Integrated Data Cube (IDC) Project · USDA-NIFA Funded · Active 2025–2026
"Data sovereignty means communities define how their data is used, shared, and understood."
The OLC Integrated Data Cube is a community-driven data and workflow platform built by and for Tribal Nations. We are creating flexible, sovereignty-aligned tools that enable the Oglala Lakota Nation to gather, interpret, and apply environmental information such as agriculture, water, land, geology, soils, and ecosystem monitoring on their own terms.
This is both a research infrastructure and a learning environment, designed to expand local expertise in data science while integrating principles of traditional knowledge systems and inherent Tribal sovereignty.
Built by: Oglala Lakota College in collaboration with Daear Consulting, LLC and CIRES Earth and ESIIL Labs, CU Boulder
| Domain | Description |
|---|---|
| Hydrology | Hydrologic data cubes for water access and management |
| Agriculture | Agricultural datasets supporting food sovereignty and land use |
| Geospatial | Reproducible geospatial workflows and data cubes |
| Education | Teaching tools and training materials for OLC students and community |
| Data Sovereignty | Workflows aligned with OCAP®, CARE, FAIR, and Local Contexts frameworks |
- Tribal access to Earth data science supporting Tribal-led environmental research
- Capacity building : expanding data literacy for students, Elders, and community members
- Climate resilience : self-determined responses to environmental challenges
- Centering Tribal Knowledges : integrating traditional knowledge with modern Earth data tools
This work is guided by:
- Building initial data cube infrastructure
- Integrating agricultural and hydrologic datasets
- Developing student training materials
- Community-facing data tools
- Expanded dataset integrations
- Workshops with Tribal partners
- Tribal Hackathon to introduce tools
| Name | Role | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Dana Gehring | Department Head | Oglala Lakota College |
| J. Foster Sawyer, PhD | Faculty · Project Lead | Oglala Lakota College |
| Camille Griffith, PhD | Faculty | Oglala Lakota College |
| Elisha Yellow Thunder | Adjunct Faculty | Oglala Lakota College |
| James Sanovia | Tribal Data Scientist | Daear Consulting, LLC · CIRES ESIIL Lab, CU Boulder |
| Lilly Jones, PhD | Geospatial Data Scientist | Daear Consulting, LLC · CIRES Earth Lab, CU Boulder |
| Ty Tuff, PhD | Lead Data Scientist | CIRES ESIIL Lab, CU Boulder |
Questions or collaboration inquiries:
Foster Sawyer jfsawyer@olc.edu
We honor the Oglala Lakota Nation, the Oceti Sakowin, and the lands that sustain this work.
