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Awards of the High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology
The Society has three awards normally bestowed at the annual conference. These are the Omer C. Stewart Memorial Award, the Gottfried and Martha Lang Student Award in Applied Anthropology, and the Bristlecone Pine Award. These awards recognize, respectively, those who have made a significant contribution to the field of applied anthropology; those who show exceptional promise as students in our field; and those who have dedicated themselves to the goals of the Society over time. More information on the awards is found below.
Award Nominations
The Awards Committee consists of the President (chair), Past President, and President-Elect, and others as determined by the chair. The role of the committee is to solicit nominations, select awardees and plan the presentation of awards. Nominations for the awards may be made by submitting the name and credentials of the nominee to the current HPSfAA President no later than March 15th. Recipients will usually be presented with their awards at the annual conference.
The Omer C. Stewart Memorial Award
The Omer C. Stewart Memorial Award recognizes significant contributions to the field of Applied Anthropology. Dr. Stewart was one of the founding members of the HPSfAA and a foremost anthropologist of his day. His ethnographic and ethnohistoric research into the Peyote religion revealed vast areas of cultural change among American Indians. His advocacy for American Indians included a relentless commitment to their religious freedom and to gaining compensation for their losses of traditional homelands.
According to his eulogy by Deward Walker in the High Plains Applied Anthropologist, "Omer was a distinguished humanist, challenging teacher, loyal friend, and formidable adversary. He spent his life battling racism, ethnocentrism, imperialism, and their consequences among American Indians. Anthropology was his weapon. Conscience was his guide."
Many individuals had the honor of working and/or studying with Dr. Stewart during his tenure at the University of Colorado. For others, this award is a reminder of our links with previous anthropologists and that the torch is being passed to current and future generations. Deward Walker proposed the Omer Stewart award at a meeting in 1993 of the Board of Directors, which immediately approved the idea. Past recipients have included renowned applied anthropologists from the High Plains region and beyond.
Past Winners of the Omer C. Stewart Memorial Award
1993 - Muriel "Miki" Crespi, National Park Service
1994 - Robert Hackenberg, University of Colorado at Boulder
1995 - Deward Walker, Jr., University of Colorado at Boulder
1996 - Darwin Solomon, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
1997 - Donald Stull, University of Kansas
1998 - Gottfried Lang, University of Colorado at Boulder (Emeritus)
1999 - Howard Stein, University of Oklahoma
2000 - Carla Littlefield, Littlefield Associates, Denver
2001 - Ken Keller, Metropolitan State College of Denver
2002 - Peter Van Arsdale, Colorado Mental Health Institute/University of Denver
2003 - John van Willigen, University of Kentucky
2004 - Edward Knop, Colorado State University
2005 - Pamela Puntenney, Environmental and Human Systems Management
2006 - Lenora Bohren, Colorado State University
2007 - Larry Van Horn, National Park Service
2008 - Pennie Magee, Magee Consulting, Boulder
2009/10 - Emilia and David Gonzalez-Clements (award given in 2009 but deferred until 2010)
2011 - Michael Burney, Burney and Associates, New Mexico
2012 - Richard Stoffle, University of Arizona
2013 - Kathleen Sherman, Colorado State University
2014 - John L. Schultz, Metropolitan State University of Denver
2015 - Stephen O. Stewart, Metropolitan State University of Denver
2016 - Art Campa, Metropolitan State University of Denver
2017 - Katy Little, Katy's Tales
2018 - Merun Nasser, former Treasurer
The Gottfried and Martha Lang Student Award in Applied Anthropology
The Gottfried and Martha Lang Student Award was established in 1999 to honor Dr. Friedl Lang, Professor Emeritus of the University of Colorado, and his wife, Martha, and to acknowledge their significant contributions to students as well as to the Society. Recipients (undergraduate or graduate students in applied anthropology) normally present a paper at the annual conference; publish the paper in The Applied Anthropologist; and receive an award certificate, free room and board at the conference, a one year membership in HPSfAA, and a cash award.
Past Winners of the Gottfried and Martha Lang Student Award in Applied Anthropology
2000 - James Schechter, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder. Paper: “Anthropological Theory and Fieldwork: Problem Solving Tools for Forced Migration Issues.”
2001 - Kurt T. Mantonya, M.A. Candidate, Department of Anthropology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Paper: “Contamination Nation.”
2002 - Rebekah Bennetch, B.A. Student, Metropolitan State College of Denver.
2003 - Abbas Barzegar, B.A. Student, Religious Studies Program, University of Colorado at Boulder. Paper: “Latino Muslims in the United States: An Introduction.”
2004 - Christina Dorsey, B.A. Student, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Paper: “An Exploratory Study of Young African-American Fathers in Lincoln, Nebraska.”
2005 - Sarah Case, B.A. Student, University of Colorado at Boulder. Paper: “The Dynamics of Tribal Cultural Resource Management: Where Do We Go From Here?”
No student awards were granted in 2006, 2007, or 2008.
2009 - Kathleen Van Vlack, PhD. Candidate, University of Arizona.
2010 - Benjamin Jewell, Ph.D. candidate, Arizona State University. Paper: "Meeting Diverse Needs in Phoenix, Arizona, Through Urban Agriculture."
2011 - ALPACA (Archaeology, Linguistics, Physical Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology) Student Group of the Metropolitan State College of Denver
2012 - Michael Brydge, M.A. Candidate, Colorado State University, for personal and professional development and service to HPSfAA as the student representative
2013 - Andrea Akers, M.A. Candidate, Colorado State University, for personal and professional development and service to HPSfAA as Secretary, Webmaster, and Managing Editor
2014 - No student award was granted.
2015 - Evelyn Pickering, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Arizona. Paper: "The Social Construction of Water in Dominica."
2016 - No student award was granted.
2017 - Naomi Bolts, M.A. Candidate, Queen's University Belfast, for personal and professional development.
2018 - Sañiego Sanchez, M.A. Candidate, University of North Texas, for personal and professional development and service to HPSfAA as the Treasurer and Secretary.
The Bristlecone Pine Award
The Bristlecone Pine Award, created in 2007, recognizes distinguished length of service and admirable dedication to HPSfAA as an appointed officer, board member or volunteer. The award, like its namesake tree, is a reminder that survival as both an organization and a society depend on weathering many storms and finding opportunities for growth even in the harshest of conditions. The individuals upon whom this award is bestowed have clearly demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice their time, energy and resources for the good of the Society and its mission.
Past Winners of the Bristlecone Pine Award
2009 - Carla Littlefield, Archivist and Finance Committee Chair
2010 - Deward Walker, former Editor, High Plains Applied Anthropologist
2016 - Howard F. Stein, Poet Laureate & Member-at-Large
2017 - Stephen O. Stewart, Metropolitan State University of Denver
2018 - Richard Stoffle, University of Arizona
