ANTH 256

Native Americans, Past and Present

The subject is the indigenous peoples living in North America, from the Rio Grande to the Inuit ("Eskimo") communities bordering the Arctic Ocean. The essential questions around which this course are organized are these:

  1. When and from where did the Native Americans come?

  2. What were tribal groups like before the contact with Europeans began, and how different were they from region to region?

  3. What was the nature of the "encounter," with all its trauma and drama, when native societies came into contact with colonists from (mainly) Europe?

  4. What are Native Americans like today? (and here the story is quite surprising)

  5. What are the principal current conflicts in which Indians are now involved?

  6. What lies ahead for Native Americans in the next century? Oblivion or strength?

We will find that Native Americans teach us much about (1) the many different ways humans can organize their cultural lives, (2) their histories and the epic collision they endured with invading peoples, (3) the strong resurgence of political assertiveness and quite astonishing gains achieved in recent years, and (4) the future prospects of this continent's indigenous peoples and their cultural ways.