Sierra Jade Red Bow

My name is Sierra Jade Red Bow. I am Lakota (enrolled Oglala Sioux). My people come from Paha Sapa, the Black Hills, but I was raised in a town along the coast of Virginia. I grew up in a strong and diverse military community, one without a visible Indigenous community. I went to the University of Washington in the hopes that I would find indigenous people I could identify with culturally and traditionally. Now, I serve as the co-chair of First Nations, a Native undergraduate organization dedicated to supporting the Native student body through higher education and spreading awareness of issues that my community faces on and off campus. I am majoring in American Indian studies and environmental science and resource management.

Through these two majors, I hope to address these issues of equity in environmental science through privileging and centering Indigenous sciences. I look forward to studying at the University of British Columbia where I can take courses that blend environmental science with Indigenous knowledge instead of studying them independently. Most of all, I’m interested in building relationships with the Indigenous communities in the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territories.

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The Corbett British Columbia-Washington International Exchange Program Fund provides an opportunity for undergraduate students at the University of Washington to spend two semesters at the University of British Columbia or University of Victoria; and for students from the University of British Columbia and University of Victoria to spend three quarters at the University of Washington.