DAVID L. La VERE

Professor

Department of History – University of North Carolina at Wilmington

 

 

Email:

lavered@yahoo.com

lavered@uncw.edu

(910) 962-3315 (UNCW)                 

(910) 962-7011 (FAX)                  

            

RESEARCH SPECIALTIES AND TEACHING CAPABILITIES:

 Native American (Southeastern, Great Plains, Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina), American West, Spanish Borderlands, Texas History, Ethnohistory, and U.S. surveys.

 

EDUCATION: 

Ph.D.:  8/93.  Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. History. Dissertation: “Strangers for Family: Gifts, Reciprocity and Kinship in Caddoan-Euroamerican Relations, 1685-1835.”

 

M.A.:  7/89.  Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA. History. Thesis: “Barr, Davenport, Murphy and Smith: Traders on the Louisiana-Texas Frontier.”

 

B.A.:  5/82.  Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA. History and Journalism.

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

 

8/93 - present. Professor of History. University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

 

1/90 - 7/93. Lecturer. Blinn Junior College, College Station, TX.

 

8/92 - 12/92. Lecturer. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.

 

1/89 - 5/89. Lecturer. Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA.

 

CLASSES DEVELOPED:

American Indian History to 1900 (HST 336)

American Indian History after 1900 (HST 337)

American Indian Wars (HST 338)

Ethnohistory of Southeastern Indians (HST 350)

History of the American West (HST 348)

U.S. – American Indian Diplomacy and Warfare (HST 290) (Team-taught)

 

CLASSES TAUGHT:

 

Besides the above and various undergraduate and graduate seminars on similar topics, I have taught the following:

 

United States History to 1865 (HST 201) (also as an online web class)

United States History from 1865 (HST 202)

Antebellum U. S. (HST 354)

The Practice of History (HST 290)

Distance Learning Class, Southeastern Indian Ethnohistory

 

PUBLICATIONS:

 

BOOKS:

 

The Texas Indians. Texas A&M University Press, January 2004.

 

Contrary Neighbors: The Southern Plains and the Removed Indians in Indian Territory.  University of Oklahoma Press, October 2000. (Winner of the 2001 Oklahoma Book Award for Non-Fiction.)

 

The Caddo Chiefdoms: Caddo Politics and Economics, 700 A.D. to 1835.  University of Nebraska Press, October 1998.

 

Life Among the Texas Indians: The WPA Narratives. Texas A&M University Press, April 1998.

 

 

MANUSCRIPTS IN PRODUCTION:

 

Grave Robbers: The Looting of Spiro Mounds.

 

North Carolina Churches. One of about seven writers on this project commissioned by Our State Books, Greensboro, NC. I wrote on the history of 15 churches about 1,000 words each. Slated for publication Fall 2004.

 

World War II in North Carolina. One of only three writers on this project commissioned by Our State Books, Greensboro, NC. I am writing 10 stores at about 1,000 words each. Slated for publication Spring 2004.

 

PROFESSIONAL HISTORICAL ARTICLES

 "The Comanche-Kiowa Business Council of the Early 1900s" in Native Pathways: Economic Development and American Indian Culture. Edited by Brian C. Hosmer and Colleen O'Neill. University Press of Colorado. At Press.

 

“Facing Off: Indian-Spanish Relations in the Greater Southwest.” They Made Us Many Promises: The American Indian Experience. Edited by Phillip Weeks. Wheeling, IL.: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2002.

 

"Between Kinship and Capitalism: French-Spanish Rivalry in the Colonial Louisiana-Texas Indian Trade." Journal of Southern History.  64 (May 1998): 197-218.

 

"An Expedition to the Kichai: The Journal of François Grappe, 24 September 1783"  (with Katia Campbell). Southwestern Historical Quarterly  98 (July 1994): 58-78.

 

"Friendly Persuasions: Gifts and Reciprocity in Comanche-Euroamerican Relations" Chronicles of Oklahoma  62 (Fall 1993): 322-37.

 

"Edward Murphy (1761-1808): Irish Entrepreneur in Spanish Natchitoches" Louisiana History  32 (Fall 1991): 371-91.

 

"P-Checks, Sweet Potatoes, and Sack Shirts: A Social History of the Natchitoches Farmer during the Depression." North Louisiana Historical Journal  20 (Fall 1989): 99-112.

