sociology

Mason researchers partner with Indigenous nations to promote environmental resilience

Mariam Aburdeineh — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 20:29:47 +0000

Mason researchers partner with Indigenous nations to promote environmental resilience Mariam Aburdeineh Fri, 09/02/2022 - 16:29

In This Story

Thomas Wood

It’s common to think of Indigenous peoples as living in the past. We may think of them around Thanksgiving or in old films and books. But Native Americans are very much here and now, said Jeremy Campbell, and after decades of struggle, that’s starting to be recognized.

Dancing at an Upper Mattaponi Powwow in May 2022.

In 2018, U.S. legislation granted federal recognition to six tribes in Virginia. A ��ӽ紫ý team has been partnering with two of them, the Upper Mattaponi and Chickahominy nations, as they embark on being sovereign nations.

“What really has been an honor to be a part of is building the capacity and the sovereignty of native tribes,” said Campbell, a College of Science professor co-leading the Mason team with School of Integrated Studies professor Tom Wood. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us, as a university, to build a sustainable and respectful relationship that has the potential to last for decades.”

Supporting Tribal Sovereignty

When tribes become sovereign nations, they must set up governments and structures to communicate with the U.S. government, said Campbell, associate director for strategic engagement at Mason’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth. That includes a department of environmental management, which both tribes are setting up.

That’s where Mason comes in.

Over the summer, Campbell and Wood led a multidisciplinary team of 10 undergraduates and two graduate researchers to collect environmental data in partnership with tribal governments as part of a Summer Impact Project. Their research will support tribes in making informed decisions for their communities when it comes to conservation, restoration, and environmental matters.

Chickahominy Connections

��ӽ紫ý student Sara Jefferson is a member of the Chickahominy Tribe. Photo provided.

For junior psychology major Sara Jefferson, the project hits home.

“My favorite part about working on this project is being able to teach others about my culture and my people, while also learning about the natural world around me,” said Jefferson, a member of the Chickahominy Tribe and of Mason’s Native American and Indigenous Alliance.

Jefferson is part of three groups supporting the Chickahominy tribe in food security, wildlife assessment, and digital mapping.

“In the food security group, we’re researching the accessibility to different food sources in the surrounding Charles City area, and assisting the beginning process of community gardens within the tribe,” she said.

Jefferson is also part of a wildlife assessment group that’s identifying wildlife commonly found in the area and declining species. This involves expeditions along the Powhatan (James) River at dawn—when animals are most likely to be out—and recording where and when animals are discovered.

“This project has been very valuable to the Chickahominy Tribe, as it’s helped us establish a baseline of information about our tribal lands and waters that will help us as we make decisions going forward,” said Dana Adkins, tribal environmental director of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe. “As we work to strengthen our community’s role as stewards of our ancestral lands, it’s been great to partner with the students and learn from them as they learn from us.”

The team during a wildlife assessment. From left to right: Brian Jiménez, Olga Cheltsova, Maiya Justice, Dominique Hannon, Dana Adkins (Chickahominy Tribal Environmental Director), Dr. Tom Wood, Guadalupe Meza-Negrete.

Uncovering What Was Lost

In the wildlife assessments, the teams are also tracking what they didn’t find, such as native plant species being pushed out by invasives, Campbell said. Talking with their Indigenous partners helps them understand what the ecosystem should look like.

Collaborating with the tribes is of utmost importance for upholding tribal sovereignty, and for expanding students’ understanding.

“Leading with humility is really important, especially when you’re working with a group that’s been historically marginalized,” said senior sociology major James Condo. “Understanding that you’re going to be a student of everyone else around you is really important to keep in mind for research and in life.”

That mindset can be powerful, Campbell said, especially as the system most people are used to has ignored or marginalized Indigenous ways of knowing.

“If we connect with those ways of knowing and relationships, it can enrich our personal lives, and our ability to perceive and interact with nonhumans, and other communities, in a way that leads to more profound awareness.”

Prof. Tom Wood, Brian Jiménez and Mason team members using a spotting scope during a wildlife assessment.

