HPSfAA News

News about the High Plains Society, information on upcoming events and reports on past events.

To send an item for possible posting on this website, please email: hpsfaa@gmail.com.

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Report on Ghost Ranch Retreat

Monday, October 11, 2010 2:50 PM | Deleted user

The members of the High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology had an intellectually stimulating and reinvigorating retreat at the Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico on October 1-3. Outstanding presentations were made on topics of collaborative research methodology, oral histories, cultural landscapes, cultural affiliation, ecology and culture, gender and economy, and cultural identity. There were robust discussions about the ideals and realities of community collaboration, and the role of field schools in implementing social welfare programs. The Executive Director of the Society for Applied Anthropology also attended to explore the possibility of a joint meeting with SfAA in 2013. The group left enthusiastic for the upcoming Spring Conference of HPSfAA April 15-17, 2010 in Denver. The Spring Conference theme will be the role of applied anthropology in improving quality of life, with a subtheme of the legacy of Omer Stewart. Many thanks to all the Ghost Ranch presenters and participants! See everyone in April.

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Report on 2010 Conference

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 9:17 PM | Anonymous

Over 60 participants, many of them new to HPSfAA, attended the annual meetings in Denver from April 22-25. Students from the Metropolitan State College of Denver, as well as UC-Denver, Colorado State, Northern Colorado, Arizona State, Arizona and other area universities, made up a large part of the attendance and also presented a good number of the papers.

Metro State students, under the guidance of President-Elect Jack Schultz, helped to organize and run the event. President Kathleen Sherman acted as program chair, overseeing the first year with two full days and one half day of presentations. For the fourth year in a row, the conference was held on the Auraria Higher Education Campus, in the Tivoli Student Union Building. Many thanks go to Jack, his students, the anthropology department and Metro State for playing hosts once again.

Highlights of the conference included the presentation of the annual awards on Saturday afternoon. Deward Walker, a founding member of the Society and 10-year editor of the Society's journal, then called the High Plains Applied Anthropologist, was honored with the Bristlecone Pine Award, which recognizes long and meritorious service to the organization. The Omer C. Stewart Memorial Award, named after another founding member, was given to David and Emilia González-Clements, who work together on applied issues including alternative energy development. The Martha and Friedl Lang Student Award went to Ben Jewell, a Ph.D. candidate at Arizona State and current Newsletter Editor of the HPSfAA.

Presenters and attendees came from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Portland, Maine, with strong showings from Arizona as well as northern Colorado. An intrepid group from Mesa State, led by Dr. Clare Boulanger, made the difficult trek over the mountains in the middle of a spring blizzard that dumped a foot or more of snow in the foothills and passes. Adding insult to injury, a suspected gas leak during their evening presentations forced them to abandon their session, which was made up in part the following day.

The keynote presentation was given by Ava Hamilton, an Arapaho filmmaker and President of the Native American Producers Alliance. In addition to speaking about Native filmmaking and the appropriation of Native culture by mainstream media, she showed her short documentary Indians for Indians: A Radio Program, about a Native-run radio station in Oklahoma. The talk was the centerpiece of a conference that featured several presentations about video, photography and other media made by or with indigenous peoples.

A major issue at the conference was the future of the High Plains Society's journal, and the possibility of switching to an online publishing format. The high costs of printing and mailing were two factors discussed, along with current trends in academic publishing and research. Students in particular stressed that for them, electronic access to journals was crucial. Increasing readership of the journal was discussed as a major factor for many Society members. More information about this issue will be shared in a planned discussion forum on this website, with members able to contribute their points of view.

All in all, the 2010 Annual Conference was a successful and satisfying event, with great student participation and a wide range of high-quality presentations. Plans are currently underway for next year's conference, which might involve a change of venue after four years in Denver. Be sure to check back for more information!

Conference Photos

Dr. Deward Walker, a founder of of the High Plains Society for
Applied Anthropology and former editor of its journal, receives
the Bristlecone Pine Award from President Kathy Sherman.

David González-Clements shows the Pueblo wedding vase
given to him and his wife Emilia (left), co-winners of the
Omer C. Stewart Memorial Award in Applied Anthropology.

Ben Jewell, winner of the Martha and Friedl Lang Student Award
in Applied Anthropology, gives his acceptance speech.

