Science and Native American Communities: Legacies of Pain, Visions of Promise

Education among American Indians has lagged behind that of almost all other groups in both the United States and Canada, and it generally has not offered what Indian communities need. It is this disturbing state of affairs—along with the intractable realities, unexamined assumptions, and cultural conflicts and misunderstandings behind it—that Science and Native American Communities confronts. Representing an unprecedented gathering of Native American professionals working in the sciences and advanced technology, the book combines theory and practice, firsthand experience and strategic thinking, in a provocative exploration of the uneasy meeting ground between science and Native American communities.

 

In highly personal, deeply informed, and frequently moving essays, the authors wrestle with a legacy of mistrust and violence. They ask: Is a common ground between science and Native America possible? The problems and prospects that emerge from such a meeting, and that these essays address, include the impact of science and technology on Native lands and environment; economic and technological opportunities and challenges for reservation communities; and the differences and similarities between Native and scientific thought and practice. The authors not only showcase different reactions to the consequences of science, but also energetically propose strategies for renegotiating Native communities' relationships with science, seizing control of their destinies, and moving forward in the twenty-first century.

Keith James (Onondaga) is a professor of social and organizational psychology at the University of Alaska.