Category Archives: science

Science and Trust: What’s Rational?

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The disenfranchised among us have a history of distrusting science. Some scientists just don’t get it: how can you overlook evolution? Climate change? Diabetes? Native Americans—and African-Americans and Hispanics—can point to specific examples when the mantle of science caused harm.

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Dammit, Jim, I’m a Doctor, Not a Scientist

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The refrain from the original Star Trek physician, Bones, has arisen like Lazarus from the mortuary of old TV shows. But this time it’s politicians. When asked their opinions of, say, climate change, politicians of late have demurred. “I’m not … Continue reading →

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Why American Indians don’t have rights

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The issue of “rights” in North America entered into conversation when I saw this week that—after 38 years—a judge ruled two ancient skeletons could be given to a California tribe for reburial. Unlike Kennewick Man—which has yet to be returned—a … Continue reading →

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Choose the wide lens

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Students will stand on their heads when they enter my class in three weeks. I will be urging them to view communication through a wide lens. Most of us find it more fun to examine life through the prism of … Continue reading →

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Down to the bones

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery
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Just 5 more minutes

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

A news article on chronic tardiness struck a chord. Seems that being late isn’t necessarily a character flaw. Or passive-aggressive behavior.

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You name it, you own it

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

When a 9200-year-old skeleton was uncovered along the Columbia River in 1996 scientists and journalists dubbed the ancestor Kennewick Man. Local tribes bristled at the naming, preferring to call the skeleton The Ancient One, or Oyt.pa.ma.na.tit.tite, according to scholar David … Continue reading →

Posted in american indian, authenticity, framing, human origin, Indian, James Chatters, Kennewick Man, NAGPRA, Naia, native american, native press, Native Science, rhetoric, science, science communication | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

About face on Kennewick Man

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Turns out American Indians were right all along. A bitter conflict of values, race, sovereignty and politics began two decades ago when a pair of Washington State college students unearthed a skeleton in the Columbia River. Local Indian tribes wanted … Continue reading →

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A different kind of heirloom

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

My relative Leaf gave us an heirloom while we were visiting Oklahoma. It’s the sort of heirloom whose value unfolds in a material way. I’m not talking about materialism—the need to acquire stuff. Rather, this heirloom recalls the past in … Continue reading →

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Slack catchers

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Turns out Richard Feynman was irresponsible. Maybe just irrepressible. Feynman, who earned the Nobel Prize in physics in 1965 for work in quantum electrodynamics, said his success was due, in part, to being irresponsible.

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