Through SciAct, a NASA program aims to engage students in STEM as it intersects with Native culture

POSTED ON Nov 20, 2023

NASA recently announced a partnership between the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO), Native Earth | Native Sky at Oklahoma State University (OSU), and Boeing.

The partnership aims to send around 500 grams of heirloom seeds from the Choctaw Nation to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Science Activation Program.

OSU has received a $4 million cooperative agreement with NASA, which includes the development of a curriculum with the Chickasaw and Cherokee nations.

After the seeds have flown in space, they will be returned to Oklahoma and planted by students at Jones Academy, the Choctaw Nation boarding school.

The student’s experiences and the seeds’ journey to space will be documented in a Native Earth | Native Sky (NENS) curriculum piece.

Dr. Kathryn Gardner-Vandy, a Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma citizen, and assistant professor of aviation and space at Oklahoma State University is the NENS principal investigator.

She has played a crucial role in partnering with CNO and Boeing to send Choctaw heirloom seeds to the space station.

The seeds that will be sent, returned, and later planted are five important seeds native to the Choctaw Nation: Isito (Choctaw sweet potato squash), Tvnishi (a spinach-like leafy green), Tobi (smith peas), Chukfi (peas), and Tanchi Tohbi (flour corn).

Through the SciAct program, NENS aims to engage Native Nations middle school students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and increase their interest in STEM as it intersects with Native culture.

Over the past year, NENS has collaborated with the Choctaw Nation to create a STEM curriculum that interweaves Choctaw culture and stories.