Stolen Continents:

The Indian Story

Fall 2008 HIST 404/ AIST 404

MWF TLC 31

Professor: Ian Chambers

Office: History department, 315 Administration building

Phone: (208) 885-6551

Office hours: MWF 2:00pm – 3:00pm

Additional office hours available by appointment

E-mail:

Course Description:

In this course, we will examine the images and realities of North American Indian cultures and history during the early periods of European-Native American contact in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and early eighteenth centuries. Our focus will stretch not only over a long period of time but also over the broad regions of North America. In a course that spans hundreds of years, thousands of miles, and millions of lives, we have to be selective in our topics. Thus, we will concentrate on some particular themes and topics:

  • Constructions of cultural identity (Native American concepts of "self," constructions of "Indian" by Europeans, and the ethnogenesis of Native American peoples in response to the decimation of disease and warfare)
  • Diplomacy, warfare, and the politics of negotiating relationships between Indian nations and European invaders
  • Trade, exchange networks, and native political economies
  • Indian response and resistance to European attempts at religious and cultural conversion and native revitalization movements
  • Dynamics of cultural change, stability, and transformation as Native American and Euroamerican peoples came into contact and conflict

Texts:

The following books are required.

 James Axtell, Natives and Newcomers: The Cultural Origins of North America

 Peter C. Mancall and James H. Merrell, eds., American Encounters: Natives and Newcomers from European Contact to Indian Removal – 1500-1850

Weekly reading assignments are posted on my website

From the home page click on Course Links

Assignments/Grading:

 Class Participation/Presentation – (30%)

 Research Paper – (40%) – 2800 - 3000 words

 Final – (30%)

Class Rules and Regulations:

Three-One System

You must wait ONE day before contesting any grade

You must write ONE paragraph explaining why your grade should be adjusted

You must challenge the grade within ONE week of receiving it.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism WILL NOT be tolerated

Late Papers

You will lose one point per minute for any late work.

Disabilities:

Any student who needs special accommodations should contact me as soon as possible

Schedule

Week/ Date / Important Notes
1 / 25-29 August / Native American - Intro
2 / 1 – 5 September / No Class Monday –Labor day / Euro - Intro
3 / 8-12 September / Contacts
4 / 15-19 September / Contacts
5 / 22-27 September / Contacts
6 / 29 Sept – 3 Oct / Consumption
7 / 6 – 10 October / Consumption
8 / 13-17 October / Consumption
9 / 20-24 October / Conversion
10 / 27-31 October / Conversion
11 / 3- 7 November / Conversion
12 / 10-14 November / Clashes
13 / 17-21 November / Paper Due in Class Wednesday 19th Nov / Clashes
X / 24-28 November / Fall Break
14 / 1-5 December / Clashes
15 / 8-12 December / Conclusion
15-19 December / Exam Week

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