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Despite extensive research on the impact of employment on offending and recidivism, little is known about how it influences the recidivism of Native Americans. In this study, we compare the likelihood of recidivism by race, examining the difference between Whites and Native Americans on Federal Probation in a Western state. Compared to Whites, Native Americans have a higher risk of recidivism and are less likely to be employed at the beginning of probation supervision. Ultimately, employment fully mediates the impact of race on recidivism. We discuss our findings within the broader context of systemic barriers to employment for Native Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

William Frederick ("Fred") Cardin served as a director of instrumental music in the Reading, Pennsylvania, School District from 1930 until his retirement in June 1960. An accomplished performer and composer, Cardin studied at the Curtis School of Music and the Conservatoire Américaine in Paris, France. He is remembered as an outstanding educator and conductor both in the public schools and with community organizations. Cardin was also known as Pejawah, his Native American name. To gain further insight regarding Cardin's musical legacy and how it reflects his heritage, interviews were conducted with former students and colleagues. Additional artifacts were collected pertaining to his education, influences, and accomplishments. Cardin pursued a focused mission through compositions and performances to promote Native American music and culture while also demonstrating aptitude in music composition, performance, and conducting. Cardin is one individual who pursued a successful career in music and music education while navigating the issues of racial discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native Americans (Indigenous Americans) have high rates of serious illness in the United States. Informal caregivers are heavily relied on in caring for patients in low-resource settings. The needs of caregivers residing on reservations are sorely underreported. Therefore, our objective was to examine relationships between facilitators (communal mastery, cultural identity, and spirituality) and barriers (depression, anxiety, stress, and burden) with supportive care needs among adult informal caregivers in 1 reservation- based community. A cross-sectional survey was distributed in July and August 2022 as part of a larger multimethod, community-based participatory research study. We used descriptive statistics and linear regression models to examine relationships against the primary outcome, the Supportive Care Needs Assessment Tool for Indigenous People. Overall, 127 participants were included; mostwere female (n = 92, 72.4%), were between 30 and 49 years (n = 57, 44.9%), and had 6 months or less of caregiving experience (n = 41, 32.5%). Higher depression, anxiety, stress, and burden were significantly associated with higher Supportive Care Needs Assessment Tool for Indigenous People scores. Overall, mental health is a significant barrier that may indicate greater supportive care needs among informal caregivers, although further work is needed to differentiate symptoms and their impact on caregiving froma cultural perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the relationships between demographic and economic social determinants of health and the probability of contracting COVID-19 in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) peoples. In addition, we do not know if and how tribal payments, unique to AI/AN peoples, are associated with the probability of contracting COVID-19. We surveyed 767 AI/AN patients of five geographically disparate health organizations that primarily served AI/AN peoples in urban settings between January and May of 2021. We used univariate modified Poisson regressions to estimate the influence of age, gender, household composition, education, household income, and tribal payments on risk of contracting COVID-19, with results presented as both risk and risk difference. Fifteen percent of the sample contracted COVID-19, and individuals who lived in households with two or more generations had an 11-percentage point elevated risk of contracting COVID-19 compared to those who lived alone. Twenty-seven percent of participants received tribal payments; receipt was associated with seven percentage points (change from 18% probability to 11% probability) lower risk of contracting COVID-19. Our findings showed interventions specifically designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in multigenerational households, and regular tribal payments may help improve health outcomes in urban AI/AN populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Development Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The outcomes of this study revealed the importance of recruiting local Native American tribal community members as participants in an Adult Facilitator Trainee Program for a cultural based intervention, Intertribal Talking Circle (ITC), that addresses prevention of substance use among Native American youth. Survey results indicate that Native-Reliance (cultural identity) and self-efficacy increased among the trainees from base-line to 3-months post the training session. Themes emerged from qualitative interviews conducted with the participants that described their readiness to implement and sustain the Talking Circle intervention program within their tribal communities after the research project was completed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native Americans residing in remote reservation communities find strength in connection to place, culture, language, and sovereignty; they also face challenges as their communities struggle with historical and contemporary traumas that have resulted in poverty, high crime and suicide rates and drug misuse. The psychological well-being of Head Start teachers who teach and support the needs of Native American children, is overlooked. Qualitative interviews (n = 18) and focus groups (n = 9) were conducted with Head Start teachers, supervisors, parents, and ancillary staff to identify risk and protective factors at each level of the socioecological model (individual, relationships, community, society). Using content analysis and F4 analyse software two coders identified recurring themes. Individually teachers are resilient, focused more on the children's well-being than their own. Family was both significant support and stressor. Community struggles with drug and alcohol misuse and homelessness were the most frequent stressors. Workplace support included their supervisors and the mentorship they provided each other. Spirituality in the form traditional cultural practices, prayer and Christen faith were important sources of support and well-being. This paper provides insight into the stress and coping mechanisms of reservation-based Head Start teachers, identifying ways to protect and