Iroquois Museum Appoints New Director

The Trustees of the Iroquois Indian Museum are proud to announce the appointment of Stephanie Shultes of Middleburgh, NY, as the new Director of the Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave, NY.  Her long involvement with the Museum in many capacities, her friendships  with Iroquois, Museum members, and the community and her knowledge of Iroquois culture and arts singled her out as the perfect person to lead the Museum forward.

 In 1985, Ms Shultes began to volunteer at the Museum when the Museum was located at the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie. Her interest in the Iroquois grew and she went to graduate school at SUNY Albany to receive her Masters in Anthropology in 1988. She continued to volunteer but in 1991, just before the Museum opened in its new home in Howes Cave she became the Museum’s Curator. 

Because the Museum has a small staff, Ms. Shultes has become involved in many aspects of the Museum from curating the collection, to researching Iroquois arts and mounting exhibitions, to maintaining our web site, monitoring and designing our Facebook page and fundraising. She has always been innovative and determined to showcase the Museum and its uniqueness. Notable exhibits that she curated and researched were the two Native Americans in the Performing Arts exhibits, From Ballet to Rock and Roll and From Broadway to Hollywood; Baseball’s League of Nations and the Indian Ink exhibits. Steph has designed many of the Museum’s publications which include Schoharie Mohawks, by John Ferguson and the catalogSkyworld to Turtle Island. Ms. Shultes headed the committee that produced our Learning Longhouse education pages on our website and then designed and published those pages. Most recently she was both the impetus and the fundraiser for the new amphitheater roof, an achievement she is very proud of.

Her passion for photography has assisted the Museum. She is often seen photographing Museum events and she has photographed much of the Museum’s collection. Many of her photographs have been published in books about the Iroquois and some are available in the Museum’s gift shop. She has also traveled to southern Africa, to the Grand Tetons, Yosemite and Yellowstone to photograph animals and landscapes.

Ms. Shultesis very generous and diligent in all her endeavors. She has a special attachment to cats and befriended the Museum’s cat, Little Boy. He has become a very important ambassador for the Museum and her latest project is a GoFundMe campaign in which Little Boy is the star, raising money for the Museum Ms. Shultes created the video in which Little Boy details all the work he does at the Museum and encourages people to be donors to his ‘forever home.’

The Iroquois Museum was established in 1980 and is located in Howes Cave, NY, 40 miles west of Albany. For more information please contact the Museum at 518-296-8949 or info@iroquoismuseum.org.