Anthropology 251
Jonathan Andelson
Fall 2002
HHH 104; x3139
TTh
8:15-9:50 andelson@grinnell.edu
Native North American Indian Cultures
For the native peoples of North America, the historical
present, which is to say the last five hundred years, has been a period of
struggle to retain political and spiritual sovereignty in the face of the
arrival on the continent of peoples more numerous than they, who possessed
technologies, economies, politics, kinship systems, religions, and philosophies
different from theirs. The immigrants
from Europe also possessed a will to dominate and control what they found,
be it the land, the plants and animals on it, or the people who were already
there. As Vine Deloria, Jr. (Lakota
Sioux) once wrote, “…when the missionaries arrived they fell on their knees
and prayed. Then they got up, fell
on the Indians, and preyed.” Many
other European Americans skipped the part about praying first.
It
is possible to view European hegemony in North America as inevitable given
European population, culture, and technology, but the way it occurred is indefensible.
By 1890, agents of the United States had completed the conquest and
dispossession of native peoples begun by British, French, and Spanish colonial
powers. Unfortunately, the reservations, schools, and
clinics set up by the government to help native peoples, while tending to
be highly disruptive of traditional native society, have largely not resulted
in their incorporation into American society as full and equal participants.
Stereotyping, paternalism, racism, and continuing cultural differences
have kept Native Americans as a group, particularly those living on government
reservations, at or near the bottom of American society in terms of income,
employment, and health. Indian activist
Russell Means (Oglala Sioux) recently summed up the situation this way: “We
are people who live in the belly of the monster.
The monster being the U.S.A.”
Despite this, Native Americans have demonstrated a will to survive
and the ability to adapt to difficult conditions.
Beginning in the 1970s, Indian activists began to demand more rights
and have achieved some significant successes in terms of economic opportunities,
land rights, and control over intellectual property, cultural artifacts, and
human remains.
This course offers a beginning survey of Native North American peoples
and cultures north of Mexico from the perspective of anthropology. The subject matter is enormous in scope and resources. I had to make choices about what to include
and what approaches to take. These
choices were based on the nature of recent scholarship in the field, the availability
of reasonably priced resources, a sense of topical and geographical balance,
and my own interests. Since I am not
Native American, I must perforce approach the subject as an outsider.
This is of course commonplace in anthropology, but it does raise questions
about the grounds on which one justifies discussing the lives of other people. I believe that the best justification, at least in this case, is
that non-Indians need to know about Native Americans -- not only about the
mistreatment they have received as a group, but about them in their cultural
diversity and as whole people. Native
Americans are an important part of this continent’s and this county’s history
and present makeup; knowing about them will help to create an atmosphere in
which better attitudes and policies involving them can prevail. Furthermore, as in learning about any other
cultures, we may find wisdom to borrow. The
best one can do is pledge to approach the subject with dignity, respect, and
integrity.
Texts:
John Bierhorst, The Mythology of North America (2002 ed.)
Shepherd Krech, The Ecological Indian: Myth and History (1999)
John D. Loftin, Religion and Hopi Life in the Twentieth Century
(1994 ed.)
Ruth M. Underhill, Papago Woman (1985; orig pub 1936)
Will Roscoe, Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North
America (1998)
Elizabeth S. Grobsmith, Lakota of the Rosebud (1981)
Douglas E. Foley, The Heartland Chronicles (1995)
Kenneth Rosen (ed.), The Man To Send Rain Clouds (1992 ed.)
Packet
A.
Introduction
B.
Cosmos and Culture (comparative mythology)
C.
Ecology (comparative ethnohistory)
D.
A Traditional Life (autobiography - Papago)
E.
Gender (comparative ethnology)
F.
Religion (ethnography – Hopi)
G.