 

"Down Town: The City of Natchitoches During the Great Depression." Louisiana Folklife  12 (September 1988): 31-35.

 

 

ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES

 “Oklahoma Territory.” The Encyclopedia of the New American Nation. Charles Scribner’s Sons. Due out in 2005.

 

"The Caddo Indians." The Encyclopedia of the Mexican War.  Macmillan Publishing Company. April 1998.

 

BOOK AND FILM REVIEWS

"Three Nations, One Place: A Comparative Ethnohistory of Social Change Among the Comanches and Hasinais During Spain's Colonial Era, 1689-1821 by Martha McCollough. New York: Routledge. American Historical Review. At Press.

 

 “Telling Stories the Kiowa Way by Gus Palmer, Jr.” Tucson: University of Arizona Press. New Mexico Historical Review. At Press.

 

“A Dancing People: Powwow Culture on the Southern Plains by Clyde Ellis.” Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. At Press.  

 

"A Sentimental Journey: Memories of a Wartime Boomtown by Wilbur J. Jones, Jr." Shippensburg, PA:  White Mane Publishing Company. Our State North Carolina Magazine. At Press.

“The Native Americans of the Texas Edwards Plateau, 1582-1799 by Maria F. Wade.” Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003. American Indian Culture and Research Journal. At Press.

 

“The Ancient Mounds of Poverty Point: Place of Rings by John L. Gibson.” Gainesville, Fla.: University of Florida, 2001. Louisiana History 44 (Winter 2003): 112-114.

 

“A Raising Up: Memories of a North Carolina Childhood by R. C. Fowler.” Wilmington, NC: Coastal Carolina Press. Our State North Carolina. (July 2002) 15.

 

“Comanches in the New West, 1895-1908: Historic Photographs by Stanley Noyes.” Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999. Ethnohistory 49 (Fall 2002): 877-78.

 

Learning to Win: Sports, Education, and Social Change in Twentieth-Century North Carolina by Pamela Grundy.” Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. Our State North Carolina. (November 2001).

 

“W. R. Trivett, Appalachian Pictureman: Photographs of a Bygone Time by Ralph E. Lentz II.” Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000. Our State North Carolina. (July 2001).

 

“Duck: An Outer Banks Village by Judith D. Mercier.” Winston-Salem, NC: John F.Blair, Publisher, 2001. Our State North Carolina. (July 2001).

 

“The Wichita Indians: Traders of Texas and the Southern Plains, 1540-1845 by F. Todd Smith. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2000. Journal of Southern History 68 (May 2002): 430-31.

 

"The Rumble of a Distant Drum: The Quapaws and Old World Newcomers, 1673-1804. by Morris S. Arnold." Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000. Louisiana History 43 (2002): 105-6.

 

"It Took Brave Men: Deputy U.S. marshal of Fort Smith. Video produced by Michael Paskowsky. Journal of American History 88 (December 2002): 1186-87.

 

“Les Sauvages Américains: Representations of Native Americans in French and English Colonial Literature. By Gordon M. Sayre.” Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. Journal of North Carolina Association of Historians. At Press.

 

“The Indian Southwest: 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention. By Gary Clayton Anderson.” Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999. Great Plains Quarterly. 20 (Fall 2000): 330-31.

 

“Satanta:  The Life and Death of a War Chief by Charles M. Robinson III.” The Journal of Southern History. 65 (November 1999): 893-94.

 

“Contested Ground: Comparative Frontiers on the Northern and Southern Edges of the Spanish Empires by Donna J. Guy and Thomas E. Sheridan.”  Pacific Historical Review. 68 (November 1999): 659-661

 

“William Bartram and the Southeastern Indians by Gregory Waselkov and Kathryn Braund.” Gulf Coast Historical Journal. 14 (Spring 1999): 130-31.

 

“A History of the Timucua Indians and Missions by John Hann.” New Mexico Historical Review. 73 (July 1998): 300-301.

 

"Indian Depredation Claims, 1796-1920 by Larry C. Skogen" Florida Historical Quarterly. 65 (Winter 1997): 359-360.

 

"The Native Americans. Produced by Jonathan Taplin." TBS Superstation.  6 hours. 1994. Journal of American History.  83 (December 1996): 1113-1114.

