Among the many cultural treasures within the Burke Museum collections is a full-size sailing outrigger canoe from the island of Chuuk in Micronesia. This canoe is not currently on display but will be part of the Ethnology exhibit of the new Burke opening 2019. The basis of our research was to understand and analyze how Chuukese knowledge about canoes was reflected in cultural aspects such as canoe design, songs, myths, and language. To deepen our understanding of the Chuukese canoe we researched cultural aspects through methods such as literature review, community interviews, and collections analysis. Our aim for our research was to give a greater understanding and contextualization in order to unlock the knowledge of the outrigger canoe from Chuuk within the Burke collection. Our hopes were that this research would give visibility to the Chuukese community as well as educate all Burke visitors and staff members.

Few studies have attempted to figure out how humans may alter their behaviors when faced with trade-off decisions surrounding convenience and risk. Walking is still a primary mode of transportation for many humans, and in this study, we aimed to try to understand how pedestrians behave while engaging in risky behavior, specifically jaywalking (here defined as crossing at a crosswalk but against the green light). Subjects were observed at different intersections in Seattle as they crossed the streets while we recorded various characteristics, including speed, group composition, and gender. The video footage was collected using an iPhone; distance was measured using a Kestrel wheel; and the video footage was analyzed using Kinovea software. Statistics were done in SPSS 25. People (N= 652) were more likely to walk faster when they were jaywalking (p=0.006), and were more likely to check the surrounding environment (p<0.001) when crossing against the light. People walking in groups were less likely to walk quickly (p=0.001) (than people walking independently), and less likely to check the surrounding areas when crossing the street (p=0.034); however, groups were also less likely to jaywalk than individuals (p=0.013). Jaywalking and walking-safety data are regularly used by city planning and development committees to determine how to allocate city resources to pedestrian safety measures. Additionally, this study can be used as a foundation for better understanding humans’ walking and movement decisions surrounding risky behaviors, and how walking in groups might increase walking safety and change people’s risk assessment.

The Marshall Islands are often recognized as the victims of US nuclear weapon testing, leaving a lot unsaid about who they are as a people. This dark past often times overshadows the resilience and ingenuity within the Marshallese culture. This research project is aimed to gain a better understanding of Marshallese culture through their canoes and navigation techniques. The way that they navigate and construct their vessels plays a large role in their lives; their voyages, their developed culture, language and livelihood. Our methods include interviewing Marshallese community members within Seattle, analyzing navigation articles, wave charts and using the Burke Museum collection database for information on Marshallese canoes. We anticipate that this project will result in the general public walking away knowing the strengths of the Marshallese and a better grasp of one of the cultures in Oceania that is often underrepresented. It is important to look into other cultures, especially those we do not know a lot about, because you can learn so much from them. We also anticipate making relationships with those we interview and by understanding the views and values of their culture. By the end we hope to have opened the door for future research in this realm to encourage people to explore this on their own and participate in clubs and organizations.

How is the representation of Yapese knowledge brought to the forefront of musuem spaces? How is Oceanic knowledge recognized as a way of life, through what Epeli Hau'Ofa draws from interconnectedness between community, family, and beyond the Western concept of Yapese outriggers being represented as: Just a boat? Our reserach dives into the history of the Yapese canoe, the spirituality behind its meaning, how it is constructed, and how the outrigger connects to resources and sustainability. Through interviews done with Yapaese youth and elder within the community, analyzing material culture, and participartory knolwedge through the emerison of Yapese dance, we were able to bring Yapese voice into the display that will be at the Burke Museum. We aimed to connect the modern knowledge we have today with the cultural context surrounding daily Yapese society. The importance behind bridging these two forms of knowledge is to expose and provide a deeper understanding to those who only have access to non-indigenous studies of the Yapese culture.

