#7 – Kim TallBear on Indigenous STS, Governance, and Decolonization

GES Center Lectures, NC State University

Genetic Engineering and Society Center

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Like traditional Science and Technology Studies, the new field of Indigenous STS studies the cultures, politics, and histories of non-Indigenous science and technology efforts. In addition, it studies Indigenous-led science and technology, including knowledges classified as “traditional.” Indigenous STS refuses the purported divide between scientific and Indigenous knowledges, yet it does not conflate knowledge traditions. It understands them as potentially sharing methods while deriving in practice from different worldviews. Indigenous STS—comprised of mostly Indigenous thinkers trained and working in a variety of disciplines and applied fields—also focuses on science and technology knowledge production for social change (since technoscience has long been integral to colonialism). Indigenous STS works with scientists and those in technology fields to change fields from within. Some Indigenous STS scholars are practicing scientists. After discussing Indigenous STS foundations and goals, this talk showcases the Summer internship for INdigenous peoples in Genomics (SING), a training program founded in 2011 in the US. SING has since expanded to Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada, and Australia in conjunction with Indigenous STS efforts to support global Indigenous governance via science and technology.

The Rolf Buchdahl Symposium brings a guest lecturer to NC State each year to speak on issues that intersect with science, technology, and human values. Hosted by the Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Program, Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS), and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Logistical support provided by the Genetic Engineering and Society Center.

Guest Speaker

Dr. Kim TallBear, Associate Professor, Faculty of Native Studies at University of Alberta Kim TallBear (she/her), author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science (2013), is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta. She studies the racial politics of “gene talk” in science and popular culture. She draws on indigenous, feminist, and queer theory in her teaching and research that focus on undermining the nature/culture split in Western society and its role in colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, and environmental degradation. TallBear has published research, policy, review, and opinion articles on a variety of issues related to science, technology, environment, and culture. She is a tribal citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota, U.S.A. and is also descended from the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. She tweets @KimTallBear and @CriticalPoly, and her website is https://kimtallbear.com.

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