What’s Right (Leaning) With Kansas Media: The Cultivation of Misinformation in Rural America

Vogts, Todd R Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2023 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Misinformation and disinformation have shown the potential to fertilize distrust in the news (Kalogeropoulos et al., 2019; Karlsen & Aalberg, 2021; Swart & Broersma, 2022), which can allow democracy-damaging polarization to grow within the United States. This polarization often takes root due to the erosion of reliable information that can be exacerbated by confirmation bias that may cultivate filter bubbles and echo chambers (Flaxman et al., 2016; Lee et al., 2021; Nechushtai & Lewis, 2019; Pearson & Knobloch-Westerwick, 2019).In many cases, politically motivated individuals and media outlets plant these seeds of misinformation and disinformation intentionally, leaving members of society to graze on the subsequent silage of content. If it lacks nutrients, this information constructs a skewed perception of society. This weakens the social capital bonds that germinate a functioning democracy, which sprouts from reliable and public knowledge (Belair-Gagnon et al., 2019; Lewis et al., 2014; Putnam, 2001). In order to prune misinformation and disinformation from the fields of democracy that are irrigated by journalism’s flow of truth, the pathways to news that individuals take and lead them to the invasive species of information must be considered.This risk is particularly important as it relates to the news consumption habits of rural Americans, who largely live and work in agrarian communities and exist as an important voting block as was evident in the 2016 election of President Donald Trump and the controversy surrounding the outcome of the 2020 election. However, most current research does not examine this group in specific focus or simply largely ignores this swath of the United States population as just “fly-over” country.Thus, with the purpose of filling a crucial gap in the literature, this study investigated the pathways to news for individuals living and working in rural areas of the country, specifically rural Kansas. As the investigative focal point, rural Kansas provides a vital case study to explore how rural citizens come to believe in, and potentially further spread misinformation and disinformation, including conspiracy theories spread by partisan media outlets that include, but are not limited to, talk radio, cable television, and social media.Through the implementation of interviews and an online survey that collected data from these individuals, this dissertation reports how individuals in rural Kansas access and use news in ways that stimulate political division and set the stage for polarization to flourish (Bail et al., 2018; Darr et al., 2021; Gaultney et al., 2022; Talisse, 2021), which can lead to a bruised and battered democracy. This method of inquiry sprouts from the social constructionism perspective of reality. This dissertation thereby positions the media effects theories of Cultivation Theory (CT), Uses and Gratifications Theory (U&G), and Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT) as the optimal lenses through which to examine the pervasive problem of misinformation and disinformation by seeking the root cause of this noxious information’s spread.To that end, this study found that social media and news websites, television, and radio are the primary pathways to news for rural Kansans. The bulk of the content being consumed via these media comes from national and partisan sources, and, in many cases, it consists of opinion-based material. Driven by the state’s strong religious alignment (Wuthnow, 2012) and predominantly conservative political stance (Kansas Secretary of State, 2023), the media messages align with the previously held beliefs of the residents, even if the information is inaccurate. This leads to those beliefs becoming more entrenched, and the misinformation and disinformation spreads when individuals discuss the news with their peers. The fact that individuals do not recognize inaccurate or false information for what it is indicates a deficiency in terms of media literacy skills. Such a finding was made even more evident by several participants expressing their deeply held beliefs in various conspiracy theories. Compounding this issue is the pervasive lack of trust in the media reported by the respondents. In most cases, individuals said they have little to no trust that they are receiving accurate and complete information from news outlets. This was particularly true in terms of national outlets, and although confidence still wasn’t high, local news was found to be more trustworthy.Still, the overall results suggested that rural Kansans desire more reliable news and information, especially at the local level. Individuals indicated they believed journalism was important for society, and this was even more true locally because study participants suggested engaging socially and politically at that level proved to be more impactful than at the national level. Therefore, the implications of this study are multifaceted. First, misinformation and disinformation are being cultivated in rural Kansas because of the residents’ media consumption homogeneity. Also, media literacy skills need to be improved, which can be achieved through educational initiatives. Furthermore, rural Kansans need to be given better news options, and a primary way to achieve this is to improve local news and access to local news across modalities.

