Week 1


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Course Introduction

 

Tuesday, September 3: An Introduction to the Problems, Issues, and Study of American Indian History

 

No Readings for the First Day of Class

 

Click on the following links for the course policies and assignments

 

Native North America 

 

September 5: Native North America: Origins and Evolution

 

Pre-Columbian America was a complex world of diverse peoples with a dynamic history. For this class, we will consider how the peopling of the Americas has been studied and debated. The readings include texts by nineteenth-century writers trying to make sense of mounds and other material remains. In addition, texts from the 1990s and 2000s demonstrate how early peoples of the Americas are still a contested topic. The answers to the loaded question of who occupied the Americas first continues to have political implications.

 

Audio file: Context for today's class:http://youtu.be/F_dARCz1Lnc

 

Readings

 

 

 

Study Questions 

 

  1. How do we understand the peopling of the Americas? 
  2. Who is Kennewick Man? Why is his identity so important? What are the debates surrounding Kennewick Man?
  3. Do the debates about Kennewick Man have anything in common with nineteenth-century discussions of the mound builders? Do the nineteenth-century essays affect the way you think about the discussions surrounding the Kennewick man and the peopling of the Americas? If so, how?
  4. Was there an "urban America" before Europeans arrived?
  5. What does the timeline in the PDF "Native North America" suggest about pre-contact North America?