promote their health and well-being. It is important to provide support at all levels of the socioecological model to enable these teachers to strengthen their physical and psychological health and wellbeing so that they may support the children and families of Head Start to help strengthen Native American health overall. • Reservation-based Native Head Start teachers are an understudied population. • Spiritual practices – traditional and Christian – are important sources of support. • Study participants are more concerned about community than workplace stresses. • COVID-19 heightened the need to care for teacher psychological health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of the American Institute for Conservation is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mentorship programs for Native American (NA) faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields hold significant promise toward developing, recruiting, and retaining NA members of the professoriate. In 2018, a qualitative study was conducted that explored experiences, and mentoring relationships that enhanced or inhibited professional development and career advancement of NA faculty and instructors in STEM fields. The study used Indigenous Research Methodologies to coconstruct a conversational moderator's guide aligning with Indigenous community ontology. Interview questions were developed from the existing literature and programs and the project teams' expertise. Twenty-three NA faculty and instructors and a postdoctoral trainee in STEM fields participated in the interviews. Transcripts were coded, organized, and interpreted. Themes and subthemes were generated, which were noted for relevance to the theoretical framework. Participants described their experience working in higher education as viewed through their academic, social and cultural values, relationships, and responsibilities. Common themes included the (a) importance of peer, senior and community mentors, (b) value of oral presentation to professional development, (c) need for social connectedness and work-life balance, and (d) importance of increasing institutional knowledge about Indigenous values and research methodologies. Several themes aligned with TribalCrit, allowing for a strong critique of NA faculty mentoring by NA's in higher education. The narratives underscore the need for institutions to deliver professional development and mentoring programs for NA faculty and for administrators to strengthen institutional supports to improve NA faculty achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I analyze the interaction between America's federal Indigenous policy and music education as a distinct policy tool of Indigenous assimilation, tracing the transition from the Allotment and Assimilation Era to the modern Era of Self-Determination. Throughout United States history, music education has served the policy interests of lawmakers toward Indigenous Peoples, creating implications for the current practice of music instruction. While it is the case that reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 have expanded and emphasized the culturally responsive practices occurring inside American music classrooms-along with professional standard-setting- more work is required to achieve true self-determination and cultural autonomy for Indigenous students. I conclude with reference to the Native American Languages Act of 1990 as a possible mechanism to support that objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a film review of Winding Path (dêtetsi vo'i oninjakan) (2023), directed by Alexandra Lazarowich and Ross Kauffman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the prevalence of suicidality among American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) adolescents. Additionally, we measured suicidality, stratified by sex, and its association with sexual identity, sexual violence, and binge drinking. We pooled data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey from 2005 to 2019 to analyze the prevalence of sexual minorities, forced sex, and binge drinking, and their association with suicidality using basic descriptive statistics followed by adjusted odds ratios stratified by sex among AI/AN youth. 19% of AI/AN participants reported having suicidal thoughts and 14% reported having a previous suicide attempt. More than 17% of AI/AN participants identified as sexual minority youth (SMY). Compared to AI/AN heterosexual youth, AI/AN bisexual youth had significantly higher odds of reporting suicidal thoughts (aOR = 16.01), planning (aOR = 12.4), and previous attempts (aOR = 7.73). This pattern was also significantly demonstrated for AI/AN gay/lesbian youth. 43% of all AI/AN participants reported being forced into sexual intercourse. The presence of binge drinking was associated with higher odds of suicidal thoughts for both females and males compared to those who did not binge drink. At the intersection of multiple marginalization, AI/AN SMY have a high mental health burden, demonstrating the need for culturally informed, community-led, and targeted mental health support focused on SMY AI/AN. Though this study fails to capture the heterogeneity within the AI/AN community, as nuances exist at the tribal level, these results demonstrate work needs to be done to support the health burden that AI/AN youth carry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the college experiences of Indigenous students in the United States is critical to enhance their goals of educational attainment. Indigenous college students have been historically underserved by institutions they attend, which are often fraught with the uncertainty of belonging and feelings of isolation. A driving force behind this marginalization is the lack of proper valuation of cultural ways of knowing and being central to their identities. Thus, we sought to examine factors associated with tribal college students' academic achievement: the degree to which institutions support Indigenous students' cultural development and their other academic, social, and nonacademic needs in addition to perceptions of belongingness. With a secondary data sample of 1,393 self-identifying Indigenous students (65% women) across 22 institutions from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement as part of the Tribal Student Success and Completion Project, we situated our study in tribal community colleges, which by design, prioritize the preservation of Indigenous culture and can provide valuable lessons for all institutions to support the academic goals of Indigenous students. Our structural equation model suggested that perceiving institutional support of Indigenous cultural development did not directly impact students' grade point average (GPA) but rather indirectly via their sense of belonging and perceptions of support for student success. Our study sheds light on possible pathways through which respecting students' cultural assets can be linked with their academic