Whose Land? Tracing History and Memory in the Native Northeast

This course explores local histories of the Native Northeast to introduce relationships between land, indigeneity, and settler colonialism. Students will learn about the Native peoples of present-day New England through readings of origin stories, historical documents, material culture, documentaries, poetry, mapping projects, and academic texts. We will consider the ways history is produced and reiterated in historical writing, popular narratives, and the land itself. Students will gain proficiency in decolonizing historical research methods and learn strategies for interpreting primary and secondary source documents in multiple short writing assignments, with opportunities for revision throughout the semester.