Dr. Elizabeth Rule was in the classroom at George Washington University (GWU) when some of her students began sharing concerning feedback with her.
As students in the university’s Native American Political Leadership Program (for which Rule both administers and teaches), they had traveled from all corners of the country, including Alaska and Hawaii, on scholarship to study in Washington, D.C.
“But they were telling me that sometimes they felt invisible, uncomfortable or erased in D.C.,” Rule says. “They felt homesick.”
“I wanted to show them that, ‘You have a strong native community here in D.C., too,’” says Rule. “’And, by coming here, you are not isolated, you’re actually following in your ancestors’ footsteps by carrying on this legacy of advocacy and engagement with the nation’s capital.’”
Rule says her students responded positively to the app, telling her it changed how they saw D.C. and, more importantly, how they saw themselves in D.C. In the wake of the app’s success — it recently won MIT’s Indigenous Communities Fellowship award — Rule is developing a guide to Indigenous Baltimore as well as a guide to tribal colleges and universities throughout the nation.
But the apps are far from the only project on Rule’s to-do list.
