Cultural World Views of Indigenous America

Ethnic Studies 110                                                                                       Ross Frank

Winter 2014                                                                                                 Office: SSB 227

TU, TH  9:30-10:50                                                                                      Office Hours:

Sols 111                                                                                                        Wed. 1:00-3:00,

                                                                                                                             Thu. noon-2:00

E-mail: rfrank@ucsd.edu                                                               Phone:  534-6646

 


COURSE ORGANIZATION

Course evaluation will be based on blog entries on course topics, an in-class midterm presentation, a final exam project, and in-class discussions throughout the quarter.  Assignment grades will be distributed:  attendance and participation during in-class activities 20%;  blog entries 25%,  midterm 25%;  and final 30%.


COURSE OBLIGATIONS

All students must attend all lectures and read the assigned materials in order to complete this course.  There will be frequent discussions in class and with guest presenters during which you are encouraged to participate.  We will also relate current American Indian/Indigenous news items and events to the past.  You have a responsibility to create an environment conducive to learning during lectures and discussion, and to abide by the UCSD Principles of Community.  Attendance, participation in discussions held throughout the quarter, and blog entries will count for a major portion of your class grade.  The assignments tied to the dynamic progression of the course cannot be made up.


REQUIRED ESSAYS

A short essay will be due on Tuesday, January 21.  Details will be provided in class.

For the assignment relating to the midterm and final, you will have a choice of reading:

The Death of Bernadette Left Hand by Ron Querry

Power by Linda Hogan,

Watermelon Nights, by Greg Sarris 

Garden in the Dunes, by Leslie Marmon Silko

Drowning in Fire, by Craig S. Womack

Erased Faces, by Graciela Limn

A description of the books will be given in class to help you decide.

Please feel free to consult with me as you make your book choice.

Note:  In fairness to the other students in the class, I generally do not accept late assignments except in extreme and properly documented circumstances.  I am, however, willing to help to resolve difficulties that you might have with the essay or the deadline as long as you speak to me about the matter before the assignment due date.

 

Weekly Assignments

Each student is responsible for two postings on a class-wide blog each week: http://ethn110blog.wordpress.com. Each posting will be related to a class session. Posts are 200-300 words in length.   In addition, participation credit will be given to those who respond to other classmates blog posts.

 

A short essay related to the content of Week 2 will be due in class at the beginning of Week 3.  Instructions provided in class.

 

Midterm Assignment:

You will have group assignments pertaining to your book of choice for both the midterm and the final.  You will also write an individual second essay on your book of choice.  

 

For the midterm, you will be responsible for reading one-third/one-half of the book. With the members of your group, you will create a Prezi that provides 1) a short summary of the storyline that you have read so far, including the relationships of the characters to each other and 2) possible ways of understanding connections between the book and the course content.

 

All groups will post their Prezi to the class blog and respond to a different groups presentation.  All groups will comment on which themes and connections are similar and different to their Prezi and will pose questions and offer critical and constructive suggestions to the Prezi authors.

 

Final Assignment:

For the final, you will be responsible for completing the entire book and:

 

A) An individual essay assignment that critically evaluates at least two readings and one media assignment.  The essay will explain how the theory, methodology, and content of these course materials can be used to make connections to the book you are reading for the final group project.  

 

B) With your assigned group you will add to your Midterm Prezi by: 1) providing a short summary of the entire storyline and character relationships to each other; 2) add and revise connections between the book and the content of the entire course. You will post the group Prezi on the class-wide blog and the group will present it during regularly scheduled final exam time.

 


ASSIGNED READING

The following required materials have been ordered for the course and are available at the UCSD Bookstore.  They have also been placed on reserve in Geisel Library:

 

James Wilson.   The Earth Shall Weep : A History of Native America.  New York: GrovePress, 1999.

Delfina Cuero, and Florence Connolly Shipek.  Delfina Cuero : Her Autobiography, an Account of Her Last Years, and Her Ethnobotanic Contributions. CA: Ballena Press, 1991.

Gilbert L. Wilson.  Buffalo Bird Womans Garden.  St. Paul:  Minnesota Historical Society;  1987.

Wait for instructions in class before purchasing one of the following:

  Ron Querry.  The Death of Bernadette Left Hand. New York: Bantam; 1995.

 Graciela Limn. Erased Faces. Houston: Arte Publico Press; 2001.

  Leslie Marmon Silko. Garden in the Dunes.  New York: Simon & Schuster; 1999.

  Linda Hogan. Power. New York: Norton; 1998.

  Greg Sarris.  Watermelon Nights. New York: Penguin; 1998.

 Craig S. Womack. Drowning in Fire. Tucson: U. Arizona Press; 2001

Other Ethnic Studies 110 readings – articles, documents, maps, video and other media, and relevant web sites – are available from the course website at TED/WebCT.


SYLLABUS

PART I          INTRODUCTION & CONCEPTS

WEEK 1         JANUARY 7        Introduction to Cultural World Views of Native Americans

Wilson, Angela Cavender. American Indian History or Non-Indian Perceptions of American Indian History?, in AIQ.  

