syllabus

[|Syllabus_Spring2012_OS215_NativeIssues_FINAL.pdf]

=OS215 Contemporary Native American Issues= Course Syllabus Spring 2012 - 4 Credits Tuesdays 5:30 – 7:30pm Thursdays 5:50 - 7:30 pm Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College Room 111

Instructor Jessica L. Koski, jlkoski@gmail.com, 715.550.0124 Office hours follow each class session from 7:30 - 8:00 pm or by appointment.

Required Text Champagne, Duane, Ed. 1999. Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press.

Course Description From College Catalog: OS215 Contemporary Native American Issues - 4

Exploration of achievements, issues, problems, and events in Indian Country today. Encompasses international, national, regional, and local perspectives. (Native American Awareness & Social Science)

Issues examined include identity, gender, Federal Indian policy, tribal governance, education, language and culture, art and film, health, repatriation and religious freedom, the environment, activism, and internationally recognized indigenous rights.

Course Objectives 1. Explain the effect of historical events on Native Americans today. 2. Identify emerging issues facing Native Americans. 3. Explain the divergent experiences of Native American peoples. 4. Interpret present day events in relation to their historical antecedents. 5. Evaluate stances about present day Native American issues. 6. Describe how Native American political and social action has improved the lives of Native Americans.

Course Format This course utilizes lecture, film, guest presentations, readings and assignments, and active discussion to achieve learning objectives. Students are expected to read all assignments, and should be prepared to discuss them actively during class sessions. Grades are based primarily on quality of participation, weekly readings and journal entries, periodic news summaries, and an independent research project. Participation in classroom discussion is essential.

Active Participation: Active participation enhances the educational experience for everyone in the class. You are expected to read the assigned readings before each class. Readings and assignments are due on the date they are listed on the Course Schedule. Thus, readings listed for January 17th are to be read for the class to be held on January 17th. Active participation includes the following:

• speaking in class and responding to classmate and instructor comments • sharing internet sites, events, news articles, and other materials relevant to our course • using the academic resources of the college and instructor office hours • respectfully address issues and each other's stances on issues during discussions

Native News Summaries: You are expected to read and review three recent news articles on contemporary Native American or indigenous issues. A sign-up sheet will be circulated the first day of class. The assignment includes (1) a summary of the article, (2) a citation and copy of the article attached, and (3) one to two discussion questions to lead the class into discussion on the selected news article. Students are encouraged to draw connections between current Native news articles and the topics discussed in class.

Weekly Readings & Journal Entry: Students will be required to keep a reading journal and submit a weekly journal entry each Thursday corresponding to assigned readings. Entries will be due each Thursday class period based on the assigned readings for that week. This assignment is designed to ensure students complete weekly reading assignments and for students to explore and critique the readings. It is an opportunity for personal thought and reaction to the readings which will enhance individual learning and classroom discussion. Students may summarize what they learned from the readings, expand discussion on a particular topic, pose questions for class discussion, and reflect on examples or personal experiences that may relate to the reading.

Writing Across the Curriculum Assignment: KBOCC is assessing a “Writing Across the Curriculum” requirement. A short-in-class writing assignment will be collected during the course of the semester. You will receive feedback from the assignment about your writing strengths and needs. A copy of the assignment will be kept by the college as documentation of the writing program over time.

Final Term Paper: One major 10-15 page final term paper is required. The paper will be an examination of some issue examined in class that goes beyond the material and discussion covered in class or it may be an issue not covered in class. The topic may be the investigation of a contemporary issue such as the use of Native American mascots, the proposed repeal of the Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver, legal issues such as the right of Native peoples to use sacred lands, indigenous perspectives on tar sands oil development and/or climate change, or it may be a study of some element of Native language revitalization. Students will work with the instructor to identify a topic of interest and guidance will be provided throughout the length of the course. Students will give a 15-20 minute oral presentation on their research project at the end of the course. Students are encouraged to supplement term papers with a poster, a letter to the editor, a letter to an elected official, or some other creative media outlet.

