Heavy Metals in Traditionally Used Fruits Among the Lakota

Heavy metals concentrations in soils and plants on and near Pine Ridge Reservation (PRR), SD, are a cause of concern to Oglala Lakota tribal government, particularly because of current and past uranium mining nearby, as well as familiarity with occasional selenium poisoning in livestock. In this study, concentrations of As, Ba, Pb, Se, and U were determined using ICP-OES for selected traditionally edible berries and small fruits, and the soils in which they grow. Results indicated that the heavy metals are likely of natural origin, and ingestion of these culturally important fruits at levels reported in interviews among the Lakota on nearby Rosebud Reservation generally do not exceed US CDC Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) for chronic oral ingestion, with the possible exception of As in chokecherries and wild rosehips, and U in wild plum and wild rosehips. No US CDC MRL for Pb has been established, because they deem such a standard as inappropriate at the current state of knowledge, with which I agree. However, fruits were compared to the WHO/FAO Maximum Level (ML) permitted for berries and small fruit, with 8.5 per cent of fruit samples from PRR exceeding that standard. Results showed that fruits were generally lower in heavy metals than the soils in which they grew on PRR, with the exception of Se. Some detected concentrations of Se in fruits and other plant tissues at 9 of 15 sites indicated possible bioaccumulation. Wild rosehips on and near PRR were generally lower in heavy metals concentrations than in comparison samples from Brookings County, SD, where Pb concentrations were comparable or slightly higher, and one Se sample was unusually high. Concentrations of heavy metals in soils on PRR ranked substantially lower in As, Ba and Pb and much higher in Se and U compared to USGS arithmetic means and ranges for the conterminous United States established by Shacklette and Boerngen (1984). This study produced preliminary baseline concentrations for fruits and the soils in which they grow on and near PRR and for estimated oral exposure levels based on interviews from nearby Rosebud Reservation, against which other research may be compared

Road Ditch Flowers of Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota

Goal: Participants will become lifelong learners and critical thinkers about culturally relevant traditional Native plants, both inside and outside of a school setting, while considering their roles as conservationists. Objectives: Participants will be able to identify Native plants or know where to access information to make identifications and find traditional uses through accessing the knowledge of tribal Elders, Internet sites, books, and visits to herbaria collections

A Historical Geography of Lake Kampeska in the City of Watertown, South Dakota

Many alterations in the hydrology of Lake Kampeska began with the arrival of masses of Anglo settlers in the 1870s. Why the lake has been altered is a complex issue linked to various natural physical processes which would have occurred even without the introduction of those settlers into the ecosystem. Those processes include weather, climate, sedimentation rates, lakebank erosion, chemical and mineral transport from soils, and flooding, among others. Besides those natural physical processes, mankind’s cultural processes have been at work. Disturbances in the lake’s hydrology are linked to land use changes associated with cultural values, such as the introduction of agriculture and the expansion of Watertown’s urban setting to include the nearby lake. Perceived water shortages, concerns about water quality, and the need for flood control have caused federal, state, county, and city officials, as well as concerned citizens, to search for answers. They are grappling with the ramifications of a slowly evolving ecosystems approach, collecting data to increase their base of knowledge about the complexities of the system, attempting to provide better management of the lake, and providing educational information to promote a sustainable ecosystem through appropriate change. In creating an historical geography, I analyze Lake Kampeska based on (1) its past land and water use history, including my lifetime of experiences at the lake, information obtained about the lake in oral history studies as Director of the Codington County Historical Society in 1975 and from 1982 through 1997, as well as the photographic record through time; (2) a look at a portion of the scientific knowledge base, relevant to lakes and rivers in general, searching for key concepts which could be used for education of the general public concerning this lake’s future; and (3) summaries of four major scientific reports concerning the lake in 1971, 1994, 2000, and 2002

The PEEC Experiment: Native Hawaiian and Native American Engineering Education

PART I: Context 1. Engineering for Native nations: Origins and goals of the Pre-Engineering Education Collaboratives (PEECs)PART II: Culture matters 2. Recognizing history: Indigeneity matters 3. Moving beyond cultural sensitivity: Developing culturally responsive programs for and with Native engineers 4. Invoking cultural relevance at tribal colleges: Grandmother’s way is important5. Discovering what works: STEM pedagogy and curriculum development for Native Americans6. Exploring indigenous science and engineering: Projects with indigenous rootsPART III: Providing support for Natives in Engineering7. Finding an Engineering identity: A Native American PEEC leader’s experience8. Outreaching to K-12 and tribal schools in PEEC9. Establishing who leads: Hawaiian-serving community colleges or tribal colleges as leaders10. Discovering how and how well Native-Hawaiian community colleges work with a mainstream university in Hawai‘i11. Assembling interconnected networks for advancement in engineering: Champions and community12. Increasing enrollment and graduation through teaching and learning strategies: Experiential learningPART IV: Transforming institutional politics13. Transforming through institutionalization and replicability of PEEC14. Obtaining permission to work on reservations: About IRB/RRB regulations15. Involving STEM teachers with tribal faculty in PEEC: Joining forces to serve undergraduatesPART V: Learning from experience16. Joining forces with unexpected PEEC-enhancing projects along the way: Unforeseen alliances in South Dakota 17. Promoting Native women: An underutilized resource 18. Succeeding with students: PEEC student stories19. Measuring outcomes20. Implementing through low-cost solutions21. Useful references22. Contributors23. Epiloguehttps://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cvlee_book/1000/thumbnail.jp