 

JANUARY 9        Building a Framework for Learning

Wilson, Angela Cavender. Grandmother to Granddaughter: Generations of Oral History in a Dakota Family, Native and Academics: Researching and Writing about American Indians.

Wilson, James.   The Earth Shall Weep.  xv-xxix.

LaDuke, Winona. What is Sacred?, in Recovering the  Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming.

Coulthard, Glen. Place against Empire: Understanding Indigenous Anti-Colonialism, in Affinities.

Multimedia: Tuhiwai Smith, Linda  and Eve Tuck - Decolonizing Methodologies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIZXQC27tvg

 


PART II         SOUTHWEST:  Ro Grande Valley Pueblos, Hopi and Navajo

WEEK 2         JANUARY 14     

Wilson, James.   The Earth Shall Weep, 3-40.

Stirling, Matthew W.  Excerpt from Origin Myth of Acoma and Other Records.

Wolfe, Patrick. Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native, in JGR.

Multimedia: Chevez, Leonel Antonio- Maya Lenca Storytelling: Into the Next Millennium (Creation Story) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCQHUrhyzvc

 

JANUARY 16   The Mythic Pueblo Center

 

BEGIN READING YOUR BOOK CHOICE FOR GROUP PREZI MIDTERM EXAM AND SECOND ESSAY FINAL EXAM

 

Wilson, James.   The Earth Shall Weep.  171-213.

Cushing, Frank Hamilton.  Selections:  Zui Folk Tales.

Multimedia:  Itam Hakim Hopiit, by Victor Masayesva (Hopi)

 


WEEK 3         JANUARY 21            Navajo Creation and World View

 

SHORT ESSAY DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS

 

Goeman, Mishuana.  (Re)Mapping Indigenous Presence on the Land in Native

Womens Literature, in AQ.

Zolbrod, Paul G. Excerpt from Din bahan:  The Navajo Creation Story.

Deloria, Vine, Jr. Low Bridge, Everybody Cross. Red Earth, White Lies.

 

JANUARY 23   Indigenous Cultural Survival & Repatriation

Hopi Sale Files

Ferguson, T. J., Roger Anyon, and Edmund J. Ladd. Repatriation at the Pueblo of Zuni: Diverse Solutions to Complex Problems in Mihesuah, Devon A. Repatriation reader: who owns American Indian remains.

Bodine, John. Taos Blue Lake Controversy. JES.

Multimedia: Broken Rainbow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5z8OgMfXXc

Multimedia: Star Wars translated into Navajo:

http://www.npr.org/2013/06/20/193496493/translated-into-navajo-star-wars-will-be

http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/07/03/188676416/Star-Wars-In-Navajo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BuULnMgRjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzWp81b3ENA

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/02/navajo-star-wars-casting-starts-tomorrow-149160

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/07/03/see-11-minutes-star-wars-dubbed-navajo-150279

 


WEEK 4         JANUARY 28     Survival and Change

Ortiz, Alfonso, Dynamics of Pueblo Cultural Survival, in DeMallie, Raymond J., and Alfonso Ortiz. North American Indian Anthropology

Bodine, John. The Taos Blue Lake Ceremony. AIQ.

 


PART III       GREAT LAKES:  Algonkian Peoples and Neighbors

JANUARY 30  French-Algonkian Contact, Algonkian Cultural Change
and World View 

Wilson, James.   The Earth Shall Weep.  43-71.

LaDuke, Winona.  White Earth: A Lifeway in the Forest, in All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life.

Multimedia: LaDuke, Winona - Restoring Indigenous Communities and the Ecological Balance:  

http://vimeo.com/66791941

 


WEEK 5         FEBRUARY 4      French-Algonkian Contact, Algonkian Cultural Change and World View

 

MIDTERM GROUP PREZI DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS

 

Wilson, James.   The Earth Shall Weep.  72-131.

Hickerson, Harold. The Feast of the Dead Among the Seventeenth Century Algonkians of the Upper Great Lakes.

Multimedia: LaDuke, Winona -- TEDxTC - Seeds of Our Ancestors, Seeds of Life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHNlel72eQc

 

FEBRUARY 6            The Midwiwin of the Ojibwa as an Adaptive System

 

RESPONSE TO GROUP PREZI DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS

 

Deloria, Vine. Thinking in Time and Space, in God is Red.

Hoffman, W. J. The Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibway.

Multimedia:  Independent Lens:  We Still Live Here - As Nutayunean

 

 


PART IV       GREAT PLAINS:  Plains Indian Cultures

WEEK 6         FEBRUARY 11    Forming a New Cultural Configuration - Lakota Myth and Meaning: Looking for the Lakota World View

Wilson, James.   The Earth Shall Weep.  247-285.

Jahner, Elaine A., Transitional Narratives and cultural continuity.

Walker, James R. Lakota Myth. 

DeMallie, Raymond J. These Have No Ears:  Narrative and the Ethnohistorical Method. 

