The spirit in the science: wild rice conservation through tribal-university partnerships in Minnesota

In 2018, an unlikely partnership formed at the University of Minnesota, called the “Kawe Gidaa-naanaagadawendaamin Manoomin” (“First we must consider Manoomin / Psiη”) collaboration. The research collaboration, whose express purpose is to protect wild rice, includes both tribal and non-tribal instit...

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Main Author: van Deelen, Grace C.
Other Authors: O'Connor, Maura
Format: Thesis
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2023
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/147601
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author van Deelen, Grace C.
author2 O'Connor, Maura
author_facet O'Connor, Maura
van Deelen, Grace C.
author_sort van Deelen, Grace C.
collection MIT
description In 2018, an unlikely partnership formed at the University of Minnesota, called the “Kawe Gidaa-naanaagadawendaamin Manoomin” (“First we must consider Manoomin / Psiη”) collaboration. The research collaboration, whose express purpose is to protect wild rice, includes both tribal and non-tribal institutions and members. Since 2018, the group has grown to include social scientists, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers. The research partners are now probing scientific and ethical questions about wild rice decline in the upper Midwest and the role of genetic research at the university. The “First” collaboration is one of a handful of tribal/university research partnerships that have sprung up around the country to include tribal perspectives and traditional knowledge in mainstream ecological research. More than stakeholders, tribal partners involved in these projects share power and governance over research alongside mainstream institutional partners. However, such partnerships are not isolated from the complicated histories of European settler colonialism that persist through US institutions today. Finding a way to reconcile those histories is crucial to the success of the partnerships themselves. In the case of the “First” collaboration, reconciling these histories means deeply investing in relationships — relationships to the land and between people — even if that means putting data collection on hold.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1476012023-01-21T03:28:09Z The spirit in the science: wild rice conservation through tribal-university partnerships in Minnesota van Deelen, Grace C. O'Connor, Maura Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing In 2018, an unlikely partnership formed at the University of Minnesota, called the “Kawe Gidaa-naanaagadawendaamin Manoomin” (“First we must consider Manoomin / Psiη”) collaboration. The research collaboration, whose express purpose is to protect wild rice, includes both tribal and non-tribal institutions and members. Since 2018, the group has grown to include social scientists, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers. The research partners are now probing scientific and ethical questions about wild rice decline in the upper Midwest and the role of genetic research at the university. The “First” collaboration is one of a handful of tribal/university research partnerships that have sprung up around the country to include tribal perspectives and traditional knowledge in mainstream ecological research. More than stakeholders, tribal partners involved in these projects share power and governance over research alongside mainstream institutional partners. However, such partnerships are not isolated from the complicated histories of European settler colonialism that persist through US institutions today. Finding a way to reconcile those histories is crucial to the success of the partnerships themselves. In the case of the “First” collaboration, reconciling these histories means deeply investing in relationships — relationships to the land and between people — even if that means putting data collection on hold. S.M. 2023-01-20T15:31:10Z 2023-01-20T15:31:10Z 2022-09 2022-08-29T15:17:51.455Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/147601 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle van Deelen, Grace C.
The spirit in the science: wild rice conservation through tribal-university partnerships in Minnesota
title The spirit in the science: wild rice conservation through tribal-university partnerships in Minnesota
title_full The spirit in the science: wild rice conservation through tribal-university partnerships in Minnesota
title_fullStr The spirit in the science: wild rice conservation through tribal-university partnerships in Minnesota
title_full_unstemmed The spirit in the science: wild rice conservation through tribal-university partnerships in Minnesota
title_short The spirit in the science: wild rice conservation through tribal-university partnerships in Minnesota
title_sort spirit in the science wild rice conservation through tribal university partnerships in minnesota
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/147601
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