Grading Attendance & Class Participation 20% Native News Assignments 20% Weekly Journal Entries 20% Final Term Paper 40%

A 90-100 B+ 85-89 B 80-84 C+ 75-79 C 70-74 D 65-69 F Below 65

Attendance Policy Attendance at every class session is expected because the classroom discussion and experience generates important knowledge and helps to develop valuable skills. If you must miss a class, let me know in advance, and please get notes from the missed class from a classmate.

Academic Integrity As per the KBOCC catalog and student handbook, students who commit any of the following acts may receive an “F” grade for the assignment or may be dismissed from the college with a notation of the offense on their permanent record. • Copying another student’s work • Plagiarism (using someone else’s ideas or words without proper credit) • Deliberate misrepresentation regarding their fulfillment of course requirements

Classroom Conduct In order to ensure a learning environment that supports the academic success of all students, students are expected to turn cell phones off or on silent during class. Texting during class is prohibited and use of computers is limited to note-taking. Students are expected to be respectful to one another during discussion of class topics and when conflicting viewpoints may arise. Personal attacks and inappropriate language are unacceptable.

School Closings Classes will not be held whenever Baraga schools are closed due to inclement weather. Listen for announcements on Eagle Radio or call the station at 353-1057 for information on closing and delays. If scheduled classes will not be held for any other reason, the college will make every effort to contact you in advance. Please make sure the Enrollment Office has your current contact information.

Disability Statement If you need disability-related accommodations or services, please inform me and/or the Dean of Student Services, Cherie Dakota, at 353-4628. Reasonable and effective accommodations and services will be provided to students when requests are made in a timely manner with appropriate documentation in accordance with federal, state, tribal and college guidelines.

Course Schedule

Week 1 Introduction January 10 Review of syllabus and introduction to the course

January 12 History and Demography of Native North America Required Reading (14 pages): (1) “Introduction: Change, Destruction, and Renewal of Native American Cultures at the End of the Twentieth Century” by Duane Champagne in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues, pages 7-10 (2) Native American Voices Handout • “First Nations: Indigenous Peoples of Canada” by Steve Talbot • “Native Peoples of Mexico” by R. David Edmunds • “Native American Demographics--United States, 2008

Week 2 Identity

January 17 Who is Native American? Introduction to Library Resources - Meet at OCC Library Required Reading (29 pages): (1) Part 1: Identity in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues • “American Indian Identities: Issues of Individual Choice and Development” by Devon A. Mihesuah, pp. 11-31 (2) Native American Voices Handout • “Indigenous Identity: What is it, and who really has it?” by Hilary N. Weaver

January 19 Stereotypes Watch clips of May 5, 2011 U.S. Senate Oversight Hearing on “Stolen Identities: The Impact of Racist Stereotypes on Indigenous People” Required Reading (27 pages): (1) American Indians: Stereotypes & Realities Handout

Week 3 Gender

January 24 Native Women’s Issues Required Reading (31 pages): (1) Handout: “Colonialism and Disempowerment” in Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism by Devon Abbott (2) Native American Voices Handout • “Native American Women and Coerced Sterilization” by Sally J. Torpy

January 26 Gender Issues in Government and Policy Required Reading (select one) (18-24 pages) (1) Part II: Gender in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues • “Aboriginal Women and Self-Government: Challenging Leviathan” by Katherine Beaty Chiste, pp. 69-87 • “Contemporary Tribal Codes and Gender Issues” by Bruce G. Miller, pp. 103-123
 * Draft Research Project Idea Summary Due February 2nd

Week 4 Federal Indian Policy

January 31 Early Federal Indian Law Required Reading (18 pages) (1) Key Indian Laws and Cases Handout (2) Native American Voices Handout • “A History of Federal Indian Policy” by David E. Wilkins