Going Digital

The Mason team is also training tribal members in how to create geospatial information systems (GIS) databases. These include information about landscape changes, and air and water quality.

“We pull it into a system like ArcGIS, and overlay culturally significant points,” Campbell said. “We’re working with the tribes to train them, so that, if we’re successful, we can stand back and just stand ready for the new kinds of questions and challenges that might come up.”

Students also benefit.

“This has started to get me versed in GIS, and geospatial data is on the cutting edge of a lot of social science fields,” Condo said. “It’s really a great access point for a lot of interdisciplinary spaces.”

Mason students working with Chickahominy participants in a GIS skills building workshop.

Protecting Indigenous Data

“Tribal sovereignty is at the heart of this partnership, which is necessary and important,” said Leigh Mitchell, environmental and cultural protection director of the Upper Mattaponi Indian tribe. “Indigenous priorities have led the way in this research.”

For the Upper Mattaponi, who recently took land into trust, one of those priorities includes documenting how their landscape—which borders on the edge of urban expansion—has changed over the past 50 years, and how people are interacting with the land.

The Mason team is also constructing protocols to ensure that Indigenous people have control of their data in accordance with the principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty—the right of a tribal nation to govern the collection, ownership, and application of its own data.

“[Indigenous Data Sovereignty] encourages us to think of data as another kind of valuable resource that people need, use and care for, the way we might think of natural resources,” Campbell said. “As Virginia’s tribal nations reassert their sovereignty, it is important that their control over information pertaining to their communities, landscapes, and waterways be securely and affirmatively under their control.”

One of the team’s next steps, Campbell said, is to create a digital environment where tribes can grant tiers of access to non-native collaborators.

Research in Dialogue

Learning directly with the tribes has been a major draw, Jefferson and Condo agreed.

In addition to providing tribes with information needed to make informed environmental decisions, relationship building has been at the project’s center.

“It’s very much a dialogue,” Campbell said.

From left to right: Adam Edwards, Olga Cheltsova, James Condo, Patricia Troup, Elizabeth Schierbeek, Dr. Jeremy Campbell, Upper Mattaponi Chief Frank Adams.

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School of Integrative Studies

Rapper and double Mason alum Anees gains musical momentum after a surprise from Justin Bieber

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 22:24:33 +0000

Rapper and double Mason alum Anees gains musical momentum after a surprise from Justin Bieber Mariam Aburdeineh Wed, 04/21/2021 - 18:24

Rapper and double Mason alum Anees Mokhiber has been gaining musical momentum after a surprise from Justin Bieber. Photo credit: Issa Kaddissi

Update: Anees released his debut album, Summer Camp, in May 2023. He embarked on a 26-city U.S. tour, which concludes with a hometown finale July 3 at Echostage in Washington, D.C.

Since he was old enough to drive, Anees Mokhiber would freestyle in his car. The ��ӽ紫ý double alumnus has since transformed the hobby he describes as therapeutic into a career, with his car being his mobile recording studio.

On April 10, during an Instagram live from his Ford Focus, the up-and-coming rapper sang his latest single “Slip,” and was caught by surprise when Justin Bieber joined the livestream to jam along. The Grammy-winning pop star gave major compliments on Mokhiber’s musical talent in front of audience of more than 60,000 people.

“Going through my mind was just adrenaline,” said Mokhiber, BA Philosophy and Sociology ’14, JD ’17. “Everyone wants to know, how did it happen? I don’t know, and I think it’s better that way—it’s a God thing, it’s a blessing.”

Since then, the Northern Virginia native saw a more than 15,000 uptick in his followers, and has been featured in media outlets including NBCLX, WUSA-9 and Washingtonian magazine.

Mokhiber chatted over Zoom from his car on all things music and Mason.

Tell us about “Slip.”

It’s a love song about my wife. What I love about this love song is it’s written to connect with anybody. It has a vulnerability in it that love requires, so I’m hoping it connects with people.

What got you into freestyling?