performance. Implications for higher education and efforts to forefront Indigenous culture are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Assess associations between social networks and urban American Indian/Alaska Native emerging adults' alcohol, cannabis, and opioid use and intentions. Method: American Indian/Alaska Native participants ages 18-25 (N = 150; 86% female) were recruited across the United States from 12/20 to 10/21 via social media. Participants named up to 15 people whom they talked with most over the past 3 months and reported who (a) used alcohol and cannabis heavily or used other drugs (e.g., opioid use), (b) engaged in traditional practices, and (c) provided support. They also reported past 3-month alcohol, cannabis, and opioid use and intentions to use. Results: Having a higher proportion of network members engaging in regular cannabis and heavy alcohol use (but not other drugs) was associated with more frequent cannabis use and stronger cannabis use intentions. Participants with higher proportions of members engaging in heavy alcohol use, regular cannabis use, or other drug use and who did not engage in traditional practices were more likely to report cannabis use and greater intentions to use cannabis and drink alcohol. In contrast, participants with higher proportions of network members engaging in traditional practices and who did not report heavy alcohol use, regular cannabis use, or other drug use were less likely to report intentions to use cannabis or drink alcohol. Conclusions: Findings emphasize what many studies have shown among various racial/ethnic groups--having network members who use substances increases the chance of use. Findings also highlight that traditional practices may be an important part of the prevention approach for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) are a concern for Indigenous populations and are associated with multiple chronic diseases. To address this concern, we culturally tailored and tested the feasibility of an evidence-based SSB-reducing curriculum. The modified curriculum was designed for Indigenous men and is thematically based on traditional values, ancestral teachings, and community strengths while promoting healthy lifestyles. A community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach was used to develop an interview guide using an Indigenous-centered theoretical framework. Two Indigenous content experts conducted both individual and focus group interviews (n = 14) with urban community leaders and athletes. Two Indigenous qualitative scientists analyzed the data with the support of an inter-tribal community advisory board. Results included imagery utilization, the importance of water, marketing, taste, and building routine. These findings guided the development of 6-month Indigenous focused SSB intervention consisting of 12 in-person intervention sessions and 27 short messaging service (SMS) messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through personal narratives of powwow involvement and motivation for dancing, this essay examines the ways in which regional and personal identities are being formed, adjusted, negotiated, and expressed through dance regalia at powwows in the Midwestern United States. Dancers use clothes as an explicit marker of their Native identity and powwows as a justifying context for their ideologies of authenticity. Powwow involvement is also used to consolidate, reclaim, craft, revive, and create an identity that authenticates one's place in the powwow community in which internal and external roles and rules reinforce each other. Giving voice to different constituents at Midwestern powwows, from Natives to non-Native enthusiasts, the study explores the factors that influence the bases and strategies of such authentication, as well as the rhetoric by which these ideologies are expressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there exists a relative paucity of completed healthcare directives nationally in the USA, even fewer exist within minority populations. This report describes one model for bringing advance care planning and discussions to American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities. In 2018, Honoring Choices of Minnesota approached the Center of American Indian and Minority Health (CAIMH), housed in the University of Minnesota Medical School, to collaborate on a project to increase healthcare directives in AIAN communities. CAIMH assembled AIAN students, faculty and community members to identify and address barriers to healthcare directive completion and discussions about end-of-life choices. The project team decided upon a two-pronged approach: culturally informed provider training paralleling culturally relevant community engagement. We aimed to empower AIAN to engage with healthcare providers on decisions impacting their care. To further support AIAN patients and their providers, a toolkit was created and will soon be available for dissemination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native American youth endure a complex interplay of factors that portend greater risk-taking behaviors and contribute to marked health disparities experienced in adolescence. The Asdzáán Be'eená ("Female Pathways" in Navajo) program was developed as a primary prevention program to prevent substance use and teen pregnancy among Navajo girls. The Asdzáán Be'eená program consists of 11 lessons delivered to dyads of girls ages 8 to 11 years and their female caregivers. Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact on risk and protective factors were assessed through a pre-/post study design. Data were collected from girls and their female caregivers at baseline, immediate, and 3 months postprogram completion. Forty-seven dyads enrolled in the study, and 36 completed the 3-month evaluation. At 3 months postprogram, girls reported significant increases in self-esteem, self-efficacy, parent-child relationship, social support, cultural, and sexual health knowledge. Caregivers reported increased family engagement in Navajo culture and parent-child communication and improved child functioning (fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviors). Findings suggest Asdzáán Be'eená has potential to break the cycle of substance use and teen pregnancy in Native communities by improving protective and reducing risk factors associated with these adverse health outcomes. Additional rigorous efficacy trials are necessary to establish program effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provide an overview of navigation in three disparate populations: rural, Native American/Alaska Native, and low- to middle-income countries. Discuss gaps in care and opportunities to improve cancer care. A literature search was conducted in PubMed and on Google Scholar using search terms, nurse navigation, cancer, disparit*, low- to middle-income countries, Native American, American Indian, and rural. Peer-reviewed research studies, review articles, databases and