The University of Arizona and the White Mountain Apache Tribe host a Research Experience for Undergraduates Sites project that engages students in ethnographic field research, using collected data in a Geographic Information System (GIS), and analyzing and interpreting those data to support heritage preservation and education.
The supported research contributes to the Western Apache Tribes' ongoing program to document historic and contemporary cultural associations to and activities in the landscapes that comprise the Tribes' aboriginal territories. The work will result in the publication of a Western Apache Cultural Atlas. During the first two weeks of each session, students work with experienced faculty mentors and Tribal personnel in seminar, lab, and field activities to learn the theories and methods of social science research, including interviewing, participant observation, archival research, research ethics, and are trained in the use of GIS. Students identify research topics and during the remainder of each session engage in independent research projects culminating in the preparation of draft plates and text for inclusion in the Atlas. Students will continue participation in the project through the publication of the Atlas. In this REU site, special emphasis is placed on the recruitment of qualified students from the four Western Apache Tribes (White Mountain Apache Tribe, San Carlos Apache Tribe, Tonto Apache Tribe and Camp Verde Yavapai-Apache Nation), many of whom attend regional community colleges, with a goal enrolling a minimum of 50% of students from those communities. Additional participating students are drawn from around the country.
INTELLECTUAL MERIT: This project contributes to the integration of cultural heritage research and GIS analysis, providing new tools for the consideration of human societies' relationships to landscapes. It also provides valuable case study data considering the application of traditional ecological knowledge and scientific evaluation to resource management. Working closely with Tribal personnel and elders, this project helps to redefine the paradigm of research relationships so that scientific training and research meet both Tribal and scholarly interests.
BROADER IMPACTS: This project plays a crucial role in encouraging Native American and other students to increase their participation in social sciences and natural sciences. The Atlas that will be produced will be of interest to a wide range of audiences, including tribal members, professional scholars, and the general public.
provided training for thirty students in ethnographic research theory, methods, and ethics, and the practical application of Geographic Information Science to cultural research and data interpretation. Six-week program sessions were held each summer from 2010-2013, with eight undergraduate students participating in each of the first three seasons, and six in the final year. Sixteen of the participating students were citizens of the White Mountain Apache Tribe or San Carlos Apache Tribe. The remaining fourteen were non-native students from nine states. Students came from a total of twenty-one different post-secondary institutions. A collaborative research training program of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and the University of Arizona, the program helped to redefine the paradigm of research relationships between university-based scholars and communities that have historically been the subjects of study. Focused on Western Apache cultural-geographic and cultural-environmental issues identified as important by elders and other knowledge holders, program participants used a community-based, participatory research framework to conduct research of interest to the community. Each session began with two weeks of classroom and laboratory training and student participation in a series of events and seminars providing an introduction to the Western Apache community, lands, cultural activities, and heritage. Students then defined research projects and engaged in ethnographic and cultural-geographic research with traditional knowledge holders and resource managers on topics ranging from historic movements of Apache people, to ethnobotany and other traditional and local ecological knowledge, regional environmental change, and contemporary resource management issues. Students compiled their research findings and supporting data into reports that were publicly presented at the end of each session. These reports provide the basis for entries that will be included in a planned Western Apache cultural and historical atlas. This REU provided much-needed opportunities for undergraduate students in anthropology, sociology, and cultural geography to gain experience and skills in ethnographic field research that they might use later in their careers. It also provided opportunities for students in natural resource management fields to understand the value of cultural research and to integrate anthropological perspectives and ethnographic research capacities into their personal skill sets. As part of the larger Western Apache atlas publication project, participant research products will be made available to tribal citizens, scholars, and the general public.
