HIST 595 - INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, SOVEREIGNTY, & THE UNITED STATES

What is the Indigenous history behind the BIPOC movement? Current issues surrounding Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the use of Native Americans as sports team mascots, protests over water rights, conflicts over monuments from Mount Rushmore to Plymouth Rock, protests over violence against Native Americans and the ways the criminal justice system treats Indigenous Americans, all have been informed by the past.  This course contextualizes many of these issues by providing an introduction to Native American history through the lens of identity and sovereignty.  We will study how interactions between European nations and Indigenous peoples during the 16^th and 17^th centuries influenced policies of the United States after the American Revolution. The bulk of the course then explores changing US policies towards its native peoples from the beginning of the U.S. period to the present. U.S. federal policy and its precursors provides the chronological framework of the course, but Indigenous perspectives are an integral part of every unit.  Students will read works written by Indigenous writers and watch videos by and featuring Native American perspectives for each topic covered.

This course counts for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Minor (NAIS Minor) and satisfies the Group I requirement for the History Major.