This history course is a wide-ranging survey of Native North American encounters with European and American empires. It examines a variety of Native American responses to the challenges of conquest, dispossession, and colonialism over five centuries. In doing so, it examines such Native American initiatives as religious revitalization, tribal development, legal challenges, and movements for intertribal unity. It examines a range of imperial, federal, and state approaches to what we might call Indian policy. Representations of Native Americans constitute another dimension of the course, as do the questions of identity, cultural change, and transformation.
Course Requirements:
- Tuesday/Thursday Lectures with some discussion
- Midterm and Final Examination,
- Discussion leadership (assigned)
- 8 page paper
- Readings in scholarly articles and documents
Intended Audience:
This course is accessible to all undergraduate students at all levels, including both those majoring in the natural sciences as well as non-science majors.