The aim of this project is to investigate the effectiveness of medical translation for individuals who face language barriers in the doctor’s office. Translation services have made strides in bridging communication barriers yet some populations continue to suffer. This happens when medical terminology is difficult to translate to a language or if the Interpreter/Translator does not have knowledge of medical terms in the language to which they are translating. The research questions explored through this project are: Does the work of translation contribute to the marginalization of immigrant non-English speaking populations? How does poor translation contribute to the “letting die” of immigrant populations? How must we reconsider the role of language as it intersects the biopolitical field? This project focuses on the Urdu speaking population- most of whom have immigrated from South Asia and are at risk for heart disease. In Urdu, the word “disease” translates to “sickness” which could refer to something as minor as a cold or severe as heart disease. In this way, the severity of an illness is lost in communication and the patient is left filling in the blanks of how severe their sickness might be. This research aims to find gaps in understanding by asking native Urdu speaker to decipher the meaning of various medical phrases translated to Urdu from English. This provides insight into what medical phrases cause the most confusion when translated to Urdu so that it can be addressed in further research. Ultimately, the goal is that this knowledge can help improve translation techniques by creating a tool for patients to convey what was communicated to them during a visit to the doctor.

In Samoan culture the va’a alo, the word for canoe, represents Samoan culture and indigenous science. The relationship between the canoe and the people who continue to use them reflect Samoan mana (cultural spirit). To understand the meaning of the canoe, it is important to understand the complexity and interconnectivity between the va’a alo and the natural world as well as the activities of the people on and off the canoe. Much of the history and resources about the va’a alo that are accessible to students have been tainted by a colonial lens and we strive to counteract these practices and bring forward the beauty and relevance of indigenous knowledge connected to the va’a alo. Our research emphasizes the importance of how Samoan culture connects its people to the canoe. We examine the cultural significance of the canoe design and the role of each person on the canoe. To understand the Samoan canoe, we must also understand its people and cultural values as reflected in canoe practices. Our research methods include lived knowledge of ceremonies and spiritual beliefs as well as interviews with Samoan elders, analysis of mythology, tattoos, proverbs, siva samoa (dance), and published voyages. We are conducting this research to educate the Seattle public through the Burke Museum of the importance of indigenous canoes and their value in Samoan culture throughout history and still today. We hope our results will help current Samoan generations, and even non-Pacific Islanders, to keep in touch with their Samoan traditions and ancestors. Maintaining this indigenous knowledge for the future is also a prominent goal that we hope to pursue. We want to keep this Samoan and the traditions of the canoe alive.

This research seeks to assess the feasibility of sustainable community engagement amidst urban planning projects. It seems like every other day there is city construction taking place in hopes of becoming the next major metropolis; a new public park here, a microbrewery opening right down the street -- when do we draw the line between neighborhood revitalization and gentrification? When a city government agrees to sponsor a revitalization project, we must consider the following questions: who will take on the responsibility of which roles? What level of city intervention is actually appropriate and in which spaces? More importantly, we must ask if there are concrete strategies moving forward; what other actions can be done in order to ensure the continued development of this project? I assess these questions more broadly through a case study comparison between two ongoing urban development projects: the Lincoln District Revitalization Project (LDRP) happening in Tacoma, Washington, and the Bayview-Hunter’s Point Redevelopment Project (BHPRP) taking place in San Francisco, California. I explore not only the ways in which city administrators provide accessible opportunities to ensure community involvement, but also the potential resources that can be established to sustain future collaboration amongst city and community. Two types of populations from both cities are assessed: local residents and municipal government actors. I spend my time in various project sites where city members and community members frequent, conducting both unstructured and semi-structured interviews of these two populations over the course of 10 months. My findings show that distinctions upon the relationship between cultural vitality and economic vitality are essential in ensuring effective development that engages all stakeholders.

