Somewhere touching earth to sky: the lease of Kitt Peak and the Intersections of citizenship, science, and the cultural landscape. (Student paper)

Author:

Suwalsky, Joan April

Title:

Somewhere touching earth to sky: the lease of Kitt Peak and the Intersections of citizenship, science, and the cultural landscape. (Student paper)

Year:

2005

Subject:

Astronomical observatories social aspects Mauna Kea Kitt Peak National Observatory

Summary:

This student paper seeks to provide the reader a sensitive, balanced and lesser known history. The subject of this thesis is the lease agreement, circa 1958, between the Tohono Oodham Nation and the National Science Foundation for the land on which Kitt Peak National Observatory is situated. The mountain is located within the Schuk Toak District of the Tohono Oodham Nation Reservation in southern Arizona. Kitt Peak is considered sacred to the tribe members who regard it the Garden of Iitoi, who is known as Elder Brother or Earth Maker (Nature Personified). In a broader context, the paper addresses how the lease history is bound by larger issues and constructs. These include the question of infringement on scared land juxtaposed with an interest - shared among professional astronomers and the Tohono Oodham - in the stars. The paper also provides in-depth considerations of social interests and politics, legal representation, and the original lease language. The latter portion of the paper focuses on the fallout since the signing of the lease agreement, and whether the lease terms have been upheld. An analysis of Tohono Oodham culture, religion and history reveals what the community may have gained from the Kitt Peak National Observatory, as well as what it may have lost. For comparison, other astronomical observatories located on indigenous and/or sacred lands are presented as case studies, including Mauna Kea.

Collection:

Monographs