Wilson, Waziyatawin Angela. Decolonizing the 1862 Death Marches.

Multimedia:  We Shall Remain: Episode 5 Wounded Knee

 

FEBRUARY 13   The Ghost Dance, Revivalism, and Cultural Change

Walker, James R. Lakota Belief and Ritual.

Wilson, Gilbert L., ed.  Buffalo Bird Womens Garden. (selection)

Peyer, Bernd C. The Singing Spirit:  Early Short Stories by NAI. 

Terrance, Laura L.  Resisting Colonial Education: Zitkala-Sa and Native Feminist Archival Refusal, in QSE

 


WEEK 7         FEBRUARY 18    Identity, Adaptation, and Survivance

Wilson, James.   The Earth Shall Weep.  289-329.

Cruz, Louis Esme et. al. Puowinuel Prayers: Readings from North Americas First Transtextual Script, in GLQ

Tallbear, Kimberly.  Genomic Articulations of Indigeneity, in SSS.

Lyons, Scott Richard. Identity Crisis, in X-Marks: Native Signatures of Assent

The Baby Veronica Case 

Multimedia: Black Indians:

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EhobHu_Xq0

 


PART V         CALIFORNIA and Beyond

            FEBRUARY 20   Religion in Native American California, the Mission Era,

Wilson, James.   The Earth Shall Weep.  214-246.

Haas, Lisbeth/Tac, Pablo.  Indian Life and Customs at Mission San Luis Rey.  

Cuero, Delfina and Florence Connolly Shipek.  Delfina Cuero : Her Autobiography.

Miranda, Deborah. Extermination of the Joyas:  Gendercide in Spanish California, in GLQ

Multimedia: SCIENCED! - Haavakam: The Importance of Shell in Gabrielino Tongva Culture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX3YiCeCewI

 


WEEK 8         FEBRUARY 25    Cultural Configuration of Native California

Bean, Lowell John.  Power and its Applications in Native California.  

Kroeber, Theodora.  The Inland Whale.  10-38, 153-167

Hinton, Leanne. Flutes of fire : essays on California Indian languages.  21-47, 61-93

 

FEBRUARY 27   Native Californian Destruction and Revival

UCSD Repatriation Case

Landau, Patricia M. & D. Gentry Steele. Why Anthropologist Study Human Remains, in AIQ.

Rockafellar, Nancy & Orin Starn. Ishis Brain,  in Current Anthropology.

Multimedia:  Ishi,  The Last Yahi

Multimedia:  Kennewick Man:   http://anth.alexanderstreet.com/view/1779491

           


WEEK 9         MARCH 4           Indigenous Pacific

Najita, Susan. "Introduction," in Decolonizing Cultures in the Pacific.

Hall, Lisa Kahaleole. "Strategies of Erasure: U.S. Colonialism and Native Hawaiian Feminism," in AQ.    

Kauanui, J. Kehaulani. "Racialized Beneficiaries", Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity

Teaiwa, Teresia. "Real Natives Dont French Kiss (When Theyre Making Love): Towards a Nuclear (and French Kissing) Free Pacific," in Dreadlocks

Multimedia: FILM RECOMMENDED BY MAILE

 


PART VI       REFLECTIONS: Bio-(neo)colonialism, Native thought, sovereignty, and settler colonialism

                        MARCH 6     World View and Survivance

Tsosie, Rebecca. "Indigenous Peoples and Epistemic Injustice: Science, Ethics, and Human Rights," in WLR

Reardon, Jenny and Kimberly TallBear.  " 'Your DNA is Our History': Genomics, Anthropology, and the Construction of Whiteness," in Current Anthropology.

Tallbear, Kim.  Native American DNA.  Chapter 1, "Racial Science, Blood, and DNA".

Gulliford, Andrew. Chapter 5 "Living Tribal Cultures", in Sacred objects and sacred places : preserving tribal traditions. 

Multimedia:  The Leech and the Earthworm

 


 


WEEK 10       MARCH 11   Indigeneity and the Academy

Cook-Lynn, Elizabeth. "Americas Oldest Racism."

Wilson, Angela Cavender.  "Reclaiming Our Humanity: Decolonization and the Recovery of Indigenous Knowledge," in Indigenizing the Academy.

Grande, Sandy. "Red Land, White Power and "American Indian Geographies of Identity and Power", in Red Pedagogy.

 

MARCH 13   Rethinking the Structure

Smith, Andrea. "American Studies without America: Native Feminisms and the Nation-state," in AQ.

Smith, Andrea. "Queer Theory and Native Studies: The Heteronormativity of Settler Colonialism," in GLQ.

Tuck, Eve and K. Wayne Yang. "Decolonization is not a Metaphor," in Education and Society.

Multimedia:  Harold of Orange

Multimedia:  Andrea Smith at Women's Worlds 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCZY78dbiD0

 


FINAL EXAM:   TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 8-11AM         IN CLASS PRESENTATIONS


© 2014, Ross Frank