Syllabus
Anthropology 314: Indians of North America
Fall Semester 2000, University of Wisconsin-Washington County
Class Room: 274
Class Time: 2:25-3:40 PM
Instructor: Chris Hays Office Hours: 11am to 12:30 pm, TR, or by appointment
Office: 205; office phone number: 335-5225
Email: chays@uwc.edu
Course Description
This course uses an anthropological
perspective to survey the Native American peoples north of Mexico, ranging from
prehistory to the present.
The first part of the course will cover the prehistoric and historic context of
Native North American peoples, with a particular emphasis on historic Native
American and Euro-American contact and interaction. Then, following the
structure of the textbook, we will examine the culture and history of 11 tribes
that are generally representative of their region of North America.
Throughout the course I will be stressing three major themes: 1) history and
culture
contact, 2) politics and economy, and 3) religion and art. These themes
will be explored in seminars that will allow the opportunity for in-depth
discussions and debate. There will also be occasional guest lectures and
films.
Goals
The principal goal of the course is
to provide you with a general overview of the rich and varied cultures of the
Indian people of North America and
along the way to dispel many of the stereotypes and unfounded myths about
Indians, which are common in the media and popular culture. I hope that
you
will also be encouraged to learn more about Indians through study in other
courses (e.g., in history or literature) and to perhaps even consider a Indian
Studies Program major. Finally, I hope that you will also be encouraged to
meet and visit with Native Americans. I will provide information on Native
American seasonal events, particularly Pow-Wows, which occur relatively
frequently through out Wisconsin.
Requirements
You will be expected to attend all
classes and to participate actively in the seminar discussions (this is 10% of
your grade). You can expect a total
(the combination of the two textbooks and reserve readings) average of about
60-70 pages of reading per week.
There will be two
non-cumulative tests and a final exam for this course. Tests and the exam
will consist of short answer and essay questions.
Students will be responsible for material in the readings and for material
covered in class, most of which will not be found in the readings.
There will also be an 8-10
page research paper due at the end of the semester. The topics can be
selected from a list to be distributed later or you
can choose your own topic, provided it has the instructor's approval. Feel
free to ask for help during the process of researching, outlining & writing
your
term paper. You must have an approved topic for your term paper by Oct 5.
An outline is due October 24. The completed paper is due Dec 7.
Together, the paper and outline are worth 20% of your grade.
Grading
First
Test
20%
Second
Test
20%
Final
Exam
30%
Research
Paper
15%
Paper
Outline
5%
Discussion and
Attendance
10%
Assigned Readings
Textbooks
Oswalt,
Wendell and Sharlotte Neely
1999 This Land Was Theirs. (Sixth edition) Mayfield Publishing Company,
Mountain View, California.
Nichols, Roger
1999 The American Indian: Past and Present (Fifth edition) McGraw
Hill College, New York.
Reserved Readings: These are generally short articles (3-7 pages) that will be placed on reserve at the library.
Class Schedule (subject to revision)
Chapter Readings in Oswalt
and Neely (O&W); Nichols
(N); R-on reserve
Week of Sept 6-8: Introduction to course, anthropology,
and
North
O&W: 1; N: 1
American Indian culture area concept; languages: Indian identity
Week of Sept 11-15: prehistory; culture contact; seminar
discussion on O&W: 2;
N: 5, 6, 7, 17
Friday-History and culture contact
Week of Sept 18-22: People of the Subarctic; begin People
of
O&W: 3; R-Subarctic
Arctic
culture area, fur trade
Week of Sept 25-29: People of the Arctic; First Test
on Sept 28
O&W: 4; N: 11; R-Eskimo
Science, Nuinavuit
Week of Oct 2-6: People of the Northwest and California
Coasts; Paper O&W: 8, 7; N:
20
Topic due on Oct 5
Week of Oct 9-13: People of the Western Deserts O&W: 5; N: 12,18
Week of Oct 16-20: People of the
Southwest
O&W: 10, 9; N: 13; R-Hopi
Clowns, Big Mountain
Week of Oct 23-27, tentative schedule: People of the
Southwest-
to be announced
Guest Lecturer on Monday; Seminar discussion-Politics and Economy on
Wednesday and Paper Outline Due; Second Test on Friday
Week of Oct 30-Nov 3: People of the
Plains
O&W: 6; N: 10, 15; R-The
Sacred Black Hills
Week of Nov 6-10: People of the Midwest and Great
Lakes
O&W: 11; R-Articles on
Religious Ceremonies
Week of Nov 13-17: People of the
Northeast
O&W: 12; R-Native
Democracies, others
Week of Nov 20-22: People of the Southeast O&W: 13; N: 9, 23
Week of Nov 27-Dec 1: People of the Southeast; Seminar:
Religion
O&W: 14
& Arts on Nov 28; Begin People of the Lower Mississippi Valley
Week of Dec 4-Dec 8: People of the Lower Mississippi
Valley; Paper R-On the
Tunica Trail
Due on Dec 7
Week of Dec:11-15: Some Contemporary Issues and Summary O&W: 15; N: 22, 25, 19
Dec 20: Final Exam