Most presentations took place in the Tivoli Tower (shown),
although the conference spread through three rooms in the
sprawling Tivoli Student Union Building of the Auraria Higher
Education Campus in downtown Denver. The building, now
used for student services, stores, restaurants, computer labs
and meeting rooms, used to house the Tivoli Brewery.

Please send additional conference photos as medium-size jpeg files to webmaster@hpsfaa.org.

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Bristlecone Pine Award Winner Announced

Thursday, April 15, 2010 3:59 PM | Anonymous

Deward Walker, Professor of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, and Associate Chair of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, has been awarded the Bristlecone Pine Award by the HPSfAA Awards Committee. The award recognizes an individual who is distinguished for length of service and admirable dedication to HPSfAA, whether as an officer, board member or volunteer.

Professor Walker served as Editor for the High Plains Applied Anthropologist (now The Applied Anthropologist), the HPSfAA's professional journal, for ten years in the 1990s and 2000s. He has also served as Editor for Human Organization, Northwest Anthropological Research Notes, and numerous other publications. Dr. Walker received the High Plains Society's Omer C. Stewart Memorial Award in 1995. He remains an avid supporter of the organization, often bringing his students to the annual conference.

The Bristlecone Pine Award was first given to Merun Nasser, HPSfAA Treasurer, at the 2008 Annual Conference for her many years of organizational support and financial oversight for the Society. In 2009, Finance Committee Chair and Archivist Carla Littlefield received the award for her long dedication to the Society.

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Gottfried and Martha Lang Student Award Winner Announced

Thursday, April 15, 2010 3:50 PM | Anonymous

The winner of the 2010 Gottfried and Martha Lang Student Award in Applied Anthropology has been announced by the Awards Committee. He is Benjamin Jewell, a Ph.D. candidate at Arizona State University and the Newsletter Editor for HPSfAA.

The Gottfried and Martha Lang Student Award was established in honor of Friedl Lang, Professor Emeritus of the University of Colorado, and his wife, Martha, to acknowledge their contributions to students as well as to the HPSfAA. Recipients present their paper or research project at the annual conference; may publish their paper in The Applied Anthropologist; and receive a framed award certificate, free room and board for the conference; one year’s membership in HPSfAA; and a $100 prize.

The Awards Ceremony of the High Plains Society will be held during the Annual Business Meeting on Saturday, April 24th, 3:45-5:00 pm, in the Tivoli Student Union Building of the Auraria Higher Education Campus, Denver, Colorado.

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Ava Hamilton to give Keynote Address

Friday, April 09, 2010 6:54 PM | Anonymous

Ava Hamilton, an Arapaho Filmmaker and President of the Native American Producers Alliance, will give the Keynote Address at the 2010 Annual Meetings. Her talk will be on Saturday, April 24th, 11:45 am to 12:30 pm in Room 640 of the Tivoli Student Union Building. The topic is "Telling Our Stories Through Film."

Hamilton grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and now lives in Boulder. She attended Southwestern State University in Oklahoma and the University of Colorado, Boulder, and trained at the Anthropology Film Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Her directing credits include Everything Has a Spirit (1992), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won best documentary at the 1994 American Indian Film and Video Competition. The film deals with issues such as access to and protection of sacred rites and the use of peyote in the Native American Church. More recently she directed Indians for Indians: A Radio Program (2005), a profile of the oldest continuous Native radio program in the United States.

Hamilton is critical of non-Native filmmakers who appropriate Native stories, and of traditional depictions of Native Americans in film. She is a strong advocate of Native Americans telling their own stories through film and other media, and maintaining control over their oral histories and intellectual property.

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Spring 2010 Newsletter

Thursday, February 18, 2010 7:29 PM | Anonymous

To download a Word version of the Spring newsletter, click HERE. For a pdf version, please click HERE.

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Ghost Ranch 2009

Friday, October 09, 2009 10:16 AM | Anonymous

The 2009 Ghost Ranch Retreat was held the weekend of October 2-4. This annual event allows members to get together for a long weekend in the beautiful and relaxed atmosphere of the Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu, New Mexico. For more information on the 2010 retreat, stay tuned!

