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Mike Wiant, Maria Smith and Burton Smith
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Three anthropologists with strong ties to ISU—Mike Wiant, Maria Smith, and Burton Smith—provided the program for the Midwest Museum of Natural History’s annual Anthropology Fair in March. This year’s topic was “Native Americans: Origins and Contact.” Wiant received his undergraduate training at ISU and his PhD from Northwestern. He is currently Director of the Dickson Mounds Museum and Site and an adjunct professor of anthropology at ISU. His talk focused on the prehistoric and early historic Native American cultures of Illinois.
Maria Smith is associate professor of anthropology at ISU. Her presentation centered on the biological and environmental evidence concerning the peopling of North America. Burton Smith received his undergraduate degree in anthropology from ISU, where he was a Presidential Scholar. He is currently a doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Minnesota. His topic concerned the early contacts between Native Americans and European immigrants in the southern Appalachian Mountains, which he terms “America’s first frontier.” An estimated 150 people attended the program, which was held at the Museum in Sycamore, Illinois.