websites of professional organizations, and historical books were reviewed to provide an overview of oncology nurse navigation in underserved communities. Experiences in working with these populations over the past 30 years were also provided to support current literature. Forty references were included in this overview of nurse navigation in underserved communities. Nurse navigation in these disparate areas is in its infancy. While some programs exist and outcomes have been positive, their dissemination is sparse. A need exists to expand nurse navigation into these areas to provide care for these underserved communities. Oncology nursing navigation for each of these underserved communities requires a culturally sensitive approach. Many of these approaches are universal to cultural competency and can be applied to most disparate populations. Nurses comprise the largest workforce around the globe and are well-equipped to develop navigation programs in some of the most disparate communities around the world. To do so, it is important to use a foundation of building trust, embracing individual differences, providing culturally sensitive education and resources for growth, and good communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interviews with 10 first-year Native American students at a predominately White institution focused on perceptions of risk and protective factors for persistence. Grounded theory analyses suggested a model of mixed resources from two clusters of sources that assist adaptation. Participants generally experienced very high anxiety during the initial 6 to 8 weeks on campus. To cope, they tended to rely initially on established relationships with family and close others off-campus. As participants became more familiar with the university, they formed new connections with faculty, staff, and campus peers. Participants also became more resilient in the face of obstacles through use of internal coping strategies. Through this transition process, participants became involved in various campus support programs or organizations and resolved to further explore their Native American heritage. First-year transition efforts should consider interventions to help Native American-identified students to manage anxiety and form connections on campus very early in their initial semester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Alaska Native (AN) traditional lifestyle may be protective against chronic disease risk. Weight gain in adulthood has been linked to increases in chronic disease risk among other populations; yet, its impact among Alaska Native people has never been evaluated. We aimed to evaluate changes in obesity-related metrics over time, and determine associations of changes with cardiometabolic markers of chronic disease risk among AN people.Methods and Results: Study participants enrolled in the southcentral Alaska Education and Research Towards Health Study in 2004-2006 were invited to participate in a follow-up study conducted 2015-2017. Of the original 1320 participants, 388 completed follow-up health assessments consisting of multiple health surveys, anthropometric measurements, and cardiometabolic measures including blood sugars, blood lipids, and blood pressure. Differences in measurements between visits were determined and associations of weight change with cardiometabolic measures evaluated. Body mass index increased by 3.7 kg/m2 among men and 4.8 kg/m2 among women. Hip circumference (1.1 cm, p < 0.01) and waist circumference (0.7 cm, p < 0.01) increased among women; only waist circumference increased among men (1.6 cm, p < 0.01). Among men, there were no associations of weight change with cardiometabolic measures. Among women, there was an inverse association between weight gain and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol only (0.17 mg/dL (CI: -3.1, -0.03), p = 0.02).Conclusions: While weight increase over a 10-year period was not associated with substantive changes in cardiometabolic measures among AN men, there was a decrease in high density lipid cholesterol associated with weight gain among AN women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 100 Community Health Representatives (CHRs) as part of the oldest and largest Community Health Worker (CHW) program in the United States serve the Dine People on the Navajo Nation. The CHRs work under a tribally determined scope of practice that embraces the importance of self-determination of tribal nations, a philosophy central to the CHW field nationally. Navajo CHRs are the epitome of frontline workers, as they extend their traditional role to encompass long-term emergency response during coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). This article describes the Navajo CHR role in the pandemic through the lens of an interview with the program's director, Mae-Gilene Begay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If it is asked what the strongest aspect of Native Americans is, the answer is probably 'their culture'. Dating back thousands of years before the Europeans invaded their lands, indigenous culture has reached the brink of extinction due to repression and prohibitions. But, just like a Phoenix, it was reborn from its ashes with rich and high-quality literary works given from 1950s onward. Writers and poets like Leslie Marmon Silko, Joy Harjo, Luci Tapahonso, Simon Ortiz, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, and Geary Hobson are the artists of a Renaissance for Native Americans in the field of literature. The person who is accepted to have started the renaissance is N. Scott Momaday. With his critically acclaimed novel House Made of Dawn, he and his native culture attracted too much attention. In his masterpiece, he tells the story of Abel, who is excluded by both his society and the white men. The story told contains many elements from Native American cultures, such as various legends, celebrations, dances, and religious ceremonies. In this study, some religious rituals, legends and images of the indigenous culture in House Made of Dawn will be examined in the light of the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article documents the design and implementation of a culturally responsive critical media literacies curriculum centered around media representations of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Students (grades 6-8) were invited to discuss media imagery relating to DAPL and to create memes reflecting their understandings. To situate this work, we articulate a framework that blends critical media literacies and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy. We analyze students' spoken and multimodal responses to a curriculum that purposefully foregrounded Native perspectives and digital media. Ultimately, we argue that students must be invited to leverage their epistemic privilege in responding to contemporary social issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutions have become more diverse and inclusive causing tension among different ethnicities at times. Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) were established to educate Native Americans as these individuals historically had few opportunities to pursue a college education in the United States. We examine the transformation of a TCU into a master's level degree-granting state university. Increasing diversity while maintaining its Native American history allows the university to be a leader of diversity and inclusion in the 21st century. We conclude with a summary of outcomes on these initiatives for similar universities that are trying to increase diversity without incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although environmental catastrophe seems an unlikely topic for humor, Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang established the precedent for this incongruity in 1975. Thomas King's The Back of the Turtle (2012) follows Abbey's postmodern lead. However, this articles argues that King deploys a more comprehensive and diverse strategy of humor, ingeniously synthesizing the tragic and the comic to call attention to the perils of environmental degradation. A central element in his strategy is his infusing his narrative with Indigenous markers—creation stories, Native motifs, and reinterpretations of Indigenous-white relations—that he uses in a scathingly humorous way to carry forward the storytelling style of his earlier works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This forum considers how we locate editors through brief case studies of multiethnic periodicals from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A focus on editors raises new questions and prospects for making visible the often hidden craft of periodicals across a wide variety of communities, contexts, and periods. Each contributor to this forum offers a case study that challenges any easy generalization about how editors have collaborated, where editors pioneered new periodical forms, and how the craft of editorship invites or dodges our critical gaze in the archives. Together, these pieces chart challenges and opportunities for considering the cultural contributions, aesthetics, and forms of expression that transcend author-centric literary histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hepatitis C incidence is higher among American Indian/Alaskan Native populations than any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. Chronic Hepatitis C complications include cirrhosis of the liver, end stage liver disease, and hepatocellular cancer. Direct acting antiviral treatment taken orally results in > 90% cure, yet rural primary care providers lack the training and confidence to treat and monitor patients with chronic Hepatitis C. Rural patients are reluctant to travel to urban areas for Hepatitis C treatment. Project ECHO is an innovative tele-mentoring program where specialists mentor primary care providers via videoconferencing to treat diseases they would otherwise be unable to manage. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase Hepatitis C treatment at a rural Navajo health clinic through partnership with Project ECHO specialists. Methods: This quality improvement project was guided by Lippitt's Phases of Change Theory. The systematic process plan included a protocol for roles and expectations of all members of the healthcare team, a documentation and communication plan, and a tracking system for monitoring patient progress through the plan of care. Outcomes were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Findings: Following partnership with Project ECHO, six patients (31.6%) consented to receiving Hepatitis C treatment at the rural Navajo health clinic. All six were contacted by outreach staff at multiple points during the project. Five (26.3%) completed the full course of drug therapy. Four (21.1%) completed follow-up lab work, of which three (15.8%) had a documented cure by sustained virologic response. Conclusions: Hepatitis C care via Project ECHO-rural clinic partnership was affordable, feasible and not excessively time consuming for a facility with substantial patient outreach resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to interpret the presence and magnitude of landscape modification by Native Americans on Georgia's southern coastal plain. Specifically, we aimed to understand how the Native American presence influenced the distribution of fire-tolerant, mast-bearing and fruit-bearing tree species in the fire-dominated landscape of south-west Georgia. Our study area was comprised of sixteen contiguous counties in the south-west region of Georgia, in southeast USA bordering the Atlantic, investigating the taxon Angiosperms and Gymnosperms native to the early landscape of this region. We used witness tree data collected during the early 1820s across sixteen modern-day counties to reconstruct pre-settlement forest composition, particularly pyrophillic trees that are well-adapted to tolerate fire, and mast- and fruit-bearing species. We then used geographic distribution models (Boosted Regression Tree) to interpret the presence and magnitude of landscape modification by Native Americans on Georgia's forested south-west plain. The pre-settlement distribution of pyrophillic and mast-bearing trees within our study area were best explained by a combination of environmental (topographic relief, proximity to riparian zones, and soil depth) and Native American factors (AUC = 0.64 and 0.66, respectively). However, the addition of Native American presence as predictors greatly increased the explanatory power of soft mast (fruit)-bearing models (AUC = +0.17). Our results demonstrate that Native American activities had a measurable influence on pre-settlement plant communities in south-western Georgia. However, the effects of these activities on vegetative composition were most notable in the distributions of fruit-bearing trees. In contrast, distributions of fire-tolerant and mast-bearing taxa were found to be largely explained by a combination of environmental and anthropogenic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A birch-bark canoe often conjures up images of French and British fur traders but its most important context comes from an association with the Native communities that invented the craft. This article describes Ojibwa birch-bark canoes' place in a culture that was influenced by the lakes, ponds, rivers and streams that made up their environment throughout the Great Lakes region and Canada. Just as importantly, Ojibwa canoes offer an excellent device for exploring the multitude of ways that water influenced identity, cosmology and day-to-day life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that Nathaniel Hawthorne and William Faulkner share a significant theme evocative of Native American spiritual belief, namely, an ethical relation between the land and its inhabitants; the "pull of the land" is a moral force that can administer ethical guidance. Using Joseph Epes Brown's