Diversity of North American Indian cultures, their experiences of colonization and culture change, and their contributions to American and global cultures (Group IV-C).

This course examines traditional lifeways of American Indians in selected parts of North America, especially the Arctic/ Subarctic, Plains, Great Lakes, Southeast, and Southwest culture areas. Societies covered within these areas include hunter-gatherers, farmers, and fishermen; small-scale bands, larger tribes, and powerful chiefdoms; and woodland, desert, and tundra-based populations. Broad topics discussed for each area include ecological adaptation of local groups; their social, political, and economic organization; their religious belief systems; and the history of their interaction with Western civilization.

The primary emphasis is on traditional lifeways as they existed into late prehistoric and early historic times, before the onslaught of disruptive forces brought on by European invasion and colonization. The course draws upon three principal means of anthropological inquiry to learn about these lifeways:

!Archaeological reconstructions of remote periods provide a long-term perspective on American Indians.

!Ethnohistoric studies of written records dating to the early years of contact with Europeans furnish vivid, detailed accounts of how some groups lived.

!Ethnographic descriptions of American Indian societies were not undertaken by cultural anthropologists until long after the initial onslaught of European invasions. Even so, these accounts afford a greater appreciation of the persistence of some tribal groups despite overwhelming pressures to abandon their heritage.

Back to the Top

Our major objectives in this course should be to acquire at least a basic awareness and understanding of the following:

• The goals and methods of anthropology as a social science, and the differing contributions of its major branches
• The richness and diversity of native, distinctly non-European cultures of North America, and their modified but remarkable persistence into the present
• The basic processes of cultural adaptation and evolutionary change that have affected the development of native peoples in specific culture areas of North America
• The impact of racist attitudes on the history of Indian-white relations

Anthropology 320 is a University Program course (Group IV-C) because it provides students an excellent opportunity to broaden their cultural horizons and become aware of other systems of values, beliefs, traditions, and customs– some of which are very different from those prevalent in American society today.

Introductory courses in cultural anthropology or archaeology (e.g. ANT 170 or ANT 175) are helpful but not necessary for this course; there are no prerequisites.

ANT 320 is designed primarily as a lecture course but will also include a wide variety of visual aids such as Powerpoint presentations, videotapes, slides, and overhead transparencies. Within certain time limitations, questions and discussion in class are encouraged. Classes will generally run the full duration of scheduled sessions; students who must leave early are requested to notify the instructor ahead of time.

UGarbarino, Merwyn S., and Robert F. Sasso [REQUIRED]

1994 Native American Heritage. 3^rd Edition . Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.

UNichols, Roger L. [REQUIRED]

1999 The American Indian: Past and Present. 5^th Edition. NY: McGraw-Hill College.

UOswalt, Wendell H., and Sharlotte Neely [REQUIRED]

1999 This Land Was Theirs: A Study of North American Indians. 6^th Edition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.

Back to the Top

CMU provides individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in educational programs, activities, and services. Students with disabilities requiring accommodations to participate in class activities or meet course requirements should notify Student Disability Services in the Office of Student Life (Foust 251, phone 3018) and should also contact the instructor as soon as possible.

Students thinking about majoring or minoring in any branch of anthropology are strongly encouraged to do so as soon as possible. Inquiries may be directed to the instructor or to any member of the anthropology faculty (Department Office: AN144; phone 774-3160).

Students are assigned to read certain chapters carefully and to at least quickly skim over others. The latter need only be covered well enough to become generally aware of the contents, and how they might relate to material covered in class. Readings are assigned for each unit as a whole and may be done either before or after the relevant lecture(s), but before the exam. One strategy would be to at least glance far enough ahead in the texts to be somewhat familiar with the material before lecture.

There will not be enough time in class to discuss much of the assigned reading. Students are expected to learn this material on their own and become familiar with the basic subject matter and issues covered in required chapters. Avoid getting bogged down in detail; most of the important facts, figures, and dates needed for this course will be stressed in class. Generally speaking, test questions on the readings concern major points rather than specific details, except as emphasized in class.

Note: specific page assignments may be modified somewhat as the course progresses.

