Most students have little real knowledge of 20th century Indians 
beyond stereotypes and media "sound-bites." This course attempts 
to remove the banality and falsity of idealized Indians ("White 
Man's Indians") presenting instead the strength and diversity of 
contemporary Native America.

1: "After the wars were over." Introduction and brief review of 
the removals and reservations.
2: "Re-invention and identity." Allotment and blood quantum: 
Senator Dawes and the Dawes Act. John Collier, and The 
Indian "New Deal." The challenge of self-government. 
Decertification and assimilation policies. 
3: "The end of Kalijah, Drugstore and the White Man's Indian." 
Grassroots and the American Indian Movement (AIM); Alcatraz to 
Wounded Knee. Warrior, Means Banks, and other activists. Beyond 
AIM. Beer and the Rez - Pine Ridge 1999. Leonard Peltier.
4: Indian Education and Medicine. The status of Native American 
health - traditional and contemporary healing. Mental health and 
alcohol. Navaho.
5: "Inventing Realities." Spirituality and religion. Hopi. The 
survival of ritual. White "Shamans." Religious freedom and 
sacred places. Archaeology and the Indian - NAGPRA. The Ghost 
Dance; Native American CHurch; the Sun Dance. Handsome Lake and 
the Seneca. 
6: Arts in Native America - from Tonto to Tallchief. The Pow-Wow 
Culture. Contemporary dance and music. Painting and sculpture; 
reinventing Custer and Crazy Horse - Memorial and Mountains. 
Contemporary literature, poetry, and music of Native America.
7. Ecology and the Indian. The environmental movements co-op of 
the Indian. Buffalo problem in Yellowstone National Park. Water 
and the Indian - Nevada. Treaty Fish and the Pacific Salmon 
problem.
8. Indians and the end of the 20th Century. State Tribes vs. 
Federal Tribes. American Indians and the future. Running a 
modern tribe. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). The end of 
Indian "nations"?

Most students have little real knowledge of 20th century Indians 
beyond stereotypes and media "sound-bites." This course attempts 
to remove the banality and falsity of idealized Indians ("White 
Man's Indians") presenting instead the strength and diversity of 
contemporary Native America.

1. Introduction and review of military and judicial defeats of
the U.S. tribes -- Southeast tribes; the Iroquois; the Plains
and West. 
2. Removal and Reservations. Challenge of self
government. Decertification and assimilation policies -
allotment and blood quantum. The Lumbees of North
Carolina. 
3. Grassroots and the American Indian Movement.
4. Alcatraz to Wounded Knee. 
5. Indian Education and Medicine. Status of Native American 
health -- traditional and contemporary healing; herbs and 
pharmaceuticals; mental health. 
6. Spirituality and Religion. Hopi. Survival of
ritual. White "Shamans." Religious freedom and sacred
places. 
7. Archaeology and the Indian -- NAGPRA. 
8. Arts in Native America. 
a) The Pow-Wow Culture. Contemporary
dance and music - reinventing the flute and drum.
b) Ceramics, baskets and textiles. Painting and sculpture.
c) Contemporary literature and poetry. 
d) Toli. 
9. Traditional Environmental Knowledge - T.E.K. Ecology and the
Indian. The environmental movement co-op of the Indian.
"New Age." 
10. Indians and the End of the 20th Century. The Choctaws-
poverty to "Las Vegas." 
11. Latin America - the Indian's "South Africa." Peasant 
revolts, genocide and the conscience of America. 
12. Beyond 2000 -- American Indians and the Future. The end of 
Indian "Nations?"

-	To examine and understand the effects of historical 
events on Native Americans today
-	To examine and understand issues related to the 
representation of Native American peoples, including imposed 
stereotypes as well as self-representation and reclamation of 
identities
-	To explore how Native American political and social 
action has improved the rights and lives of Native Americans
-	To engage with contemporary issues facing and 
involving Native American and First Nations populations in 
North America

1.	Race, ethnicity, stereotypes, and prejudice
2.	European contact and settler colonialism
3.	Indigenous History of North America: wars, removals, 
and genocides 
4.	Sovereignty and treaty-making
5.	The reservation system and life on reservations 
6.	Residential schools and Native American education
7.	Native American activism and self-governance 
8.	NAGPRA and the cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples 
9.	Belief, spirituality, and religion
10.	Gender and sexuality in Native American lifeways
11.	Contemporary Native American health: Mental health, 
AIDS, diabetes, alcohol
12.	Representation and popular culture
13.	Contemporary Native American arts and music – media, 
hip hop
14.	Contemporary political issues: #noDAPL, fracking, oil, 
and the environment
15.	Contemporary political issues: Border walls, truth and 
reconciliation, moving forward