2025 Indigenous Peoples’ Day Research Lightning Talk Winners

The 2025 Indigenous Peoples’ Day, with the theme "Indigenous Joy: Celebrating Strength & Resilience,” was celebrated on Monday, October 13, 2025, at Idaho State University (ISU) included student research talks that featured many interesting topics.

POCATELLO, Idaho––The 2025 Indigenous Peoples’ Day, with the theme "Indigenous Joy: Celebrating Strength & Resilience” was celebrated on Monday, October 13, 2025, at Idaho State University (ISU) included student research talks that featured many interesting topics. The dedicated Research Lightning Talk session was a brand-new addition to the event this year.

The selected students had 3 minutes to get on stage, present their research, with an accompanying visual, to audience members and a panel of judges for the chance to win $500, in each category: Undergraduate and Graduate. The judging happened live, and the winners were announced shortly after the presentations.

Both the undergraduate and graduate student winners are from ISU’s College of Arts and Letters (CAL). Darious Tillman, a junior majoring in Sociology and Shoshone Language, is the Research Lightning Talk winner in the undergraduate category. His talk was titled: "The Occult Wisdom of the Shoshone.”

Bobette Haskett, a Master’s student in Anthropology, won the Research Lightning Talk in the graduate category. Her talk was titled: "My Indigenous Perspective: How Cultural Ways Perpetuate Healing, Mentally, Physically and Spiritually."

They each won $500, sponsored by the Idaho Community-engaged Resilience for Energy-Water Systems (ICREWS) program out of the Idaho EPSCOR Office.

All research talks had to broadly relate to this year’s theme, "Indigenous Joy: Celebrating Strength & Resilience”, for best consideration. 

In addition to the two winners, multiple other CAL students participated in the Research Lightning Talk. Here is the full CAL participant list:

• Darious Tillman, Undergraduate -  Sociology (CAL)
• Alex Robinson, Graduate -  Anthropology (CAL)
• Bobette Haskett, Graduate -  Anthropology (CAL)
• Ontaria Ariwite, Undergraduate -  Anthropology (CAL) *** Abstract was accepted but was unable to attend
• Julia Alcala, Graduate -  Anthropology (CAL) *** Abstract was accepted but was unable to attend