Rico Worl was studying at the University of Alaska last semester when his grandmother informed him of a new research opportunity at Penn.
Now the Native American junior is spending a semester investigating his heritage in Philadelphia, where he is researching Tlingit cultural artifacts at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Worl is one of two students participating in the Native Voices: Past and Present program, which aims to pair Native American students from schools across the nation with Penn undergraduates to perform anthropological research.
The program, begun this year, is financed by a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation.
Though the grant was intended to bring six Native American students to the University, officials were only able to recruit two to participate in the program's first semester.
Still, Anthropology professor Robert Preucel, who serves as an adviser to the program, believes the experience will enhance both student and faculty knowledge.
"You learn more about who you are, and you also learn about how you can help your people," said Nanibaa Beck, a senior from Arizona State University who is participating in the program. She intends to bring back many of the things she learns about northeastern Native American art in Philadelphia to her community in Arizona.
Beck hopes that her endeavor will raise awareness among her Navajo community of different native cultures and help combat some of the prejudices that exist between varying groups of indigenous peoples.
Museum officials hope that in addition to relaying knowledge back home, students will help use their community ties to enhance the museum's collections.
The program will allow students to "bring meaning to those objects in ways that we in the museum aren't able to do because they're not part of our cultural heritage," program director Janet Monge said.
Faculty and students involved in the program hope that it will assist the University in strengthening its recruitment and retention of Native American students. Native Americans make up between 1 and 2 percent of students at Penn.
This "will hopefully raise the visibility of Penn in Indian country," Preucel said.
Native Americans "are a nation within a big nation. I think it's definitely overlooked, and I think Penn as an Ivy League school can do a lot more than what's being offered right now," Beck said, noting the University's lack of courses on Native American studies.
Beck believes that one reason for the underrepresentation of Native Americans is that the University has not made sufficient efforts to reach out to the community.
"Ultimately, I think this will play out beyond the time frame of the grant and give us a different outlook on thinking about Native students on campus," Monge said.