Characterization of Soybean Seedborne Fusarium spp. in the State of Kansas, USA

Pedrozo, Rodrigo Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Fusarium spp. are among the most important pathogen groups on soybeans. However, information regarding this genus on soybean seeds in the state of Kansas remains underexplored. Therefore, the goal of this study was to characterize the identity, frequency, and pathogenicity of soybean seedborne Fusarium spp. in the state of Kansas. For the identification and frequency of seedborne Fusarium spp., culture-dependent (i.e. semi-selective medium) and -independent (i.e. DNA metabarcoding) approaches were used. Also, information regarding the pathogenicity of the most common seedborne Fusarium spp. from soybeans was assessed to better understand their role as soybean pathogens. Overall, eleven Fusarium spp. were identified in this study. Semi-selective media showed that approximately 33% of soybean seed samples were infected with Fusarium spp. Moreover, Fusarium spp. were isolated from seed sampled from 80% of the locations in Kansas. Furthermore, a low incidence of Fusarium spp. was observed within infected seed samples and averaged 2%. Nine Fusarium spp. were found in soybean seeds using the culture-dependent approach. Fusarium semitectum was the most frequent, followed by F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides. Fusarium acuminatum, F. equiseti, F. fujikuroi, F. graminearum, F. oxysporum, and F. thapsinum were found in lower frequencies among naturally infected seeds. DNA metabarcoding experiments showed that Fusarium spp. are more frequent in soybean seeds than previously known. All asymptomatic soybean seeds analyzed, using Illumina MiSeq platform, showed the presence of the genus Fusarium including two pathogenic species, F. proliferatum and F. thapsinum. Fusarium acuminatum, F. merismoides, F. solani, F. semitectum, and Fusarium sp. were also identified using the culture-independent approach. Preliminary results also showed that F. proliferatum and F. thapsinum were observed in all three major soybean seed tissues: seed coat, cotyledons, and the embryo axis. Depending on the soybean genotype, inoculum potential and aggressiveness, F. proliferatum, F. graminearum, F. fujikuroi, F. oxysporum, F. semitectum, F. thapsinum, and F. verticillioides were pathogenic to soybean and negatively affect soybean seed quality, at different levels, in controlled conditions. Moreover, F. equiseti and F. acuminatum did not cause significant damage to soybean seeds and seedlings. Understanding seedborne Fusarium spp. and their influence on soybean seed and seedling diseases is critical for the development of effective disease control strategies, especially regarding early detection of pathogenic strains in seeds (i.e., seed health testing), ensuring the crop productivity, quality, and safety.

Essays on Leasing Kansas Agricultural Land

Arnold, Chelsea Jewel Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2021 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Nearly half of all the farmland in the United States is farmed by a producer that does not own the land. This is especially true in midwestern states such as Kansas. Leasing, versus owning, farmland requires producers to have significantly less capital upfront, thereby reducing overall financial risk exposure. When deciding to lease, or who to lease to/from, both landowners and tenants face several decisions in contract specifics that benefit both parties.Contract choice in farmland leasing includes many factors outside of simply which contract is preferred as each contract choice brings its own set of costs and benefits for both the landowner and tenant. In Essay 1 of this dissertation, the role of risk in contract choice is studied. A unique dataset of landowners and tenants in Kansas is used to examine the role of risk in their contract choices. Results indicate that greater production risk and more risk-averse landowners lead to use of fixed cash rent contracts. As there can be potentially many relationship variables that affect contract choices, a penalized regression is used to examine whether the inclusion of relationship variables affect the finding and find that the results are robust. Understanding the role of risk in farmland contract choices is important to assess the welfare consequences of farm policies or environmental changes that affect production risk.When deciding who to lease their land to, landowners can face several choices in tenants with a wide variety of attributes such as experience level, age, and relationship to the landowner. Experience level, or years of farming experience, is an important factor that landowners utilize in determining who to lease to and at what rate. This can leave young producers, who typically have lower experience levels, at a greater disadvantage when trying to find access to farmland. Using a dataset built from responses of surveys sent to landowners across the state of Kansas, Essay 2 focuses on landowners’ willingness-to-lease to young producers under different condition. A discrete choice model is used to find Kansas landowners’ willingness-to-lease to tenants at three different experience levels and three different relationship levels with the landowner. Empirical results indicate that a young producer with no experience is less preferred than a tenant with more years of experience and may, therefore, need to offer the landowner a higher cash leasing amount before the landowner is willing to lease to them. For young producers with higher experience levels, landowners will accept a marginally discounted rate when compared to not leasing to anyone at all. Relationships such as family/friend and acquaintances between landowners and young producers are also given a discounted leasing rate when compared to the landowner leasing to a stranger. This study not only fills a literature gap of landowner-young producer relationships and willingness-to-pay, but it also lays the foundation for policies to be implemented. Young producers with no experience are at the greatest disadvantage with low access to capital and heavily reliant on access to leased farmland, yet Kansas landowners require a higher leasing rate to rent to young producers. The results of this essay are key in policy implications, but also in educating landowners that their stated belief and attitudes towards young producers do not hold when faced with a monetary-based decision.This dissertation is comprised of two unique studies that focus on farmland leasing in Kansas and the relationships and factors that can affect them. Both studies present results that benefit Kansas landowners and producers by offering insight and education about how leasing contracts and arrangements can be made that benefit both landowner and producer.