Ethnic and religious violence on the border of western Myanmar’s Rakhine State and Bangladesh displaced approximately 647,000 Rohingya (residents), a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar since August 25, 2017. The fact that this crisis has not been fully addressed by the Burmese majority is very alarming especially under the administration of Aung San Suu Kyi, the prominent political figure of Myanmar. Hence, the initial purpose of my research was to examine the factors contributing to this humanitarian crisis by conducting interviews, oral histories, and online surveys among resettled Rohingya women in the Greater Seattle area. I employed a transformative feminist theoretical framework to understand the relationships between political subjectivity and gender violence and colonialism, military dictatorship, and patriarchy. However, while recruiting participants for my project, I encountered silence and reticence rather than enthusiasm from the Rohingya community. This wall of silence and the absence of Rohingya community even among the small Burmese populations in Greater Seattle Area has been a significant turning point in my research. Perhaps this silence itself indicates Rohingya fears that even the researcher-researched relationship could expose them to further racism and discrimination from Burmese here in Seattle on top of their sufferings from political trauma and sexual violence in Myanmar. Therefore, I am currently implementing an auto-ethnographic approach to excavate the role my own and other majority Burmese immigrants' perceptions of and ways of representing the Rohingya, and how this has contributed to the current distrust, silence and fear between women in two communities who have both experienced sexualized military violence. By doing so, I hope my research will begin a process of facing Burmese internalized racism, sexism, and religious discrimination towards the Rohingya community and serve as the stepping stone towards inclusive community-building with cultural humility here and in Myanmar.

 The so-called DREAMers are the current generation of largely undocumented youth named after an unrealized piece of Congressional legislation known as the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors or "DREAM" Act. These youth, many of college-age, are the source of an unrelenting voice for the advancement of immigrant, civil, and human rights throughout the United States. Their movement mirrors earlier struggles that resulted in significant social, economic, and political change; taking the form of direct-action protests and involvement with state, national, and transborder organizing campaigns through social media networks. This ethnographic research project explores the DREAMers' Movement in terms of activists' enunciations of identity, subjectivity, and civil disobedience in the context of the State of Exception created by the Trump Administration's engagement in biopolitics. I address the principal research questions: Are new radicalized political subjectivities emerging from the widely shared daily-lived experiences of precarity among the self-identified members of this movement? How does this subjectivity shape DREAMers' perceptions of and engagement with identity politics and civil disobedience in their rebellion against their status as bodies without rights? These questions were research through ethnographic methods, such as one-on-one interviews and participant-observations. Ultimately noting new forms of engagement in activism and the creation of new identities and ideologies surrounding civil disobedience, this project will provide a scholarly space for reflections on the DREAMers' Movement and its prospects for transforming national and transborder narratives of self, citizenship, and belonging in this political era.

There is a health crisis of unusually high rates of suicidal ideation, alcohol abuse, and other problems of identity and, in turn, mental health among Filipinx Americans today. These indicators of individual and community suffering can be attributed to historical trauma—a concept initially used among Indigenous scholars to describe the psychological trauma and other embodied impacts of centuries of colonization and oppression—which in the Philippines, has meant colonization by several nations and the ongoing imperialism and military presence of the United States. Outside of traditional healthcare, music culture has provided Filipinx Americans a safe space for healing, resistance, and resilience through creative expression and identity development. In the face of US imperialist policies, racism, and other oppressions, Filipinx Americans have had significant contributions to music culture and radical political movements that largely go underrepresented in US history and contemporary studies, including Seattle’s rich narratives of social justice and art. As a self-identified Filipinx American queer femme, DJ, artist, and social justice advocate, I conducted oral life histories and collaborative art projects among Filipinx musicians, artists, activists, and community organizers. Preliminary findings suggest several themes, including (1) relations between Filipinx American music culture, identity development, and health; (2) sociocultural anthropology research’s potential to support radical political movements for Philippine independence and collective liberation; and, (3) the role collectivism can play in building power among Seattle’s Filipinxs and people of color and their art scenes, so that we may compensate and duly recognize the city’s marginalized communities. This work advocates for anti-imperialist action among Filipinx artists and activists through a framework of personal healing, community relationships, and collective movements for justice. Overall, my research supports my journeys of identity, health, and art alongside ongoing legacies of music as a significant political resistance tool in Seattle and the greater Filipinx American diaspora.

