S E C T I O N N E W S May 2001 Anthropology News

continue in anthropology rather than switch to social work because it appeared to me that many issues we encountered during the internship were related to cultural differences. I wanted to teach anthropology to social workers to help them understand those differences and see how their actions might threaten rather than empower their clients.

I lost sight of this goal in graduate school be- cause I became immersed in the sheer joy of learning anthropology. Also, there was not, in my memory at least, a single class in applied anthro- pology in the early 1970s at UW-Madison. Therefore, I dutifully followed the path expected of people eaming doctorates and began to teach.

However, while my husband and I had en- joyed the intellectual stimulation of academia, it never felt like home. In 1980, we moved to west- ern South Dakota, where his great grandparents and grandparents had homesteaded and many family members stiU live. We wanted to return to our working class roots where community is a place, not a concept. It tickles my anthropologi- cal fancy to know, for example, that my secre- tary‘s husband’s first wife, now deceased, was the paternal aunt of my husband‘s maternal parallel first cousin’s husband! Although the networks of friend, family and neighbor are densely woven in t h i s area, it is not utopia. Pollution, poverty, racism, domestic violence and all the problems that one can find anywhere can be found here. The difference, for me, is that the solutions are more personal.

Shortly after settling in the town of Buffalo Gap, a family member who had just finished a master‘s degree in public health introduced me to transcultural nursing. From there it was just a short leap to applied anthropology. I was hired as the director of a very small community agency, providing services to adults with developmental disabilities, many of whom were Lakotas from the nearby Pine Ridge Indian reservation. At first, my struggle was to teach staff whose training was in psychology and related fields that generaliza- tions about cultural differences are not stereo- types. My second challenge was to apply my knowledge about Lakota culture and other local cultural variations without stereotyping the per- son receiving services.

Writing a book to educate service providers has brought me back to my original plan, although in a sllghtly altered form. Encouragingly, most human service professionals I come across now recognize that they need to know about cultural differences and many have even taken a course or two in anthropology. My task has thus evolved into helping them integrate this knowledge into their daily practices.

You may contact Lilah at lilah@apidnet.com; 605/255-4605 or at Po Box 126, Buffalo Gap, SD, 57722. Her recently published book, Your Values, My Values: Multicultural Services m Developmental Disabilities, blends anthropological and psycho- logical theory with practical applications for serv- ice providers and Lilah’s reflections about her experiences. Though intended for an audience of

non-anthropologists, it has turned out to be equally useful for students considering careers in local-level applied anthropology.

Send your contributions to Carmen Garcia Ruiz at anthropocg@aol.com.

National Association of Student Anthropologists BY JONATHAN REED, NASA P R F S I D E ~ The turn of this century marks a new direction for NASA leadership, in terms of their dedication to section responsibilities and volunteerism and in terms of their promotion of academic devel- opment within each student’s anthropological subfield. Furthermore, I am proud to report that the NASA leaders, who also represent significant- ly diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, are making great strides in offering NASA members additional benefits while w o r m effectively as a team and energetically utilizing the Internet for communication. We have nine officers and one volunteer, each representing a different academic institution.

This year has clearly brought more opportuni- ties for our members to network; use of the homepage and other new eresources has been well established. With an increased rise in mem- bership, there are naturally more students calling for their academic-related interests to be ad- dressed. Students working on cutting-edge an- thropological research continue to become actively involved as NASA members, as we can see from monthly membership reports. It seems clear that the AAA‘s continued growth will be assured in such fashion.

NASA Campus Liaisons NASA members who serve in student leadership positions within their own campus anthropology organizations are being solicited as volunteers in the capacity of “NASA campus liaison.” This vol- unteer role should begin no later than September 29, 2001. The duties of each “NASA Campus Liaison” are 1) to disseminate information dis- tributed by the NASA Executive Board to each liaison’s campus student body and 2) to report to NASA about current and future student issues, anthropology meetings and conferences. “NASA Campus Liaisons” also develop direct rapport with the current NASA Officers and may network with student leaders from other institutions to further develop NASA’s growing national and international student community. ”NASA Cam- pus Liaisons” are most likely to be current, active students who can effectively communicate and network via e-mail; who frequently attend NASA

events at the AAA Annual Meetings; and who can make a tweyear commitment to t h i s volunteer position. To be considered for a “NASA Campus Liaison” position to represent your campus, please contact Jason J Gonzalez (GraduateAt- Large Representative) at nasagradatlargel@mail. com or jayce@siu.edu.

Busine~ Meeting($ 01 o tha NASA-~pon~ored

Carrie Hunter-Tate Award The formal announcement for the W e Hunter-Tate Award (2001), as well as application information and other details, are available on-line at the NASA homepage starting this month (May 1, 2001). This year, NASA will offer merit-based awards to both undergraduates and graduates who demon- strate professional and academic anthropological achievement. The awardees are presented this autumn at the NASA Business Meeting awards ceremony and will be published on-line. The for- mal announcement and application information will also be distributed to our Membership via the NASA Listserve (which is currently accessible to all student Members who have manually regis- tered their current e-mail addresses to receive free electronic mailing services). Deadline for the receipt of completed applications is August 29, 2001. For more details, contact Carla Guerron- Montero (Nominations Chair) at tatecomm@ yahoogroups.com or cguerron@oregon.uore- gon.edu. Address your correspondence with “Attention to: Tate Award Committee Chair.”

In Other News Reflecting the themes of student unity and net- work success, Officers Jason J Gonzalez, Carla Guerron-Montero and Jonathan Reed have each been mobilized to serve as liaisons to the Society of Applied Anthropology, the Society for Ameri- can Archaeology and the National Association of Practicing Anthropologists respectively. Carla reports that, ‘ ‘ w e are working to develop con- nections with these and other professional organ- izations.” Other AAA Sections who might be interested in developing a student liaison posi- tion with NASA and plugging into the AAAk source of student activity, please contact Jonathan Reed (NASA President) at jamark- wing.uoregon.edu.

The NASA officers realize that some anthropol- ogy students cannot afford the annual AAA Student Membership fees. Although the fees are necessary because they enable NASA to offer its members certain benefits, the officers do not want the fees to prevent non-members from leaming about NASA. In February, the Officers voted unanimously in favor of Jonathan’s motion to consider making the NASA Listserve available to any and all students who specifically request such participation. Once a final decision has been made it will be published here. Currently, the NASA Listserve announces infor- mation about jobs, scholarships, academic research and volunteer opportunities as well as NASA deadlines and activities.

Enjoy your summer! Bring back retlections to share with us! Tentative Upcoming Topics unmen- tioned this month: Art Design Contest; Travel Grant; Diversity Award; Student Survey Report 2000-2001; Cutting-edge Student Research; NASA Elections 2002 and more.. .

Send your articles, essays and thoughts to Jonathan Reed at ja&Markwing.uoregon.edu.

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