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Spring Semester 2006
Professor Eve Darian-Smith
Office: Gordon Hall 115, Office hours: Mondays 10 - noon
Legal Studies 470
Indigenous Peoples – Global Issues
3:35 - 4:50 pm
Mondays and Wednesdays
Course Description
Around the world, indigenous peoples are typically marginalized and denied access to mainstream society and legal protection. Taking an historical perspective, drawing on ethnographic materials, and examining themes of colonialism and postcolonialism, this course examines contemporary indigenous communities’ engagement with legal institutions in Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. To what extent do these communities engage in dominant legal systems? Is law, and specifically the concept of property rights, interpreted differently in native cultural settings? What is legal pluralism? Has the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples made a difference in correcting glaring inequities? Do indigenous human rights feature at all in transnational and international legal forums?
Course Assessment:
Your grade for this course will be determined on the following basis:
Quizzes . . (4 @ 10% each) ...... 40%
Class participation and attendance ...... 10%
Class presentation………………………………………………20%
Final take-home exam ...... 30%
A short answer quiz will be given periodically throughout the semester that will cover readings, lectures, and films seen in class. There will be 6 quizzes given throughout the semester. To calculate your grade I will count the best 4 (out of 6) quiz grades.
Class participation and attendance are required components of this course. This class is designed to emphasize discussion rather than lectures. Active participation involves keeping up with the reading assignments and coming to class prepared to share your own thoughts and ideas. Participation also involves attending classes on a regular basis.
Class presentations: During the first couple of weeks I will circulate a sign-up sheet for presentations in the final weeks of the semester. Groups of 3 – 4 of your colleagues will be responsible for researching the historical and political contexts of one group of indigenous peoples and linking the specific case to materials and themes covered during the semester.
The final take-home exam will be given out in class on 17 May and due back on Monday 22 May at 9am in my office. The format of the take-home exam will be discussed in class.
Films will be shown to give you additional information and visual context. It is mandatory that you attend film showings since they will not be available on reserve for viewing at another time. You may be asked questions aboutthe films in the quizzes.
Required texts are available at the Amherst bookstore Food For Thought:
- Anaya, S. James (2004) Indigenous Peoples in International Law. Oxford. ISBN: 0195173503
- Collier, George (1999) Basta! Land and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas. Food First. ISBN: 093502879X
- Darian-Smith, Eve (2003) New Capitalists: Law, Politics, and Identity Surrounding Casino Gaming on NativeAmericanLand. Wadsworth. ISBN: 053461308X
- Reynolds, Henry (1996) Aboriginal Sovereignty: Reflections on race, state and nation. Allen & Unwin. ISBN: 1863739696
Wed Feb 1Introduction to the Course
Week 2Imagining the Other: Early Encounters
Monday Feb 6* Axtell, James (2001) Natives and Newcomers: The Cultural
Origins of North America. Oxford. Pp. 15-45. (handout)
* Jeffrey Amherst and the Smallpox Blankets (handout)
Wed Feb 8Defining terms: Sovereignty, Self Determination, Indigenous, Colonialism, Postcolonialism, Legal Pluralism
* d’Errico, Peter (2001) Native Americans in America: A Theoretical and Historical Overview. Pp. 481-499 (handout)
* Hitt, Jack (2005) The Newest Indians. New York Times.
(handout)
* NativeGroupTakesLand Dispute to UN (handout)
Week 3Mexico, Chiapas and the Zapatista Rebellion
Monday Feb 13* Collier.Foreword, Preface, Ch 1 and2, Read pages vii - 52
Wed Feb 15* Collier. Read pages 53 -90
Week 4
Monday Feb 20HOLIDAY
Tuesday Feb 21* Collier. Read pages 107 - 155
Wed Feb 22* Collier. Read pages 156 – 176
* Sierrra, Maria Teresa (2005) The Revival of Indigenous Justice in Mexico: Challenges for Human Rights and the State. PoLAR 28(1):52 – 72 (handout)
Week 5Australian Aborigines – Cultural and Political Contexts
Monday Feb 27Film: The Rabbit Proof Fence
* Peter d’Errico book review of Separated: Australian Aboriginal Children Separations and Guardianship Law. (handout)
Wed March 1Film: (continued)
Week 6Australian Aborigines, Terra Nullius, and Land Rights
Monday March 6* Reynolds Read pages ix - 38
Wed March 8* Reynolds Read pages 39 - 85
Week 7
Monday March 13* Reynolds Read pages 86 - 135
Wed March 15* Reynolds Read pages 136 - 186
Week 8
Monday March 20SPRING RECESS
Wed March 22SPRING RECESS
Week 9The Innuit and CanadianLand Right Negotiations
Monday March 27* Blackburn, Carole (2005) Searching for Guarantees in the Midst of
Uncertainty: Negotiating AboriginalLand Rights and Title in British Colombia. American Ethnologist 107(4). Pp. 586-596.
Wed March 29Film: Hunters and Bombers
Week 10Native Americans in US History
Monday April 3* Darian-Smith Read Foreword, Preface and Ch 1 and 2, pages ix - 51
Wed April 5* Darian-Smith Read pages 52 – 69, and Appendix A
Week 11Casinos on Reservations
Monday April 10* Darian-Smith Read pages 70 - 114
Wed April 12Film: The Rules of the Game
Week 12
Monday April 17HOLIDAY
Wed April 19Indigenous Peoples and International Law: Historical Contexts
* Anaya Read pages 3 - 34
Week 13The Modern Era of Human Rights and Self Determination
Monday April 24* Anaya Read pages 49 –72
Wed April 26* Anaya Read pages 97 –115, 129 - 156
Week 14The Duty of States to Implement International Norms
Monday May 1* Anaya Read pages 185 – 200, 217 - 234
Wed May 3Film: A Tattoo On My Heart
Week 15Class Presentations
Monday May 8presentations
Wed May 10presentations
Week 16
Monday May 15presentations
Wed May 17Take-home exam handed out in class, due Monday 22 May at 9am in
my office.