 

"Poquosin: A Study of Rural Landscape and Society by Jack Temple             Kirby."  Journal of the Association of Historians of North Carolina. 4 (Fall 1996): 90-92.

 

"The Caddo Indians: Tribes at the Convergence of Empire by F. Todd Smith."  Journal of Southern History.  62 (Aug 1996): 536-537.

 

"Dancing on Common Ground: Tribal Cultures and Alliances on the Southern Plains by Howard Meredith." Locus. 8 (Spring 1996): 263-264 

 

"The Caddo Nation: Archaeological & Ethnohistoric Perspectives by Timothy Perttula."  Southwestern Historical Quarterly.  97 (April 1994): 677-8

 

"The Last Conquistador: Juan de Oñate and the Settling of the Far Southwest by Marc Simmons."  Southwestern Historical Quarterly  96 (January 1993): 448-9. 

 

 

FREELANCE & POPULAR ARTICLES

“College Towns – Great Places to Call Home.” Living Southern Style. Summer 2004, p. 22-30.

 

“Pickle Passion.” Our State North Carolina. August 2004, p. 110-117.

 

“With Silver Bells & Cockle Shells: Part garden, part arboretum, the New Hanover County Arboretum reaches into the community through more than beauty alone.” Our State North Carolina, April 2004, p. 78-83

 

“Old Waynesborough.” Our State North Carolina. February 2004, p. 144.

“Getting Their Hands Wet: Volunteers of the Cape Fear River Watch.” Our State North Carolina. January 2004, p. 92-97.

 

“A Cape Fear Christmas.” Our State North Carolina. December 2003, p. 76-80.

 

“Country Schoolhouse.” Our State North Carolina. September 2003, p. 108-113.

 

“The House Dr. Pope Built.” Our State North Carolina. August 2003, p. 86-89.

 

“Spanning the Decades.” [Note: I wrote Introductory sections for each decade in North Carolina history, from the 1930s through the 1990s. Our State North Carolina. June 2003, pp. 46, 48, 58, 68, 80, 92, 102, 114.

 

“North Carolina Natives.” Our State North Carolina. June 2003, p. 101.

 

“Shipping Lanes: 300 Miles of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.” Our State North Carolina. May 2003, p. 94-99.

 

“Living in An Historic Area: The Jewel of Wilmington.” Living Southern Style. Summer 2003, p. 15-19

 

“Avian Airs: Orton Plantation Gardens.” Our State North Carolina. April 2003, p. 82-86.

 

“Old Beliefs in a New Age.” Our State North Carolina. December 2002, p. 75-77.

 

“The Road to Enlightenment: Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram.” Our State North Carolina. December 2002, p. 68-71.

 

“The Secrets of Topsail Island.” Our State North Carolina. August 2002, p. 24-26.

 

“Flamenco Style -- Paco Strickland.” Our State North Carolina. July 2002, p. 28-30.

 

“Native Flavor.” Our State North Carolina. May 2002, p. 88-94.

 

“Southeast Communities Look to Traditional Neighborhood Lifestyle.” Living Southern Style. Summer 2002, p. 58-61.

 

“Wilmington’s Lost Tunnels.” Our State North Carolina. April 2002, p. 26-29.

 

“Studying Public History.” Our State North Carolina. November 2001, p. 49.

 

“Belle of Wilmington.” Our State North Carolina. November 2001, p. 48-49.

 

“The New Urbanism.” Our State North Carolina. November 2001, p. 44-49.

 

“Walking Man.” Our State North Carolina. November 2001.

 

"Politics Not As Usual." Our State North Carolina. November 2000.

 

“Up for Independence." Our State North Carolina. March 2001.

 

“The Royal Tour." Our State North Carolina. March 2001.

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:

“Indian History Without the Indians: A Call for an Ethnohistorical Approach.” Texas State Historical Association, Corpus Christi, Texas, 8 March 2002.

 

"The Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Business Council of the Early 1900s." The American Society for Ethnohistory, London, Ontario, Canada, 21 October 2000.

 

Commentator, “Anglo-Indian Relations in the Early South.” The Citadel Conference on the South, Charleston, SC, 7 April 2000.

 

Commentator, “American Indians Past and Present: Applications from Ethnohistory.” The Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Albuquerque, NM, 12 February 2000.