Going to summer camp we’d do these things called “bombers,” where you would, on the fly, come up with a four-bar rhyme to go back-and-forth with someone. I learned then I had a knack for coming up with rhyme schemes in relatively short order. I always felt very alive doing it.

Why the car?

I commuted all seven years, as an undergraduate and for law school. For me, the car has always been such a creative space, because what are you going to do when you’re stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and you’re late for class? You can either stress, or you can put a beat on it and freestyle.

All of “Slip” was recorded in my car. That does introduce some imperfections into the sound quality, but what it lacks in perfection, it overcompensates for in realness and in beauty.

Why Mason?

It’s a very diverse campus. I felt comfortable there as someone who is a minority. Once I got there, I learned Mason was so much more than diverse. It was very accessible, and you could study anything. There’s so much opportunity. I fell in love with Mason from my time on campus, whether it was going to office hours or walking around campus during sunset. I chose Mason based on diversity, but stuck around for a lot of other reasons.

How do your degrees help with your career?

My time spent studying philosophy and sociology was pivotal to my growth as a deep thinker and conscious lyricist. My studies at Mason are essential to the songwriter I became.

And my law degree allows me to maneuver business dealings and the legal side of the music business without being taken advantage of as an independent artist. I have so much more legal acumen and awareness of how to maneuver based on my degree. My time at Mason law taught me how to see the world logically and legally.

What did you enjoy most about your classes?

The upper-level sociology and philosophy courses were all very formative for me. Anybody can read the classics, but they forced you to do some writing of your own and do some real critical thinking.

What’s next for your music?

My next two singles will be “Love is Crazy” and “Drunk on Myself.” “Love is Crazy” is another love song; “Drunk on Myself” is a self-love song. Self-love songs are even more important because if you don’t love yourself first, you can’t love other people. Love has to emanate from within.

If people took one thing away from your music, what would you hope for that to be?

That life is good. I hope that that underlying ethos of my music can be something that people incorporate in their daily life.

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sociology

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Anton Scalia Law School

Amaka Okechukwu named a 2020 Career Enhancement Fellow

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 13 May 2020 01:28:36 +0000

Amaka Okechukwu named a 2020 Career Enhancement Fellow Mariam Aburdeineh Tue, 05/12/2020 - 21:28

Amaka Okechukwu. Photo provided.

��ӽ紫ý assistant professor of sociology Amaka Okechukwu has been named a 2020 Career Enhancement Fellow by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Okechukwu is one of 32 faculty members from across the nation to receive the award.

“It is an incredible honor that the reviewers found intellectual promise in my next book project,” said Okechukwu, who has worked at Mason since 2017. “I hope that my work can contribute to better understandings of both urban decline and gentrification.”

The fellowship was created to provide career development opportunities for underrepresented faculty with promising research projects in the arts and humanities, according to a press release by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.

During her six-month fellowship, Okechukwu said she will write and analyze data for her book, “Saving Our City: Grassroots Resistance to the Urban Crisis in Brooklyn, New York,” which concerns black community organizing and transformation during the 1970s and 1980s.

“This book will tell an important story about the community vitality of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant, two of the most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in New York City, at a time when people dismissed them as crime-ridden and hopeless,” Okechukwu said, adding that she used to live and work in these neighborhoods.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted her plans for data collection in New York, she said she plans to refocus her attention to chapters of her book that cover previously collected data or data from digital archives. She will also build an interactive map that spatializes community movement in response to gentrification, drawing on archival materials, interview data and photographic record.

“There is much that I find to be compelling about this project, including its creative integration of digital humanities,” said Amy Best, chair of Mason’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “[Okechukwu] is a productive and exceptionally promising young scholar.”

Mason scholars regularly combine their concern for public life with their scholarly endeavors, Best said, and Okechukwu “brings these sensibilities to the classroom, inspiring students to connection, social action and critical sociological thinking.”

In addition to the mentoring she will receive as a fellow, Okechukwu said she will have additional support to help tell the untold stories of the neighborhoods that influenced her own development.

“An often-unacknowledged impact of gentrification is historical erasure,” Okechukwu said. “We cannot fully understand gentrification without understanding what came before it.”

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