A Significant People in the World

Ya'a'teeh!  For more than 95% of the time humans have lived in the Americas, the only people here have been Native Americans. To understand the history and cultures of the Americas, one must start with Native Americans. Far from disappearing either physically or culturally, Native Americans today are increasing in numbers and represent hundreds of vibrant and unique ways of life. To learn about Native Americans is to explore yet another avenue of what it means to be human.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is rich in Native American culture.  Northern Kentucky University is located in the heart of the prehistoric Ohio Valley mound-builder cultures of Adena, Hopewell, and Fort Ancient, on lands claimed by both the historic Shawnee and Cherokee.  The university is only about 50 miles from the soon-to-be-built Kentucky Center for Native American Arts and Culture and is recognized by the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission.  

The Director and Founder of Native American Studies at NKU is Dr. Sharlotte Neely who can be reached at her office in 230 Landrum or by phone at 859-572-5258 or 5259 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Dr. Neely does ethnohistoric and ethnographic research mostly with the North Carolina Cherokees and is the Coordinator of NKU Anthropology. 

There are two Native American student organizations at NKU: First Nations Student Organization and Kiksuya. Native American studies minors are encouraged to participate in both, as well as the Student Anthropology Society and other student groups.  Each year NKU Anthropology presents the Outstanding Student in Native American Studies Award. 

Through Kiksuya every May NKU students go to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Also, every April anthropology faculty and alumni host an Anthropology Careers Day program to assist students in Native American studies and related areas of anthropology.

Click here to see how often each of the anthropology courses below is offered.

Requirements

All NKU students must have at least one major in addition to a minor, a concentration, or a second major.  Because of the overlap in courses, anthropology majors may minor in Native American studies only if they have a second major or minor or an area of concentration outside the anthropology program. The minor in Native American Studies consists of 21 semester hours and requires the completion of the following:

• Four core courses (12 semester hours)
  • ANT 100 Cultural Anthropology
  • ANT 230 North American Indians (formerly ANT 214/294) 
  • ANT 231 Modern American Indians (formerly ANT 214/294) 
  • ANT 350 North American Archaeology
• Three of the following (9 semester hours)
  • ANT/SOC 301 World Patterns of Race and Ethnicity
  • ANT 318 Prehistoric Ecology
  • ANT 331 Women in Prehistory
  • ANT 352 Archaeology of Mesoamerica
  • ANT 358 Art and Culture
  • ANT 360 Mesoamerican Indians
  • ENG 306 Multicultural American Literature
  • GEO 107 Diversity Mapped
  • HIS 416 Plains Indians
  • HIS 557 History of Indians of the United States
  • SOC 345 Native American Social Issues
  • SOC 394 Topics in Sociology (with permission, if Native American emphasis)
  • ANT 307 Museum Methods (with permission, if Native American emphasis)
  • ANT 394 Topics in Anthropology (with permission, if Native American emphasis)
  • Other appropriate courses (with permission, if Native American emphasis)

One of a kind!

While there are about 150 Native American studies (or American Indian or First Nations or specific tribal studies) programs in the United States and Canada, NKU's Native American Studies program is the only such program in the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley region.

There are about three dozen NKU faculty, staff, alumni, and friends who have specialized areas of expertise in Native American Studies and are willing to serve as resources. They can be reached at the following email addresses and welcome your questions:

