Narratives and science
My work is largely informed by mediated messages and I explore how meanings about science, health, risk and the environment are created in news and entertainment that impact American Indian communities. That is, I look at what people say about Indigenous people. Continue reading
Rob Schmidt
It’s inspiring to find other souls working on Native issues in the public arena of social discourse and I recently gave a shout-out on the blog for Rob Schmidt, who, on his Facebook page notes: “I’m a freelance writer/editor who writes on business, gaming, and multicultural subjects. Continue reading
Grayhorse cemetery
My cousin hosted us for supper while we visited Fairfax (Grayhorse), Oklahoma last week. Fairfax, Hominy and Pawhuska (the seat of Osage country) form a triangle of Indian communities just north of Tulsa. The cemetery in Grayhorse, where we visited my mother a year after her passing, is an easy walk to my cousin’s home. Continue reading
Journalistic theories
My head is wrapped around academic theories as a graduate student—Mami Kikuchi–and I polish a journal article due in August. Continue reading
Imagining the Frog
Returning to Oklahoma last week presented an opportunity to breathe the air and walk on soil of my relatives. Everyone we spoke with—from museum curators to cousins—were genuinely happy we returned to Indian country and especially glad when we asked questions about history and bought books written by Osage story-tellers. Continue reading
Migration map from archaeology.about.com
Indigenous people worldwide have their creation stories and hold them dear. No surprise to learn, then, that the Havasupai sued Arizona State University for using tribal members’ blood samples for research purposes the scientists failed to disclose. Continue reading
Osage man wearing tear shirt
I recently wrote about the lawsuit that Geronimo’s relatives brought in an effort to have his bones returned to Apache country from Oklahoma, and noted how his great great grandson Harlyn Geronimo was described in news accounts by his beads and boots, which the Washington Post reporter said “projected a sort of authenticity.” Continue reading
Geronimo
Sometimes when we’re not sure about something, we make our best guess: it’s just part of human nature. Continue reading
Osage spider tattoo
Tomorrow I head for Oklahoma, my mother’s home, where we will lay a headstone in her memory at the Osage cemetery at Grayhorse. This requires special permission and my family is grateful to the elders for their endorsement. Continue reading
Ghost dance rendering by James Penny (1836-1910)
My work began in the late 1980s with examinations of how people think about risk, health and the environment and how such scientific topics unfold in mass media. And when science issues impact American Indians, I figure that’s a bonus—at least for my research. I cannot examine Indians as objects of interest, but I can study how discourse reveals settler-denizen relationships. Continue reading
Cynthia (Ištá Tȟó Tȟó) Coleman Emery's Blog 