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Report on 2009 Conference

Friday, May 29, 2009 10:36 AM | Anonymous

2009 Annual Conference: New Approaches to Familiar Issues
by Ben Jewell, Newsletter Editor
The annual HPSFAA Spring conference, held once again at Metro State College’s Auraria Campus in Denver, was the first under the direction of incoming president Kathleen Pickering and signaled not only a changing of the guards, but a turning point in the history of our organization. The theme was Development and Sustainability: Recognizing New Resources and Hearing New Voices. As we approach the 30th anniversary of the beginnings of the HPSFAA, we witness not so much a shift in issues that are important to us as social scientists or applied anthropologists, but perhaps the cementing of our recognition of the importance of incorporating the voices of those with whom we have spent our careers trying to make more audible.

By including local people from the communities in which we work, we have taken an important step towards our stated objectives of disseminating the body of knowledge accumulated through the application of principles that explain and improve human relations. Since 2007, the annual Spring Conference has included presentations from members of the Pine Ridge and Wounded Knee communities; activists fighting land rights issues in Native American communities; and this year, Ernest House Jr., executive secretary for the Colorado commission on Indian affairs and member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado.
For those in attendance at the 2007 conference, the presentation by Walter Little Moon and Jane Ridgway about the issues facing residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was a moving reminder that often the most articulate statements heard in anthropology are those that come from the people themselves. This year was no different. Many of the most memorable ideas and discussions came from people who are not anthropologists, but have similarly dedicated themselves to understanding the complexities of the political, social and economic conditions under which their people live.
Films and Social Change

Not only did we have the opportunity to hear new voices, but we were also treated to new methods of delivering those voices. Friday evening was capped by the presentation of two films about issues facing Native American communities. Bradley Morse’s film, A Film Dedicated to the Memory of Nicholas Blacksmith, traces the tragic death of a young Oglala Lakota teenager who was killed in a collision with an automobile while riding his bike on the highway near his home. The film details the dangerous conditions under which Lakota children must navigate their way to and from school programs, forcing them to utilize a busy two-lane highway with no shoulder or bike path.
In the process of making the film, Morse talked to the Blacksmith and other families and questioned teenagers about their perceptions of bike safety. The awareness raised by the film and the efforts of local residents eventually led to the creation of a paved bike path and Morse has continued to provide voice to local Pine Ridge residents by assisting them with producing their own films about issues they feel are important.

The second film of the evening, The Sacred Site of Bear Butte and Development Conflicts, by Mark St. Pierre and Tilda Long Soldier, focused on the ongoing battle over preservation of the sacred site of Bear Butte. A site of spiritual and cultural importance for numerous tribal groups in the Northern Great Plains, Bear Butte is also a popular tourist destination for attendees of the annual Sturgis biker rally in South Dakota, which in turn makes the area a site for potential economic development.

Board Changes

Dr. Jack Schultz has been elected as the next HPSfAA President, and will serve the next two years as President-elect. A professor of anthropology at Metro State College since 1991, Dr. Schultz has had a long career as a member of the Society and an applied anthropologist. Dr. Schultz’s research has taken him to Chad and Cameroon while working for USAID, to West Africa, the Philippines and with nine different Native American and First Nation communities in the United States and Canada.
The board appointed a replacement for the Secretary position after Amanda Israel’s departure to the West Coast. We want to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to Amanda for her years of service to the Society as Secretary and conference organizer, and to wish her all the best in her future endeavors. Jack Omstead, currently Kathy Pickering’s assistant, has been selected to replace Amanda as Secretary. Jack graduated Summa Cum Laude from Metropolitan State College of Denver with a BA in anthropology and history and has recently been accepted to a teach for America position beginning this fall at Manual High School where he will teach 10th graders.

Finally, Mark St. Pierre has been elected as Member-at-Large. Mark has had a long career as a community development expert and a college teacher and has lived and worked in Indian Country for 38 years. A founding member of the Pine Ridge Area Chamber of Commerce, Mark has successfully implemented numerous economic development projects at Pine Ridge and elsewhere, and is currently developing the Cloud Horse Arts Institute with his wife Tilda Long Soldier. The Cloud Horse Institute teaches Lakota youth traditional life skills and seeks to preserve traditional and contemporary Lakota arts, from painting and beadwork to film and theater.

Best wishes to all of the incoming board members and a sincere ‘thank-you’ to all who have served as a board member. We look forward to an exciting year ahead as we mark our 30th year as an organization, and plot a course for the next 30!

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