 

Session Chair, “Powwows, Mountain Spirits, and Song: Understanding the Power of Music and Dance on the Southern Plains.”  Western History Association Conference, St. Paul, MN, 18 October 1997.

 

"The Burden of Lumbee History: A Plainsman 'Discovers' Indians in Eastern North Carolina."  Issues in Native American Culture series, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 6 March 1997.

 

"Dehahuit and Caddo Leadership: The Great Indian Conference at Natchitoches, Louisiana in 1807."  American Society for Ethnohistory, Kalamazoo, MI, 4 November 1995.

 

"The Caddo Chiefdoms." Native Americans and Native American Studies in North Carolina, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 8 April 1995.

 

"Between Kinship and Capitalism: French-Spanish Rivalry in the Colonial Louisiana-Texas Indian Trade." Association of Historians of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 31 March 1995.

 

"Gifts, Reciprocity, and Kinship in Caddo-Franco Relations, 1685-1803." Texas State Historical Association, Austin, TX, 29 February 1992. 

 

"The Evolution of Indian-Euroamerican Kinship Bonds in the Lower Red River Valley, 1685-1835." American Society for Ethnohistory, Tulsa, OK, November 1991.

 

"Edward Murphy:  Irish Entrepreneur in Spanish Natchitoches." Louisiana State Historical Association, Baton Rouge, LA, March 1989.

 

"P-Checks, Sweet Potatoes, and Sack Shirts:  A Social History of the Natchitoches Farmer during the Depression."  Louisiana State Historical Association.  New Iberia, LA, March 1988.

 

 
SPEECHES, LECTURES, DISCUSSIONS

“America Without Indians: An Imaginary Journey.” 6 February 2004. Columbia, NC. North Carolina Humanities Council Speaker’s Bureau Forum.

 

“Lets Talk About It: The Legacy of Conquest by Patricia Limerick” – 8 September 2003. North Carolina Humanities Council and Speakers Bureau. Beaufort, NC. I led a discussion on the book.

 

“1950s –“ Film Series, Onslow County Public Library. Led a discussion on a documentary about the 1950s every Tuesday evening for 6 weeks. Oct.-Nov. 2003

 

“America Without Indians: An Imaginary Journey.” 14 March 2002. Topsaol Beach Historical Society. North Carolina Humanities Council Speakers Bureau Forum.

          

“From Rosie to Roosevelt: A Film History of Americans in World War II. The American Command.” Film Series, Onslow County Public Library. Led a discussion on a documentary about American commanders in World War II every Tuesday evening for 6 weeks. Oct.-Nov. 2002

 

“North Carolina Indians Before the English” – 12 November 2003. For UNCW Division for Public Service and Extended Education.

 

“Lets Talk About It: The Legacy of Conquest by Patricia Limerick” – 29 March 2003. North Carolina Humanities Council and Speakers Bureau. Bayboro, NC. [They read the book and I lead a discussion on it.]

 

“North Carolina Indians Before the English” – 11 February 2003. Ocean Isle Beach Museum, Ocean Isle Beach, NC.

 

 
PANELS & FORUMS

"Texas Indian Women." Texas State Historical Society Conference, Houston, Texas, March 2001.

 

National Endowment for the Humanities Collaborative Evaluation Panel for Western Hemispheric Projects. Washington D.C., 7 December 2000.

 

National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar, 13 June-22 July, 1994. "Ethnohistory of Southeastern Indians." University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. Led by Michael Green and Theda Perdue.

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION , HONORS AND AWARDS:

Recipient of the 2004 UNCW Award for Faculty Scholarship Award.

 

2001 Oklahoma Center for the Book -- Award for Best Non-Fiction for Contrary Neighbors: Southern Plains and Removed Indians in Indian Territory.

 

UNCW Teacher of the Year, 1996-97, Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society.

 

Faculty Advisor, Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, 1995-1998.

 

Cahill Award, 1996. UNCW research grant.

 

United States Marine Corps. Infantryman. 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. 1975-1978.

 

ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIP:

Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Alpha Theta, Western History Association, Texas State Historical Association, Louisiana State Historical Association, and the American Society for Ethnohistory. 

 

OTHER INFORMATION

Manuscript and article evaluator for the University of Nebraska Press, Texas A&M University Press, University of Oklahoma, Ethnohistory, Louisiana History, and Plains Anthropologist. Writer of several  newspaper editorials.