Viburnum spp.: Examining the Relationship Between Greenhouse-Growth Studies for Heat and Drought Tolerance to Determine Correlation to Landscape Survival

Pool, Joshua Roy Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2019 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Three studies were designed to evaluate Viburnum spp. and their physiological adaptation to drought, heat, and other environmental stresses found in the Great Plains, specifically Kansas. Nursery crop growers, landscape contractors, and consumers desire low-maintenance landscapes with plants suited to their environment. The Great Plains can be a challenging environment for ornamental landscape plants. Viburnum plants were potted into 2-gal (6.3 L) containers during the summer of 2012 with field trials installed Fall 2012. Field-study sites were selected to capture variability in precipitation and temperature across Kansas. Field trials in Eastern Kansas had greater survival. Shaded sites resulted in larger plants and greater survival. Plants designated for greenhouse drought and heat trials were overwintered in an unheated hoop-house the winter of 2012. Drought and heat trial cultivars were selected based on performance in field-trials as well as one Southern ecotype spp. for comparison. Drought and heat trials were conducted within a controlled greenhouse environment (Manhattan, KS) during June 2013 and April 2014, respectively. Plants acclimated in a greenhouse maintained at 25C/18C (77F/64F; day/night) for 28 days and were watered as needed until treatments were initiated. Viburnum dentatum, V. nudum, and V. tinus were exposed to both heat and drought separately. Results indicate that V. nudum responded to drought stress by reducing biomass, though photosynthetic capacity was not significantly affected. Viburnum dentatum was able to maintain similar shoot growth with moderate drought (MD) and severe drought (SD), while root growth significantly declined. Whole plant responses to increased day/night temperatures during acclimation prior to temperature curve measurements resulted in growth of all species slowing compared to control plants. All acclimated plants exhibited increased temperature optimum for Pnet with a less severe rate of increase and decline when compared to control. Viburnum dentatum and V. nudum were species which performed well in all studies and could be recommended for use in the Great Plains.

Ecological Restoration of an Oak Woodland in Kansas Informed with Remote Sensing of Vegetation Dynamics

