He Sapa Oyate : Geosciences Community at the Heart of Everything That Is By Dr. Donna Kliche

1. He Sapa Oyate: Geosciences Community at the Heart of Everything That Is By Dr. Donna Kliche 2008 Summer Cultural & Science Field Experience

2. SDSM&T Goals • Support community and school district efforts to encourage American Indian students to graduate from high school, academically prepared to succeed in STEM disciplines at the college level. • 2. Recruit American Indian students into the geoscience programs at SDSM&T, and increase achievement and retention of these students. • 3. Expose American Indian students and members of their extended families to geoscience career opportunities. • 4. Raise geoscience awareness across the broader Black Hills community.

3. Method of Approach • To Sponsora series of camps for Lakota youth from the Rapid City, SD, and surrounding areas. • To utilizeoutdoor experiential learning to integrate indigenous knowledge with contemporary western science. • To encouragea geosciences learning community linked to culturally significant sites in the Black Hills.

4. Main Team Members (November 2007-August 2009) • Dr. Donna Kliche, PI, SDSM&T • Dr. Jacquelyn Bolman, original PI, Humboldt University • Dr. Larry Stetler, associate professor, Geology and Geological Engineering • (GGE) Department, SDSM&T • Jimmy Sanovia – graduate student in GGE Department, SDSM&T • Royia Decker, Director, Women in Science and Engineering Program. • Duane Hollow Horn Bear, faculty, Lakota History & Cultural Studies, SGU • Victor Douville, active dean, Lakota History & Cultural Studies, SGU • Ione Quigley, department chair, Lakota History & Cultural Studies, SGU • Kelly Lane – retired K-12 science teacher, Rapid City

5. Structure of the camps • 4 camps, each 5 days long; start Sunday at 3pm, and end on Thursday at 5pm; • Camp 1: for High School students • Camp 2: for Middle School students • Camp 3: for mixed group. • Camp 4: for mixed group.

6. Unique approach • Students could bring one parent/guardian/relative • Participants interacted with a diverse team of geoscientists and educators to explore the scientific and cultural significance to important sites in and around the Black Hills area: Wind Cave, Harney Peak, Vore Buffalo Gap, Bear Butte, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Devil’s Tower, Badlands. • Both, the Lakota cultural interpretation as well as the science of the Black Hills were presented. • Lakota language often used.

7. Advertising the camps  Brochures, Posters, SDSM&T website, local newspapers Lakota Nation Invitational Tournaments, Civic Center, December 19-22, 2007 Phone callsto high school and middle school principals  send information to Native American students in the school’s quarterly email  sent letterswith brochures to all science teachersin SD School District;  Posters at RC Public Library, Sioux San Hospital, RC Civic Center, RC Central High School, North Rapid Middle School, Belle Fourche School, Pine Ridge Schools, Rosebud Schools.

8. Curriculum development Activities were organized along four major themes: Earth (Maká) - identifying and understanding the geology of the Black Hills and Badlands. Fire (Peta) - the contemporary and historic roles of fire in the forest and prairie. Water (Mni) - the function and importance of surface waters, aquifers, and hydrology. Wind (Taté) - meteorology of the Black Hills, a unique climatological system of the Northern Great Plains.

9. The participants traveled to nine sites in the Black Hills 1 2 8 Harney Peak Vore Buffalo Jump 3 Wind Cave 4 5 6 9 Crazy Horse Memorial 7 Reynolds Prairie Site Badlands

10. Projects • 1) Leather Pouch Science Kits: • local business specializing in buffalo leather furniture, very generously donated buffalo leather for our participants. • create a pouch to hold a science kit to be used in the field for science experiments. • scissors, tweezers, magnifier, magnets, pH paper, thermometer, ruler, eyedropper, etc.

11. Projects - continue • 2) Camp Photo Project: Students were encouraged to take pictures of the sites and activities and create a ppt presentation. • 3) Lakota Culture Project – The Time of the Seasons: A list of 30 questions about Lakota knowledge of astronomy. • 4) Geosciences Field Project: Students were taught to prepare field assessments and drawings of the sites they visited, similar to what geology and geological engineering college students usually experience when out in the field. • 5) Electromagnetic Spectrum Project: This project was designed to teach students the fundamentals of the electromagnetic spectrum using the hand-held reflectance spectrometer. • 6) Weather Project: This was designed to familiarize students with meteorological data collected at various sites in the Black Hills.