Research Family is a group of Pacific Islander students who research a variety of topics including healthcare, education, and representation. In Spring 2017, Research Family explored connections between the movie Moana and the living cultures of Oceania, which many students are part of. In a video produced by the Burke Museum, they shared cultural knowledge within the Oceanic objects in the museum collections and how they are featured in Moana. Methods used includes analysis of material culture and film, and interviews with Pacific Islander community members. Material culture and film analaysis compared cultural objects in the Burke collections and those in scenes from Moana. Results were used to develop a video used in the Burke's educational programs. This project has been valuable in giving voice to Islander students in sharing their own perspectives and ancestral stories. For the symposium, a Research Family member will present this research so that knowledge within Pacific Islander communities and the Burke can continue to be made more accessible.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in a large emigration of people to the U.S., Western Europe, and Israel. The Greater Seattle Area, in particular, is home to sizeable Russian, Ukrainian, and Uzbek communities. Many people in the now independent countries of the former USSR still use the Russian language, and many are bilingual or multilingual before coming to the U.S. Despite the diversity of the post-Soviet space, studies have primarily focused on Russian language use while other languages of the former Soviet Union have received little attention. This research includes Russians, Ukrainians, and Uzbeks who speak other languages in addition to Russian. Through autoethnography, semi-structured interviews, surveys, and participant observations, this study explores the factors, including language ideology, cultural and linguistic identity(ies), family dynamics, age of arrival to the U.S., and community engagement, that affect heritage language retention of the 1.5 generation immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan in the Greater Seattle Area. Age of arrival to the U.S., community engagement, and family dynamics emerge as particularly important indicators for heritage language maintenance. This research fits into the greater context of linguistic anthropology, post-Soviet studies, and contributes to the understanding of diverse immigrant youth from the former Soviet Union.

Archaeologists have made efforts to increase archaeology’s accessibility to those with marginalized identities and to be accountable to communities around archaeological sites. However, alternative ways of knowing and understanding the past from non-Western perspectives remained excluded from contemporary archaeology. The impact of European epistemological hegemony in archaeology limits the frameworks and methodologies that are utilized and considered valid. As more people with marginalized identities have joined the academy, however, archaeological literature has grown to incorporate previously excluded epistemologies. The Black feminist lens only recently has been applied to archaeological theory and practice. The lens attempts to acknowledge the intersectionality of Black women’s identities as racialized and gendered people and disrupt master narratives used to demonize, control, and limit Black women. The Black feminist theoretical model relies on intersectionality and development of an empowered community, while acknowledging the difficulties Black women experience due to class, education level, etc. This paper utilizes semi-structured interviews with Black women archaeologists in the United States to gain insight into their methodologies and perspectives in the field. Additionally, this paper incorporates personal ethnographic diaries entries that are connected to my experiences as a Black undergraduate student to explore the impact of the current sociopolitical climate on my research. The broader implications of the work are towards the recognition of Black women’s intellectual production within archaeology and support the presence of Black women in the discipline as necessary interlocutors in developing liberational archaeology that uplifts voices from marginalized groups through interviews with Black women in archaeology.

