Catalog Description

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)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: 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.
  • CSLO #2: Apply theory to evaluate cultural, historical, and socio-political issues pertaining to Native Americans in general as well as within specific regions and tribes.

Effective Term

Fall 2023

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

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.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Ethnic Studies
    • AA/AS - Multicultural Studies
    • AA/AS - Social Sciences
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - D3 Ethnic Studies
    • CSUGE - F Ethnic Studies
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 4C Ethnic Studies
      • IGETC - 7 Ethnic Studies

    Articulation Information

      Methods of Evaluation

      • Classroom Discussions
        • Example: Classroom discussions should be frequently used in order to not only assess students’ comprehension of the course materials, but also to identify student interests, connect those interests with course materials and further motivate student learning. Again, all of the objectives could be assessed in this way. One important example would be for students to read an article or a book chapter about tribal sovereignty and then to come to class to discuss what sovereignty means from their own perspective, why it matters and how it might be accomplished or bolstered (Objectives 1, 3 and 4). Discussions and in-class debates such as these will be evaluated using a debate/discussion rubric which requires accurately addressing information and/or ideas from the reading as well as using the information and/or ideas as evidence and/or logic in the development of a thoughtful and reasonably compelling argument.
      • Essay Examinations
        • Example: Students may be assessed using essay examinations which address comprehension, critical examination or application of course materials. Essay examinations may be used to assess any of the course student learning objectives. For example, an essay might ask students to recount the issues pertaining to Native Americans in general and how they are pertinent in our local tribal nations and communities (Objective 1 and 8). Another example might require students to use course materials to evaluate the way the Indian Child Welfare Act affects Native American families in general or in a specific region or community (Objective 6). Such essays will be evaluated using a rubric which addresses accuracy of information, inclusion of course approaches and concepts, as well as fundamental aspects of college-level essay writing.
      • Objective Examinations
        • Example: Objective examinations can be used to measure the comprehension of course material and assigned readings. For example, reading quizzes may be issued where students demonstrate their comprehension of an article about the differences between Native American lives and cultures in urban and reservation contexts (Objective 7) or to identify notable Native American authors and artists and recognize their work (Objectives 3 and 9). These objective examinations will be evaluated based on how well responses demonstrate an accurate comprehension of course materials. Example-​How does Author Deborah Miranda (Bad Indians) weave in tribal history with poetry and other forms of creative writing and is this impactful to learn about her tribe/tribal culture?
      • Problem Solving Examinations
        • Example: Problem solving examinations can also be used in order to get students to consider the ideas and information from the course in more practical and relevant situations. For example, after learning about the issues pertaining to local Native American tribes and communities (Objective 10), students can be asked a series of questions about which kinds of policies, programs and organizations might be most relevant. These types of assessments will be evaluated using a rubric which addresses principles of well-developed arguments as well as the inclusion of evidence and ideas from the course materials.
      • Projects
        • Example: Projects are an ideal way to encourage students to synthesize and apply ideas, information and approaches from the course. Student projects can pertain to every objective above. Examples may be students who identify, represent, analyze and evaluate a series of Native American environmental issues within a particular area or region (Objective 2). Other projects may involve students observing and/or volunteering with local Native American activists to identify, analyze and evaluate best practices for cultural revitalization programs (Objective 9). Student projects will be evaluated using a rubric which requires gathering data/evidence from beyond the course curriculum, using approaches and concepts from the course to examine and evaluate the outside data/evidence, and basic academic conventions in the thoughtful development of the student's own perspective/argument.

      Repeatable

      No

      Methods of Instruction

      • Lecture/Discussion
      • Distance Learning

      Lecture:

      1. Introductory lecture in which the professor outlines in words and visual aids the origins, parameters, main ideas, and interdisciplinary nature of Native American Studies programs and scholarship. The lecture is then followed by a student quick write about a specific prompt requesting students to recall specific ideas/information and/or express perspectives and formulate arguments pertaining to Course Objective
      3. With the professor's guidance, the class examines a brief article or watches a short journalistic video which addresses a contemporary issue pertaining to Native American culture, religion, art or economics. The professor then provides a brief review of course concepts and examples which might pertain to the situation addressed in the article or video. The class then discusses the issue while being encouraged by the professor to link statements to course concepts and materials. Students might then be assigned a critical thinking essay in relation to one of the key issues addressed in the discussion.

      Distance Learning

      1. The professor posts and assigns a particular article for the class to download and read. In this instance, the article might pertain to Objective 7 and address the fundamental similarities and differences in the needs of urban and reservation Native Americans. The students are provided a list of critical thinking questions prior to reading the article and are then asked to respond to the questions on the online discussion boards. When the class convenes onsite the professor provides a brief lecture with the intent to clarify important issues and convey additional contextual information. The students are encouraged to ask questions and formulate arguments drawing on course materials. The professor may assign a critical thinking essay pertinent to the article, critical thinking questions, lecture and discussion topics to be completed at the end of the class session or to be submitted at the next class session.
      2. To address Course Objective 8, in a hybrid class, the professor plans a trip to the Maidu Museum and Historic Site or another local gallery or museum hosting an exhibition pertaining to Native American arts. ​In an online course, instructor shows a video and/or virtual tour of the Maidu Museum and Historic Site or another local gallery or museum hosting an exhibition pertaining to Native American arts. Students are asked to identify a compelling piece of contemporary and ideally local Native American art, to record the biographical information from the display and any additional information available from the museum. Students are then asked to further research the artist they selected online, to post information and images to the canvas site and engage in discussions about the art they find with peers and professor. Students may then either write a letter of appreciation to the artist which draws upon ideas and information from the course or the student may create a poster board with images and information to share with the class during an onsite session.
      3. The professor records an audio/visual lecture and makes it available to stream or download for the students. This particular lecture might address how the Indian Child Welfare Act affects Native American families. Students are then asked to read two assigned articles providing contrasting perspectives. Students are then asked to use ideas and information from other course materials to evaluate each article and formulate an argument in favor and/or against one or the other.

      Typical Out of Class Assignments

      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.

      Required Materials

      • Native American Voice, A Reader
        • Author: Sandra Lobot and Steve Talbot
        • Publisher: Prentice Hall
        • Publication Date: 2016
        • Text Edition: 3rd
        • Classic Textbook?:
        • OER Link:
        • OER:
      • California through Native Eyes: Reclaiming History
        • Author: William Bauer, Jr.
        • Publisher: University of Washington Press
        • Publication Date: 2016
        • Text Edition: 1st
        • Classic Textbook?:
        • OER Link:
        • OER:
      • First Americans: A History of Native Peoples
        • Author: Kenneth Townsend
        • Publisher: Routledge
        • Publication Date: 2019
        • Text Edition: 13th
        • Classic Textbook?:
        • OER Link:
        • OER:
      • Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir
        • Author: Deborah Miranda
        • Publisher: Heyday Press
        • Publication Date: 2013
        • Text Edition: 1st
        • Classic Textbook?:
        • OER Link:
        • OER:
      • An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States: Revisioning American History
        • Author: Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
        • Publisher: Bacon Press
        • Publication Date: 2015
        • Text Edition: 1st
        • Classic Textbook?:
        • OER Link:
        • OER:

      Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.