This web page has been developed specifically for ANT 320. It includes most of the information distributed in the syllabus and, of special value, a separate page containing links to other web pages relevant to the course. These links have been selected from what appear to be reputable sources. Many are websites that have been developed by a particular tribe or other Native American organization as a means of portraying their cultural heritage and ongoing concerns and activities to the general public. Though not required for ANT 320, these websites are potentially another valuable learning resource; take advantage of them!

The Internet is continually changing, so some of the listed websites may no longer exist. On the other hand, many excellent anthropological websites relevant to North American Indian Cultures have not yet listed for the course. In either case, students are requested to bring this information to the attention of the instructor.

The Museum of Cultural and Natural History is located in Rowe Hall in the northeast corner of campus, on Bellows near Mission. It is on the ground floor, in the north half of the building. Museum hours are normally 8-12 and 1-5, M-F. This is a valuable CMU resource, especially for ANT 320 students. Students should try to visit the Museum at least once early in the semester and wander through the exhibits to learn what is available and how it might relate to course material. Be sure to visit the Native American Gallery (Rowe 101-A)! The Museum staff are available to answer questions and occasionally offer public demonstrations showing how Native American tools and other artifacts were made. Inquiries should be directed to the Museum’s main office, Rowe 103.

UNIT 1. Introduction (Weeks 1-4)
P Anthropology and ethnohistory; contact era; cultural evolution; overview of North American prehistory

g Garbarino & Sasso

L Ch1 First Settlers in the New World  [Read 5-48]
L Ch11 Indian-White Relations  [Read 423-436 and skim 436-458]

g Nichols

L Ch1 Full Blood, Mixed Blood... The Problem of Indian Identity  [Read 1-10]
L Ch2 Opechancanough: Indian Resistance Leader  [Read 11-20]
L Ch3 King Philip’s Herds: Indians, Colonists... in Early New England [Read 21-36]
L Ch4 ... The Social Costs of Indian Drinking in Colonial America  [Skim]
L Ch24 The Pawnee of Nebraska: Twice Removed  [Read 291-300]

g Oswalt & Neely

L Ch1 Questions about Native Americans [Read 1- 30]
L Ch2 Indian - Non-Indian Relations [Skim]

---

UNIT 2. The Far North (Weeks 5-8)
P Band organization; hunter-gatherers; fishing; adaptations to Arctic/ Subarctic regions

g Garbarino & Sasso

L Ch3 The Arctic & Subarctic [Read 93-138]
L Ch4 The Plateau and Northwest Coast [Skim]
L Ch9 Technology, Art, and Religion [Skim]
L Ch10 Social and Political Systems [Read 387-422]

g Nichols

L Ch20 ... Erosion of Indian Fishing Rights in the Pacific Northwest [Read 243-258]

g Oswalt & Neely

L Ch3 The Chipewyan: Subarctic Hunters [Read 71-106]
L Ch4 The Kuskowagamiut: Riverine Eskimos [Skim]
L Ch8 The Tlingit: Alaskan Salmon Fishers [Skim]

---

UNIT 3. The West (Weeks 9-12)
P Tribal organization, kinship and descent; farming; Plains, Southwest, and other regions of the West

g Garbarino & Sasso

L Ch2 Cultivation and American Cultures [Skim]
L Ch6 The Great Basin and the Southwest [Read 215-258]
L Ch7 The Plains [Read 259-298]

g Nichols

L Ch8 Backdrop for Disaster: Causes of the Arikara War of 1823 [Read 99-110]
L Ch10 Bison Ecology... Southern Plains from 1800-1850 [Read 121-134]
L Ch15 The Lakota Ghost Dance: An Ethnohistorical Account [Read 179-192]

g Oswalt & Neely

L Ch5 The Cahuila: Gatherers in the Desert [Skim]
L Ch6 The Crow: Plains Raiders and Bison Hunters [Read 175-213]
L Ch9 The Hopi: Farmers of the Desert [Skim]
L Ch10 The Navajo: Raiders and Herders of the Desert [Read 329-366]