February 2 Self-Determination Required Reading (30 pages) (1) The State of Native America Handout • “International Law and Politics: Toward a Right to Self-Determination for Indigenous Peoples” by Glenn T. Morris

Week 5 Tribal Governance February 7 Tribal Government Required Reading (20 pages) (1) The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development Handout • “Tribal Government”

February 9 Nation Building Writing Across the Curriculum Prompt Distributed Required Reading (10 pages) (1) Native American Voices Handout • “Remaking the Tools of Governance: Colonial Legacies, Indigenous Solutions” by Stephen Cornell

Week 6 Education February 14 Boarding School Era Watch film “Older Than America” (1 hr 42 min) Required Reading (19 pages) (1) The State of Native America Handout • “American Indian Education in the United States: Indoctrination for Subordination to Colonialism” by Jorge Noriega (2) Native American Voices Handout • “If We Get the Girls, We Get the Race: Missionary Education of Native American Girls” by Carol Devens

February 16 Modern Era and Higher Education Writing Across the Curriculum In-Class Assignment Required Reading (16 pages) (1) The State of Native America Handout • “American Indian Education in the United States” (cont...) (2) Native American Voices Handout • “Protagonism Emergent: Indians and Higher Education” by Jeffrey Wollock
 * Final Research Project Summary and List of References due February 23rd

Week 7 Language & Culture

February 21 Language Revitalization Watch documentary “First Speakers: Restoring the Ojibwe Language” (56 min) Required Reading (28 pages) (1) Handout: “Endangered Native American Languages: What is to be done, and why?” by James Crawford (2) Native American Voices Handout • “Hawaiian Language Schools” by Leanne Hinton

February 23 Contemporary Powwow Required Reading (15 pages) (1) Part III: Contemporary Powwow in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues • “The Powwow as a Public Arena for Negotiating Unity and Diversity in American Indian Life” by Mark Mattern, pp. 127-141 • Optional: “Southwestern Oklahoma, the Gourd Dance, and “Charlie Brown” by Luke E. Lassiter, pp. 145-162

Week 8 Spring Break - No Class this Week

Week 9 Art, Media & Film

March 6 Issues of Ownership and Marketing Watch film “Black Robe” (1 hr 42 min) Required Reading (26 pages) (1) Native American Voices Handout • “But is it American Indian Art?” by Traci L. Morris (2) Part IV: Film and Other Media in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues • “Cultural Imperialism and the Marketing of Native America” by Laurie Anne Whitt, pp. 167-185

March 8 Media & Film Watch film “Smoke Signals” (1 hr 29 min) Required Reading (25 pages) (1) Part IV: Film and Other Media in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues • “Native Media’s Communities” by Steven Leuthold, pp. 193-214 (2) Native American Voices Handout • “Gone with the Wind: A Decade After Smoke Signals, Success Remains Elusive for Native American Filmmakers” by Mathew Fleischer

Week 10 Health

March 13 Health Disparities Watch Diane Sawyer 20/20 Segment “A Hidden America: Children of the Plains” (41 min) Required Reading (28 pages) (1) The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development Handout • “Health” (2) Part V: Health in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues • “The Epidemiology of Alcohol Abuse among American Indians: The Mythical and Real Properties” by Philip A. May, pp. 225-240

March 15 Perspectives on Native Health Required Reading (21 pages) (1) Part V: Health in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues • “Tobacco, Culture, and Health Among American Indians: A Historical Review” by Christina M. Pego et al., pp. 245-259 • Optional: “Cancer Control Research among American Indians and Alaska Natives: A Paradigm for Research in the Next Millennium” by Martin C. Mahoney et al., pp. 263-271 (2) Native American Voices Handout • “Perspectives on Traditional Health Practices” by Larry Murillo
 * First Draft of Research Paper due March 23rd

