Native American Studies Student Resources and Programs

We’ve compiled some resources, programs, and sites that students like you, who are interested in Native American studies, find useful and interesting.

Longyear Museum of Anthropology

The Longyear Museum at Colgate is a teaching collection of archaeological and ethnographic materials from Africa, Oceania, Native North America, and the Pre-Columbian cultures of North, Central, and South America. The museum is located on the second floor of Alumni Hall (campus map), and admission is free. Learn more about the Longyear Museum of Anthropology.

Summer Research Fellowships

Undergraduate student research is a prominent component of many Colgate students' educations. Fellowships are available during the summer months through the auspices of the divisions of humanities, social sciences, and university studies. As a Native American studies student, you can apply for fellowships in one or more of these divisions, depending on the research topic. Each fellowship normally supports eight to ten weeks of research on campus. Research topics may be generated by faculty members or they may be based on students' individual interests (though faculty sponsorship is required). Learn more about summer research fellowships.

College Bound Program for American Indian Youths

Native American students and those in the Native American Studies program are eligible for a one-week paid assistantship serving as mentors and guides in this community outreach program that invites Native American students from area middle schools and high schools to the Colgate campus for a one-week program of classes taught by Colgate faculty and visiting Iroquois specialists.

The program, presently organized with the assistance of the Title IX coordinator in the Syracuse school district and the North American Indian Project (NAIP), is designed to acquaint youths with college life and expand their future goals to include attending college. Contact the department for more information.

The Iroquois Study Group

Colgate is set among the historic lands of the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), one of the most powerful and famous confederacies of American Indians. These peoples — the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Mohawks, and Tuscaroras — live on seven different reservations throughout New York state; several other reservations are located just beyond the borders in Quebec and Ontario.

This on-campus study group of four varied yet complementary courses about the Iroquois goes off campus to observe and participate in festivals and social celebrations, and to meet with such prominent figures as clan mothers, artists, museum administrators, environmentalists, NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) committee members, and faithkeepers.

Throughout the semester, Native American studies programming fosters Iroquois presence on campus. The Longyear Museum hosts an exhibition of Iroquois art. Iroquois speakers visit classes and speak in public forums.

Colgate student teaching a young girl how to prepare a cornhusk doll

Native American Student Association (NASA)

Membership in Colgate's NASA is open to students of Native American heritage, students in the Native American studies program, and all other students with a sincere interest in Native American cultures. Learn more about NASA.

ALANA Cultural Center

The African, Latin American, Asian, and Native American (ALANA) Cultural Center serves Colgate as a learning center and focal point for students and organizations belonging to those cultures or who wish to learn about them. Learn more about ALANA.

Summer Archaeology Program

Advanced students with a background in archaeology may gain additional experience by assisting in ongoing summer excavations at local Native American sites.

Professor Jordan Kerber and his students supervise Onondaga Nation students at an Archaeology Camp run by teachers from Fayetteville-Manlius High School. The project focuses on limited archaeological excavation of the Broadfield site in Manlius, N.Y., which was settled by the Onondaga around 550 years ago.

PAPAC, Copan, Honduras

The Proyecto Arqueologico para la Planificacion de la Antigua Copan (PAPAC) — or in English "The Copan Urban Planning Project" — is a long-term effort to expand our understanding of the urban settlement of Classic Period Copan, for purposes of science and history and for conservation of cultural patrimony. The project operates in cooperation with the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History and is funded by the Colgate University Research Council, Colgate University Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and the Committee for Research and Exploration at the National Geographic Society. The project director is Allan Maca, research affiliate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Colgate.

First Nations Seeker

Visit Native American and First Nation communities across North America by going to the Directory of North American Indian portal websites.