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Native American Religions in North America

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Native American Religions in North America A 200-Level Native American Undergraduate Seminar Religions Instructor: Brenna Keegan [email protected] 406.223.8432 Course Description This 200-level course explores the history of Native American religions in North America. We will evaluate and analyze the rich cultural, ceremonial, and ideological diversity of Native American religious practices and beliefs in diverse contexts: from the Northeast to the Great Plains, from the Southeast to the Pacific Northwest. In addition to distinct tribal traditions, we will discuss several pan- Indian religious movements, such as the Ghost Dance and the Native American Church. We will analyze how historical experiences, such as contact with Euro-American missionaries, settlers, and soldiers, the dispossession of tribal lands and cultural genocide, and the development of hybrid and revitalization movements affect ritual practice and religious belief over time. Throughout, we will develop and analyze theories and methods in the study of Native American religions. We will consider what counts as “religion” in America and how religious traditions shape and are shaped by other forms of difference (race, class, gender, age, sexuality, etc.). We will wrestle with how to appreciate cultural continuities, account for historical changes and articulate new religious combinations. At the same time, we will tackle questions of violence, asymmetrical power, colonization and the need for decolonized methodologies. Course Outcomes 1. Evaluate the religious expressions of diverse Native American communities by identifying key figures, groups, ideas, and events and synthesizing the connections between them; 2. Analyze religion’s intersection with politics, race, ethnicity, and gender, as well as literature, art, and culture; 3. Develop fundamental methodological and theoretical concepts utilized in the study and analysis of Native American religion; 4. Develop research skills and improve ability to write analytically and comparatively about broad themes and historical moments, as well as specific texts and case studies. Course Assignments You will complete 3 three to four-page papers throughout the semester. They will be thesis-driven and will synthesize evidence from course material. I will distribute the prompt in class at least ten days before each paper is due. For paper 1, you will peer-review each other’s papers in class, which means you will need to bring a complete rough draft of your paper to class. Working in small groups, you will be responsible for the creation of an encyclopedia entry of a Native American religion not discussed in class, highlighting connections between religious practice and belief and other aspects of life. We will spend one class period in the library, learning about best practices for research, available databases and resources for your project. As a group, you will briefly present the tradition—including images, videos, or recordings—to the entire class, with attention to how it fits into the broader themes and histories studied in the course. The final in-class exam will be a combination of multiple choice, primary source passage identification, and essay questions. You will be expected to know the key theories, methods, figures, tribes, ideas, and events discussed in the course, as well contextualize and reflect on the major themes of the course as a whole. Course Requirements 1. Attend and participate in seminars (20%) 3. Encyclopedia entry and presentation (20%) 2. 3 three to four-page reflection papers (30%) 4. Final Exam (30%) Required Texts -Deloria, Ella Cara. Waterlily. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1988. (Novel) -Native American Spirituality: A critical reader. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. Edited by Lee Irwin. Week One: Theorizing Native American Religions -John Grim, “American Indian Religions: Cultural Identity, Authenticity, and Community Survival,” in Native American Spirituality: 37-60. Week Two: Kinship and Tribal Identities -Watch, Smoke Signals. Dir. Chris Eyre. Prod. Sherman Alexie, 1998. Film. -Waterlily, chapters 1-7: 3-68. Week Three: Sacred Narratives -Keith Basso (1988), “’Stalking with Stories’: Names, Places, and Moral Narratives among the Western Apache,” in Text, play and story, ed. Edward M. Bruner: 19-55. -Waterlily, chapters 8-12: 69-134. Week Four: Native Ways of Knowing. Paper 1 Due. -“Aspects of Traditional Knowledge and Worldview,” in Paradigm Wars: Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance to Globalization, (2006): 23-34. -Waterlily, chapters 13-17: 147-229. Week Five: Gender and Sexuality -Monica Diaz (2011), “Native American Women and Religion in the American colonies,” Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers 28(2): 205-231. -Alexandria Wilson (Opaskwayak Cree Nation) (2015), “Two-spirit people, body sovereignty, and gender self-determination,” Journal of Global Indigeneity, 1(1): 1-5. Week Six: Healing and Medicine - Ake̊ Hultkrantz (1992), “The Tlingit Shaman and His Healing Practices,” Shamanic Healing and Ritual Drama: health and medicine in native North American religious traditions. -Denise Nadeau (Mi’kmaq) and Alannah Earl Young (Musikeginiwak Cree), “Restoring Sacred Connection with Native Women in the Inner City,” in Religion and healing: 115-135. Week Seven: Colonialism and Displacement. Paper 2 Due. -Michelene E. Pesantubbee (Choctaw Nation), “Religious Studies on the Margins: Decolonizing Our Minds,” in Native Voices: American Indian Identity and Resistance (2003): 209-222. -Patrick Wolfe (2006), “Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native,” Journal of Genocide Research 8(4): 387-409. Week Eight: Prophecy and Revitalization -Lee Irwin, “Freedom, Law, and Prophecy: A Brief History of Native American Religious Resistance,” in Native American spirituality: 295-316. -William G. McLoughlin (1990), “Ghost Dance Movements,” Ethnohistory 37(1): 25-44. Week Nine: Encyclopedia Group Presentations Week Thirteen: Sacred Landscapes and Religious Conflict - Vine. Deloria Jr., “Sacred Places and Moral Responsibility,” God Is Red: A Native View of Religion, (1994): 267-282. -Eric Freedman (2007), “Protecting Sacred Sites on Public Land: Religion and Alliances in the Mato Tipila-Devils Tower Litigation,” American Indian Quarterly 31(1): 1–22. Week Twelve: Ancestral Remains and Sacred Objects. Paper 3 Due. -Greg Johnson, “Repatriation, Tradition, and the Study of Religion,” Sacred Claims: repatriation and living tradition, (2007): 153-160. -Clara Sue Kidwell, “Repatriating the Past--Recreating Indian History,” in Native American Spirituality: 195-204. Week Ten: Native and Christian -Thomas Buckley, “The Shaker Church and the Indian Way in Native Northwestern California,” in Native American Spirituality: 256-269. -Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux), “Vision and Community: A Native American Voice” in Native and Christian: Indigenous Voices on Religious Identity in the United States, (1996): 105-114. Week Eleven: The Native American Church -Thomas C. Maroukis, “The Origins and Development of the Peyote Religion and the Native American Church” and “The Struggle for Constitutional Protection,” The Peyote Road: Religious Freedom and the Native American Church, (2010): 14-59, 183-229. Week Fourteen: Cultural Appropriation or Appreciation? -Christopher Ronwanien:te Jocks (Mohawk), “Spirituality for Sale: Sacred Knowledge in the Consumer Age,” in Native American spirituality: 61-77. -Lisa Aldred (2000), “Plastic Shamans and Astroturf Sun Dances,” The American Indian Quarterly 24(3): 329-352. Week Fifteen: Final Exam .
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