Galgamuwe Arachchige, Pabodha Galgamuwa Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Recurrent, landscape-level fires played an integral part in the development and persistence of eastern oak (Quercus spp.) forests of the United States. These periodic surface fires helped secure a competitive position for oaks in the regeneration pool by maintaining a desirable species composition and forest structure. This historical fire regime was altered with the European settlement of North America, and fire suppression within forestlands became a standard practice since 1930s. With decades of fire suppression, mature oak-dominated woodlands have widely converted to shade-tolerant tree species. Prescribed fire has successfully been used to enhance oak regeneration in eastern forests. However, oak woodland restoration within the forest-prairie ecotone of the Central plains has not been systematically studied. Fuel beds under shade-tolerant species are often less conducive to fire. Therefore, monitoring fuel loading (FL) and its changes are essential to inform management decisions in an oak regeneration project. Rapid expansion of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana/ERC) is another ecological issue faced by land managers throughout North America's midcontinent forest-prairie ecotone. Hence, it is worthy to monitor ERC expansion and effects on deciduous forests, to inform oak ecosystem restoration interventions within this region. Therefore, the main objectives of this dissertation were three-fold: (1) understand the effects of prescribed burning and mechanical thinning to encourage oak regeneration; (2) investigate the initial effects of an oak regeneration effort with prescribed fire and mechanical thinning on FL; and (3) monitor the spatio-temporal dynamics of ERC expansion in the forest-prairie ecotone of Kansas, and understand its effects on deciduous forests. The first two studies were conducted on a 90-acre oak dominated woodland, north of Manhattan, Kansas. The experimental design was a 2 (burn) x 2 (thin) factorial in a repeated measures design. The design structure allowed four treatment combinations: burn only (B), thin only (T), burn and thin combined (BT), and a control (C). Burning and thinning treatments were administered in spring 2015. Changes in the FL estimates after the burn treatment revealed that the BT treatment combination consumed more fuel and burned more intensely compared to the B treatment. This observation was reflected in vegetation responses. The thinning reduced the canopy cover significantly, but under enhanced light environments, both oaks and competitive species thrived when no burn was incorporated. In contrast, burn treatments controlled the competitive vegetation. Hence, the most promising results were obtained when both fire and thinning were utilized. The remote sensing study documented the expansion of ERC in three areas of eastern Kansas over 30 years. The use of multi-seasonal layer-stacks with a Support Vector Machines (SVM) supervised classification was found to be the most effective approach to map ERC distribution. Total ERC cover increased by more than 6000 acres in all three study areas investigated in this study between 1986 and 2017. Much of the ERC expansion was into deciduous woodlands. Therefore, ERC control measures should be incorporated into oak woodland restoration efforts within the forest-prairie ecotone of Kansas.

Role of Spatial and Temporal Vegetation Heterogeneity From Fire-Grazing Interactions to The Assembly of Tallgrass Prairie Spider Communities

Gomez, Jesus Enrique Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

North American tallgrass prairie is a dynamic ecosystem that evolved with variable regimes of fire and grazing interactions (pyric herbivory), and variable mid-continental weather. Combined, these ecological factors create a shifting mosaic of plant communities that create heterogeneous and structurally complex habitats that move around across the landscape in time and space. The overarching goal of my dissertation was to study how bottom-up habitat templates created in response to fire-grazing interactions influence the community structure of spiders, key arthropod predators in grassland food-webs. Spiders are a ubiquitous and diverse group of terrestrial predators that partition their habitat at fine scales with species distributions and abundances that are sensitive to habitat structure. Primary hypotheses examined include: (H1) Spider density, species diversity, species evenness and functional richness of hunting strategies should increase as the spatial heterogeneity of habitat structure and overall habitat productivity increases, as predicted by the habitat complexity and heterogeneity hypothesis. (H2) Pyric herbivory indirectly determines spider community structure through is effect on vegetation structure and spatial heterogeneity, thereby promoting the formation of a mosaic of spider species assemblages that track changes in the distribution of key habitat resources. My research takes advantage of a long-term, watershed-level manipulations of fire frequency and bison grazing across a topographically variable landscape at Kansas State University's Konza Prairie Biological Station, a tallgrass prairie research site near Manhattan KS. Spider communities were sampled for three years at 23 sites representative of multiple habitat types ranging from low-stature grass-dominated sites to grassland-gallery forest transition zones. In addition, a field experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that vegetation structure contributes directly to web-builder abundance and web-type richness of spiders in open grasslands. Here, the availability of structure for web placement was increased by adding dead woody stems along transects in three watersheds that differed in burn histories and existing habitat structure in the absence of grazing. Results were consistent with the three key hypotheses. Species diversity and the functional diversity of spiders increased as the spatial heterogeneity and overall structure of habitat increased in response to fire-grazing interactions. Vegetation heterogeneity influenced spider community responses most strongly in the summer. Structural complexity of vegetation influenced spider diversity, species evenness and richness of hunting strategies throughout the growing season, becoming most important by the end of the growing season. The transitional ecotone between grasslands and woodlands supported a hotspot for spider density, species diversity and richness of hunting strategies along vegetation gradients (H1), and among habitat types (H2). Increasing the availability of web-anchoring structures in open grasslands led to increased web-builder density in open grassland, particularly for small and medium sized orb-web species that took advantage of increased physical structure. Disturbance from pyric herbivory indirectly promoted dynamic and malleable assemblages of spider species that coexisted in syntopy through effects on vegetation structure and its availability in time and space. Changes in habitat structure and heterogeneity as spatially and temporally shifting mosaics of habitat type increased the overall spider diversity at the landscape scale.

