The Buffalo Hunt
George Catlin: The Buffalo Hunt

Ant/Nas/Ams 343: Peoples and Cultures of Native North America

FALL SEMESTER 2008

(syllabus currently under revision)

Fr. Raymond Bucko, S.J.
Harper Living/Learning Student Center 3040
Tuesday 9:30 - 10:45 AM
Thursday 9:30 - 10:45 AM


COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course examines how Western social science has studied and understood the many different cultures encountered in North America by Europeans. We will also examine the history of Indian-European contact with a focus on its effects on both Native and Euro-American cultures through history. We will use linguistics to learn about the wide variety of languages present on the continent, archaeology to examine ancient cultures of North America, and cultural anthropology to examine the different peoples living within North America. We also consider contemporary issues such as exploitation of Native religious ceremonies, reburial of archaeological remains and land rights using a multiplicity of voices reflecting Native and non-Native perspectives.

COURSE GOALS:

Thorough the reading of a textbook, a mystery novel, an ethnographic novel, a history, and viewing three films this course will fulfill the following goals:
  • Familiarize the students with the linguistic and cultural diversity of the Natives of North America by studying the history and culture of Indian peoples organized according to the ten culture areas utilized by cultural anthropologists.
  • Stress the fact that Native peoples are peoples of the present who both maintain strong links to the past and also continue to adapt to present circumstances and that these people are not simply people of the paste.
  • Encourage in students a critical facility in looking at the images of Native peoples produced by non-Natives as well as Native peoples themselves.
  • Acquaint students with the complex interrelations of indigenous and European peoples from the time of the European incursion until the present.
  • Encouraging students to converse internationally with students at the University of Deusto in the Basque Country in Spain as well as among themselves on issues important to contemporary Native peoples in North America.
  • Examine contemporary issues of importance to Native communities today and understand the ethical and moral importance of the interrelationship between Indian and non-Indian segments of the contemporary populations of the United States.
  • Acquaint the students with the basic tools used by anthropologists to analyze diverse cultures.

  • Provide students with the knowledge necessary to use electronic communications resources such as the internet for discussion as well as research purposes.

    • COURSE FORMAT:

    The course will be divided into lectures, discussions and presentations. Students are expected to keep up with readings and participate in class as well as on the Internet using a workspace. The workspace contains the syllabus as well as a forum for student interaction and a place to accumulate other resources which will enhance our learning experience. As part of class participation, you are asked to fill out surveys, visit research sites, and suggest topics for class discussion as well as to point out new Internet sites which you find helpful for our study.



    COURSE TEXTS:

    These required texts can be obtained through the bookstore:

    • Hillerman, Tony Talking God
    • Kehoe, Alice North American Indians
    • Alexi, Sherman The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
    • Deloria, Ella Waterlily



    USEFUL SITES:

    StudentAdvantage provides a free "Guide to the Disciplines" on their web site. This site includes a guide to Native American Studies. The best way to use this site is to "surf the folders" rather than use the search engine. This site also provides guides to other disciplines. These sites were screened by a teams of researchers for suitability for academic research. Fr. Bucko, S.J. headed the team for the Native American Section.

    OTHER REQUIRED READINGS:

    All assigned readings, if not from the required textbooks are on reserve in the library (Page 1 and Page 2. Please contact the professor immediately if you have any trouble locating the material. You can also check the hours of operation, and a building map.



    COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
    1. Attendance at class: School guidelines will be strictly followed. Attendance extends to participating in each virtual discussion through the listserv discussion list.
    2. Regular electronic communications: You are expected to read your e-mail at least three times a week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday). You are also expected to participate in our list discussions. I will take care of signing you up for the list. To write a message to the list use the address: ANT343@CREIGHTON.EDU
    3. Explanations of absences: I expect that each absence be explained to me by way of e-mail or a note, preferably before you miss the class.
    4. ACTIVE Class participation: You are expected to read the texts, view films, and answer pertinent questions BEFORE each class. Readings and assignments are due on the date they are listed in the Syllabus. Thus, the readings for February 14th are to be read for the class to be held on February 14th. Because the success of the class as an experience in international dialogue and learning depends on discussion among the students in the Basque Country as well as in the United States, a special focus will be placed on grading participation in this area. You can also participate actively by adding new information to the virtual classroom at the University of Deusto. Like the international discussions. this material will be of benefit to the classes in both schools. You are also expected to check the on-line course page at least twice a week for new material. Attendance, deep thought, reading the material, attentiveness, and interest are all vital to your success in class but represent passive participation. Active participation enhances the educational experience for everyone in all of the class locations. Most essential to this class in interaction between the two schools. Thus you must utilize the Internet for the majority of your class communications. You are expected to give significant and consistent input concerning each issue put before the class. You will be graded accordingly.
    5. Essays: Three essays analyzing three films concerning Native Americans. These essays are due on October 5, November 7 and November 28th respectively. The themes for each essay will be found towards the end of the syllabus after the required readings and discussions for each class.
    6. Midterm and final examinations.



