Engineering Perspectives & Indigenizing Curriculum

The design of tipi’s has been developed over generations by multiple Great Plains Tribal groups, incorporating important design elements that lead to control of airflow and heat. This example of Indigenous Wisdom leads to interesting overlaps between Native Knowledge and Western Science, and provides a framework to Indigenizing Engineering Education. Our approach to developing culturally responsive educational materials is guided by Indian Education for All (IEFA), a constitutional mandate in Montana that states "every Montanan, whether Indian or non-Indian, be encouraged to learn about the distinct and unique heritage of American Indians in a culturally responsive manner''. By analyzing airflow through tipis from a Western engineering perspective (smoke flow visualization and background oriented schlieren) we develop engineering curricula that are complemented by and grounded in Place-Based Knowledge. By engaging in Western engineering analyses for direct use in classrooms, this project provides a gateway to discuss, learn about, and learn from Indigenous perspectives while simultaneously enhancing engineering concepts.

We recognize that our approach to IEFA in the classroom is specific to a Montana context as to be culturally responsive to the tribes in our region, and that the tipi modules developed for our classrooms would not be as meaningful or appropriate in other settings across the country. To address how this approach can be transferred to other contexts, we present an overview of our week-long workshop "Engineering Perspectives and Indigenizing Curriculum (EPIC)''. This workshop enables participants to design IEFA engineering content specific to their own course, and to bring Indigenous perspectives and content into their classrooms thoughtfully and effectively while covering course objectives.