Native Americans in the 21st Century 4219-SH0013
This course provides a broad introduction to Native American peoples and issues in North America. In the United States, there are 575 federally recognised American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) tribes and villages located across 37 states. Reflecting significant geographic, linguistic and cultural diversity, the American Indian and Alaska Native population was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau at between 4.3 million (AIAN alone) and 7.1 million (AIAN alone or in combination with another race) as of July 2020.
Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course examines a range of contemporary and historical issues affecting Native American communities. Topics include cultural representation and the controversies surrounding the use of Native imagery and identities in sports, popular culture, and video games. The course also explores environmental issues, focusing on the relationships between Indigenous nations, lands, and natural resources.
Particular attention is given to Indigenous political institutions, including tribal sovereignty, as well as the relationship between Native nations and the U.S. government. The course further examines Native American political participation in the U.S. Congress. The course pays attention economic issues, including the development of the gambling industry.
Throughout the course, students engage with the scholarship of prominent Native American scholars, including Vine Deloria, James Anaya, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, and Duane Champagne.
The course is framed within the broader context of Indigenous rights as articulated by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). It also examines contemporary European perspectives and debates concerning indigeneity.
Course coordinators
Type of course
Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE
Upon completing this course a student:
- has am advanced knowledge of social phenomena related to Native Americans.
- Recognizes broad processes in social, political, cultural perspectives
- Conceptualizes complex processes in the United States of America.
- Uses scientific terminology in the study of Native Americans.
SKILLS
Upon completing this course a student:
- is able to critically use theories and concepts concerning Native Americans.
-is able to independently attain knowledge, develop critical thinking, reading and writing skills.
- formulates critical arguments on topics related to Native Americans.
SOCIAL COMPETENCES
Upon completing this course a student:
- is open to new phenomena and new ideas in contemporary societies.
- appreciates the roles of Native Americans in today’s world.
- completes and improves his or her knowledge of the United States of America.
Assessment criteria
Student assessment is based on:
Class Participation: (10%)
Annotated bibliography: 500 word (20%)
Term Essay: 1 000 words (30%)
Final Essay: 1 000 words (40%)
Grading:
5: 100-88
4: 87-73
3: 72-57
2: 56-0
Bibliography
Anaya, J. 1996. Indigenous Peoples in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Anaya, J. 2012. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, on the situation of indigenous peoples in the United States of America. Addendum 1. The situation of indigenous peoples in the United States of America. 30 August. Ginebra. A/HRC/21/47/Add.1. Human Rights Council, United Nations. www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session21/A-HRC-21-47-Add1_en.pdf
Biolsi, T. 2004. A companion to the anthropology of American Indians. Blackwell: Malden MA.
Bradford, W. (2005). Beyond Reparations: an American Indian Theory of Justice. Ohio State Law Journal, 66(1), 1-104.
Champagne, D. (2008). From first nations to self-government-A political legacy of indigenous nations in the United States. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(12), 1672-1693. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764208318925
Champagne, D. Social Order and Political Change: Constitutional Governments Among the Cherokee, the Choctaw, the Chickasaw and the Creek, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992.
Deloria, Vine. Custer Died for Your Sins : an Indian Manifesto. Norman :University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.
Deloria, V. and Clifford M. Lytle. The Nations Within: The Past and Future of American Indian Sovereignty. New York: Pantheon, 1984.
Dunbar‐Ortiz, R. 2014. An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, Beacon Press, Boston, MA, 2014.
Fleras, A. and Elliott, J. L. (1992). The ‘Nations Within’. Aboriginal-State Relations in Canada,
the Unites States, and New Zealand. Oxford University Press, Canadá.
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). (2022). The Indigenous World 2022. Copenhagen: IWGIA.
Ivision, D; Patton, P. and Sanders, W. (eds.). (2000). Political Theory and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kymlicka, W. (1995). Multicultural Citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nagel, J. (1995). American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Politics and the Resurgence of Identity, American Sociological Review, 60(6), pp. 947-965.
Peltier, L. (2000). Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance. St. Martin's Griffin.
Smith, S. (2008). Hemp for Sovereignty: Scale, Territory and the Struggle for Native American sovereignty. Space and Polity, 12 (2), 231-249.
Tauli Corpuz, Victoria. 2017. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples on her mission to the United States of America. A/HRC/36/46/Add.1,
Human Rights Council. United Nations.
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G17/236/36/PDF/G1723636.pdf?OpenElement