Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology

The Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology program is designed to prepare graduates to become effective caretakers and stewards of the place they call home – the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and the surrounding prairies, river bottoms, and island mountain ranges of northcentral Montana. The program employs classroom, laboratory, and field-based instruction, as well as internship placements and undergraduate research experiences, to focus student learning on the dynamic web of interconnections that exist between the Aaniinen and Nakoda nations and their ancestral homelands. Embedded in the lifeways, histories, and identities of the Aaniinen and Nakoda, the program offers students a culture-, place- and community-based approach to learning eco-logy (from the Greek words oikos-logos), literally understood as “the way of the home place.”

Student Outcomes

Understand the ethical, cross-cultural, and historical context as they influence contemporary environmental issues and the links between human and natural systems.
Reflect critically about the roles and identities of indigenous citizens and environmental stewards in their ancestral lands and in connection with the natural world.
Demonstrate an understanding in the field of environmental health that incorporates the conception of
Aaniiih and Nakoda wellness and disease as it relates to public health.
Use appropriate technology, methodology, and Aaniiih and Nakoda epistemologies to investigate and evaluate the various components (e.g., aquatic, geologic, atmospheric, terrestrial, and living) of the natural world.
Articulate the Aaniiih and Nakoda values and indigenous scientific process through the application of traditional ecological knowledge and research.
Understand and demonstrate knowledge of Tribal, State, and Federal regulations.
Practice appropriate cultural etiquette.
Apply the knowledge of major laws and policies and cultural etiquette to contemporary local issues.
Demonstrate analytical skills and the ability to apply quantitative reasoning, traditional ecological knowledge, and appropriate mathematical and statistical methods to analyze scientific data to investigate or explain phenomena in the natural world.
Design and implement a place-based research project addressing community needs or concerns.
Synthesize, communicate, and present research findings to all stakeholders.

Career Opportunities

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Program Electives

Introduction to Soils (NRS 110)
Microbiology (BIOM 250)
Introduction to GIS/GPS (NRS 210)
Restoration Ecology (NRS 225/425)
Range Management (NRS 200/300)
Tribal Government II & Codes (AIS 330)
Conservation Biology (ANE 470)
Hydrology of Fort Belknap Reservation Water Resources (ANE 365)

Curriculum