Native American Studies Program

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Study the art, archaeology, culture, geography, literature, and religion of Native peoples in North and South America — a collective history and impact spanning 15 millennia.

Students participate in a weaving demonstration during Colgate’s annual Native American Festival.
Students participate in a weaving demonstration during Colgate’s annual Native American Festival.

The Native American Studies program draws on a wide range of disciplines to examine Native American issues in great depth. Participate in a transformative and revealing study of the impacts of America’s original peoples.

Students in the program develop a foundation of knowledge that can be applied to professional work or continued study in inter-American relations, Latin American studies, anthropology, archaeology, history, government services, art history, museum studies, religion, and more.

The program offers both a major and minor in Native American Studies.

Learn about the Program

 

 

Department Contacts

Director: Michelle Bigenho
Native American and Indigenous Learning Community Program Coordinator and Academic Department Coordinator: Nicole Carvell
Office: 221 Alumni Hall
Phone: 315-228-7806

 

Land Acknowledgement

We recognize that Colgate University is situated on the indigenous homelands of the Oneida Indian people. We pay respect to Oneida people—past, present, and future—and honor their continuing presence in this homeland area as well as throughout the Haudenosaunee diaspora.

Land Acknowledgement Resources

Native American Studies News

Dixie Henry '96 Reflects on Field Work

with Emeritus professor of anthropology and Native American studies Jordan Kerber and how it led to her current career.

Read the article
Professor Ryan Hall discusses his research, Centering Native Lands,

in the Colgate Research magazine. "You see all things differently if you put Indigenous land at the center of the story and look outward from there."

Read the article
Haudenosaunee Speakers Series: Doug-George Kanentiio

Maroon News article about Doug-George Kanentiio's lecture on September 29, 2022 in which he shared his experience of surviving a residential boarding school and how that shaped his life in activism for Native Americans.

Read the article
NAST Alumna Starr Kelly '10 (Native American Studies) '13 (MAT)

was highlighted in the Summer 2022 issue of Colgate Magazine for her equity and inclusion work at the Children's Museum and Theater in Portland, Maine.

Photo by Michael Wilson

Scroll down to "Welcoming Everyone"
Recent Research by NAST Professor Kristin De Lucia

was featured in the Colgate Research magazine. "In a recent paper, De Lucia argues that Xaltocan holds plenty of evidence about how its inhabitants used the lake’s resources—if you know where to look."

Read the article
NAST Professor Ryan Hall Discussed His New Book

Beneath the Backbone of the World: Blackfoot People and the North American Borderlands, 1720-1877,

on the “New Books in History” Podcast.

 

Listen to the podcast

Program Info

Course Offerings

Learn about required and elective courses available to students majoring and minoring in Native American studies.

Find Native American Studies Courses
Faculty and Staff

Meet the faculty and staff of the Native American Studies Program, and learn about ongoing research and scholarship.

Browse the Faculty & Staff Directory
Off-Campus Study

The department encourages Native American Studies Program students to pursue off-campus study opportunities.

Learn About Off-Campus Study Opportunities

Native American Studies Program Events

Collaborative Filmmmaking with Chris Newell: Equitable Portrayals of Native Peoples
Read more
NAST Lecturers: Chief Odette and Elder Tammaro
Read more