Week 11 Repatriation & Religious Freedom

March 20 Repatriation and Historic Preservation Required Reading (21 pages) (1) Native American Voices Handout • “Who Owns Our Past? The Repatriation of Native American Human Remains and Cultural Objects” by Russel Thornton • “Protecting Native American Human Remains, Burial Grounds, and Sacred Places” by James Riding In, Cal Seciwa, Suzan Harjo, and Walter Echo-Hawk

March 23 Rights to Religious Freedom and Sacred Sites Watch documentary film “In the Light of Reverence” (73 min) Required Reading (8 pages) (1) Handout: “Sacred Places at Risk” by Suzan Shown Harjo (2) Native American Voices Handout • “American Indian Religious Freedom Act After Twenty-Five Years” by Suzan Shown Harjo

Week 12 Environment

March 27 Environmental Issues Required Reading (16 pages): (1) Part VI: Environmental Issues in Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues • “Friendly Fire: When Environmentalists Dehumanize American Indians” by David Waller, pp. 275-290 • Optional: “Ecological Risk Assessment and Management: Their Failure to Value Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Protect Tribal Homelands” by Jeanette Wolfley, pp. 293-304 • Optional: “Uranium Is in My Body” by Rachel L. Spieldoch, pp. 307-315

March 29 Protecting Tribal Homelands Watch documentary film “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action” (88 min) Required Reading (~35 pages): (1) Handout: “Contemporary Native American Responses to Environmental Threats in Indian Country” by Tirso A. Gonzales and Melissa K. Nelson in Indigenous Traditions and Ecology

Week 13 Environment April 3 Land & Treaty Rights

Watch films “Ojibwa Treaty Rights: Connections to Land & Water” (18 min) and “Lighting the 7th Fire” (48) Required Reading (24 pages): (1) Handout: “After the Storm: Ojibwe Treaty Rights Twenty Five-Years after the Voigt Decision” by Patty Loew and James Thannum (2) Optional: Native American Voices Handout • “The Black Hills: The Sacred Land of the Lakota and Tsistsistas” by Mario Gonzalez

April 5 Leading Ways Toward Sustainability Guest Lecture by Aimee Cree Dunn (Northern Michigan University) on The Seventh Fire Project

Required Reading (16 pages): (1) Handout: “Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Sustainable Development: Towards Coexistence” by Deborah McGregor in In the Way of Development: Indigenous Peoples, Life Projects and Globalization (2) Handout: “The Seventh Generation: Rethinking the Constitution” by Winona LaDuke

(3) Optional: Native American Voices Handout • “Call to Consciousness on the Fate of Mother Earth: Global Warming and Climate Change” by Jose Barreiro

Week 14 Indigenous Activism

April 10 American Indian Movement Watch film “Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story” (89 min)

Required Reading (23 pages): (1) Native American Voices Handout • “Reflections of Alcatraz” by Lanada Boyer (2) The State of Native America Handout • “A Warrior Caged: The Continuing Struggle of Leonard Peltier” by Jim Vander Wall

April 12 Global Perspectives and New Directions Required Reading (24 pages): (1) Handout: “Indigenous Peoples: Global Perspectives and Movements” Chapter 6 in Indigenous Peoples and Globalization: Resistance and Revitalization (2) Native American Voices Handout

• “Directions in Peoples’s Movements” by John Mohawk
 * Final Research Paper Due April 19th

Week 15 International Indigenous Rights

April 17 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Required Reading (18 pages): (1) Handouts: • “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” • James Anaya, Testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs “Setting the Standard: Domestic Policy Implications of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”

April 19 Indigenous Rights and the Environment

Required Reading (14 pages): (1) Handouts: • “Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights, and the Environment” essay by Lorie Graham & Nicole Friederichs (Suffolk Law School) • Optional: “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya: Extractive industries operating within or near indigenous territories” (July 11, 2011)

Week 16 Student Presentations

April 24 Student Presentations

April 26 Student Presentations Continued and Course Reflections

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