---

UNIT 4. The East (Weeks 13-16)
P Tribal confederations; chiefdoms; Eastern Woodland region; Indian boarding schools

g Garbarino & Sasso

L Ch8 The East [Read 297-340]

g Nichols

L Ch6 The Indians’ New World: The Catawba Experience [Read 65-80]
L Ch9 Cherokee Women and the Trail of Tears [Read 111-120]
L Ch22 ... American Indian Schooling in the Twentieth Century [Skim]
L Ch23 Termination and the Eastern Band of Cherokees [Read 279-290]
L Ch25 The Politics of Indian Gaming: Tribe/State Relations... [Skim]

g Oswalt & Neely

L Ch12 The Iroquois ... of the Eastern Woodlands [Read 404-446]
L Ch13 The Eastern Cherokee: Farmers of the Southeast [Read 447-476]
L Ch13 The Natchez ... of the Deep South [Read 476-500]
L Ch15 Current Realities, Fears, and Hopes [Read 501-508]

Schedule (top)

Anthropology 320 (top)

Tests

There will be a test at the end of each unit. These will concentrate on material covered in that unit but will invariably draw upon a general knowledge of previous units as well. Test may vary in format and will be based on lectures, assigned readings, movies, and classroom discussion. Test dates will be announced in class at least one week ahead of time and will likely be three to four weeks apart. Students are responsible for staying informed of the testing schedule!

Quizzes

Short quizzes and/or in-class writing assignments may also be given on occasion, with or without prior notification; these will normally deal with classroom material rather than readings, unless announced otherwise ahead of time. They will be kept on file in the instructor’s office and will not usually be returned except on request. These exercises are intended partly to monitor class attendance (and attentiveness); therefore, no make-ups are allowed.

Posting

Grades for tests and quizzes will be posted outside the office door, Anspach 118, listed by the last six digits of the Student Number (usually the Social Security Number). This listing will be cumulative, so that students may stay informed of how well they are doing in the course.

Optional Research Paper

Anyone submitting a paper will automatically be graded according to the weighting of Option A below, regardless of the merits of the finished product. Those who choose this option must submit in writing a brief topic description (to be approved by the instructor) by or before the first week of Unit III. Students may not decide sometime later on that they would like to do a paper. Those who comply with this deadline will not be penalized if they decide later on not to submit a paper.

It is advisable to begin bibliographic searching early, to determine the feasibility of a chosen topic and to allow time to acquire sources through the library or elsewhere. Topics should deal with North American Indians north of Mexico, should not overlap too much with material covered in class or in assigned readings, and should be of interest to the student.

The length of the finished paper should be 5-8 numbered pages of typewritten, double-spaced text in conventional 10- or 12-point font, with one-inch margins. In addition, there should be a separate title page and a References Cited page(s). Several sources should be consulted, and the paper should be written in a formal research style with conventional in-text citations; do not plagiarize!

Additional Information:  Deadlines, format, topic, etc.

Final Grades

Course grades will be determined based on a weighted mean calculated from the four tests, any quizzes or assignments, and the optional paper/ research project. Relative weights assigned to each are shown below:

1996 Their Example Showed Me the Way: A Cree Woman’s Life Shaped by Two Cultures. Vancouver: University of Alberta Press.

1990 Breaking the Iron Bonds. Lawrence, Kansas

1981 The Indian Peoples of Eastern America: A Documentary History of the Sexes. New York: Oxford University Press.

1989 The Legal Status of American Indians, in Handbook of North American Indians, edited by W. E. Washburn, Vol. 4, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

1992 A Long and Terrible Shadow: White Values, Native Rights in the Americas, 1492-1992. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

1997 Indians and Anthropologists. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

1995 Seth Eastman: A Portfolio of North American Indians. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

1987 Indians. Reprint of The American Heritage Book of Indians (published in 1961 by American Heritage). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

1971 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West.

1989 American Indian Autobiography. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

1969 Our Brother's Keeper: The Indian in White America. New York.

1992 State and Reservation: New Perspectives on Federal Indian Policy. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

1988 The Return of the Native: American Indian Political Resurgence. New York: Oxford University Press.

1997 The Origins of Native Americans: Evidence from Anthropological Genetics. New York: Cambridge.

1969 Custer Died for Your Sins. New York.

1983 American Indians, American Justice. Austin, Texas.

1996 North American Indian Anthropology: Essays on Society and Culture. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

1961 Indians of North America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

1990 Why Don't They Give Them Guns? Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.

1996 Native Americans and the Practice of Archaeology. Annual Review of Anthropology 25:63-79.

1986 Termination and Relocation: Federal Indian Policy, 1945-1966. Albuquerque.

1985 Cultures in Contact: The European Impact on Native Cultural Institutions in Eastern North America, A.D. 1000-1800. Smithsonian Institution.

