Libraries host Native American lecture

SUNY Proffessor and author Laurence Hauptman gives a presentation about Native Americans in the time of Henry Hudson at Volunteers Park on Sunday, sponsored by the Kinderhook Library and the Valatie Free Library

By Paul Crossman

Published:

Monday, September 14, 2009 9:31 AM EDT

The Kinderhook Memorial Library and the Valatie Free Library hosted guest lecturer Laurence Hauptman at Volunteer’s Park in Kinderhook on Saturday for his talk on “American Indians in the Time of Henry Hudson.”

The free program was part of an ongoing celebration surrounding the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial, and was attended by more than 25 interested members of the community.

“The Kinderhook Library did a full year of Quadricentennial programming,” said Kinderhook Library Director Julie Johnson, “and the Valatie Library worked with us on several occasions. We thought this would be interesting for both service areas.”

And interesting it was, with Hauptman first giving a power-point accompanied lecture about everything from local Native American culture and folk lore, to interaction with the Dutch, to common misconceptions. Not long after the lecture began, Hauptman was peppered with questions from interested audience members, and the presentation began to take on the atmosphere of a teacher in a classroom rather than that of someone giving a lecture.

Which, in fact, was exactly what Hauptman intended.

“My responsibility as a SUNY employee is to bring knowledge outward,” he told the Register-Star after the presentation. “I try not only to correct misconceptions and educate, but to encourage.” He went on to say that he loved the amount of questions which had arisen, and hoped that some of the people would take a deeper look into the subject because of his presentation.

This natural ability to get people to take interest and ask questions probably stems from Hauptman’s 38 years as a professor of history at SUNY New Paltz, where he teaches mainly about Native Americans, New York state, and the Civil War. Hauptman is also the co-author or co-editor of 15 books on the Iroquois or other Native Americans, and published his own book titled, “Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership: The Six Nations since 1800,” in 2008. He is currently working on two other book projects as well.

Hauptman was honored for his research by the New York state Board of Regents and the Iroquois Nation, and has received the Mohonk Consultation Award for his Scholarship and Humanitarian service on behalf of the Native Americans, and for these reasons, both libraries consider themselves lucky to have him as a speaker.

One of the biggest sections of the presentation was an attempt to correct as many of the misconceptions about Native Americans as possible.

“Sometimes in the history books we treat the Native Americans as children, as fools,” he told the crowd. “That’s wrong. If they were fools they would not still be alive today.”

He went on to say that one of the most common misconceptions was that the only thing the Native Americans wanted in trade was guns and alcohol, when in fact it was the women who did most of the trading, with the most popular items being textiles.

However, according to Hauptman, this did not mean that guns weren’t involved in trades, and it surprised many people in the audience to learn that by the 1630s, many Native American people were accomplished gunsmiths.

“They adapted quickly,” he said. “It’s like us. I have a typewriter in my closet and a computer. For a time European technology sat side by side with indigenous technology, until things began to change.”

When Hauptman announced the end of the lecture, he was met with thunderous applause, and overall, the program seemed to be considered a success by all involved.

“We had over 25 people turn out,” said Elizabeth Powhida, the assistant at the Valatie Library. “I think people showed quite a bit of interest. I was fascinated.”

To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com.

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