地点的意义

作为社会学家, 365滚球官网 professor Leontina Hormel has made a career out of observing rural cultures and communities. From Ukraine and the Russian Federation to interdisciplinary research in Idaho, she has focused on how communities deal with social, 技术和政治变革. 然而, through these studies Hormel understands that observing a culture is not the same as understanding it from within, so her current research takes a different approach.

目前, she has organized a research team that includes Nez Perce tribal researchers Lucinda Simpson and Diane Mallickan and Nez Perce students Chantel Greene, Cato Vallandra and current UI student Lewonne Teasley. Hormel is helping tribal members collect input about the cultural consequences of changing uses of Idaho Highway 12 and the lands of the Clearwater Basin – significant parts of 内兹珀斯人 treaty lands and heritage.

“The Highway 12 route is becoming part of the state’s planning to grow the economy by enhancing commercial transportation of equipment and commodities between major energy extraction sites,”她说。. “So, the research question is asking how technological modernization is affecting how rural populations — in this case, 内兹珀斯人, or Nimiipuu as they call themselves — perceive these shifts.”

These changes concerned many tribal members because 内兹珀斯人’s input regarding Highway 12 was considered inadequate or non-existent.

“The research is trying to help Nez Perce people communicate more clearly orally/visually how they are connected culturally and environmentally to the Clearwater Watershed,霍梅尔说. “So, it is less about modes of communication and more about the meaning of place to Nez Perce people, most especially the role of environmental health to community resilience.”

The Nez Perce researchers work in pairs, with older tribal researchers working with younger members. These pairings enable generational knowledge sharing, one of the project’s primary goals. Each professionally grounded Nimiipuu senior works with student-researchers to refine interview questions and then conduct interviews using photovoice, a technique where participants supplement verbal interviews with photographs they feel capture their experiences with the region’s environment. 除了, those being interviewed are encouraged to share meaningful 工件, 工艺, creative writings or traditional food items that are rooted in Nez Perce culture.

“I think it is important to feature the collaborative spirit of this project, since several Nez Perce people have guided me and are doing the work of the project with me – it is envisioned as a project for and by Nez Perce members,霍梅尔说.

The project’s aim is a result of collaboration with a variety of Nez Perce tribal activists, 包括波莱特·史密斯, 艾略特莫菲特, 蕾妮·霍尔特, and UI alumni Julian Matthews and James Holt. This collaboration has also involved inter-institutional partnering with Lewis-Clark State College professor Chris Norden.

“Technological changes affecting how we communicate and feel informed about science or environment affects people’s perceptions of fairness of the current system, 这会影响他们的信任. In this way, these different people and places are similar,霍梅尔说.

Funded by the Sociological Initiatives Foundations, the UI Office of 研究 and Economic development and the UI College of Letters, 艺术与社会科学, the study’s contents including the photovoice interviews, 工件, photos and other materials will be complied, archived and stored in 内兹珀斯人 Tribe’s Cultural 资源 division so 内兹珀斯人 Tribe will own and be able to access them for years to come.