What makes a person “native” to “America?” Is being Native American decided by race, kinship, citizenship, or place of origin? Why is there an entire field devoted to this group of people? Why do they keep showing up in Westerns and as sports mascots? Why do they care about pipelines and the Department of the Interior? This course provides a broad overview of the people, the questions, the issues, the history, and the current conversations that comprise Native American (and Indigenous) Studies. In it, we will explore the presence, persistence, complexity, and vitality of Native Americas. This course connects our location (Michigan) to our past (history of the University of Michigan) to our present (21st-century interactions with Native people and Native Studies on campus). It asks what it means to live within the context of the United States as indigenous communities with unique identities and inherent sovereignty. We will trace developments within Native American and Indigenous Studies to situate our own curiosity within the broader, global field to better understand the shape of scholarly inquiry in an Ethnic Studies paradigm. This course is suitable for those interested in a Native American Studies minor, an Ethnic Studies sub plan, or those who are curious about the relationship between Native Americans and their own lived experience. This course utilizes GradeCraft.