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Native American History through Autobiography

Course Description

Native American history through self-reflective writings of Native Americans from the eighteenth century through the Red Power of the 1970s. Emphasis on Native American leaders and intellectuals provides a valuable critique of colonization, racialized social structures, Euro-American legal systems, environmental decline, religious freedom, and cultural appropriation.

Athena Title

Native American Autobiography

Pre or Corequisite

HIST 2111 or HIST 2111E or HIST 2111H or HIST 2112 or HIST 2112E or HIST 2112H or RELI(NAMS) 1100 or ENGL 2400 or SOCI(AFAM) 2820 or SOCI(AFAM) 2820H

Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

Student Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of this course, students will gain a deeper understanding of the roles Native Americans have played in shaping American culture over the past four centuries.
  • By the end of this course, students will learn to identify and dismantle Native stereotypes that are embedded in education and beliefs about America's indigenous peoples.
  • By the end of this course, students will gain access to indigenous knowledge systems that have shaped American ways of thinking and see how Native Americans have consistently played crucial roles in the creation of American culture.

Topical Outline

  • Weeks 1-2: Section one will look at letters, diaries, and assignments written by Native American students at Harvard Indian School, Roxbury, and Dartmouth in the seventeenth century. Native Students often wrote in Latin and Greek, as well as English. Their writing is obviously shaped by their English teachers, but subtle and direct statements still present Indigenous perspectives on colonization, education, and Christian thought.
  • Week 3: Section two will focus on documented early treaty negotiations in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas. The documents are largely authored by Europeans, but they also describe Native behavior and Native demands and negotiating tactics. The class will also analyze sections of treaties that were negotiated or shaped by Native American leaders. This is the only section that includes documents authored by non-Native people.
  • Week 4-5: Section three will look at the writings of Joseph Brant, a Mohawk who fought in the American Revolution, initially for the US and later for the British. Brant wrote letters to friends and allies in which he explains his motivations and his relationship to his tribal community and Euro-American colonists. We will also look at a few short excerpts from other Natives who participated in the American Revolution.
  • Weeks 6-7: Section four will focus on the writings of William Apess. He wrote hymns, sermons, and self-reflective essays that provide a rich Native perspective on Native life in early nineteenth-century New England.
  • Weeks 8-9: Section five will look at the autobiography of Black Hawk, a Sauk and Fox leader who fought a war against the U.S. under Jackson's administration in resistance to removal. Black Hawk provides an astute critique of American society, especially American views on land ownership and territorial expansion.
  • Week 10: A continuation of Section four, this unit will look at Native American writings during the era of Indian Removal, including newspaper articles, political manifestos, and written renderings of ancient oral traditions.
  • Weeks 11-12: Section five will focus on Charles Eastman's two autobiographies - Indian Boyhood (recounting his childhood in Lakota society) and From the Deep Woods to Civilization. Eastman presents both a Native perspective, and a pro-assimilation argument, demonstrating the changing worlds of Indigenous Americans during the nineteenth century and the ways that Native American societies fought to remain distinct as they incorporated new ideas, technologies, and beliefs into their cultures.
  • Weeks 13-14: Section six will look at Lakota leader Black Elk's autobiography, narrated to poet John Neihardt in the 1930s. Black Elk was a warrior, visionary leader, and a Catholic convert. His narrative was amended by Neihardt to present a romantic story of a supposedly vanishing culture. Numerous editions of this publication have pandered to American trends, reflecting anthropological and literary shifts, as well as the New Age movement. A recent edition, edited by Lakota scholar Philip Deloria, includes all the various introductions to those editions as well as the beautiful artwork depicting events in the narrative drawn by Black Elk's lifelong friend, Standing Bear. This section will initiate discussion of American insertions in Native writings and how Native American scholars today are reshaping our understanding of Native autobiographical writing.
  • The final weeks of the class will focus on 20th century Native History and the myriad writings of Native American activists, spiritual leaders, and common people that demand tribal self-determination, political sovereignty, and social equality.
  • Students will write a final essay about a Native Autobiographer of their choice.
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