The Sharing the Land program is a collaborative effort designed to increase the number of Native Americans who have access to a well-rounded, place-based education in the Earth sciences and who understand the utility of the geosciences for tribal resource management and the connections between the geosciences and indigenous culture and knowledge. Renewal OEDG funding is being used to replicate successful programs initiated in California among Midwestern tribal communities, strengthen the evaluation of project outcomes, and develop appropriate strategies for sustaining key project resources through institutionalization and integration with other tribally-managed programs. The Sharing the Land program has the dual goals of increasing on-reservation expertise in the Earth and environmental sciences and developing a better understanding of how to most productively and appropriately integrate culturally-held, indigenous, scientific Earth science knowledge into the teaching of the Earth sciences in American Indian communities. Partners in this collaboration include Purdue University, San Diego State University, regional Native American reservation communities and the high schools and educational programs that serve these communities. This project has formally united cooperating programs in adult education, a well established middle- and high-school to college bridge program operated by and for local tribal communities, high-school science departments, and an early outreach program in outdoor science for younger children. Together these programs have combined into a complete and culturally responsive recruitment and retention pipeline. Younger Native American children participate in the Science Explorers Clubs outdoor science programs, learning to understand and enjoy the connections between their environment, culture and science. Older children participate in the Young Native Scholars program, which is a year-round academic enrichment and field-based geoscience education experience that promotes bridging between high school and college. With cooperatively designed high school curricula based in local issues and the local geological setting, students become well prepared for college science and aware of career options in the Earth sciences. All efforts are augmented by project-supported work experience for participating students through internships in tribal environmental management offices on their home reservations. This project has produced and continues to produce insights into best practices in Native American geoscience education, adding unique information to the growing body of research into the best approaches to the inclusion of all under-represented groups in the earth science enterprise.