Situated in the depths of a city’s music scene lies an underbelly of DIY (Do It Yourself) spaces. These spaces operate under the radar of the city’s commercial music scene found in for-profit venues, working to support experimental and small-scale artists who are often excluded from “legitimate” spaces. The DIY mentality developed from a desire to create venues that support musicians and audiences who refuse to adjust to the tastes of large music corporations. These communities host shows in spaces artists can afford, such as living rooms, basements, and warehouses. This project examines the creation and perpetuation of these underground music scenes, focusing on the development of a scene’s community and how identity is performed inside and outside of DIY spaces. This project explores how a city’s built environment (including its available housing, geographic layout, and ease of transport) impacts the way a scene functions and evolves. It teases out how these impacts are felt through observing how a scene’s social norms are performed at events in DIY spaces, examining the styles of music played within a scene, and other related factors. In order to determine how a scene's norms are specifically influenced by the spatial dynamics of a city, this paper examines the underground music scenes of Seattle and Philadelphia, a deliberate contrasting that shows how the differences and similarities in each scene can be attributed to both the cultural identity of the city as well as its unique urban environment. Whereas there are certain norms that arise out of the overarching DIY ideology (meaning they can be found in the scene of each city), there are disparate norms that are endemic to the each city’s scene. These latter norms prove a city’s built environment holds significant weight in the development of its underground scene. Ultimately, this data will provide evidence of the importance of these underground scenes within a city's arts community,advocating for their protection and support both locally and nationally. 

Artifacts associated with popular culture have potential to reveal activities, interests, and societal influence amongst a community. This is especially true on Native American reservations, where families balanced participation in dominant economies with preservation of traditional practices. This project examines a 1930s comic book fragment excavated during the 2017 Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology field school conducted on the Grand Ronde Reservation in Oregon. The comic book is a unique find that provides historical information about Grand Ronde children growing up on the reservation. This research provides a better sense of students’ activities at the schoolhouse site and explores the impacts and influence of pop culture on the students of Grand Ronde. We use several methodologies for this project, including: paper conservation, archival research, and analyzing physical artifacts collected via the excavation. By sourcing and dating the comic book, we make inferences about the entertainment experience of students at the Grand Ronde school through exploring the influence of popular culture at this site and the impact that mainstream media had on those attending Bureau of Indian Affairs scholastic institutions. This research contributes to knowledge of the cultural interplay of mainstream influences within a reservation schoolhouse environment.

Cortisol, a biomarker of stress, is deposited into blood, skin, saliva, as well as into growing strands of hair. A previously established method for extracting and analyzing cortisol from hair showed that it can serve as a longitudinal measure of psychophysiological stress activity as the hormone is incorporated into the hair strand. While working under a Doctoral Candidate’s research on measuring hair cortisol in Black men in the Seattle area, we determined that the prevailing methodology for collecting hair is inefficient in its applications to this group. The current collection method is likely to repel potential Black research participants for many reasons including stylistic concerns as well as their inability to provide adequate volume, resulting in their non-participance. We have developed and standardized an Afro-textured friendly method for hair sample collection, and applied Meyer and Novak’s cortisol extraction technique. Where the inefficient method suggests sampling from only the back of the head, our newly developed method collects hair from the entire head and relies upon a homogeneous mixture of the hair to represent an average cortisol output from a single individual. Using traditional statistical computation, we test the validity of this new method by comparing a calculated average of hair from independently measured sections of the head from each participant against homogeneous mixtures from the same participants. We hypothesize that there will be no significant difference between our calculated average of independents and the homogeneous mixture. Detecting no significant difference between these groups will serve to validate this collection method.

Homo naledi is a recently-discovered species of hominin that lived in South Africa at 280 ka, around the same time that anatomically modern humans were evolving in east Africa. While the lower body of Homo naledi shares many characteristics with us that aid bipedality, the upper body shows a more primitive morphology related to climbing. Did H. naledi have climbing abilities more like apes, or tool-making and throwing abilities more like modern humans? To answer this question, we focus on the distal humerus because it is one of the more common limb bones found in the archaeological record, making it excellent for multi-species comparisons. We collected coordinates of landmarks indicating distinctive locations from 3D scans of distal humeri from seven Homo naledi specimens, as well as distal humeri from great apes, modern humans, Neanderthals, and other extinct hominins. We analysed the landmarks using geometric morphometry, which uses quantitative representations and analyses of morphological shape using geometric coordinates instead of linear measurements. The variation in the landmarks' coordinates was analyzed with statistical clustering techniques such as principal component analysis and partial least squares analysis using the R programming language to identify and visualize similarities and differences among the taxa in our sample. The results improve our understanding of upper limb mechanics and the role of climbing in the locomotion of Homo naledi, as well as sexual dimorphism among Homo naledi, and clarify their phylogenetic relationship with other hominins.

