INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER PLATEAU (Invited Presentation)

In this paper, we discuss findings from our analysis of the People of the Big River Field Class, a two-week academic field experience that combines Western scientific training with Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). We analyze the ways in which the class represents a decolonizing intervention in science education, and thus speaks to the promise and importance of centering Indigenous people’s cultures and knowledge within science curriculum. Students from two schools on the Yakama Reservation completed the class and wrote public blogs in which they reflected upon their learning experiences. We analyze the blogs as our primary data source and discuss three main themes we found in the data: 1) Community Building and Cultural Identity Development; 2) Community Wisdom and Interdisciplinary Teachings; and 3) Professional Development. We conclude the paper with recommendations for implementing TEK within science curriculum and argue that doing so benefits Indigenous peoples and Western education systems.