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Twelve University of Arizona graduate students have teamed up with undergraduates on the Navajo Nation to design a solar-powered water filtration system that can provide 50 gallons of safe, clean water to 30 Navajo families per day.

A National Science Foundation-funded collaboration between the University of Arizona and Diné Community College, the Indige-FEWSS program has enabled students to build an off-the-grid water filtration system with the ability to serve 50 families on the far-flung Navajo Nation. The goal of Indige-FEWSS is to teach the next generation of STEM professionals how to confront food, energy and water challenges in Indigenous communities while letting traditional Navajo values and knowledge guide their work.

The NSF-funded Indigenous Food, Energy, and Water Security and Sovereignty (Indige-FEWSS) project, supported by IES, undertook a cultural immersion trip to Navajo Nation from March 4th-8th. The trip was an opportunity to learn from government agencies, tribal colleges and community members about the food, energy and water issues facing Navajo Nation.

Titled Indigenous Food, Energy, and Water Security and Sovereignty (Indigi-FEWSS), the goal of this project is to educate and engage students, with an emphasis on recruitment of first-generation and minority students seeking opportunities, to make a difference in developing communities.

Sarah Abney and Nikki Tulley are PhD candidates and in the video Sacred Posion, they offer a look at the deadly consequences of uranium mining on Diné people and how they prevent history from repeating itself.