Genetic Diversity and Pathogenicity of Sorghum-Associated Fusarium Species

Bushula, Vuyiswa Sylvia Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Understanding the genetic structure of fungal pathogens enables the prediction of evolutionary forces that drive pathogen evolution, which assists informed decision-making regarding disease management. The genetic structure of Fusarium thapsinum and F. andiyazi, two important pa-thogens that cause grain mold and stalk rot of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), are little understood. The genetic structure and pathogenicity of a F. thapsinum population from sorghum in Kansas were evaluated with amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs), vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs), sexual cross-fertility, and seedling pathogenicity. Two sympatric populations and a genetically intermediate "hybrid" group were identified in Kansas. Seedling pathogenicity of strains ranged from non-pathogenic to pathogenic, which may be partially attri-butable to genetic variability in the F. thapsinum populations. Genetic relatedness between populations of F. thapsinum from sorghum in Kansas, Aus-tralia, Thailand, and three African countries (Cameroon, Mali, and Uganda) were evaluated with AFLP markers and sexual crosses. Genetic diversity was high in all locations, but female fertility is very low. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that both sexual and asexual modes of reproduction are important components of the life cycle of F. thapsinum in these populations. More strains from Kansas and Africa were available for analysis from Australia and Thailand, so the Kansas and African populations dominated the genetic structure observed. The two smaller populations from Australia and Thailand were more closely related to the Kansas population than they were to the African population. The three non-African populations contained information from the African population and from other, as yet unidentified, source population(s). Identifying the population(s) from which this genetic diversity originated is an important unanswered question. Stalk rot of sorghum was evaluated by inoculating stalk rot sensitive and stalk rot resis-tant sorghum lines with six genetically diverse F. thapsinum strains from Kansas under field and greenhouse conditions. One susceptible line (Tx7000) and two resistant lines (SC599 and BTx399) were evaluated in the field but only Tx7000 and SC599 were evaluated in the green-house. Disease severity was measured by major lesion length and the number of nodes crossed by the lesion. There were differences in aggressiveness amongst the F. thapsinum strains in both the greenhouse and field evaluations. This study provides the first evidence for differences in stalk rot aggressiveness amongst F. thapsinum strains and highlights the importance of challenging germplasm with well-characterized strains that represent the genetic spectrum of the entire population. The genetic diversity within F. andiyazi populations and some closely related strains was evaluated with AFLP markers. Phylogenetic and STRUCTURE analyses of the AFLP markers grouped the 81 F. andiyazi strains into three distinct clusters. The clusters were not based on the geographic origin of the strains. These results indicate the presence of at least one and possibly two undescribed sister taxa of F. andiyazi . More work is needed to further characterize these sis-ter species of F. andiyazi and to understand their role in sorghum pathogenicity. There is genetic variation in global populations of F. thapsinum and the observed varia-tion could be associated with variation in both seedling and adult plant pathogenicity. The study of F. andiyazi populations validated the need to properly identify and characterize Fusarium spp. associated with sorghum from different regions of the world.

