The Daily Bulletin Archive

The Americas have been inhabited for thousands of years, long before Europeans migrated here. The new indigenous studies minor, housed in the Anthropology Department, will provide students with an opportunity to learn more about these ancient peoples.

“Students who take this minor will develop a greater understanding and appreciation for the culture of indigenous people,” said Lisa Marie Anselmi, assistant professor of anthropology and coordinator of the minor. Anselmi is an archaeologist who studies the technology of Native Americans, especially the metalworking technology of the so-called contact period during which Europeans introduced new materials to the Americas. Anselmi teaches several of the anthropology courses that can be taken as part of the minor.

However, the minor is interdisciplinary and draws on courses in several departments, including English, History and Social Studies Education, Geography and Planning, and Modern and Classical Languages, which offerscourses in the Seneca language.

“I’m very excited about Jeanine Bowen, who teaches Seneca,” said Deborah Hovland, associate professor and chair of the Modern and Classical Languages Department. “Her classroom style is very hands-on, and she includes culture acquisition as well as language acquisition.”

Lori Quigley, associate dean of the School of Education and a member of the Seneca Nation, is very excited about the new minor. “I’m so pleased that we are offering this program here,” she said. “It’s not only a great opportunity for our students; it’s also a great recruitment tool for Native American students, who are looking for colleges that offer programs in indigenous studies.”

After looking at such programs at other colleges, Quigley believes that the Buffalo State minor is cutting-edge because it gives students the option of studying the Seneca language and draws from different disciplines. “We hope to include more departments in the future,” she said.

When the 21-credit-hour program begins in fall 2009, students can choose four required courses from a list of five options. Students also must complete an internship or independent project or study. “This requirement will enable each student to integrate the minor with his or her own area of interest,” said Anselmi.

Students can also choose two courses from a list of nine that includes studies in arctic geography from an Inuit perspective, Aztec and Mayan history, archaeology, and art and culture from an anthropological perspective.

Anselmi teaches two courses that study, respectively, indigenous peoples of western North America and of eastern North America. “We study the cultures using ethnohistory,” said Anselmi. “We draw on information from archaeology, on historical documents from the records of both the First Nations and the Europeans, and on oral traditions.”

The program is not solely historical. Students will also explore cultural, legal, and political issues that continue to affect indigenous people today.