Education, Equity and Elk: Indigenous knowledge is at the heart of this wildlife study
Indigenous people remain highly under-represented in academia. Daniel Bird’s story demonstrates the power of opening science to all perspectives.
A scientific workforce as culturally and racially diverse as our society is not only more equitable, it also produces stronger science. For over 20 years, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has been collaborating with select colleges and universities around the country, through the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP), to transform STEM graduate education in ways that support the inclusion of Indigenous students. Daniel Bird, Tribal member from Santo Domingo (Kewa) Pueblo in New Mexico, became involved in the SIGP program in 2017. He says he’s seen real progress.
“What makes me most hopeful is that in the time it’s taken for me to progress from undergraduate, to master’s, to PhD candidate, I’ve seen more and more students like me in my field.”
Bird is currently pursuing a PhD in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana. He is investigating elk migration patterns — a project that led him to facilitate a working dialogue between the Blackfeet Tribe and local and state agencies, including Glacier National Park, the United States Geological Survey, and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. He hopes that a better understanding of elk movement will not only inform wildlife protection policies in and around the national park but that it will also help to increase the Blackfeet Tribe’s access to traditional food and cultural resources.
The research area, which includes ~1.5 million acres of reservation land, is considered a ‘food desert.’ The nearest supermarkets are a 2-hour drive away, and winter weather conditions can make roads completely inaccessible. “Elk and other game animals are an important source of sustenance and a source of protein for Blackfeet,” says Bird.
“Understanding the factors affecting elk movement is crucial for creating policies that will improve food security for the Blackfeet Tribe and, in doing so, help maintain their traditional culture.”
Although he is not a tribal member of Blackfeet himself — and the Rocky Mountain Front could not be more physically different from the reservation in New Mexico where he grew up — Bird recognizes similar problems related to food insecurity and natural resource management in both communities. “I view Western science as an additional tool to add to our existing Indigenous ecological knowledge, so we can be competitive in stewarding our wildlife and resources.”
Driven by his desire to address issues facing Indigenous communities, Daniel Bird finds his role “bridging the gap” between academic institutions and Indigenous communities very motivating. “A lot of times, academics arrive having already decided what an Indigenous community needs. I know I wouldn’t want someone who had never lived on a reservation to tell me how to proceed,” he says. “I bring a cultural understanding and competence; my university advisors are white males, so it’s a different dynamic. I’ve helped facilitate the inclusion of local folks’ perspectives and decisions.”
While he is proud of his contribution, he is quick to point out that, at the time he began his PhD, he was unaware of any Blackfeet students who could have done this research within their community.
“I do my best to mentor students from Blackfeet. There’s a student in my lab group who has transitioned from undergraduate to master’s degree since I’ve been here, and he is also supported by the SIGP program. I hope he’s seen me as an ally and continues this work after I leave.”
Bird plans to go back home after completing his PhD. He wants to create a wildlife management program for his Tribal community. “We don’t currently have one, and there are things I can see we should be doing better to adapt to modern challenges.” Now, Bird feels he can contribute valuable skills that his community needs, including the ability to attract external funding and incorporate modern technologies into existing practices. However, he wonders if he would have pursued graduate education at all without the support of the SIGP program.
“For the first few years of university, I felt like I was the only Native student around,” he says. When SIGP representatives visited his undergraduate campus, they showed Bird that it was possible to be a Native person in an academic environment and to pursue tribally relevant research.
“But I am just one individual with one way of doing things. There are so many different individuals in so many different tribes who all bring different perspectives. Having not just me, but a diversity of tribal students will only add to the wealth of knowledge we have overall.”
All photos credited to John Stember.