view of indigenous religion, we demonstrate that this idea underlies key works published a century apart, "Roger Malvin's Burial" (1831) and "The Bear" (1942). Close readings establish textual parallels revealing authorial guilt as protagonists Reuben Bourne and Ike McCaslin are drawn by the land itself to return to the grave sites of beloved father figures Roger Malvin and Sam Fathers. Both Bourne and McCaslin commit a form of patricide; both crave redemption; both reenact earlier scenes of violence committed by settlers against indigenous people. The article concludes that Hawthorne and Faulkner adapt the lessons of Native American spirituality to undermine Western pieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion is growing within the field of education, including health professions education. In particular, no published literature exists regarding decolonizing and Indigenizing pharmacy education. Post-secondary pharmacy programs in Canada have a unique opportunity to learn from the decolonizing and Indigenizing practices observed in the educational programs of other health professions and post-secondary institutions and become international leaders in this area. Literature searches on PubMed, MEDLINE, ERIC (Ovid), iPortal, and PsycINFO were performed, revealing zero articles on decolonizing and/or Indigenizing pharmacy education. Search terms were expanded to include all health professions education programs with published literature on decolonizing and Indigenizing practices. All publications that included either or both terms (decolonizing and/or Indigenizing) and within any realm of health professions education (e.g., curriculum, assessment, evaluation, instructional design) were reviewed. Literature on decolonizing and Indigenizing health professions education in health disciplines, such as nursing and speech pathology, were reviewed. In conjunction with literature on decolonization and Indigenization of education, with a focus on post-secondary institutions, a number of strategies are proposed to decolonize and Indigenize pharmacy education. Findings from this review will better inform post-secondary pharmacy education programs to engage in decolonization and Indigenization practices. Engaging in decolonization and Indigenization of pharmacy education is expected to not only improve the educational experience of Indigenous students in pharmacy programs, but also improve the care received by Indigenous patients from all graduates of pharmacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Deaths of despair" – deaths caused by suicide, drug use, and alcohol use – have increased among non-Hispanic whites who do not have a college degree. We analyze confidential-use data from the National Center for Health Statistics that contains death certificates from 2005 to 2017 (total of 21,177,490 records) linked with measures of local labor market activity. We show that deaths of despair are proportionally larger among Native Americans than non-Hispanic white Americans and that economic conditions have a different relationship with deaths of despair among Native Americans than for non-Hispanic white Americans. Improvements in economic conditions are associated with decreased deaths from drug use, alcohol use, and suicide for non-Hispanic white Americans. On the other hand, in counties with higher labor force participation rates, lower unemployment, and higher ratios of employees to residents, there are significantly higher proportions of Native American deaths attributed to alcohol and drug use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American Indian, Alaska Native (AIAN) and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) faculty, are substantially under-represented (<1%) at US medical schools. The Oregon Health & Science University's Northwest Native American Center of Excellence and The University of Hawai'i Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence have created an Indigenous Faculty Forum (IFF), a one-day structured course with flanking social activities, specifically designed to meet the unique needs of AIAN and NHPI academic faculty. It provided: (1) Indigenous space, (2) skill building, (3) networking, and (4) ongoing mentorship, each of which were included to specifically mitigate isolation and tokenism that negatively affects promotion and advancement. Two Forums have been conducted, first in Portland, OR in 2017 and the second in Hilo, Hawai'i in 2018. Nine of eighteen AIAN faculty in the three-state region (CA, OR, WA) attended IFF Session #1, representing 50% of known AIAN faculty in this region. Thirty-four Indigenous faculty from around the world attended IFF Session #2, with twenty-nine completing program evaluations. Respondents were predominantly female (81.6%), under age 44 (52.7%), and either instructors or assistant professors (52.6%). In terms of career choice, both sessions included primary care physicians as the most represented group (55.6% at Session #1 and 62.1% at Session #2). Increasing Indigenous faculty representation in US medical schools, while simultaneously fostering their career advancement and meaning in work, is vitally important. We have begun the work needed to address this problem and look forward to conducting more efforts, including longitudinal evaluation designs to study effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though we may be accustomed to our "flush-and-forget" system of disposal, excrement was not named "human waste" until 1863. Before the mid-to-late 1800s, excrement was a commodity, a valuable fertilizer collected by scavengers and bought by farmers. As it transitioned to waste in the ensuing decades, human excrement became tainted with social fissures of the Long Progressive Era. That is, during the time when the U.S. went through a notable sanitary revolution, white Americans used excrement and pseudoscience to reinforce their feelings of racial superiority over both Native Americans and darker-skinned peoples they encountered in newly acquired territories after 1898. Examining excrement as a rich source of historical analysis reveals its position at the nexus of many Progressive Era threads, including a transition to modern artificial fertilizer, a greater presence for women in the public sphere, imperialism, and virulent racism. The consequences of revaluing excrement as a waste during this period are extensive and, by-and-large, tragic and avoidable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrasting with much of Western discourse, Native American myths frequently ascribe world-creating deeds to non-human animals. Further, Native American stories display a remarkable slippage between the worlds of the human and non-human animals, a slippage that continues into worldview, rituals, and everyday life. Using these stories as a starting point, this article seeks to connect the current theoretical movements in posthumanism with those in mythology, in line with Graham Harvey's call for "academic animism", a