I will be on a panel which will be presenting the problems that American
Indians have in pursuing science. This panel will be presenting the
problems that we have to the NIH (National Institute of Health) branch heads
in August and will be presnting our solutions to these proposed problems. I
would like to request all who have been interested in science, have been in
science, and are in science to email me their concerns regarding this
problem. I have been invited to be on the panel to present a grad student
perspective. I am currently a first year Ph.D. student at Cornell
University who is studying genetics; I recently decided to take a year off
to think about the implications of my research, and how best I can serve my
community. I am Oglala Lakota from the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux
Tribes Reservation in Montana. I am on the road right now through South
Dakota and Montana now visiting family and friends; so my internet access
will be when I check my email at tribal colleges.
My main point I will make on the panel is that researchers do not have the
right and will not be allowed to study us by obtaining our blood samples,
our genetic material, our medicinal plants, our resources, our bidiversity
until they can train our community members to be on par with them. They
will have to train us so that we can understand the scientific and ethical
reasons for their research, and can contribute equally to their research and
do our own research in and on our own communities. When researchers come
into our communites, they should train us in order that we can have our own
labs to do our own research rather than simply using informed consent. We
need to be going beyond informed consent; and ensuring that we can no longer
be exploited and will instead regain our rightful place in humanity as
people who can contribute to science as it stands today.
Please contact me at the this email address. I will be willing to discuss
my ideas further to develop them.
Sincerely,
Sophia Cleland
Ph.D. Student
Cornell University
Section of Genetics and Development
Ithaca, NY
phone: (602) 437-2649 (permanent)
cell phone: 607-279-7959
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