The Contemporary Situation
a. Life on the rez (ethnography - Lakota)
b. Life with whites (ethnography - Meskwaki)
c. Contemporary stories (literary)
Oral presentation on a culture area in first two weeks (5%)
Ten (out of 11) weekly quizzes, commentaries, or response essays (4% each, 40% total)
Mid-term exam OR 7-8 page research paper on a topic of your choice
(25%)
Final exam OR 7-8 page research paper on a topic of your choice (25%)
Oral participation (5%)
8/29 A. Course Introduction
B. Cosmology and Culture
9/3 1. Bierhorst, The
Mythology of North America, Introduction, Part I (Northwest Coast), Part
II (Far North)
Story:
“Always-Living-at-the-Coast” (Kwakiutl)
Story:
“Sedna, Mistress of the Underworld” (Inuit)
9/5 2. Bierhorst, Part
III (Southwest), Part IV (West Central)
Story:
“Creation of First Man and First Woman” (Navajo)
Story:
“The Creation” (Maidu)
9/10 3. Bierhorst, Part V
(Coast-Plateau), Part VI (Plains)
Story :
“The Trickster Becomes a Dish” (Lilloet)
Story:
“Lodge-Boy and Thrown Away” (Crow)
9/12 4. Bierhorst, Part
VII (East), Part VIII (Midwest)
Story: “Hiawatha” (Seneca)
Story: “Why the Buzzard is Bald” (Ioway)
9/17 5. Three Modern Stories
“Yellow Woman,” by Leslie Silko (in Rosen, The Man To Send Rain
Clouds)
“Tony’s Story,” by Leslie Silko (in Rosen)
“Humaweepi, the Warrior Priest,” by Leslie Silko (in Rosen)
Write a two-age commentary on the role of myth in Silko’s writing;
due 9/19
C. Ecology
9/19 1. Krech, The Ecological
Indian, Preface, Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2
9/24 2. Krech, Chapters
3 and 4
9/26 3. Krech, Chapters
5 and 6
10/1 4. Krech, Chapters 7 and 8
Read a review of Krech’s book and write
a 2 page response to it, due 10/8
D. A Traditional Life
10/3
1. Underhill, Papago Woman, Foreword,
Preface, Part One, Part Two (sections I-V)
10/8 2. Underhill, Part
Two (sections VI-XI), Part Three
10/10 Mid-Term Examination or Paper Due
E. Gender
10/15 1. Roscoe, Changing
Ones, Foreword, Chapters 1, 2, and 4
10/17 2. Roscoe, Chapters
6 and 8
10/19-10/27 *
* * F A L L B R E A K * * *
E. Gender, cont’d
10/29 3. Roscoe, Chapters
9, 5, 10
F. Religion
10/31 1. Loften, Religion
and Hopi Life, Foreword, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Chapters 1 and
2
11/5 2. Loften, Chapters
3 and 4
11/7 3. Loften, Chapters
5 and 6
G. The Contemporary Situation
1. Life
on the Rez
11/12 a. Grobsmith, Lakota of the Rosebud, Chapters
1, 2, 3, and 4
11/14 b. Grobsmith, Chapters 5 and 6
11/19 c. Grobsmith, Chapters 7, 8, and 9
2. Life with Whites
11/21 a. Foley, Heartland Chronicles, Introduction,
Chapters 1 and 2
11/26 b. Foley, Chapters 3 and 4
11/28-12/1 Thanksgiving Recess
12/3 c. Foley, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 (to page 172)
12/5 d. Foley, Chapter 6 (finish), Chapter 7, and Epilogue
3. Contemporary Stories
12/10 a. “Chapter I,” Anna Lee Walters (in Rosen)
“The Man To Send Rain Clouds,” Leslie Silko
(in Rosen)
“The San Francisco Indians,” Simon Ortiz
(in Rosen)
12/12 b. “Kaiser and the War,” Simon Ortiz (in Rosen)
“Whispers From a Dead World,” Joseph Little
(in Rosen)
“Nowhere to Go,” R.C. Gorman (in Rosen)