• Kristin Appleby, Part-time Anthropology Instructor  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it North American archaeology; Ohio Valley prehistory
• T. Eric Bates, Part-time Anthropology Instructor and Anthropology Alumnus This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Contemporary Native Americans and Christianity; Native Americans in Oklahoma; Blackfeet
• Prince Brown, Associate Professor Emeritus of Sociology This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native American-African American ethnic relations
• Richard Coleman, Anthropology Alumnus This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Southwest Indian prehistory; contemporary Native Americans in the Southwest
• Thomas C. Donnelly, Former Part-time Anthropology and Law Instructor and Anthropology Alumnus  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it American Indian law; American Indian religious freedoms
• Donelle Dreese, Assistant Professor of English This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Contemporary American Indian literature
• Thomas Foster, Former Lecturer in Anthropology  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Muscogee Creek Indians; native ecology; North American archaeology
• Gary W. Graff, Former Director of Institutional Research This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Hopi kachinas; Hispanization of Mesoamerican and South American Indians
• Nicole Grant, Lecturer in Sociology, Faculty Sponsor of First Nations Student Organization, & Faculty Sponsor of Kiksuya  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Poverty, alcoholism, suicide, and other social problems and issues on reservations; Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux
• Jonathan Holmes, Friend of NKU Anthropology This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native American ethnology and ethnohistory; historical and contemporary Plains, Prairie and Missouri River tribes; especially Oglala and Sicangu Lakota, Omaha/Ponca and Osage history and contemporary culture including, beadwork and cultural craftwork, pow-wows, warrior societies, religious spiritual practices
• James F. Hopgood, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Mesoamerican Indian prehistory; Mesoamerican Indians; Indian religion; Indians and museums
• MaryCarol Hopkins, Associate Professor of Anthropology  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it traditional Native American art
• Britteny M. Howell, Part-time Anthropology Instructor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native South American prehistory
• Mark Jacobs, Anthropology Alumnus This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native Americans and the environment
• Robert Kenney, Lecturer in Philosophy This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native American spirituality
• Rose Drees Kluth, Anthropology Alumna This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Archaeology of the Midwest; Chippewa
• Jeannine Kreinbrink, Part-time Anthropology Instructor and Anthropology Alumna This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Ohio Valley archaeology
• Susan Meyn, Former Part-time Anthropology Instructor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Indians and museums; Lakota Sioux
• Don Miller, Anthropology Alumnus This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it prehistoric, historic, and contemporary Indians of the Ohio Valley and Kentucky
• Neeake, Friend of NKU Anthropology This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Folklore; ethnohistory; American Indian religious issues; Shawnee
• Sharlotte Neely, Professor of Anthropology & Native American Studies Director  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native American ethnology and ethnohistory; tribal politics; gender roles; ethnicity; Cherokees; Lumbee; Shawnee; Navajo
• Tamara O'Callaghan, Associate Professor of English and Director of Integrative Studies This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native American and other interdisciplinary programs
• David S. Payne, Professor Emeritus of History This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native American history; Indians of the Plains
• Danielle Roemer, Associate Professor of English This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native American folklore
• Gregory Rust, Anthropology Alumnus This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it American Indian Movement; ethnophotography; Lakota Sioux
• Charlotte Schaengold, Part-time Anthropology Instructor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Navajo language; Navajo
• Michael J. Simonton, Lecturer in Anthropology  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Plains tribes; Shawnee
• Melony Stambaugh, Part-time Anthropology Instructor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Native American identity; powwows
• Michael Striker, Part-time Anthropology Instructor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Ohio Valley prehistory; North American Indians; Coeur d'Alene
• Barbara J. Thiel, Associate Professor of Anthropology  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it North American Indian prehistory; Ohio Valley archaeology
• David Thomson, Associate Professor of Communications This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it American Indian spirituality; Navajo
• Martha Viehmann, Former Lecturer in English This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it contemporary Native American writers; intersections between Native and Euro-American cultures; uses of images of Indians in mainstream US culture; impact of mainstream expectations on modern Indians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
• Judy C. Voelker, Associate Professor of Anthropology  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Mesoamerican Indian prehistory; Maya
• Robert K. Wallace, Regents Professor of English This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it contemporary Native American literature of the northwest
• Todd Young, Anthropology Alumnus This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it prehistoric Native American survival skills

Are you on the NKU faculty or staff? Do you have a Native American Studies specialty, or do you know of someone who does? Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To declare a minor in Native American studies, drop by 217C Landrum for about five minutes of paperwork, or click here.

For all sorts of Native American resources, click here.

To receive announcements about what is happening in Native American Studies and Anthropology at NKU, add your email address to our Anthropology Email List.