12. Projects - continue • 7)More than 30 science experiments by Kelly Lane: • Water is sticky • Bugs that walk on water • Counting water • Flight or Fancy? Mass of Air • Fooling With Mother Gravity • Get Steamed Up • Your Lying Eyes • Show Me a Million • How Many Ways Do You Know North • Stream Velocity and Stream Flow Volume or Rate • GPS activities

13. Lectures from SGU:Victor Douville, Duane Hollow Horn Bear, Ione Quigley • Lakota Thought and Philosophy-A Universal View, • Lakota Astronomy, • Lakota Ceremonies, • He Sapa (Black Hills Sacred Sites), • Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Counts), • Lakota Leadership, • Lakota Social Systems, • Lakota History and Culture, • Oceti Sakowin (7 Council Fires), • Wolakota (treaties), • Lakota Conflicts and Wars • Study of plantsin the Black Hills region from the Lakota perspective • emphasizing the relationship, identification, management and different • uses of the plant nation (flora)

14. Lectures/short presentations from SDSM&T • Light and Spectroscopy – the Basis for Remote Sensing, Dr. Ed Duke • FIRE, Dr. Randal Benson • Hand-Held Reflectance Spectrometer, Dr. Donna Kliche • Images from Space, from the Hubble Space Telescope, Tom Durkin • Star Lab Planetarium projecting Lakota constellations, Tom Durkin and Victor Douville • Introduction to Cloud Modeling, Dick Farley

15. Basic Camp Structure • Day One - Sunday • Sunday was for each camp the day of arrival.  • Basic introductions to the week's activities were made and the expectations of the campers were detailed.  • Both the Camp Photo project and the Leather Pouch project were initiated; • only the Leather Pouch project was encouraged to be completed before the next day.  • It was hoped this time would provide an atmosphere which would allow the participants to grow comfortable with each other and the staff.

16. The start of the camps Sunday, June 1, 2008 Driving 4 vans to Pine Ridge Reservation: • Royia Decker, Director, Women in Science and Engineering Program. • Dr. Jacquelyn Bolman • Jimmy Sanovia • Dr. Donna Kliche

17. Basic Camp Structure • Day Two – Monday - Conference room format: • Traditional Lakota Geosciences- Duane Hallow Horn Bear and Victor Douville, faculty members at SGU; • The Great Race Track(Black Hills Formation) and Western Geosciences - Jim Sanovia, graduate student in GGE Department, in collaboration with Dr. Larry Stetler, GGE at SDSM&T • Botany in Lakota Culture- Ione Quigley, faculty at SGU • Applied Science Experiments- Kelly Lane, retired teacher • Lakota Star Knowledge and Star Lab- Victor Douville, SGU, and Tom Durkin, SDSM&T • Evening, students worked on the Camp Photo project and the weather project; Tom Durkin made himself and his telescope available at nights, weather permitting, to view stars from the School of Mines Quad.

18. Basic Camp Structure • Day Three – Tuesday – Trip in the Black Hills • Western science presentation, while the vans were prepared for the day trip; After that, participants were asked to fill out the daily survey for the previous day. • The participants and professionals visited places in the Black Hills like Bear Butte (SD), Vore Buffalo Jump (WY) and Devils Tower (WY), which are considered sacred sites in Lakota Culture. The professionals engaged participants in discussions about the Lakota understanding of the geosciences and cultural relevance in parallel with the western geosciences knowledge. Thus, the concepts presented in the classroom were demonstrated in the field. • The time in travel to Devils Tower (WY) was dedicated to sharing additional oral history and geosciences, allowing students to "experience" the Great Race Track. The Lakota astronomy concepts were also emphasized as these sites were visited. • In the evening students worked on the Camp Photo project and the weather project.

19. Basic Camp Structure • Day Four – Wednesday – Trip in the Black Hills • Western science presentation, while the vans were prepared for the day trip; After that, participants were asked to fill out the daily survey for the previous day. • The day trips of these camps varied from camp to camp: Camp 1 and 3 visiting Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Crazy Horse Memorial while Camp 2 visited the Badlands National Park and Camp 4 visited the Reynolds Prairie site. • In the evening students worked on the Camp Photo project and the weather project.