Archaeologists have long used ceramics as evidence for reconstructing what people ate, what they did, and how they impacted the world. However, few studies examine the use of Euro-American manufactured ceramics by Native communities. For this project, I examined decorated ceramic pieces recovered from the Grande Ronde Agency schoolhouse archaeological site from 2015 to 2017. A wide variety of ceramic artifacts were found at this site, which illustrate everyday activities within the schoolhouse. This schoolhouse was in operation from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, and the decorated pottery gives a significant illustration of when, where, and how ceramic pottery was acquired and utilized on the reservation during this time. To determine this, I examined the physical characteristics of the ceramics such as sherd form, paste, and decoration. The results suggest that students had access to utilitarian, medium-quality dishware, and some higher quality porcelain of various decoration styles. This project provides significant insight into mealtime activities and other aspects of student life at the schoolhouse.

Gender disparities in healthcare are still prevalent in many societies today. Previous research has shown that women with heart disease are more likely to get misdiagnosed or diagnosed later than men. In fact, young women with heart disease have a mortality twice as high as young men. Because many medical conditions, heart disease included, present differing symptoms between men and women, (and so) they require gender-sensitive diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. In a case study at the UW, I will be observing and interviewing women’s healthcare internal medicine specialists. I aim to learn from participants what brought them to this specialty, what trajectories bring patients to these clinicians rather than general internal medicine specialists. I am also recording any gender-specific diagnostic and therapeutic approaches the clinicians used as well as giving an overview of the medical residents’ training in the women’s healthcare track. Hopefully, this data could help illustrate current strengths and limitations of having a women’s healthcare track within medical specialties, and the implications this track might have for reducing gender health disparities.

The stories and activities of children are usually disregarded in the archaeological record. However, at the nineteenth to early twentieth century Grand Ronde Agency Schoolhouse, excavated by the Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology field school, it is hard to ignore the presence of children in the material remains. Using historical records, objects of personal adornment, and school-related artifacts, I examine how children at the Grand Ronde schoolhouse stayed connected to their culture and community. Analysis of these objects convey information about identity and cultural practices of the children at schoolhouse. I analyzed artifacts excavated at the schoolhouse privy like buttons, barrettes, beads, and other accessories subject to personal choice as well as child-sized scissors and pencils. The current knowledge and research about reservation schools has been focused on the tragedies that happened at reservation and boarding schools, but the Grand Ronde material and historical records are stories of survival and optimism during the reservation periods.

Archaeological studies of Native American communities focus primarily on pre-colonial periods. Analysis of nail types and styles from Native sites are thus quite rare. Recent fieldwork conducted by Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology (FMIA) on the Grand Ronde Reservation in northwestern Oregon provides more information about colonial life and gives more attention to reservation inhabitants. The nails excavated by FMIA offer a glimpse into reservation life during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This project focuses on nails recovered from a property in the east central reservation that was occupied by reservation families from the 1850s through at least the 1920s. I developed a typology of the nails recovered from the site and compiled this information into a comprehensive database. This database provides unique insight into the builders, inhabitants, and significant events that took place at the site. Nails shed light on builders’ access to resources, while their building paradigms can tell us of their cultural backgrounds and ideologies. Nails also tell us about the day-to-day lives of inhabitants and whether buildings sustained damage and consequentially required repairs. This project adds clarity to our understanding of the built environment at Grand Ronde. This archaeological analysis offers an approach to tracking construction projects on the reservation in the absence of maps and written records about these structures.