. This is such a huge topic that we decided to revisit this subject from time to time. On today's episode, we explore some of the challenges of being Indigenous in the modern world as we see them, some of the opportunities, and also what our three tips are for being Indigenous in the modern world. Before we talk about all that though, we share a couple of science facts of the day. This is something we'll be doing as often as we can, but also as briefly as we can because although we love science, NDN science isn't all about facts. But facts are fun so we decided to include some interesting science stuff at the beginning of each episode. Main Ideas: - Peafowls, Peahens, and Peachickies - Hibernating Bears and Superheroes - Rites of Passage and Coming of Age Ceremonies - The challenges of setting priorities, growing up, and getting s

On today’s show, we have a conversation about his story. Brett has experienced some amazing things in his life and we only touch the surface in this interview. He shares about his journey with music, being diagnosed and almost dying from cancer, and the healing journey that brought him to where he is now. Brett’s an amazing guy and I’m stoked that he came on the show. He’s also a good friend and brother and he’s helped me heal in more ways than one. Some of the things we talk about are: - How Brett and I met and some of our adventures - His initial love and passion for music from a young age - Brett’s battle with cancer and trying to heal with Western medicine - How ceremony saved his life and brought his family together - The things that inspired him to go to college and become a scientist - The difference between responsibilities and relationships - The awesomeness of birds and holistic nature of change - Life isn’t just about ourselves, it’s about the bigger picture - Family has the power to brin

Today we explore the difference between food sovereignty and food security, and why these concepts are so important for Indigenous peoples. We also talk about commodities and rations, food deserts and reservations, re-indigenizing your food pallet, and a whole lot more. We start off by diving into our own experiences with food sovereignty and how we both got involved in this movement in different ways. Annie shares her story about her experiences in New York with strong Indigenous women, and Turtle kinda just rambles along and does his best to keep up. He had a mild cough when recording this episode, so his voice is a little raspy and he’s not all there at times. But this is a fun episode on an important topic that’s at the forefront of the decolonizing movement around the world. ~ Here are some of the main ideas we talk about: - Our experiences with food sovereignty - The many layers of food sovereignty - Commodities, community health, and food deserts - Farmers markets and getting to know your food - Co

On today’s show, we explore the word ‘science’… what does the word science mean? Is there one kind of science? Where did it come from? These are just a few of the questions we touch on and we can get pretty deep at times, but this is a fun episode where we share our thoughts about science, it’s meaning, and how it’s affected Indigenous communities in the past, present, and future. In an age troubled by things like fake news, climate change denial, and a general mistrust of science and government, people are more skeptical of scientists than ever. And this is totally understandable, most scientists aren’t trained to communicate with people outside of an academic setting. We are also classically introverted and often get into this line of work because we like to be in nature or in the lab working with everything but other people. This isn’t how it used to be though, and it can’t stay this way. We need to come together as a community. We need to respect each other for our differences as well as our similarities

Today’s episode is all about restoration… specifically, Biocultural Restoration and how this field of science brings different disciplines into a synthesized approach. This approach aims to restore and revitalize both ecosystems and the cultures that were originally responsible for them. We discuss everything from our experience with this field of study in our graduate program to definitions and paradigms that surround ecological restoration. We also go over some of the drawbacks to ecological restoration, how biocultural restoration addresses these drawbacks, and how all of this relates to bringing worldviews together and integrating knowledge systems. Some of the main ideas we talk about are: - It's important for everyone to have a seat at the table... this includes scientists, managers, and the community they're working with. - What’s missing from ecological restoration... an ongoing Cultural Context - Restoration Ecology Myths: Carbon Copy and Sysiphus Complex - Definitions of ecological, biocultura

On today’s episode, Annie’s traveling so I’m hosting the show solo. And one of the main ideas that we’ve talked about in our off-air conversations is the role of women in society and how there are a lot of women in science that have played massive roles in changes throughout history. We both feel like this is an important topic and who better to start things off than our moms. This time around, I interview my mom, [Judy Gobert](https://www.facebook.com/judy.gobert). She’s a biochemist, a microbiologist, an activist, a mom, and a grandmother. We talk about what inspired her to become a scientist and some of the projects she’s done; the challenges she’s faced growing up and the role her abusive stepfather played in the path she took; and we also talk about her outlook on Indigenous women, science, and where people can look for their own inspiration moving forward. Here are some of the important messages I got from this interview: - Judy’s love for science began with her love for math - Being an Indigenous w