1996 Health of Native People of North America: A Bibliography and Guide to Resources, 1970-1994. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Scarecrow Press.

1991 Exemplar of Liberty: Native America and the Evolution of Democracy. Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center, UCLA.

1993 American Indians. Third edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

1997 Handbook of the American Frontier: Four Centuries of Indian-White Relationships. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

1989 Indian Rights Movement, 1887-1973, in Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 4, edited by W. E. Washburn, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

1979 The Religions of the American Indians. Berkely, CA: University of California Press.

1982 Now That the Buffalo's Gone. New York.

1991 The Indian Heritage of America. Revised Edition (originally published in 1968 by Alfred A. Knopf). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

1992 North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account. 2^nd Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

1994 Native American Autobiography: An Anthology. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

1988 Ancient Drums, Other Moccasins: Native North American Cultural Adaptation. Prentice Hall.

1989 United States Indian Treaties and Agreements, in Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 4, edited by W. E. Washburn, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

1971 North American Indians in Historical Perspective. New York: Random House; and Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.

1996 Native Americans and Wage Labor: Ethnohistorical Perspectives. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

1975 A Guide to America's Indians: Ceremonials, Reservations and Museums. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

1987 The American Indian and the Problem of History. New York: Oxford University Press.

1993 Native American Tribalism: Indian Survivals and Renewals. New edition, with introduction by Peter Iverson. New York: Oxford University Press.

1989 First Encounters. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press.

1997 Native North Americans: An Ethnohistorical Approach. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

1988 Native American Architecture. New York: Oxford University Press.

1986 Indian Self-Rule. Salt Lake City.

1978 Americanizing the American Indian. Lincoln, Nebraska.

1994 Political Structure and Change in the Prehistoric Southeastern United States. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.

1995 Columbus and the New World: Medical Implications. Providence, RI: OceanSide Publications.

1973 Seeds of Extinction: Jeffersonian Philanthropy and the American Indian. Chapel Hill.

1993 A Mixed Race: Ethnicity in Early America. New York: Oxford University Press.

1994 Warpaths: Invasions of North America. New York: Oxford University Press.

1960 Dictionary of the American Indian. New York: Barnes and Noble.

1992 On the Translation of Native American Literatures. Smithsonian Institution.

1997 Native Americans and Archaeologists: Stepping Stones to Common Ground. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press.

1994 Between Indian and White Worlds: The Cultural Broker. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

1966 Tales of the North American Indians. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

1987 American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492. Norman, Oklahoma.

1992 Disease and Demography in the Americas. Smithsonian Institution Press.

1990 View from the Shore : American Indian Perspectives on the Quincentenary. Also published as v.7, no.3 of Northeast Indian Quarterly. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.

1993 After Columbus: The Smithsonian Chronicle of the North American Indians. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

1993 The Arts of the North American Indian: Native Traditions in Evolution. New York: Hudson Mills Press.

1985 Atlas of the North American Indian. New York: Barnes and Noble.

1989 History of Indian-White Relations. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

1997 Return of the Indian: Conquest and Revival in the Americas. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

1979 Everyday Life of the North American Indian. New York: Holmes and Meier.

1970 North American Indian Arts. Golden Press.

1993 Imagery and Creativity: Ethnoaesthetics and Art Worlds in the Americas. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

1986 American Indians, Time, and the Law: Native Societies in a Modern Constitutional Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press.

