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The process of decolonization is not just about creating equality of opportunity on paper. In many fields, such as science, health care, and education, Indigenous activists are revamping their fields so that their perspectives become part of how these professions are practiced.

Jessica Hernandez
Researcher, University of Washington, Bothell

In spite of climate change鈥檚 far-reaching impacts, Jessica Hernandez says the way it is taught in universities remains largely one-dimensional, focused on the physical processes in the atmosphere. When Hernandez, a postdoctoral physics researcher at the University of Washington, Bothell, who is Binniz谩 and Maya Ch鈥檕rti鈥�, first taught introduction to climate change courses, she was determined to change that.

She integrated place-based lessons focused on how Indigenous communities experience the changes. For example, when it came time to teach the chemistry of ocean acidification, she also connected it to impacts on salmon and on the Northwestern tribal communities who rely on the fish.

鈥淪tudents were able to see these concepts that are an abstract concept,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we cannot necessarily see in person.鈥�

It鈥檚 just one part of Hernandez鈥檚 effort to support Indigenous ways of creating knowledge. She trains high school physics teachers to incorporate equity and Indigenous knowledge. A lesson plan on energy could include an explanation of the colonial origins of the concept and how Indigenous communities have studied it. She also recently published a book, Fresh Banana Leaves, on Indigenous science.

Abigail Echo-Hawk
Director, Urban Indian Health Institute 

A 2016 CDC report found that nearly half of all death certificates inaccurately reported Native Americans鈥� race, effectively erasing a vital source of information on community health. 

It鈥檚 a phenomenon Abigail Echo-Hawk, an enrolled citizen of the Pawnee Nation, calls 鈥渄ata genocide,鈥� and it significantly impacts treatment and policy. The erasure became particularly pronounced during the pandemic, as the tracking of Indigenous people鈥檚 illnesses and deaths lagged. For example, much of the research on long COVID-19 is based on electronic medical records, which often fail to correctly identify Native patients. That makes it harder to get an accurate diagnosis, as well as knowledge about the disease鈥檚 frequency in Indigenous communities and the resources to deal with it.

Through the Urban Indian Health Institute, Echo-Hawk works with hospitals and other health care facilities to reconsider how to treat and serve Native American and Alaska Native communities. The pressure she and others put on federal health officials led to Congressional hearings in 2020 and 2021 and a letter from 25 members of Congress demanding transparency and better tracking of Indigenous COVID deaths and cases.

Wilhelmina Yazzie
Lead plaintiff, Yazzie and Mart铆nez v. State of New Mexico

When Wilhelmina Yazzie, a citizen of Navajo Nation, was growing up, her family taught her the entire community owes children a responsibility, a 鈥渟acred trust that we need to protect and guide them.鈥� It was a lesson that she never forgot.

When Yazzie鈥檚 son Xavier reached middle school, he noticed his non-Indigenous friends taking advanced classes he couldn鈥檛 get in, despite his high grades. When Yazzie pressed school administrators and then district leaders about the discrepancy as well as others she had noticed, they rebuffed her. So she, along with other families, filed suit against the state of New Mexico. The suit argued that the state had failed in its constitutional responsibility to provide an adequate education to Indigenous, Latino, and other underserved students.

In 2018, a judge ruled in their favor, but the challenges didn鈥檛 stop there. Even when the pandemic left many Indigenous students without internet access, the state pushed to have the suit dismissed. Yazzie and other activists fought for the state to provide technology and remote instruction, securing major investments in some districts.

Yazzie continues to advocate for the rights of Navajo students, pushing the state to provide everything from financial resources to instruction in Din茅 language and culture.

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Kate Schimel is a writer and editor based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Most recently, she was managing editor for Searchlight NM, a local investigative news organization. She also edited business, transportation, education and health coverage for Colorado Public Radio and served as deputy editor at High Country News. She began her career as an education reporter, covering underserved communities in New York and Denver. Kate is a member of NASW, NAJA, and EWA. She can be reached through her website at kateschimel.com.

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