USDA-NIFA Funded Active 2025–2026 Data Sovereignty

Integrated
Data Cube

Oglala Lakota College Environmental & Agricultural Data for the Oceti Sakowin

A community-driven data and workflow platform enabling Tribal Nations to gather, interpret, and apply environmental information on their own terms grounded in Tribal sovereignty, traditional knowledge, and modern Earth data science.

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Project
IDC/Cubedynamics for Tribal Environmental Data
Led by
Oglala Lakota College
Partners
Daear Consulting · CIRES ESIIL and Earth Labs, CU Boulder
Status
Active Development
The Project

Built on Land,
Knowledge & Sovereignty

Communities worldwide face profound environmental disruption, including contaminated air and water, declining freshwater, habitat loss, and accelerating climate change. For many Tribal Nations, these challenges are compounded by legacies of colonization that have limited access to environmental data and decision-making tools.

Tribal peoples bring generations of knowledge and enduring relationships with their homelands. Traditional ways of understanding the world rooted in balance, respect, and reciprocity offer critical insights for sustaining ecosystems and hold lessons for all of us.

The IDC unites these strengths with modern Earth data science: a research infrastructure and learning environment expanding local expertise while integrating traditional knowledge systems and inherent Tribal sovereignty.

Focus Areas
🌊 Hydrology Hydrologic data cubes for water access and management
🌾 Agriculture Datasets supporting food sovereignty and land use
🗺️ Geospatial Reproducible geospatial workflows and data cubes
📚 Education Teaching tools for OLC students and community
🔐 Sovereignty OCAP®, CARE, FAIR, and Local Contexts aligned

"Data sovereignty means communities define how their data is used, shared, and understood."

Current Work
  • ◆ Building initial data cube infrastructure
  • ◆ Integrating agricultural and hydrologic datasets
  • ◆ Developing student training materials
Roadmap
  • ◇ Community-facing data tools
  • ◇ Expanded dataset integrations
  • ◇ Workshops with Tribal partners
  • ◇ Tribal Hackathon to introduce tools
Expected Impacts

Capacity, Resilience
& Self-Determination

01 —
Tribal Access to Earth Data Science
Making modern EDS tools accessible supports Tribal-led environmental research and resource management on Tribal terms.
02 —
Capacity Building & Training
The DataCube serves as a teaching tool for OLC students, Elders, and community members. It expands data literacy from the ground up.
03 —
Environmental & Climate Resilience
With improved data and tools, Tribes can develop more effective, self-determined responses to environmental challenges.
04 —
Centering Tribal Knowledges
Integrating traditional knowledge with state-of-the-art Earth data tools to create lasting, meaningful, community-led change.
Guiding Principles

Sovereignty-Aligned
Frameworks

People

The Team

Dana Gehring
Department Head
Oglala Lakota College
J. Foster Sawyer, PhD
Faculty · Project Lead
Oglala Lakota College
Camille Griffith, PhD
Faculty
Oglala Lakota College
Elisha Yellow Thunder
Adjunct Faculty
Oglala Lakota College
James Sanovia
Tribal Data Scientist
Daear Consulting, LLC
CIRES ESIIL Lab · CU Boulder
Lilly Jones, PhD
Geospatial Data Scientist
Daear Consulting, LLC
CIRES Earth Lab · CU Boulder
Ty Tuff, PhD
Lead Data Scientist
CIRES ESIIL Lab · CU Boulder