Natasha Myhal Examines Complexity of Tribal Restoration Efforts

Natasha Myhal is an environmental social scientist with an emphasis on Native American and Indigenous studies. Myhal is an enrolled citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and is currently finishing her dissertation at Yale University as the Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Fellow. If the fall, she will join the faculty in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University as Assistant Professor of Indigenous Environmental Studies.

Broadly, her research concerns analyzing contemporary impacts on Indigenous environments through the lens of settler colonialism. For her dissertation, she utilizes Indigenous research methodologies to support Odawa-nmé (lake sturgeon) relationships and how Anishinaabe ways of knowing, such as bimaadiziwin (living well), can unify and restore balance to their non-human relatives. Her research calls attention to Indigenous restoration programs—in all their complex social, political, and scientific realms—as key sources for formulating responses to climate change.

Myhal reflects on the significance of her fellowship: “I am really grateful for my time at Yale as the Henry Roe Cloud Fellow. I have received nothing but support from various academic units on campus who have hosted and welcomed me: American Studies, Ethnicity Race and Migration, and the Yale Group for the Study of Native America. I feel very fortunate and grateful to have developed friendships with colleagues here who are working at the various intersections of Native American and Indigenous Studies. From writing together to talking about our work, I have grown as a better scholar and person because of many people on Yale’s campus. The writing of a dissertation can be isolating and solitary experience, but being here at Yale has offered structure, support, community, laugher, and joy, as I finish up my dissertation and defend in July of 2023!”

On Friday, April 28, Myhal gave a culminating lecture on her research to members of the Yale community. A dinner followed to celebrate her year of scholarship and community on Yale’s campus.