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.

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 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.

Despite the large number of gametes that clams release, very few offspring survive to reproductive age and harvestable sizes. There are several ways that aquaculturists try to protect young settlers, including adding gravel on top of fine sediment. We tested whether the addition of gravel helped decrease the mortality rate from small crabs in lab experiments. We tested predation rates on juvenile manila clams, Ruditapes philippinarum by the hairy shore crab, Hemigrapsus oregonensis in different sediments. Clams were placed in tubs with no sediment (NS), fine sand (FS), or sand with gravel on top (SG). After allowing time for the clams to burrow, crabs were added to each tub and given 24 hours to consume the clams. Crabs consumed some clams in all treatments although there was high variation among individuals. Gravel addition did not reduce predation rates compared to fine sand alone, but there was a trend for more predation in no sediment than with sediment. We also tested the ability to consume small clams of different predators that live in the same sediment habitat as R. philippinarum. The worms, Nereis brandti, Paranemertes peregrina and Hemipodus borealis all showed no predation on clams within a 24-hour period. The snail, Alia also showed no predation on juvenile clams. By understanding multiple factors that lead to juvenile clam mortality, fisheries can improve upon their methods to increase harvestable populations.

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.

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. 

 Culture is often characterized through such examples as art, language, or social customs, but researchers who study the influence of culture on individuals have found that that influence can go much deeper, affecting not only the way an individual behaves in social environments, but also the way they experience the world internally. Ethnographies that focused specifically on the emotional concepts members of a culture use to define their experiences suggest that our understanding of supposedly basic and universal emotions might be much more subjective and culturally dependent than previously thought. In recent years, a number of psychological studies have suggested that our concepts of emotion come only from primitive physiological arousal, and any more complex experiences and definitions are entirely culturally and socially constructed. This literature review critically evaluates, compares, and contrasts research on the study of emotions from several disciplinary perspectives to explore to what extent emotional experiences are universal, and whether different methods of studying emotions in culture can inform each other. This literature review examines work by researchers from fields including anthropology, psychology, linguistics, and communication. Recent psychological research on the neurological origin of emotions could have profound implications on how ethnographers understand, study, and discuss emotional concepts in cultures. Combining this psychological approach with future ethnographic studies of emotional concepts in cultures has the potential to deepen our understanding of how emotions are constructed and how they vary in different cultures. More broadly, such a collaboration could shed light on the extent to which culture constructs humans’ internal reality and experiences.

This project, spearheaded by Dr. Tony Lucero, showcases the work of Dr. Clyde Snow, a renown forensic anthropologist, and Dr. Mary-Claire King, a geneticist and UW-faculty member, in the field of forensic anthropology in advancing human rights in Latin America. Our project was started by Dr. Lucero to show how various parts of the university can come together to do good for the world. This project focuses on Dr. Snow and Dr. King’s work on advancing cases of disappeared persons in Argentina and impacting trials in Guatemala, ultimately showing the world the importance of forensics in attaining justice and accountability. By conducting in-depth research and illuminating key stories of the pursuit for justice, we will answer the question of how Dr. Snow and Dr. King have revolutionized the fields of forensic anthropology and human rights. To highlight the importance of their work, we will study newspaper articles and court cases. Analyzing the news is crucial to piecing together the multi-faceted nature of their work and examining court cases is necessary to identify exactly how forensic evidence was used to hold human rights abusers accountable. By analyzing media and presenting it in an accessible form, we hope to increase the public's knowledge of forensics through extensive research of the value of the field in finding justice and closure for families of the forcibly disappeared. The output will be a culmination of independent studies conducted by members of the project team and will be presented as digital media components on a central website that is accessible to everyone. Creating digital media that showcases this information will allow us to organize it in a way that engages the public and visually explains the importance of the fields of forensic anthropology and genetics in attaining justice in Latin America and ultimately around the world.

In the past few years, tetanus has caused many cases of the disease, according to the World Health Organization, specifically 34019 newborns died in 2015 from Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT). Many studies have been done on its transmission pathways and its effect on patients. This project explored research in academic journals and other professional publications with keywords such as “maternal and neonatal tetanus” and “transmission.” We explored existing transmission pathways of tetanus, as well as current recommendations for these specific cases, such as proper wound care regarding umbilical cord cutting and vaccination of pregnant mothers. Such recommendations would be to prevent illness and death, as well as diminishing the risk of infant demise. It was found that tetanus is endemic in certain regions. Its contamination can be prevented through proper wound care, vaccination, and proper umbilical cord practices. This review used the disciplinary lenses of microbiology, clinical medicine, epidemiology, and public health. There is overwhelming evidence pointing to the recommendation to vaccinate in the circumstances of a wound or as a form of prevention. This review will suggest implementation in regards to vaccination and prevention options to accompany current healthcare provider efforts to further assist their endeavors in eliminating the specific presentation of MNT in the remaining 15 countries where it remains a public health threat, such as Mali or Pakistan.

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.