Search Results

ETHN 0053 - Introduction to Native American Studies

http://catalog.sierracollege.edu/course-outlines/ethn-0053/

Catalog Description DESCRIPTION IS HERE: Formerly known as SSCI 41 Hours: 54 lecture Description: Survey of the cultures of Native American/American Indians within the United States focusing on the social, religious, economic, and artistic nature of various native groups. Examination of the antiquity, distribution, and linguistic history of native cultures. Addresses the contemporary status of native cultural traditions taking into account social change and adaptation. Emphasis on geographic, cultural, historical, and botanical environment of local native cultures. An optional field trip may be included. (CSU, UC) Units 3 Lecture-Discussion 54 Laboratory By Arrangement Contact Hours 54 Outside of Class Hours Course Student Learning Outcomes Evaluate interdisciplinary approaches to studying the issues and events which shape the lives of Native Americans, including the impact of colonialism, white supremacy, eurocentrism; and the response and movements of resistance among Native Americans. Apply theory to evaluate cultural, historical, and socio-political issues pertaining to Native Americans in general as well as within specific regions and tribes. Course Content Outline I. Introduction to Native American Studies, concepts, and policies - what is Ethnic Studies/Native American Studies? a. Academic discipline and methodologies b. Terms: Indian, Native American, First People, Indigenous c. Hemispheric and North American regions d. Meaning of sovereignty and sovereign nations e. 1493 Doctrine of Discovery f. Settler colonialism g. Indigenous Political Structures: Iroquois Confederacy h. Indian Removal, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, and Johnson v. McIntosh II. California Indian homeland a. Tribal nations and language b. California homeland, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), and foodways c. Enslavement of California's Indian by Spanish missions d. Gold, greed and genocide: Institutionalized violence e. Broken Treaties, Land Rights and Resistance to Colonialism f. AB 275 g. Truth and Healing Council III. Mis/representations: Identity and stereotypes a. Native ancestry and federally recognized tribes b. Treaty Rights and Violations c. Institutions of Missions and Rancherias & Institutionalized Violence d. Indian Citizenship and Conflict between tribes and State IV. International Indigenous movements a. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People b. Economic and Foreign Policy Impacting Indigenous Groups c. 1994 to today, Zapatistas d. Indigenous Migrants: Mexico, Zapotec, and Mayan V. Boarding schools and resisting assimilation a. Intergenerational trauma b. "Civilization" Policies: Kill the Indian Save the Man c. Removal and Reservation Policies d. Boarding School Policies e. 1924 Native American Citizenship VI. Termination and Relocation Policies a. Termination of 1953 - 69 b. Sterilization Policies 1920 - 1970s VII. Urban Indians and American Indian Movement (AIM) a. Development of Urban Centers/Hubs b. Jobs, housing, and schooling c. American Indian movement: Take over of Alcatraz d. Trail of broken treaties to Washington DC e. Women's Rights & Indian Child Welfare Policies VIII. Surviving and thriving a. Decolonization movements b. Native Seeds and food protection movements c. Tending the wild and decolonize diet d. Sustainable agriculture: Sacred corn e. Self-determination, educational policies, and native scholars f. End of Columbus Day: Indigenous Peoples Day g. Two Spirit Community IX. Sacred Sites & Protecting Sacred Sites a. Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Policies b. Indigenous remains at higher education institutions c. Protection of sacred sites movements d. Mount Shasta and Bay Area Shell mound X. Environment and contamination a. Traditional ecological knowledge b. Native Environmental Movements c. Water Rights, fish kill, whaling rights d. Deforestation and Climate Change e. No DAPL: Standing Rock Resistance movement and art XI. Indigenous waterways and Indigenous Hawaii movements a. Waterways b. Foodway movement c. Mauna Kea XII. Economic development and governance a. Native American Political Development b. Gaming Policies in the United States:1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act c. Leadership: Inter and Intra Group Conflicts XIII. Native American popular culture and artistic expressions a. Dance Movements, Powwows, and Big Times b. Native American music, rock and hip hop c. Spoken word and poetry d. Visual Arts and cinema e. Modern Indigenous political art movement Course Objectives Course Objectives 1. Identify Native American historical and political developments. 2. Evaluate and apply Native American multicultural/traditional perspectives to socio-geopolitical issues today. 3. Identify the current multidisciplinary approaches in American Indian Studies methods and theories. 4. Describe and explain of the basic concepts of Native American historical and political developments and social structures. 5. Explain the importance of evidence in historical and contemporary social science research in Native American Studies. 6. Analyze institutions and policies that have shaped the social and political status of Native Americans. 7. Describe the Native American Studies perspective on aspects of social life such as socialization, institutions, and social change or social movements. 8. Critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced and enacted by Native Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, tribal as, for example, settler colonialism, land and environmental policies. 9. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American tribal communities to build a just and equitable society. 10. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American tribal communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived-experiences and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation. Methods of Evaluation Classroom Discussions Essay Examinations Objective Examinations Problem Solving Examinations Projects Reading Assignments 1. Students are assigned a chapter from Lobot and Talbot's Native American Voice, A Reader which addresses the intersection of aspects of the Native American experience with other important identity dynamics (ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, etc.). Students fill out a structured reading guide to promote and assess understanding of key topics prior. Students then take a reading comprehension quiz. After the quiz students engage in a discussion to analyze and address the relevance of the chapter. 2. Students read a chapter of Lobot and Talbot's Native American Voice, A Reader which presents a critical view on the ways that the Indian Child Welfare Act affects Native American families. Students also read an article which presents non-Native perspectives on the Indian Child Welfare Act. Students then engage in an in-class discussion about both articles which focuses on understanding, examining and evaluating the main points of both articles. Students are then asked to write a critical analysis and assessment of the logic, evidence and modes of argumentation used in each piece. 3. Students are given assigned reading of a poem or story from Deborah Miranda's Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir. Students engage in an in-class discussion to identify the important themes addressed in the piece and assess the relevance of those themes. Students are then asked to write a critical review essay which compares the specifically assigned reading to other Native and non-Native literature. Students are also asked to write about and explain in short class presentations how the piece pertains to themes, issues and perspectives within local and regional Native American communities and tribes. Writing, Problem Solving or Performance 1. Students may be assigned group assignments which require students to elucidate fundamental principles of ethnic studies/diversity education/cultural competency and apply them to the analysis of a specific Native American culture. 2. Students may be required to complete critical thinking and writing assignments which require students to explain and apply ideas and approaches from the course material, or to analyze and evaluate specific cases of existing programs intended to benefit a particular indigenous community. Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.) Students may be required to complete research papers, service learning projects, academic posters or multi-media presentations that will include original in-depth research into particular issues affecting a specific Native American tribe or comparing particular aspects of two or more Native American cultures. Students may also be required to attend an in person or virtual cultural event (Powwow, Big Time, Acorn/Pine Nut Festival) where they witness and learn about protocols and etiquette of particular tribes and report back to the Professor as a presentation and/or reflection paper. Methods of Instruction Lecture/Discussion Distance Learning Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.