History Department Welcomes This Year's McLellen Distinguished Visiting Professor

March 27, 2007

PLATTSBURGH, NY __ Marge Bruchac, an Abenaki Indian, is this year's McClellen Distinguished Visiting Professor of North Country History and Culture at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh. The Department of History will host a lecture by Bruchac, "Native People in the Adirondacks: Ancient Places and Hidden Histories," which will be held on Thursday, April 5, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. in the Hyman and Frances Krinovitz Recital Hall, Hawkins Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

Marge Bruchac Bruchac, who will be in residence at SUNY Plattsburgh March 23 - April 27, is a well-known performer, scholar and historical consultant. She is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has published several recent articles on the Deerfield Raid of 1704, Native Americans in archaeology and other Native American topics.

The national Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers recognized Bruchac as "Storyteller of the Year" three times, with awards for public performance (2000), historical writing (2002) and academic writing (2004).

While in residence at SUNY Plattsburgh, Bruchac will also teach a mini-course titled, "Abenaki History on Lake Champlain : Encounters in Ndakinna." The class will also include two Saturday field trips to public historic sites in the Champlain Valley.

"The course will introduce students to Abenaki Indian history in Ndakinna - 'our homeland' - in the Champlain Valley," said Bruchac. "We will sample various literary, linguistic, archaeological and historical records that reveal oral traditions, narratives, material culture, relations to the landscape and inter-cultural relationships."

The McLellen Distinguished Visiting Professor of North Country History and Culture program is made possible by the support of a generous bequest from the estate of Hulda McLellen. For more information on the program, please contact Dr. James Rice, associate professor of history, at 518-564-5213.

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