SUNY New Paltz Distinguished Professor Makes History

NEW PALTZ — Distinguished Professor Laurence M. Hauptman, a faculty member of the SUNY New Paltz History Department for 29 years, was recently honored by the Wisconsin State Historical Society for a book he co-edited about the Oneida tribe.

Hauptman and L. Gordon McLester III of Oneida, Wisconsin co-edited the paperback volume, The Oneida Indian Journey: From New York to Wisconsin, 1784 – 1860 a collection of essays by Indian and non-Indian scholars considered to be a valuable contribution to Wisconsin history, tracing the Oneida tribe’s removal from its Iroquois homelands in New York to its resettlement in frontier Wisconsin.

The volume was awarded the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Book Award of Merit by the Wisconsin State Historical Society at its annual meeting in June. It was among six books selected for the award by a special committee of the Society’s Board of Curators.

In addition to its historical significance, The Oneida Indian Journey represents a unique collaboration between the academic community and members of the Oneida Nation of Indians of Wisconsin, which sponsored the project.

“I feel really good about this book,” said Hauptman. “It’s very satisfying because it’s not just another academic book, but can be utilized by the community itself for curriculum. The stories are both in English and in the Oneida Language. It furthers the preservation of the language at a time when it is threatened.”

Hauptman, who has published a dozen books on Native Americans as well as numerous shorter works, is also the author of the first two segments of Part I of The Oneida Indian Journey. This portion of the book provides a portrait of the Oneidas between 1784 and 1860 and discusses the New York State Oneida “Treaty” of 1795. Also among the historians, geographers, anthropologists, archivists, attorneys and Oneida community members who contributed to the volume is Jo Margaret Mano, an associate professor in the SUNY New Paltz Geography Department. She is the author of a chapter titled “Unmapping the Iroquois.”

Professor Hauptman is nationally recognized in the field of Native American studies and is the leading expert on the history of the post-colonial Iroquois. As an expert on Indian policy in New York state, he has twice received the Peter Doctor Memorial Foundation Award a distinguished service award and the highest honor that can be bestowed by the Iroquois for work that has been beneficial to the image of the Indian. Hauptman has also received a commendation from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut.

Besides The Oneida Indian Journey, the most recent of Hauptman’s many book publications is Conspiracy of Interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State, which was published by Syracuse University Press in 1999 and received the John Ben Snow Prize for the best book published by that company last year.

Hauptman’s books have twice earned the Choice Magazine Award for an outstanding scholarly book. Between Two Fires: American Indians in the Civil War (Simon & Schuster: The Free Press) earned the award in 1995, and The Iroquois Struggle for Survival: World War II to Red Power (Syracuse University Press) earned the award in 1986.

At the request of Senator Daniel Inouye, Representative Amory Houghton and the Seneca Nation of Indians Tribal Council, Professor Hauptman presented oral and written expert testimony on the history of the Seneca Nation – City of Salamanca lease controversy before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs, and the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. In 1998, he received a plaque and special recognition from the president of the Seneca people for his research and testimony.

Hauptman earned his doctorate in American history from New York University (NYU). In addition to SUNY New Paltz, he has taught at NYU, the University of New Mexico and Saint Bonaventure University Graduate School. In 1986, he was a Senior Fellow at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.

The SUNY New Paltz professor is currently serving as a consultant to the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, the Seneca Nation of Indians and the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians.

In September 1999, the SUNY Board of Trustees appointed Hauptman a distinguished professor, the highest rank that can be achieved by a State University educator.

McLester is an Oneida historian and tribal member, coordinator of the Oneida History Conferences and founder of the Oneida Historical Society.

For more information on The Oneida Indian Journey, visit the web site http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress.

Note to editors: A photograph depicting the award bestowal can be downloaded from the SUNY New Paltz web site at http://www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/oneida.html. Pictured, from left to right, are McLester, Vogt and Hauptman. Caption: Laurence M. Hauptman (right) and L. Gordon McLester III (left), co-editors of The Oneida Indian Journey: From New York to Wisconsin, 1784 – 1860, accept a State Historical Society of Wisconsin Book Award of Merit from George L. Vogt, director of the Society, during its annual meeting, held on June 10 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 1999, the collection of essays by Indian and non- Indian scholars is considered to be a valuable contribution to Wisconsin history, tracing the Oneida tribe’s removal from its Iroquois homelands in New York to its resettlement in frontier Wisconsin. Photo courtesy of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.