20. Basic Camp Structure • Day Five – Thursday – Trip in the Black Hills • Western science presentation, while the vans were prepared for the day trip; After that, participants were asked to fill out the daily survey for the previous day. • Visit the Wind Cave National Park. Students were instructed on the Lakota cultural significance of the site and the Lakota Creation Story, as well as the geological features of the cave. • A closing-up session, hosted at the Wind Cave site, provided a summary of the Lakota Cultural stories taught during the camp. • The group returned to SDSMT campus before 5pm.

21. At the end of the camp, each participant received: • A field trip guidebook to science and cultural sites in the Black Hills; • Leather Pouch Science Kit • T-shirt • Bandana • DVD with pictures taken during camp. • $80 • certificate of participation to camp

22. Basic Camp Structure Day Six – Friday – Camp Review On Friday mornings, the organizers got together and discussed the experiences they had during the previous camp and ways to improve the next camps.

23. Program Evaluation • This program was independently evaluated by Technology and Innovation in Education (T.I.E.).  Mr. Matt Wiebe accompanied the He Sapa groups on several occasions as the evaluator and met with program organizers as a focus group during the month of camps.  Mr. Wiebe was in charge of assembling the survey information and presenting the evaluation. • The evaluation analyzes: • how well camp activities achieved grant outcomes, • how satisfied participants were at the end, and • what effect the camp had on the participants.  • Fundamentally, the evaluation analyzed how well the camps goals were met.

24. Program Evaluation • Evaluation forms for the camps: • Were prepared and finalized in collaboration with Mathew Wiebe, Technology & Innovation in Education, Rapid City, SD • Start camp survey • Daily student survey • Daily adult survey • Daily teacher/presenter survey • Daily organizers survey • End camp survey

25. Program Evaluation by Technology & Innovation in Education (TIE) Evaluation activities included: - three direct observations during two camps - focus group discussion - sets of surveys given to all camp participants and teachers HS MS Mix Mix

26. Program Evaluation Project Goals: To improve access for American Indians to geoscience education. - these camps were first exposure for many of the students. - the majority of students showed an increased awareness of geosciences and willingness to explore the sciences further. - the success is due greatly to the integration of the geosciences with their own Lakota culture. - many students had never visited the sites included in the camps.

27. Program Evaluation Project Goals - continue 2)To enhance retention and academic success of American Indian geoscience students. - the students were continuously introduced to and interacted with American Indian researchers, scientists and professionals throughout the camps. - the parent/guardian participation and presence proved to be an enrichment to the lessons and activities (still their enrolment was low). - the data shows that the parent/guardians themselves benefited from the cultural and geosciences exposure.

28. Program Evaluation Project Goals - continue 3) To provide information on career opportunities to American Indians interested in the geosciences. - the students were introduced to many American Indian individuals who are active in geosciences and related fields. - the students participated in a variety of on-site research experiences and exploration. - in the American Indian culture of the Lakota, a deep respect is afforded to those of elder status. Many presenters for the Lakota camps are Lakota elders.

29. Conclusions Great feedback from participants! “I just wanted to send you a quick note ... to let you know how much my son enjoyed the camp. He absolutely learned so much.... He came home so excited about everything he learned. He couldn't wait to share the stories, history, science and language with everyone. He is looking forward to participating in the science fair.” “Hello and Thank you everyone who made it possible for my son and I to attend the He Sapa Bloketu Woecun camp. It was a wonderful experience and we look forward to next summer. The camp has helped my son decide what he wants to go to school for. College is a must for him and thank you all once again for the wonderful opportunity!!!! Many thanks!!!”

30. Conclusions Great feedback from the students hired to help! “I just wanted to thank you for everything and for this wonderful opportunity that I have had working with these kids and staff. It was a great group and you can see that you have devoted countless hours in making it happen. For that I want to thank you! It was a wonderful learning experience for me and a real blessing. I enjoyed it tremendously!! Sure there were some minor glitches here and their, but we can all learn from them and continue to move forward. … I can honestly say that working with them the past couple of weeks that it's not one kid’s life that has been changed, but several!!They were wonderful and even though I was getting paid I'd do it for free...because the real reward is not in what monetary gains I might get, but rather in what each of us (students and staff) has been able to teach one another! “

31. SDSM&T website: http://atm.sdsmt.edu/47769/ Video from Camp 3 made by Annie Rock – Middle School Student from Rapid City! HeSapaSummerCamp.wmv