From 1992 to 2001, Dr. TallBear has worked for national tribal organizations, tribal governments, federal agences, and worked as a private consultant. The primary focus of her work was with tribal government interests in nuclear waste management. Additionally, Dr. TallBear worked on a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to explore the ethical, social, and legal implications for Indigenous peoples that were subjects of human genetic research.

Dr. TallBear has had a lengthy career exploring her primary interest in the cultures and politics of science and technology and how they impact “tribes and Indigenous peoples.”

In her journal paper, Caretaking Relations, Not American Dreaming, Dr. TallBear examines the goals of settler states —such as the United States and Canada— and puts forth a Dakota framework that focuses on “being in good relation” rather than any ill-defined idea of success. Dr. TallBear examines how hierarchies of life serve to dehumanize communities that stand in the way of the goals of settler states to become wealthier and more powerful. She posits that “developing an ideal settler state implicitly supports the elimination of Indigenous peoples.” Furthermore, by extracting resources from the Earth and forcing Indigenous peoples off of their historical and cultural lands, the elimination of Indigenous peoples is synonymous with success for these settler states seeking wealth and influence. Dr. TallBear’s framework of “being in good relation” brings all members of the global community onto the same level to consider how they may be interacting with humans and “non-humans” such as lands and animals. This thinking ties us to the present moment to consider if what we are doing now is going to support good relations right now. The American dream is to rise from nothing, but Dr. TallBear would rather support the idea that no one should have to rise from nothing, but instead support and create as many positive relationships with the world around us as possible. This roots us in the moment and prevents us from pursuing intangible ideals that dreams often lead us to.

Apart from her work in academia, Dr. TallBear is also a member of the Oak Lake Writers which are a group of Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota (Oceti Sakowin) writers.

One work produced by the Oak Lake Writers is This Stretch of the River, a collection of memoirs, historical and critical essays, as well as poems. In a dialogue between members of the Oak Lake Writers Society, members reflect on Mnisose — or the Missouri River — after Lewis and Clark had “discovered” it. Member Lanniko Lee shares that the river is “a larger expression of our relationship to everything that is — and everything that exists.” Lee describes that her family thought of rivers as “doing the work of circulation” as arteries do for our bodies. “I can’t help but grieve over the loss of a river towing and the loss of its life-giving and healing forces coursing through Unci Maka, Grandmother Earth, to the ocean,” recounts Lee.

These reflections and recollections are extremely informative of the difference in values between Indigenous peoples and the settler colonists of the United States. Where Lewis and Clark saw a dam site, Lee sees a force of nature, a natural part of life that serves to cleanse ecosystems and spread life. This idea of the interrelatedness of life echoes the Dakota framework that Dr. TallBear highlighted in Caretaking Relations, Not American Dreaming.

A Twitter thread retweeted by Dr. TallBear demonstrates the importance of indigenous representation in science. In Twitter user @cernestola’s thread, Camilo López Aguirre criticizes the colonial nature of scientific “discoveries” on indigenous territories. Aguirre describes how a a British expedition discovered a “trove of paintings” near the “heart of the Colombian Amazon” (Aguirre, 4/n). This alone may not have been of great consequence, but the British expedition had “kept it under wraps” for so long that a Channel 4 documentary was shot on the site (5/n).

This monopolization of “first discovery” claims is extremely problematic especially considering that “Colombians have known, researched and fought to preserve this site for decades” in addition to the “indigenous communities that even today (after millennia) have a direct connection with those sites” (6/n).

By undermining and silencing scientists in “developing” countries, the British archaeologists who “uncovered” the paintings at Chiribiquete and La Lindosa are perpetuating colonial rhetoric. This blatant disregard for the research conducted by the Indigenous people of Colombia and Colombian scientists demonstrates how much power colonial countries still have.

Scientific knowledge gathered by Indigenous peoples is extremely valuable to the broader scientific community as well as the world. By centering the voices and research of these marginalized and oppressed communities, a clearer and more relevant perspective on the matter is achieved.

It hardly makes any sense that a British team of archaeologists from 8,000 kilometers away would know more about the Colombian Amazon than the researchers already there and the Indigenous communities that have been there for thousands of years. Highlighting and centering the voice of Indigenous scientists is an objective way to view scientific within the context of a particular region, culture, and peoples, and is just one way to support truth and reconciliation around the world.

The appropriation of Indigenous contributions to science and humanity has occurred since first contact with colonizers. Indigenous scientists stand to reestablish a new rhetoric of credit and recognition for the communities that have been contributing to the collective generation of knowledge for thousands of years.

In a world driven by science and innovation, perhaps it will do us more good to consider if we are in good relation than to pursue vague idealisms that never arrive.

Sources:

• https://kimtallbear.com/#About

• https://tupjournals.temple.edu/index.php/kalfou/article/view/228

• https://search.proquest.com/openview/6684cf3a04b9ad321d7ad2d51e51b1d5/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2048899

• https://nycstandswithstandingrock.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/akipa-and-white-face-this-stretch-of-river-excerpts-2006.pdf

• https://twitter.com/cernestola/status/1334412525572481026