My name is Margaret Maurer, and I am a rising sophomore studying Ecology and Environmental Biology and Anthropology. Growing up in northern Minnesota, I never imagined that I would find myself spending the summer at the southernmost fringes of Louisiana, yet I am looking forward to doing just that. On the line between Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes lies the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe (PACIT), a French-speaking community of approximately 680 tribal members.
This summer I will be assisting the Tribe in gathering historical and ethnographic research for the Tribe’s petition for Federal Acknowledgment, a process that involves a set of criteria that must be met before the Federal government recognizes the Tribe. Ultimately, among other benefits, this recognition could grant the Tribe much-needed government funding and means for environmental protection, which are increasingly important as conditions for both people and planet deteriorate all along the Gulf Coast. My research involves many different pieces of history and culture that are coming together in one project that stands to benefit not only a community, but their land as well.
While this will be an incredible research experience, it will also be a valuable learning experience. With generous help from the NCI, I hope to accomplish five Learning Objectives this summer through my work:
- A greater appreciation for how the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe celebrates its culture and how I, from a different cultural background, can respectfully appreciate it as well.
- The development of historical and ethnographic archival research skills with applications to current and developing issues.
- Professional growth as a research assistant.
- The development of skills as a feminist researcher for further application in my academic career.
- An understanding of ways to apply my research skills respectfully and effectively within a community belonging to a cultural background different from my own.
This internship will provide me ways to explore the NCI’s mission of educating undergraduate women for leadership in our modern world. Having never before taken on a research position of this magnitude, I am taking on a challenge that will push me as an independent thinker and a community partner. As my research team and many Tribe members I will be working with are women, I am looking forward to learning from them and being inspired by seeing powerful women leaders in action.
In preparation for this summer, I have been approaching my work with a broad outlook. Though I will be working with a very contemporary project, I think that it is important to understand the cultural and historical context behind the project as well. No one piece of information gathered will be unrelated to another: culture is connected to land is connected to history is connected to people is connected to society is connected to…(etc.). I have been reading a wide array of literature, from historical descriptions of the tribe by French settlers to newspaper clippings from the 1980’s, in order to give me a wider perspective on the project. This research will be a snapshot of what the web of life in the PACIT looks like, and will benefit so many of the connected pieces.
I am looking forward to learning more about these pieces this summer and having the opportunity to make a difference for them. I look forward to pushing myself to take on new challenges, support the women I will work with, learn from them, and explore my own role in leadership—and I also look forward to the opportunity to keep you all updated on my experiences! I hope you will check back with this blog throughout the summer to keep up with the amazing women doing amazing things all over the world because of the generosity of the NCI. Thank you for reading!