re-appraisal of the role of non-human agency and culture. New developments in animal studies have revolutionized the way scholars perceive of non-hominid mental lives and abilities, which has led to challenges to traditional Western beliefs and practices. Many of these new concepts would be old news to Native Americans, whose traditions fundamentally and categorically posit radically different relationships than the non-native. In short, this paper will present a mytho-evolutionary blueprint for broadening our understanding of culture and narrative far beyond the human, yet including the human as well, as part and parcel of cultural life on earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to investigate barriers and motivators faced by American Indian students wishing to transfer from 2-year pre-engineering associate degree program to a 4-year bachelor's degree program using the active learning approach of photovoice and photo-elicitation. Five community college pre-engineering students participated in the study, which required them to meet with a faculty mentor about every 2 weeks and respond to four photovoice prompts. For each prompt students were required to take two pictures and write narratives explaining them. The photos and narratives were qualitatively assessed to identify four emerging themes related to enrolling and persisting in engineering education: (1) scheduling and prioritizing, (2) routine and structure, (3) family and community, and (4) avoidance motivation. This paper makes several contributions. First, it provides an example of how to apply photovoice and photo-elicitation to engineering education as an active learning approach to increase communication skills and reflection. Second, it highlights how the approach can be used to improve student success for non-traditional, underrepresented students. Third, the findings provide evidence for improved resiliency and increased student satisfaction when this active learning approach is combined with mentoring and applied to engineering education through the non-traditional pedagogical approach of photovoice and photo-elicitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In California public schools, Native American studies is situated in grades three to five. The variance in how and what content is covered in Native American studies can lead to building or sustaining misconceptions about the rich cultures and traditions of Native Americans. This article provides a field-tested lesson exemplar using self-portraits to encourage teachers and students to reflect inward on their perceptions of Native Americans and to reframe how we teach Native American studies in a way that honors ancestors and acknowledges that Native Americans were here yesterday, are here today, and will be here tomorrow. The lesson exemplar, aligned with the History-Social Studies Framework, is designed to be a starting point for deeper conversations and explorations in Native American studies and is not designed to be a stand-alone unit of study. The lesson provides a beginning conversation for other teachers to design and implement culturally-appropriate representation of Native Americans in our elementary school classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Despite high rates of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol-induced deaths among Native Americans, there has been limited study of the construct validity of the AUD diagnostic criteria. The purpose of the current study was to examine the validity of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) AUD criteria in a treatment-seeking group of Native Americans. Methods: As part of a larger study, 79 Native Americans concerned about their alcohol or drug use were recruited from a substance use treatment agency located on a reservation in the southwestern United States. Participants were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (SCID for DSM-IV-TR) reworded to assess 11 DSM-5 criteria for AUD. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the validity of the AUD diagnostic criteria, and item response theory (IRT) was used to examine the item characteristics of the AUD diagnostic criteria in this Native American sample. Results: CFA indicated that a 1-factor model of the 11 items provided a good fit of the data. IRT parameter estimates suggested that "withdrawal," "social/interpersonal problems," and "activities given up to use" had the highest magnitude of discrimination. "Much time spent using" and "activities given up to use" were associated with the greatest severity. Conclusions: The current study provided support for the validity of the AUD DSM-5 criteria and a unidimensional latent construct of AUD in this sample of treatment-seeking Native Americans. IRT analyses replicate findings from previous studies. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the validity of the DSM-5 AUD criteria in a treatment-seeking sample of Native Americans. Continued research in other Native American samples is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mesophication occurred in all forest types regardless of the abundance of oak or pine. • Strong mesophication occurred for all seven traits, especially for fire tolerance. • Strong xerophication occurred for four traits, especially for temperature tolerance. • Mesophication had many predictors including distance to Native American towns. • Traits differed in overall predictors but pairs of traits shared similar predictors. Forests of the eastern US have exhibited widespread taxonomic shifts involving decreasing abundances of many species of Quercus , Pinus and Carya and increasing abundances of many species of Acer , Fagus , Prunus as well as other genera. These taxonomic changes have been called mesophication and explained variously as decreased tolerance of fire, drought, and heat; decreased palatability for deer browsing; and increased tolerance of shade. The major driver of those shifts in taxonomy and ecological traits has been attributed to decreased surface burning due to Native American depopulation, cessation of settler-colonial land clearance, larger deer populations, and decreased drought, among other drivers. We endeavored to test which traits exhibited the most mesophication and which environmental factors best predicted that mesophication. We collected size-stratified taxonomic data for 2488 trees from 160 plots, converted that into measures of mesophyticness for each trait in each plot, and then inferred mesophication in each plot as the difference between the mesophyticness of small trees and large trees. Mesophyticness of each trait ranged from zero for a xerophytic trait to one for a mesophytic trait. We also collected site-specific data for 22 potential environmental predictors of trait changes (including abiotic, biotic, anthropogenic, and spatial predictors). All traits exhibited strong mesophication; these are, in descending order of percent of sites with strong mesophication: fire tolerance, white-tailed