The Native American Experience

3 units

This course will examine the histories of North America's native peoples from the period of contact through the nineteenth century. We will begin by reconstructing the great diversity of cultural practices and political orientations in Native America during the era of European colonization, and will move on to discover how various Indian peoples responded to the coming of the Europeans. We will use examples from around North America, seeking whenever possible to construct the past on Indian terms, using sources created by the natives themselves. Students will come away from the course with a thorough overview of the Indian experience in early America, as well as a better sense of how the interaction of cultures shaped American nationhood.