The following list of Alaska Native inventors and scientists begins to document
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...
with deep historical and ecological knowledge about system-wide health, knowledge that in many cases precedes and exceeds discoveries published in the scientific literature.
For more than century, Alaska Native naturalists have entered into collaborative relationships with scientists working in the field or in their communities (
International Polar Year
The International Polar Years (IPY) are collaborative, international efforts with intensive research focus on the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor in 1875, but died before it first occurred i ...
(IPY), Native Contributions to Arctic Science,
Barrow Arctic Research Center). Their many contributions extend from indigenous ways of knowing to practical and applied inventions needed to subsist from the land, air, and waters (Sharing Knowledge Smithsonian Exhibit).
As institutions strive to decolonize, indigenous-settler relationships remain contentious and marked by structural inequities. In the history of the New World, Old World explorers and settlers often relied for their survival on the knowledge and wisdom of indigenous peoples.
While this list focuses on individual biographies, it is worth noting the many exemplary collaborative projects (e.g., Barrow Arctic Research Center). In addition to recognizing
community-based participatory research Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a partnership approach to research that equitably involves community members, organizational representatives, researchers, and others in all aspects of the research process, with all partners in the p ...
(CBPR), this list credits the organizations that develop and advocate for the education of future indigenous scientists and engineers, young scholars who will increase the number of indigenous scientists and engineers earning degrees. According to a 2019 report from the
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) is one of the thirteen principal statistical agencies of the United States and is tasked with providing objective data on the status of the science and engineering enterprise in ...
, fewer than 1% of bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering programs go to American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islanders. These organizations include
American Indian Science and Engineering Society
The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association with the goal of substantially increasing American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, First Nation and other ...
(AISES) and
Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP), Recruitment and Retention of American Indians into Nursing (RRAIN), and Recruitment and Retention of Alaska Natives into Nursing (RRANN).
Inventors and scientists
Native science organizations
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Sitka Tribe
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Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council
The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC) is a multi-government advisory, advocacy, monitoring, and lobby group for protecting and cleaning up the Yukon River. It consists of 66 First Nations and tribes in Alaska, Yukon, and British ...
*
Native American Research Center for Health
See also
*
Traditional Alaska Native Medicine
*
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) describes indigenous and other traditional knowledge of local resources. As a field of study in Northern American anthropology, TEK refers to "a cumulative body of knowledge, belief, and practice, evolving by ...
*
Traditional Knowledge
Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK) and local knowledge generally refer to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. According to the World Intellectual Property Organ ...
References
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Resources
*Brower, H., & Brewster, K. (2004). ''The whales, they give themselves: Conversations with Harry Brower, Sr'' (No. 4). Univ of Alaska Pr.
Eben Hopson Memorial Archives:Celebrate the life and leadership of the late Eben Hopson
Sea Ice Project Jukebox(This project includes oral history recordings of residents of northern Alaska talking about sea ice conditions, observations over time, and changes that are occurring. The collection includes archival interviews recorded from 1978 to 1980 as part of a study related to potential offshore oil development, and from 2008-2009 as part of a Geophysics Ph.D. project about sea ice thickness along spring whaling trails offshore of
Utqiaġvik
Utqiagvik ( ik, Utqiaġvik; , , formerly known as Barrow ()) is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the northernmost cities and towns in the ...
(Barrow)).
*Sturm, M. (2002). Fifty More Years below Zero: Tributes and Meditations for the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory's First Half Century.
Alaska Native inventors and scientists
inventors and scientists