deer browse preference, Native American diet tree, cold tolerance, shade tolerance, drought tolerance, and general browse preference. For all traits, mesophication of small relative to large trees was greatest in plots where large trees were xerophytic, and least where large trees were mesophytic. We further found that mesophication was similar for plots regardless of the abundance or presence of Quercus , indicating that mesophication is not the same as oak decline. A diverse set of predictors best explained mesophication of taxonomic and ecological traits, but three were consistently chosen: cooler summer temperature, higher small tree density, and shorter distance to pre-1700 Native American towns. In addition to mesophication, there was also some evidence of xerophication, most strongly for an increase in heat tolerance as might be expected due to recent climate change. Our results show that forest mesophication is a complex syndrome involving changes in independent species traits that are driven by many environmental factors, creating a challenge for land managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late 1950s Japanese-American weaver and Santa Fe, New Mexico, resident, Alice Kagawa Parrott appealed to Mable Morrow, a former arts and crafts specialist for the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, to teach her Hopi, Navajo, and Spanish-colonial methods for carding, spinning, and dyeing wool yarns. Markers of this seminal intergenerational exchange would echo throughout Parrott’s diverse production of tapestries, commercial yardages, and garments for the duration of her practice. In the following decades, she exhibited her weavings both locally and internationally and was active among a prominent network of modern artists and craftsmen such as furniture designer Sam Maloof, ceramicist Toshiko Takaezu, and fiber artist Lenore Tawney. While Parrott’s narrators have focused on her extensive use of natural dyes, the origins of this practice have received minimal attention. Addressing this gap in the scholarship, this article explores the intercultural and, at times circular, transmission of botanical and craft knowledge among Santa Fe’s Indigenous communities, government officials like Morrow, and local artists and weavers as far afield as Hawaii. An assessment of Morrow’s accumulation and preservation of traditional Native American techniques in the early twentieth century, and the adoption of these methods by Parrott in the 1960s, demonstrates that vegetal dye processes served to permeate the perceived boundary between Indigenous and modern craft production during this period. This transcultural mixing of materials and methods is perhaps best expressed by Parrott’s luminously pigmented yarns which intertwine and form the foundation of her practice and the final artworks themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA) in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan has been monitoring contaminant concentrations of mercury (Hg) and polychorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the fillet portions of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformus) from waters of lakes Superior, Huron, and Michigan since 1991. This contaminant monitoring program is essential to supporting the fisheries interests and consumption advice for five Ojibwa and Ottawa tribes (collectively called Anishinaabe) whose ancestors ceded lands through the 1836 Treaty of Washingtonbut retained the rights to hunt and fish on those lands and waters. This manuscript presents an updated contaminant trend analysis covering the past three decades in which we observed a significant decreasing trend of median PCBs in both whitefish and lake trout harvested by tribal fishermen across all lakes. Median Hg tissue burdens significantly increased in whitefish harvests across all lakes and lake trout harvested from lake Michigan relative to earlier decades. Linear regression of fish fillets, adjusted for length, also conform to these trends. In 2021, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were detected in all Lake Michigan samples of lake trout (median 6.81pbb total PFAS) and in white fish (median 7.18 ppb total PFAS). Both decreasing and increasing trends of these key contaminants can alter fish consumption advice and risk calculations relative to advice presented in earlier decades. [Display omitted] • In recent years Mercury concentrations have increased in MI tribal fish harvests. • Polychorinated biphenyl contamination decreased in these same fish. • Decreases in PCB concentrations over the past decade could alter advisory limits. • Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were also present in these fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year, the US Government receives hundreds of petitions to alter the official name of a geographical feature. Since the nineteenth century, the US Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) has had the task of assessing these requests with a view toward standardizing the nation’s toponymic inventory. During its decision-making, the Board seeks to maximize consistency in the formation, selection, and application of official toponyms, while minimizing potential public injury. The challenges in this regulatory balancing act are particularly apparent with regard to indigenous place names. Using an original corpus compiled from 10 years of USBGN petitions, this empirical study identified patterns in the type, motivation, and argumentation used to (dis)honor Native American identities, histories, and cultures via names and naming. After introducing the UsBGN's policies and practices, these findings are presented with several illustrative examples. The article ends by contextualizing the findings within the broader PC debate and offering future research suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Investigations into the location of two battles related to the Chickasaw and French Wars of the 1700s in Mississippi, USA, show the value of a multi-pronged strategy for identifying and delineating military sites. We used metal detecting, shovel test pits, surface collections, local informant interviews, historical maps, LiDAR-based topography, and air photographs to locate Ogoula Tchetoka and Ackia, two Chickasaw towns where French forces were defeated in 1736. Despite the ambiguity introduced by overlapping domestic occupations and other complicating factors, the weight of our complementary approaches demonstrates that Ogoula Tchetoka and surrounding battle features have been modestly impacted by modern developments, whereas Ackia has been largely obliterated by the construction of a residential neighborhood. Our ability to identify major landscape features related to the military history of these sites contributes to our understanding of the tactics and consequences of warfare between European powers and Native Americans in the Colonial era. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]