Judy Gobert with her son Loga (on the left), daughter Eska (on Judy's right), and daughter Ecocate (in front). Gobert is Blackfeet, Salish, and Nakota. Her children's names are Seminole and translate as Turtle, Mink, and Red Deer.

It has been a long circuitous route for her, but at last Judy Gobert has found work that utilizes both her skills as a scientist and her desire to help her people. Gobert, an enrolled Blackfeet with ties to the Salish of the Flathead Reservation, now serves as program manager for the All Nations Alliance for Minority Participation (ANAMP) at Salish Kootenai College. The program moved from Montana State University to SKC in January 1996.

Formerly Gobert spent her days looking through a microscope as a researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Montana. Gobert liked doing research. However, she didn’t enjoy the competitive environment or the publish or perish ethos associated with being a university scientist. Now, as manager of ANAMP, she recruits American Indians into careers in science, engineering, and math. “Math always came easily to me,” Gobert says, “I just liked doing it.”  Now, in her position as administrator of ANAMP, Gobert can tell Native American students, sometimes hesitant and unsure of a future in the sciences, they can succeed, too.

Gobert knows she faces a formidable task. Native Americans are the least represented of all minorities in the natural sciences. Gobert understands intimately the lack of comfort Native Americans have felt within the scientific world. “Western science looks down on aboriginal people. Our stories, our oral tradition are just myths to them…all of our oral traditions are invalidated,” she says. Gobert believes these attitudes could be changed if Native Americans were empowered to do their own research. “Native Americans can do science as well as anyone,” she says.

Gobert can serve as a role model as well as a cheerleader for students because like many of them, her beginnings were not auspicious. Because her family moved frequently, she attended 16 different schools, piecing together an education. After an initial failure at college, Gobert hit her stride at Seminole Junior College in Oklahoma where she received an Associate of Science degree as a medical laboratory technician.

She can tell students firsthand of the thrills and pitfalls of a career in the sciences. Gobert earned a double major bachelors degree in microbiology and medical technology. She has only to finish her thesis to receive a Ph.D. in microbiology and biochemistry. As part of her research, she has made groundbreaking explorations into Feline Immuno‑deficiency Virus, a virus related to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In 1993, she was named the Top Graduate Student at the University of Montana.

Gobert’s plans for students do not end with a career in science. Ultimately, she hopes to bring American Indian scientists together in one setting to work toward solving American Indian health and environmental problems. She dreams of a Native American research center, located at Salish Kootenai College. “We would have social scientists, working with applied scientists, working with theoretical scientists all in one setting‑‑we could have a holistic approach,” she says. She wants the center to do independent research, outside mainstream universities and institutions. The scientific establishment does not realize American Indians can do their own studies in their own institution, based on the reservation, she believes. “We can do it better because we know the problems, and we look at the problems in a more effective way,” she says.

Gobert has seen personally the difficulty mainstream scientists have in finding solutions to American Indian health problems. One problem is over specialization, which leads to an inability to see the big picture, as examplified by the study of diabetes. Western science’s study of diabetes has been very piecemeal, which inhibits progress toward a cure, she says. “Diabetes is not just genetics, not just diet,” Gobert says. “It is a whole group of factors, including spirituality, that must be understood in order to treat the disease. To gain ground dealing with diabetes, the entire spectrum of the effect of the disease should be studied,” she says. Sociologists, nutritionists, psychologists, and historians should contribute to medical, biological, and chemical inquiries.

Recent trends in Western scientific inquiry echo her belief in a holistic approach. The National Institute of Health has recognized a cross‑disciplinary approach as the most effective. Multiple disciplinary lenses should be used to look at a problem.

Gobert also disagrees with mainstream science’s emphasis on individual accomplishment. Success in the scientific establishment often comes at the expense of others. “Some of those scientists won’t share findings because others might publish before them. Western science wants you to say you have to be the greatest, the first to win the race, the best.” Along with this allegiance to ego go rewards such as research positions at prestigious institutes or universities. In the end, who are the real winners and losers? Gobert wonders.

Gobert has seen researchers withhold findings until the right time to publish them. “One of our colleagues wouldn’t tell anybody about an important finding that would have helped sick people because he was afraid he might not get credit for it,” she says. “How many patients were affected?” she asks, concluding, “Competition in science can lead to immoral decisions.”

In contrast, much Native American scientific knowledge was derived in the spirit of helping the community, Gobert believes. Individual accomplishments and accumulation of honors were always seen in the context of benefits to the community. While the acquisition of wealth motivates mainstream culture, in Native culture, wealth historically was most useful when it was given away. In an American Indian research facility, Native traditions and practices–such as cross‑fertilization of ideas–could form basic operating principles. Native American traditions would be valued as time‑tested, effective ways of dealing with the natural world.

In order to make this dream a reality, Gobert needs American Indian scientists as collaborators. “We need Indian people to do our own research‑‑our own brand of science,” she says. The collaborators must have the proper credentials, she says. “We need the Ph.Ds to make it work. People listen to them.” Salish Kootenai College President Dr. Joseph McDonald supports her plans to establish a research center. Avenues of funding are being explored. Although it would cost $10 million to fully equip a research facility, she has faith and enthusiasm. “I love science; I love lab work,” she says.

With plans for the future coupled to the satisfying task of recruiting American Indians into science, Gobert is much more at peace with herself. Being at home on the Flathead Reservation helps also. She knows now that she can make an impact for Native people without being a Cinderella for the world of Western science. She has replaced her glass slippers with buckskin moccasins.

Dr. Michael J. Hill, is a Blackfeet Indian who holds a Doctor of Education degree in Adult Education. He is Associate Dean for Students at Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, WA.

All Nations Alliance for Minority Participation

Started in 1994 with funding from the National Science Foundation, All Nations Alliance for Minority Participation (ANAMP) serves a consortium of 24 tribal colleges and 31 state and private universities in Montana, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The headquarters for this AMP program moved from Montana State University to Salish Kootenai College in January 1996. By having the headquarters at a tribal college, NSF funds stretch farther because of the lower overhead, according to Dr. Joseph McDonald, president of Salish Kootenai College.

Under the AMP program, participants provide activities to encourage minority students to earn bachelor degrees in science. Nine tribal colleges offered an adopt-a-school program, which assisted high school students in making the transition to college. Three institutions sponsored research assistant and mentor programs designed to give Indian students experience and confidence in working with scientists.

High school graduates were recruited for summer bridge projects at six colleges where they received on-campus mentoring, tutoring, retention, and study skills instruction. Through another summer project, eight colleges provided internships for minority students. A teacher preparation program supported 20 Native American math and science education majors. AMP also supported curriculum development projects at Salish Kootenai College, United Tribes Technical College, and Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.

Overall, the AMP program helped 393 high school students and 150 college students to gain confidence about careers in science. Program Director Judy Gobert believes the program changed the students’ lives. “Most of our students enter AMP thinking they do not have the skills to earn science degrees,” Gobert says. “After one year of tutoring, career counseling, mentoring, internships, and visits to colleges, all of our students believe they can be scientists, I call that success,” she says.