    PAPER SUBMISSION:
    For your final paper you are required to submit both a hard copy of the paper and a digital copy on a 3.5 inch disk. I do this for two reasons: 1) I link examples of outstanding papers to the course page provided I have the permission of the authors; 2) I maintain a digital database of previous papers to ensure that there is no plagiarism in this assignment either among classmates or from year to year. You are required to have a clean new label on your disk with the following information: Your Name, Course Number (SOC 301), and File Type (Microsoft Word 2000, Word Perfect 5.1 etc.). All disks must be submitted in IBM format such that they can be read using MS Word 2000 or lower. You must also check your disk for viruses before submitting the disk. Infected disks will be returned for cleansing. Papers will not be read until a clean disk copy is on file. If you are not technologically inclined I am most willing to help you provided you come for office hours well in advance of the due date for the paper.

    ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
    It is required that students exercise academic integrity as outlined in the Creighton University Student Handbook. Students are expected to interact with each other in a way which will enhance the learning experience of all and which is never destructive of other pesons. Because of the importance of acknowledged collaboration, students are required to cite all assistance, including that gained from peers. Students must never plagiarize. The professor maintains an audit policy for this course to both reward extraordinary performance and to guard against misuse of sources. Infringements of academic will be delt with according to Creighton University norms.

    GRADING:

    Grades will be determined in the following manner:

    • Participation
      		•  40%
    • Exams
      		• 40%
    • Essays
      		•  20%

    Letter Grades are Awarded as Follows:

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



    FACULTY INFORMATION
    FR. BUCKO, S.J.
    Office: Admin Bldg 433

    Office Hours:
    Tu: 3:00 - 4:00 PM
    Wed: 8:00 - 10:00 AM
    Th: 9:30 - 10:30 AM
    and by appointment

    Phone:
    OFFICE EX 3587
    HOME EX 3115 (do not call after 9:00 PM)

    E-mail Address: bucko@creighton.edu
    Please write! Mail for Fr. Bucko E-Mail Check: Monday 7:00 AM, Thursday 7:00 AM [Omaha Time]

    Note: E-Mail Check is the time when the Professor is guaranteed to check mail. The Professor may check mail more often but not on a regular basis. As long as you send e-mail before the time of E-Mail Check you are guaranteed that a response will be sent during that time. Please remember, if you are sending an e-mail message to a remote server (such as from Deusto to Creighton or from your own private Internet service provider to Deusto), it will not be delivered instantly. You must therefore give the message some time to get to us. We cannot guarantee that e-mail sent during the e-mail check will be received and answered at that time.

     

    SPECIAL NEEDS:

    If you have any special learning needs or are in circumstances which necessitate special consideration, please contact me at the beginning of the semester. If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me within the first week of class or as soon as possible.



    STUDENT INFORMATION:

    [carrot]Student Survey: If you are registered for this course for the FALL SEMESTER of 2000 please take the time to fill out this survey. This information will be kept confidential by the professor and is for use in contacting you in an emergency and in gearing the course to your specific needs and interests. Simply fill in each box and then press the submit button and the survey will be mailed to your professor. Be sure to fill out all the required biographical data on the workspace also!



    COURSE LECTURES AND READINGS:

    August 24 (Thursday) Class #1
    Introduction to course methodology:

  • culture area concept
  • diffusion
  • memory ethnography and the ethnographic present
  • necessary computer skills
    • Please fill out our Student Survey if you have not done so already! Contact your instructor if you have any difficulty with this assignment.

    August 29 (Tuesday) Class #2
    The Arctic
    Reading: North American Indians (480-519)

    August 31 (Thursday) Class #3
    The Subarctic
    Reading: North American Indians (519-555)

    September 5 (Tuesday) Class #4
    The Plateau and Great Basin
    Reading: North American Indians (360 -399)

    September 7 (Thursday) Class #5
    The Southeast
    Reading: North American Indians (160-233)

    September 12 (Tuesday) Class #6
    The Northeast
    Reading: North American Indians (224-281)

    September 14 (Thursday) Class #7
    The Contemporary Scene
    Reading: Talking God (first half)

    September 19 (Tuesday) Class #8
    The Contemporary Scene
    Reading: Talking God (second half)

    September 21 (Thursday) Class #9
    Ethical Issues: Native Religion and the New Age (call numbers are for Creighton's Reinert Library)
    Reading: Little Eagle, Avis, Lakota Times Articles (E-9, E-59)
    Kehoe, Alice. "Primal Gaia: Primitivists and Plastic Medicine Men"(A-43)
    Churchill, Ward. "Spiritual Hucksterism"(C-9)
    Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality (web page link)

    September 26 (Tuesday) Class #10
    Colonial history

    • Treaties
    • Religious accommodations
    • Political adaptation
    Reading: A Short History... Many Nations, 1540-1794

    September 28 (Thursday) Class #11

      Accommodation and Resistance
      • Revitalization Movements
      • Adaptations
      • Intermarriage
      Reading: A Short History... New Orientations 1763-1848

    October 2 (Monday)
    University of Deusto Students join the course: Welcome them on the listserv!

