One thing Elizabeth Hoover impresses upon her students is the diversity of American Indian societies.

The 2009-2010 visiting scholar at Elizabethtown College knows that from her roots on up.

"My family is Mohawk, Mi'kmaq, French Canadian, English, Irish and German," she says.

Countrywide, she adds, "there's over 500 different tribal nations, and each has its own language, religion, form of traditional government and its own history with state and the federal governments. So it's not easy to generalize about native people all looking, thinking, acting a certain way."

Hoover, 30, has immersed herself in learning about native cultures.

She's writing a dissertation about her work on the New York/Canada Mohawk community of Akwesasne, where environmental contamination has cut local food production over the past 50 years, impacting health and altering traditional folkways.

After she completes her doctoral studies in anthropology next May, she says, "I am going to continue to teach anthropology, native studies and environmental studies classes at the college level. I also plan to continue working with native community groups who are working on subsistence revival projects like gardening."

Birthplace: Albany, N.Y.

Family: Mother, Anita Ovitt; father, Robert Hoover; two younger sisters, Rebecca and Amanda Hoover; and my partner, Julius Snell.

Pets: None currently. I move too frequently. My last pet was a thoroughbred mare named Fantasia that I boarded at my mother's.

Education: Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central High School, (Berne, N.Y.); Williams College (majored in anthropology and psychology), and Brown University (master's degree in anthropology).

One thing my parents always told me: Always try your hardest.

When I was growing up, I wanted to be: A farmer or a park ranger, because I really enjoy being outside.

How I became interested in my culture: When I was growing up, my family would go to intertribal powwows (music and dance festivals), as well as ceremonies with other native people in the Northeast.

I don't really know anything about my German roots. I think it's great that there are so many Hoovers in this area —for a name with such simple spelling you would be amazed at the number of different ways people in other parts of the country attempt to pronounce it.

My Native American name: Gomdineoeoeu Osaog. It means Mountain Flower in Mi'kmaq. And some Mohawk people call me Arisoweh, which just means Elizabeth in Mohawk.

An important lesson from Native American stories: The idea that decisions should be made with the next seven generations in mind. A lot of "progress" regarding industrialization and the manufacture of the newest, greatest everything is done without much thought as to the fate of the waste produced in the manufacturing process.

One thing I've learned: I can't assume that everyone thinks the way I do or will take what I'm doing or saying at face value because they might be perceiving it from a completely different place mentally.

Some of my favorite Northeast native foods: Stewed moose meat in gravy, boiled cornbread rounds with kidney beans in them, and winter squash. My mom makes a great baked pumpkin stuffed with wild rice.

For exercise and relaxation: I lift weights and run a couple of miles a day — it keeps me sane and keeps my muscles loose. I'm also a fancy shawl dancer at powwows, which is a fast-paced contemporary style of dance done by women with colorful shawls.

Favorite music: I study to Celtic fiddle music, Gypsy Kings, Spanish guitar music and dramatic movie soundtracks like "Last of the Mohicans," "Gladiator," "Braveheart" and "Pirates of the Carribbean." I exercise to powwow drumming music, Flogging Molly and Elvis. My driving music includes Garth Brooks and Jason Mraz.

A great place to visit: Last year for my birthday, Julius and I went to Michoacan, Mexico, to see the monarch butterfly migration. It was incredible —millions and millions of butterflies returned to this mountaintop where their ancestors departed from the previous spring. The air was absolutely thick with them.