1990 The American Indian in Western Legal Thought: The Discourse of Conquest. New York: Oxford University Press.

1996 A History of the Native People of Canada. V. 1 (10,000-1,000 BC). Seattle: University of Washington Press.

1984 Arctic, vol. 5 of Handbook of North American Indians, Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution.

1994 Boundaries and Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup’ik Eskimo Oral Tradition. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

1988 Crossroads of Continents: Cultures of Siberia and Alaska. Washington: Smithsonian Institute.

1981 Subarctic. Vol. 4 of Handbook of North American Indians, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

1998 Northern Passage. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.

1992 Living on the Land: Change Among the Inuit of Baffin Island. Orchard Park: Broadview.

1996 Ancient People of the Arctic. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

1996 The Inuit: Glimpses of an Arctic Past. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

1998 Defending the Land: Sovereignty and Forest Life in James Bay Cree Society. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

1993 The Dorset-Thule Succession in Arctic North America: Assessing Claims for Culture Contact. American Antiquity 58(2):203-234.

Supplementary Readings (Top)

1983 Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press.

1992 Rites of Conquest: The History and Culture of Michigan's Native Americans. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

1986 People of the Three Fires: The Ottawa, Potawatomi and Ojibway of Michigan. Grand Rapids, MI: The Michigan Indian Press and Grand Rapids Inter-Tribal Council.

1978 The Chippewas of Lake Superior. Univeristy of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

1994 Cultivating a Landscape of Peace: Iroquois-European Encounters in Seventeenth-Century America. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

1978 The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fires. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

1979 The Ojibwa-Iroquois War: The War the Five Nations Did Not Win. Ethnohistory 26(4): 297-324.

1929 Sandy MacDonald’s Man: A Tale of the Mackinaw Fur Trade. Lansing: Michigan School Service.

1989 Kah-wam-da-meh: A Study of Michigan’s Major Indian Tribes. Grand Ledge, MI: The Herman E. Cameron Memorial Foundation.

1982 Group Identities in the Boreal Forest: the Origin of the Northern Ojibwa. Ethnohistory 29(2): 75-102.

1970 The Chippewa and their Neighbors: A Study in Ethnohistory. New York: Irvinton Publishers . 1988 revised edition published by Waveland, Prospect Heights, IL.

1990 Ojibway Heritage. University of Nebraska Press. First published in 1976.

1986 Ottawa Adaptive Strategies to Indian Removal. Michigan Historical Review 12: 29-55.

1993 Paths of the People: The Ojibwe in the Chippewa Valley. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

1992 The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

1992 The Ojibwe. Indians of North America series. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

Supplementary Readings (Top)

1983 The Hidden Half: Studies of Plains Indian Women. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.

1996 Ecology, Sociopolitical Organization, and Cultural Change on the Southern Plains: A Critical Treatise in the Sociocultural Anthropology of Native North America. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

1991 Lakota Woman. Harper Perennial.

1996 To Change Them Forever: Indian Education at the Rainy Mountain Boarding School, 1893-1920. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

1992 "The Caddo Nation": Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Perspectives. Austin: University of Texas Press.

1995 They Call Me Agnes: A Crow Narrative Based on the Life of Agnes Yellowtail Deernose. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Supplementary Readings (Top)

1993 The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando de Soto to North America in 1539-1543. 2 vols. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.

1990 Towns and Temples Along the Mississippi. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.

1953 Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians. New edition. University of Oklahoma Press.

1934 The Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chicksaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole. University of Oklahoma Press.

1994 Missions to the Calusa. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.

1978 The Southeastern Indians. University of Tennessee Press.

1994 Lost Cities of the Ancient Southeast. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.

1994 The Ascent of Chiefs: Cahokia and Mississippian Politics in Native North America. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.

1988 The Evolution of the Calusa: A Nonagricultural Chiefdom on the Southwest Florida Coast. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press.

Supplementary Readings (Top)

1969 The Geronimo Campaign. Paperback: 1993. New York: Oxford University Press.

1979 Ishi the Last Yahi: A Documentary History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. See also Kroeber.

1994 Between Worlds: Interpreters, Guides, and Survivors. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

1961 Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America. Illustrated edition, 1976. Berkely, CA: University of California Press. See also Heizer & Kroeber.

1979 Ishi, the Last Yahi: A documentary History. Berkeley: University of California Press.

1993 Apache Reservation: Indigenous Peoples and the American State. Austin: University of Texas Press.

1989 Sand Creek and the Rhetoric of Extermination: A Case Study in Indian-White Relations. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.

Supplementary Readings (Top)