Tech meets tradition: One PhD’s mission to preserve Indigenous memory
Alycia de Mesa poses for a photo on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. Photo courtesy of Carrie Sage Curley (San Carlos Apache).
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2025 graduates.
In a digital world where stories are easily shared but not always protected, Alycia de Mesa (Apache of Chihuahua) asked: How can Indigenous traditional knowledge be preserved without losing community control?
These were the kinds of questions embedded in de Mesa's doctoral dissertation for her in human and social dimensions of science and technology degree in the School for the Future of Innovation.
When she first stepped foot on campus in 2015, de Mesa arrived not as a student but as a faculty instructor in storytelling, communications and sustainability. Two years of teaching graduate and undergraduate students inspired her own academic journey, but it was only once she began a class in Indigenous research methodologies that everything changed.
“Suddenly, I had a framework and vocabulary for ontologies, ways of knowing, how we know things, types of knowledge, ethics and values that are completely Indigenous worldview centric …that completely turned my world around in terms of how I was thinking about my PhD research.”
Her research for her dissertation, ”Centering Indigenous Knowledge Sovereignty for Community Memory Keeping: An Exploration of Digital Storytelling and Countermapping,” was not only tied to her maternal lineage and upbringing on traditional Onk Akimel O'odham land, it became the foundation for a living project for intergenerational learning and sharing for Apaches in Arizona and Northern Mexico.
Countermapping, she explains, involves reimagining maps through a decolonized lens without borders or colonial place names, centering place-based stories of Indigenous peoples. After two years of development with ASU student teams and advisement from ASU Native faculty and Apache knowledge holders, the Chi’chil Countermapping Project, originating in the Humanities Lab, focused on sharing Apache stories of chi’chilWestern Apache for the Emory oak acorn/Quercus emoryi., a traditional and culturally significant food in the Western Apache diet and practices. The map embedded in the online platform was designed to show where the chi’chil grows across the Southwest and Northern Mexico, and to share place-based stories from Apache community members from San Carlos Apache Reservation and in Chihuahua, Mexico.
The digital map is now offered in English and Spanish with plans to utilize it within the San Carlos Apache community.
“I didn’t want my research to be a 252-page document that just sat somewhere. I wanted something active and alive for community benefit. We call this a living project because the San Carlos Apache Tribal community was involved in creating it, and the project will be turned over to them afterwards. It will continue to evolve for the needs of the community.”
As part of that, and with gratitude to the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council and community members, the goal remains that any individual in the project, or their descendants, has the sovereign right to determine if their family story continues to be included or not.
“After six years of PhD work, I can say for sure this was never a lone ride. I feel very blessed that there were Apache, other Native, and non-Native people willing to support this project and me to complete my PhD.”
Note: Answers may have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Question: What’s something that surprised you or changed your perspective while at ASU?
Answer: It would be the Indigenous research methodologies classes. These were very specifically rooted in Indigenous research theory and Indigenous and decolonial methodologies. A key one is called ‘Two-Eyed Seeing,’ a decolonial methodology and approach to integrative science coined by elder Dr. Albert Marshall (Mi'kmaw Nation).
As Native people, we have our own worldviews and traditional knowledge, then the Western world has its own views and technologies. Two-Eyed Seeing approaches science with strong Indigenous and Western perspectives.
As an older Indigenous woman I felt like a kid again taking these classes. Like, wow, this is how I should have been learning all my life.
Q: Were there any faculty members who had a big impact on you?
A: Yes, Dr. Colin Ben (Diné), with his Indigenous Research Methodologies class through the Indigenous Education Department. While he is no longer at ASU, his class was hugely impactful. Other hugely influential people were Dr. Melissa K. Nelson (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) and Dr. Krystal Tsosie (Diné) as well as my committee co-chairs, Dr. Jennifer Richter and Dr. Joni Adamson and Alex Soto (Tohono O’odham), librarian and director of Labriola National American Indian Data Center, and many others.
It was really powerful to have an all woman doctoral committee. Half of them are Native, half of them are non-Native. They all come from different complementary, transdisciplinary fields such as Indigenous storytelling and narratives, sustainability, bioethics and digital data sovereignty.
Also having the support from Apache community knowledge holders, Vincent Randall (Dilzhé'e Apache, Yavapai-Apache Nation), who sadly passed in late 2023, and Twila Cassadore (San Carlos Apache), as well as other members who were involved at San Carlos in particular. I couldn’t have done it without all these folks.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?
A: Research is not a solo deal. You work with all kinds of people. Sometimes they are very different in their life experiences and perspectives and not all have credentials at the end of their name. The challenge is to listen and work together towards something that is going to be of sound, ethical benefit and also have a framework around it from beginning to end when working with communities.
When we’re talking about Native communities, there is a lot of time and care and just extra love, respect, and commitment that goes toward working with Native communities. They deserve this after decades/centuries of mistreatment and exploitation.
Collaborating and working with Native communities is a long-long term commitment. It is not just about educating yourself. How are you giving back to the community?
Q: What’s one change you’d love to see in the world — and how would you use your degree to help make it happen?
A: I think overall, the one thing I’d like to change is a greater intergenerational awareness when it comes to the Earth and what it means to care for the Earth itself. By this I mean, the health of our waterways, our soil, our air quality, our plant and animal relatives. That is probably the biggest change I’d like to see: a much healthier knowledge base, actions, attitudes in context to living interdependently with our Earth — no matter who you are or where you come from. I pray that our tribal communities have all the resources they need to make sure their tribal and traditional lands are healthy and cared for now and for future generations.
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