    October 3 (Tuesday) Class #12
    Growth of Federal Domination

    • Removal
    • The Reservation System
    • The Ghost Dance
    Reading: A Short History... Dependent Domestic Nations 1831-1898

    October 5 (Thursday) Class #13
    Factionalism and differential adaptation

    • Suppression of local governance
    • "New" Religions
    Reading: A Short History... The Colonial Pattern 1871-1934

    NANOOK OF THE NORTH ESSAY DUE ( view assignment )

    October 6, 2000 to October 12, 2000: International Group Discussion #1 Demographics:
    The essential problem that Mooney and others had in determining post-contact Indian population size in North America was "who was in fact Indian". The article "American Indian Ethnic Renewal" looks at the size of contemporary Indian populations and sees that the number of members claimed by legally defined tribes (the Indian Reorganization Act allows tribes to make rules for membership) is quite different from that collected in the 1990 United States census (the census uses the criteria of self-ascription: you simply check the box for the ethnic group you feel you belong to). What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two very different (and clearly at odds) ways of defining who is and who is not Indian? Which criteria do you think are most important in determining membership in a group?

    October 10 (Tuesday) Class #14
    Review Class for Exam

    [carrot]Midterm self-evaluation: Please fill out this self-evaluation form for your class participation grade.

    October 12 (Thursday)
    Midterm Exam
    Midterm Review Sheet

    October 20, 2000 - October 26, 2000 International Group Discussion #2
    Image
    Compare the portrait that Ella Deloria provides of Lakota life in the novel Waterlily to other images with which you are familiar from movies, novels and art. In what ways does Deloria break and/or continue dominant images of Native peoples, specifically the Lakota?

    October 24 (Tuesday) Class #15
    Native American Novels: Waterlily
    Reading: Waterlily
     

    [carrot]Course Evaluation: Please fill out this form to help me improve the class.

    October 26 (Thursday) Class #16 Cyber Class:

    Demographics: Political Implications
    Readings On Reserve:

    "The Tip of An Iceberg"
    "North American Indian Population Size, AD 1500 to 1985"
    "American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Politics and the Resurgence of Identity"

    Your professor will conduct this asynchronous class (it does not meet at a specific time) from Fordham University where he is presenting a paper to the faculty. I ask that you do the following work in the folder entitled "Creighton Cyber Class"

    You are required to research 10 URLs, post them to the workspace in the folders contained in this folder, and carefully describe and critique each URL which you post. The URLs must be relevant to the last two classes: "Waterlily and Images of Native Americans" and "Native American Demographics and Identity". All work is to be completed by Friday, October 27.

    October 27, 2000 - November 2, 2000 International Group Discussion #3 Termination:
    Examine the policy of termination as presented by Spicer (readings for October 31st) and give your opinion about the ethics of such a policy. What are in your opinion the failures and advantages of the reservation system as opposed to assimilation of populations? A recent debate in the United States has arisen over the "equalities" of peoples, stating that no single group should have more or different rights than any other. With regards to the rights of indigenous peoples, is it important that their cultural rights be safeguarded? What kind of argument can you make for and/or against such a move within the world community (if indeed there is a world community) and how might you envision a system of protections for such individuals and groups both within and outside of the region in which they may reside?

    October 31 (Tuesday) Class #17
    Continuities and transformations

    • Reform movements
    • Contemporary History
    • Termination and Determination
    Reading: A Short History... American Citizens 1924-1967

    November 2 (Thursday) Class #18
    The Great Plains
    Reading: North American Indians (287-351)

    November 3, 2000 - November 9, 2000 International Group Discussion #4 Heterogeneity
    Tony Hillerman portrays different "types" of Indians in his novel Talking God, both by tribal groups and, more importantly, by individual personality. Whom do you consider the "most authentic" Indian in the novel (an important question for at least some of the characters) and whom do you consider the "least authentic"? What criteria do you use to make these judgements? Is this question a valid one to ask? Are some of this characters wannabes ? Why do you think so ?

    November 7 (Tuesday) Class #19
    Identity and the politics of culture:

    Reading: Responses on the War Against Exploiters Read these comments not for what they say about this specific document but how they reflect different people's notion of identity.

