Why "Precolonial" Indigenous North American History Matters: A Mini Syllabus
Okay I had this half-finished lying around so I prettied it up into something vaguely usable and added links wherever possible (most of them being totally legal...)
This is not a full treatment of Indigenous history before European contact. It was originally created to be a 15 week class, so it was not intended to cover everything but to give a taste of various regions and histories. Unfortunately, certain essays I would highly recommend are in the Oxford handbooks I listed at the end, and I have been unable to locate free-to-access versions.
Each section includes a question to consider that is intended to suggest ways that these precolonial histories have reverberations into the present. In a course I'd be able to draw them out more clearly, but keep them in mind as you read, if you like. Finally, please keep in mind that few of these sources will read like a "straightforward history" of "precolonial [xyz region/tribe/nation]." Be open-minded and critical-thinking!
Part 1: Foundations
Questions to consider:
Why didn't we learn this stuff?
Why should we learn this stuff?
Why do so many Indigenous people distrust historians / anthropologists / archaeologists?
Readings:
Michael Witgen (Red Cliff Ojibwe), "American Indians in World History" in The Oxford Handbook of American Indian History
Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux), Custer Died For Your Sins, chapter 4: "Anthropologists and Other Friends"
Floyd Westerman (Sisseton Dakota), "Here Come the Anthros" (music video!!)
Juliana Barr, "There's no such thing as prehistory"
Peregrine and Lekson, "The North American Oikumene"
(Parts 2-6 under the cut)
Part 2: Mesoamerica
Question to consider: How could so few Spaniards conquer the vast population of Tenochtitlan and other Aztec cities?
Readings:
Camilla Townsend, Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs
Popol Vuh (translated by Allen J. Christenson)
Part 3: Aridoamerica/Oasisamerica
Question to consider: How did the Southwest region of the United States become so associated with the touristy image of the "peaceful Pueblo Indian"?
Readings:
Joe Sando (Jemez Pueblo), Pueblo Nations: Eight Centuries of Pueblo Indian History
Kelley and Francis (Navajo), A Diné History of Navajoland, introduction
Severin Fowles, "The Pueblo Village in an Age of Reformation"
Part 4: The Midcontinent
Question to consider: How did the Five "Civilized" Tribes become so powerful, both historically and today?
Readings:
Alt and Pauketat, "Medieval Life in America's Heartland"
Christopher B. Teuton (Cherokee Nation), Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liar's Club
Part 5: The Great Lakes
Question to consider: What role did Indigenous peoples play in the French ultimately losing their North American colonies? (Why am I writing this in English and not French?)
Readings:
Georges Sioui (Wendat), Huron-Wendat: Heritage of the Circle (I can't find an online copy but it's extremely worth buying)
Kayanerehkowa: The Great Law of Peace (Kahnawake Mohawk)
Part 6: General Resources
I would also recommend these two handbooks, if you can get a hold of them for a non-outrageous price:
The Oxford Handbook of American Indian History (2016)
The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology (2011)
There are only around 1,500 native Cherokee speakers left, and most of them are elders
Little Cherokee Seeds is a program where mothers and babies spend all day with first language Cherokee speakers, speaking nothing but Cherokee, so that the babies become a new generation of native speakers. They're also teaching traditional skills and mothering practices to the mothers to pass on.
This is so so important for the survival of the language. These babies are on track to being fluent first language speakers, and they will be able to keep the language going for another lifetime.
I recommend checking out the little cherokee seeds facebook page!!
Okay not to dox myself but I live on Cherokee territory (#landback) and there are a few universities I know of that are working to restore the language among younger Natives. I'm not an expert, but I recommend checking out Dr Sara Snyder Hopkins and the incredible work she's doing to translate old Cherokee writings so we never lose them and Dr Ben Fray who is Cherokee and fluent and teaches it to students as a revitalization effort.
When you are used to the no-nonsense, no-context approach of medieval Irish stories, trying to read Old Norse saga literature does feel kind of like you're being told a medieval story by Uncle Colm from Derry Girls.
#you know young thorgrim as it was #ah this wouldn't be the thorgrim who was thorstein's son #THAT thorgrim lived on the other side of the fjord #or WAS it that thorgrim? #no it was the other thorgrim #his father was thorstein too you see but he was quite a different man #although you wouldn't know it to look at his farm #a mess of a place it was #i said to him thorstein i said you need to start asking thorgrim to help you more #and he said they've a haunting #would you believe it! #a haunting! #it would have been around then or was it the winter after that when they had the famine #no i think it was that winter #and a young man arrived. a warrior he was. #i never knew his father but his father's uncle— (via @trans-cuchulainn)
If this were a medieval Irish story, it would be more like:
"There was an excellent warrior, Thorir his name. He was fostered by Thorstein, who had a son called Thorgrim, but it was not an auspicious time for their farm, because there was a haunting there. When Thorir saw the dead man, he tied a withe around its feet, but it pursued him anyway. Then he performed the sword-feat, and cut the man into many pieces. He took his head and went back to Thorgrim mac Thorstein. 'O fosterbrother,' he said, 'I have killed the man who was haunting you, that is, the revenant.' Thorgrim said, 'This is a great deed.' And that is why that place is called Hill of the Dead Man."
And we will never find out who any of these people are or what was up with the revenant or what Thorir was trying to achieve with the withe -- or even who the revenant was before he was dead.
Meanwhile in the Norse saga we're still learning his family tree and Thorir hasn't even shown up yet.
Caption From @ essenceofblackculture on instagram:
Kristi Williams
@kristi_williams_black_history, a Black woman whose aunt survived the Tulsa Massacre, saw Oklahoma trying to silence Black history-and answered with action. She started "Black History Saturdays," free community classes to teach what the schools won't.
Now the room is full, the lessons are real, and the legacy lives on.
end caption
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This is a heroic feat that shouldn’t be needed. But because it is, a hero emerged.
We understand that the current catalog of FREE COURSES at Harvard is being EXTENSIVELY EXPANDED, so you'll want to check their website from time to time to see which new courses are being added.
annaxmalina