Increasing Diversity in Engineering: Capacity Building Matters

In an effort to prepare more Native American engineers, counting the numbers who complete the educational task is important. More often overlooked, however, is that capacity building is another key measure of success, since reaching critical mass to obtain the numbers may take considerable time. In this paper, the co-authors are both the researchers and the research subjects. We are four engineers and scientists with advanced degrees with key roles in a multi-year collaborative pre-engineering education initiative between a tribal college and two mainline universities. From our perspectives at one of those two mainline universities, we each wrote an essay reflecting on pre-determined questions. We briefly present our qualifications and then assess capacity building related to the summer camp experiential learning aspect of the initiative. We qualitatively analyze the essays and present persistent themes, along with consensus and divergent opinions. Five common themes dominated the essays including the importance of: using experiential learning pedagogy, building lasting relationships, networking, including cross-disciplinary connectivity, and taking advantage of positive but unintended consequences. We provide a recommended bibliography for faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate student interns to provide a shared base of knowledge to improve collaborative cohesion

Watershed Modeling Using Arc Hydro Tools. Geo HMS, and HEC-HMS

A White Paper presented to Oglala Lakota College for use in pre-engineering class exercises. This paper is meant to be used as a supplemental aid to the tutorials and user’s manuals stated in the references. It is assumed that the user has basic knowledge of ArcGIS 10. The purpose of this paper is to provide a real world example of how to develop and analyze a watershed. The watershed examined was the Upper White River Sub-basin Watershed which was recreated digitally with the aid of computer software and spatial data. Data links for needed files are provided throughout the paper. Computer software utilized was ArcGIS 10 (C ESRI, 2014), and HEC-HMS 4.0 (U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2013a) (Hydrologic Engineering Center – Hydrologic Modelling System). Screen shots of the Upper White River Sub-basin Watershed results are provide along with deviation of steps from referenced tutorials and user manuals

STEaM Girls Activities: Flandreau Indian School, Flandreau, SD, 2016

This booklet includes tribally relevant, fun activities designed to increase interest in STEM studies and careers, particularly among Native American girls and women in South Dakota and the northern Great Plains. It is suitable for anyone to use in homes and schools, although adult supervision is recommended

Building Trust, Experiential Learning, and the Importance of Sovereignty: Capacity Building in Pre-Engineering Education - a Tribal College Perspective

At tribal colleges and mainstream universities, program success is often identified solely with matriculation and graduation rates. However, particularly for new STEM programs, capacity building is another key measure of success. In this paper, three of the co-authors, who are faculty members at a tribally-controlled college and participants in a multi-year collaborative pre-engineering education initiative between a tribal college and two mainstream universities, provide their perspectives on capacity building in summer camp activities within the alliance. The three each wrote essays reflecting on capacity building, guided by pre-determined questions written by the fourth author. Through qualitative analysis, we present common themes, divergent opinions, and quotations extracted from the essays from their unique perspective as faculty at a tribally-controlled college. We emphasize impacts among the partnering schools, faculty, students, and communities where the summer camp activities took place. Three common themes dominated the essays including the importance of (1) building trust within the reservation community, (2) recognizing the effectiveness of experiential and project-based service-learning approaches, and (3) encouraging tribally-controlled colleges to take a lead role in determining research and educational foci

Forging Partnerships, Experiential Learning, and Community Impact: Capacity Building Matters

Capacity building can be an important step in working to help more Native American engineering students to earn degrees. Funding agencies often look first at numbers of students who succeed at matriculation. We make the case that a broader view of success in the early years of program development with tribal college pre-engineering partner schools may include capacity building. If continued funding of such initiatives is withheld because of quantitative assessment alone, coalitions with tribal colleges may not reach their true potential because capacity building is often crucial, and it takes time. In this paper, one co-author interviewed the other three co-authors, using a predetermined questionnaire. Thus, while all the authors are the researchers, three of the co-authors are the research subjects. All are PhD engineers and scientists. In the resulting essays, the interviewees expressed their opinions about capacity building in their roles in an NSF-sponsored pre-engineering alliance between two mainline universities and a tribally controlled college. Those interviewed describe their unique qualifications to assess capacity building in this instance. From the perspective of one of the mainline universities in the alliance, they address categories of capacity building at the following levels: the tribal college; the two participating mainline universities; the reservation hosting the summer camp; student and faculty participants; tribal, State, and Federal agencies; and STEM disciplines in general. We present common themes in all three essays that reportedly encouraged capacity building, including: (1) coalition-building, (2) engaging in experiential learning, and (3) emphasizing improving the quality of life on Pine Ridge Reservation. We present secondary themes and non-consensus opinions as additional support for the merits of qualitative assessment

Performing a Nutrient Diffusion Substrata Test

A White Paper presented to Oglala Lakota College for use in pre-engineering class exercises. Available nutrients, primarily nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), control the growth of periphyton in lakes and streams. The nutrient diffusing substrata (NDS) is an economic and replicable way to determine whether an aquatic environment is limited by a particular nutrient (Capps et al., 2011). The NDS commonly uses clay pots, plastic cups, or periphytometers (Rugenski et al., 2008). The NDS in this paper uses plastic cups based on Methods in Stream Ecology (Hauer and Lamberti, 2007). The agar solution is mixed with 8 different types of nutrients in Table 1. Each nutrient type has 6 replicates. The control is an agar solution with no nutrient addition