Barriers to Access of Medical Cannabis as a Healthcare Option for Service-Connected Disabled Veterans

Landess, Mark W Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

With the discovery of the endocannabinoid system in 1992, a medical and political debate has continued to spread across North America, both in the United States and Canada, for the last 20 years. Currently in the United States, there are 37 states and the District of Columbia that legalize the use of medical Cannabis (MC) by residents of those states diagnosed with a state-approved medical condition. Since MC is not recognized federally, millions of veterans suffering from service-connected disabilities are not eligible to utilize MC as a medical option. The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) follows federal laws, which are not in line with current state laws, and service-connected disabled veterans suffer because they are denied access to a medication that has been shown to help alleviate many of the symptoms associated with the top ten service-connected disabilities. These conflicting laws can create stressful situations, which can affect the veteran and their family’s quality of life by limiting the veteran to use traditional medications (TM) commonly prescribed by the VA healthcare provider. This study utilized qualitative research methods, in order to explore lived experiences of service-connected disabled veterans (SCDV’s) and their families, where the SCDV utilized MC instead of TM to treat one or more service-connected disability (SCD). The sample consisted of four participating dyads, three were married with the other being in a long-term relationship, all of the participants were White, representing pre-9/11 and post-9/11 SCDV’s, who served in either the U.S. Army or U.S. Navy. After the raw data were analyzed, this study uncovered multiple findings that affected these families, including the different factors that led to the SCDV’s begin use of MC, stigmas related to medications used by the SCDV, the effects that MC had on these families, the impact that healthcare had on these families, as well as the future hope that these families had. All of these findings were affected by the use of MC by the SCDV.

The Thermal Ecology of Prairie Stream Fishes

Frenette, Bryan Daniel Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2019 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Earth's atmosphere has warmed by approximately 1째C over the past century and continues to warm at an increasing rate. The effects of atmospheric warming are already visible in most major ecosystems and are evident across all levels of biological organization. Understanding how organisms respond to spatial and temporal variation in temperature, as well as linking their functional responses to temperature, are critical steps toward predicting the responses of populations and communities to global climate change. The southern redbelly dace (Chrosomus erythrogaster) and the central stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum) are two minnows (Cyprinidae) that occur in the Flint Hills region of the United States. These species fill similar ecological roles in streams where they co-occur but differ in their overall pattern of occurrence, with dace largely occupying cooler headwater reaches and stonerollers persisting in both headwaters and warmer intermediate-sized streams. Differences in the fundamental thermal niche of these species could underlie the observed differences in their realized thermal niches along a stream-size gradient of temperature. To better understand how temperature drives patterns of occurrence in functionally similar species of fish, I evaluated the thermal ecology of these two minnow species. First, I tested for interspecific differences in physiological functional traits along an ecologically realistic temperature gradient. The critical thermal maximum of the stoneroller was higher than dace at warm acclimation temperatures, indicating a greater capacity to buffer thermal stress. Additionally, temperature drove differences in activity levels between species.

Exploring Indigenous Entanglements in Extension, Land, and Agriculture: An Oklahoma Case Study

Hayman, Jann S Kansas State University ProQuest Dissertations & T 2021 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

There is an extensive and complex history of agricultural and educational systems within the United States. Indigenous peoples maintained highly developed agricultural systems prior to colonization. After colonization, Indigenous and European systems converged in a battle of power that lasted for centuries. Today, there are 573 federally recognized Native nations in the United States (Bureau of Indian Affairs, 2019) and 39 federally recognized Native nations within the state of Oklahoma (Oklahoma Historical Society, n.d.). The agricultural history of each tribe is unique and European influence is found throughout. This research focuses on the agricultural history and current agricultural systems and educational programs of four Oklahoma-based Native nations: the Choctaw Nation, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Osage Nation, and Quapaw Nation. Additionally, the study looks at educational opportunities created by the College of the Muscogee Nation. This study seeks to understand the histories of these five settings related to the development of agriculture, specifically as it relates to agricultural education. Using TribalCrit (Brayboy, 2005; Daniels, 2011; Writer, 2008) and Osage ribbon work (Dennison, 2012; Hayman, RedCorn, & Zacharakis, 2018; RedCorn, 2016; RedCorn, in press) as the theoretical frameworks, this multiple-case study seeks to understand the complex entanglements that not only existed historically, but currently exist in respect to the development of Indigenous specific agricultural education programs.