Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 15, 2005 11:23:16 GMT -5
Building bridges
By Lauren Ober / The Citizen
Monday, November 14, 2005 9:51 AM EST
Mark Genito / The Citizen
Professor Michael Taylor speaks on “A Survey of Iroquois Society” at a seminar for Wells College students in Aurora.
It's a tall order to ask that someone serve as a cultural bridge between two communities.
But Prof. Michael Taylor has been straddling the divide between white America and native people for his entire career, so he's used to the expectations placed on him.
For the 2005-2006 academic year, Taylor, a member of the Seneca Nation, will serve as Wells College's first Juliana James Native American visiting scholar. The fellowship was started last year to bring a scholar from the Six Nations, or Haudenosaunee, to teach and lecture at Wells and to be a resource for the greater community.
The visiting scholar program was established as part of the new First Nations and indigenous studies minor. The fund was initiated by Victoria Munoz, a psychology professor at Wells, in memory of her grandmother Juliana James. With the support of many of James' family members and friends, the fund began.
“It was a way to give (the minor) a little start so we could get someone in from the Haudenosaunee,” Munoz said. “We are right in the center of Cayuga Nation territory. We wanted to create something that would build some ridges.”
Taylor, who recently completed his doctoral work at Syracuse University in social sciences, has taught native studies for years at area colleges including Ithaca College, State University of New York at Oswego and Buffalo, Syracuse and Cayuga Community College. This semester at Wells, Taylor is teaching a seminar, “A Survey of Iroquois Society.”
As part of his commitment to the college, Taylor is obligated to present a number of public lectures during his tenure at the school. In mid-October, he presented the first of those lectures on the use of Native American people as sports team mascots, one of his areas of expertise. Taylor's doctoral work studied the history of Native American images, how they've been portrayed through sports mascots and the response of native peoples.
“This topic provokes a very reactionary response. People put it in the context of honoring or complimenting a tradition. But it's the dominant culture that has the power and ability to create an identity,” Taylor said.
Taylor has plans to lecture on the process of entrepreneurship on reservations and native industries, as well as treaty rights and land claim issues, both of which are highly topical for the region. All of Taylor's lectures are opinion to the public.
Originally from the Allegany Indian Reservation in Cattaraugus County, Taylor comes to Wells with both personal experience as a member of a native community, as well as years of scholarly work on various topics relating to native issues. With the visiting scholar program, the college hopes to deepen its relationships with the Six Nations, which are comprised of the Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida and Tuscarora communities.
“We felt it was important to bring someone from the Six Nations to educate people about the Six Nations. Michael was the perfect person to be the first visiting scholar,” Munoz said.
Wells is just one of many area colleges that are trying to strengthen ties with the local native population.
Many New York institutions of higher education already have partnerships with specific native communities, including the Senecas work with University at Buffalo and Buffalo State and the Mohawks partnership with SUNY Potsdam.
In recent years, Syracuse has reached out to the Onondaga Nation and beginning in the fall of 2006, the university will offer full scholarships to any member of the six Haudenosaunee nations who qualifies for admission.
Through his appointment at Wells, Taylor hopes to put a face on Native American issues without speaking for all native peoples.
He encourages members of the regional community who feel firmly planted on one side of native issues, such as the Cayuga land claim, or the other, to come to his lectures and participate in a discussion about the topic.
“Often debate can break down into arguments,” Taylor said. “There's this entrenchment or right of privilege to define what ‘indianness' is. These open forums are for the public to approach these issues.”
By Lauren Ober / The Citizen
Monday, November 14, 2005 9:51 AM EST
Mark Genito / The Citizen
Professor Michael Taylor speaks on “A Survey of Iroquois Society” at a seminar for Wells College students in Aurora.
It's a tall order to ask that someone serve as a cultural bridge between two communities.
But Prof. Michael Taylor has been straddling the divide between white America and native people for his entire career, so he's used to the expectations placed on him.
For the 2005-2006 academic year, Taylor, a member of the Seneca Nation, will serve as Wells College's first Juliana James Native American visiting scholar. The fellowship was started last year to bring a scholar from the Six Nations, or Haudenosaunee, to teach and lecture at Wells and to be a resource for the greater community.
The visiting scholar program was established as part of the new First Nations and indigenous studies minor. The fund was initiated by Victoria Munoz, a psychology professor at Wells, in memory of her grandmother Juliana James. With the support of many of James' family members and friends, the fund began.
“It was a way to give (the minor) a little start so we could get someone in from the Haudenosaunee,” Munoz said. “We are right in the center of Cayuga Nation territory. We wanted to create something that would build some ridges.”
Taylor, who recently completed his doctoral work at Syracuse University in social sciences, has taught native studies for years at area colleges including Ithaca College, State University of New York at Oswego and Buffalo, Syracuse and Cayuga Community College. This semester at Wells, Taylor is teaching a seminar, “A Survey of Iroquois Society.”
As part of his commitment to the college, Taylor is obligated to present a number of public lectures during his tenure at the school. In mid-October, he presented the first of those lectures on the use of Native American people as sports team mascots, one of his areas of expertise. Taylor's doctoral work studied the history of Native American images, how they've been portrayed through sports mascots and the response of native peoples.
“This topic provokes a very reactionary response. People put it in the context of honoring or complimenting a tradition. But it's the dominant culture that has the power and ability to create an identity,” Taylor said.
Taylor has plans to lecture on the process of entrepreneurship on reservations and native industries, as well as treaty rights and land claim issues, both of which are highly topical for the region. All of Taylor's lectures are opinion to the public.
Originally from the Allegany Indian Reservation in Cattaraugus County, Taylor comes to Wells with both personal experience as a member of a native community, as well as years of scholarly work on various topics relating to native issues. With the visiting scholar program, the college hopes to deepen its relationships with the Six Nations, which are comprised of the Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida and Tuscarora communities.
“We felt it was important to bring someone from the Six Nations to educate people about the Six Nations. Michael was the perfect person to be the first visiting scholar,” Munoz said.
Wells is just one of many area colleges that are trying to strengthen ties with the local native population.
Many New York institutions of higher education already have partnerships with specific native communities, including the Senecas work with University at Buffalo and Buffalo State and the Mohawks partnership with SUNY Potsdam.
In recent years, Syracuse has reached out to the Onondaga Nation and beginning in the fall of 2006, the university will offer full scholarships to any member of the six Haudenosaunee nations who qualifies for admission.
Through his appointment at Wells, Taylor hopes to put a face on Native American issues without speaking for all native peoples.
He encourages members of the regional community who feel firmly planted on one side of native issues, such as the Cayuga land claim, or the other, to come to his lectures and participate in a discussion about the topic.
“Often debate can break down into arguments,” Taylor said. “There's this entrenchment or right of privilege to define what ‘indianness' is. These open forums are for the public to approach these issues.”