Summer Programs

Summer Research Fellowships

Research fellowships are available during the summer months through the auspices of the divisions of Humanities, Social Sciences, and University Studies. Native American Studies students apply for fellowships in one or more of these divisions, depending on the research topic. Each fellowship normally supports one student during eight to ten weeks of research on campus, although multi-student projects and travel fellowships are also considered. Research topics may be generated by faculty members or they may be based on students' individual interests. In either case, faculty sponsorship is necessary, and the awarding of fellowships is a competitive process.

Summer Archaelogy Program

Advanced students with a background in archaeology may gain additional experience by assisting in ongoing summer excavations at local Native American sites. Since 1995, Jordan Kerber has been directing an archaeological workshop with the Oneida Indian Nation of New York and has involved more than 100 Oneida Iroquois youths in the project. Colgate students work with the workshop participants who hope to retrieve information about their Native American past through the excavations at several sites, ranging in age from about 4,000 to 200 years ago. During the past few summers, the workshop participants have been excavating the remains of a seventeenth century Oneida village, called the Wilson site, located nearby in Stockbridge, New York. Some of the archaeological materials recovered include stone tools, Iroquois pottery, maize, beans, and other food remains, shell (wampum) and glass beads, metal objects, and other trade goods.

Oneida Archaeology Workshop participants sifting soil at the Wilson site, Stockbridge, NY. Summer 2003.

Cleaning recovered artifacts in Colgate's archaeology lab during the summer 2003 Oneida Archaeology Workshop.

Professor Kerber (center) and Oneida Archaeology Workshop participants sifting soil and excavating at the Wilson site, Stockbridge, NY. Summer 2003.

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. 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. The program invites Native American Students from area middle schools and senior high schools to the Colgate campus for a one-week program of classes taught by Colgate faculty and visiting Iroquois specialists. For further information, contact the director of the program, Christopher Vecsey, at cvecsey@mail.colgate.edu .

You can also view the Journal written by last year's NAIP participants.

College Bound participants enjoy researching prominent Native Americans on the Internet. Summer 2000.

Professor Lorenz (right), Dept. of Art and Art History, and College Bound participants study original works of Native American art. Summer 2000.

College Bound participants discuss contemporary Native American art in the Longyear Museum of Anthropology. Summer 2000.

The border on this page is a detail from a beaded Bandolier charm bag, c. 1850, as seen in The Mesquakie of Iowa by Gaylord Torrence & Robert Hobbs. For full bibliographical information see Site Information.