    PRIMAL MIND ESSAY DUE ( view assignment )

    November 9 (Thursday) Class#20
    Southwest
    Reading: North American Indians (103-156)

    November 10, 2000 - November 16, 2000 International Group Discussion #5
    Law and Ethics
    The Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act bases legitimate tribal claims to human remains and certain types of "cultural property" on affiliation. After reading this act, express your own opinion on the "rules" set down for those claiming materials from museums, stating whether you agree or disagree with the legislation and what you would have changed or clarified if you were in a position to do so.

    November 14 (Tuesday) Class #21
    Excavation and Reburial

    November 16 (Thursday) Class #22
    Problems of representation

    • critique of Euro-American Anthropology
    • Symbolic Warfare
    Reading: "Cultural Imperialism and and Marketing of Native America"

    November 17, 2000 - November 23, 2000 International Group Discussion External Heterogeneity
    Perhaps no other culture area is as effective in breaking the stereotype of "the Indian" as the Northwest Coast. Discuss the various cultural traits (such as religion, economics, political structure) which divert from the popular imagination's ideas of "Indian". Can we, in fact, speak of an "Indian"? In what ways is this an effective classification culturally and politically and in what ways does it mislead in assuming a homogeneity which may never have existed?

    November 21 (Tuesday) Class #23
    The Northwest Coast
    Reading: North American Indians (429-475)

    November 28 (Tuesday) Class #24
    Anthropology and the American Indian
    History
    Representation
    Politics
    Readings: North American Indians (598-605)
    Deloria: Anthropologists and Other Friends

    DANCES WITH WOLVES ESSAY DUE ( view assignment ) ( Grading Criteria )

    November 30 (Thursday) Class #25
    Problems of representation

    • critique of Euro-American Anthropology
    • Symbolic Warfare
    Reading: : "The Tribe Called Wannabee: Playing Indian in Europe and America."

    [carrot]Course Evaluation: Please fill out this form to help me improve the class.

    December 1, 2000 - December 7, 2000 International Group Discussion Critique of Anthropology
    Vine Deloria Jr. offers both a critique of anthropology and suggestions for how scholarship might more effectively assist Native peoples. Consider his critique, which was made 40 years ago, and offer you own critique of social science as an academic discipline and how it might better assist indigenous peoples today.

    December 5 (Tuesday) Class #26 In Class Film: The Return of Navajo Boy

    December 7 (Thursday) Class #27
    Review for Final Exam
    [carrot]End of semester self-evaluation: Please fill out this self-evaluation form for your class participation grade.

    December 14 (Thursday)
    10:00 - 11:40 AM - Final Exam
    Final Exam Review Sheet

    ESSAYS:

    Each student is required to write 3 essays the length of 2 -3 double spaced pages. Upload your paper to the proper folder in the workspace on the day the paper is due.

    Each essay is on a film you will view. You are expected to view the film on your own or in groups according to your own arrangements. The films will be on reserve at the library or resource center of each participating school.

    Note that we want critical essays. This means that you carefully analyze each move according to what you have learned in the class as well as your own knowledge and experience. You need not agree with the professors' views! You do need to support your views with facts!!! Be careful not to simply summarize these movies.

    ESSAY # 1

    (Due October 5, 2000) ( Grading Criteria ) View Nanook of the North and write an essay on what kind of images Flaherty (the director of the film) creates of these native People. Take a critical approach and analyze what you see. Be careful not to simply summarize the movie. To get you thinking, contrast the technology Flaherty shows you that Nanook has with the technology that Flaherty uses to make the film. Also, keep in mind that this is a MOVIE and that Flaherty has some points he wants to get across in the film. Try to see beyond the lens and consider the implications of what Flaherty is trying to portray and not portray in this movie.

    ESSAY # 2

    (Due November 7, 2000) ( Grading Criteria ) View The Primal Mind and consider the validity of what this Blackfeet Indian has to say about the contrasts between his culture (the INDIAN culture) and white culture. As in the first essay be sure to take a critical stance showing why the images and ideas in the film are correct or incorrect. AFTER viewing the film and writing your essay (which should be 2 - 3 pages) read The Golden Indian and write a reaction to the article and what it says (which should be 1-2 pages) .

    ESSAY # 3

    (Due November 28, 2000) ( Grading Criteria ) View Dances with Wolves and write a critical essay on that work considering the image of Indians which it portrays. Consider too the portrait of European Americans that the movie creates also. Consider in which ways this is or is not a positive movie.


    This page is cooperatively managed by Rev. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J. of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Creighton University

    E-Mail for Fr. Bucko: bucko@creighton.edu
    E-mail for Dr. Esteban: aesteban@der.deusto.es

    Page Last Updated: May 5, 2008

    		Seal of Creighton University