Toward a Decolonial Digital and Visual American Indian Rhetorics Pedagogy

Toward a Decolonial

Pedagogical Supplements

Angela M. Haas

American Indian Cultural Literacy Autobiography-Essay

Westerners often understand literacy as a facility with the English language via reading, writing,

listening, and speaking; however, language literacy pertains to any language. For example, you maybe literate in English, but not in French. Furthermore, literacy studies can extend to other

knowledge bases that are dependent upon—yet also distinct from—language studies. To explain,this assignment asks you interrogate your cultural literacy as it pertains to American Indianliteratures and cultures. In brief, cultural literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret,create, communicate, and otherwise respectfully and responsibly engage with knowledge workassociated with specific cultural contexts (through people, print and digital texts, material culture,etc.). Thus, while many of you may be very culturally literate about American and perhaps otherWestern cultures, you may be less literate about cultures outside of your own.

Specifically, for this assignment, you are to write a 3-5 page, double-spaced, two-part essay:

one part that describes your cultural literacy as it pertains to American Indian literatures andcultures prior to enrolling in this class; and
one part that expands on this cultural literacy by researching and reporting on the indigenousculture(s) that had (and may still have) a relationship to the land that you call home.

For the first half of the assignment, you are to introduce your knowledge and/or experience(s) withAmerican Indian people, literatures, and/or cultures. You could touch on indigenous people youmay know, cultures with which you are familiar (via reading, visiting, etc.), writers you have read,singers/bands you have heard, films you may have watched. Think about what you know aboutAmerican Indians people, literatures, and cultures and from what point of view that knowledge maycome from (i.e., from American Indians or non-Indians). If you have limited exposure to suchcultural knowledges, perhaps you could write about why you think that is. You could write aboutany racism in your home community that may be directed at American Indians and why that mayhave come about. Do not think of this part of the essay as a test; there is not need to impress mewith what you know, so no need to feel compelled to do a bunch of research to write more than youmay have known prior to coming to this class. Think of this as an opportunity to reflect on whatyou know (or don’t know) and what has shaped your understanding of American Indian cultures todate.

For the second half of the assignment, you are to write about the indigenous cultures that lived in ornear your hometown prior to colonization of the United States. If you do not know thisinformation, this is where you will, in fact, have to do some outside research. These are some of thequestions that could guide your recollections and/or research: Which peoples lived there prior toEuropean conquest? What was their everyday life like? If they are still there, how have their everydaylives changed since colonization? If they are no longer there, where did they go, when, and why?Why are/were they attracted to that area, how long have they been there/were they there, and whatis/was their relationship to the landscape of that area? If there were different groups of indigenouspeoples in your area during different eras, let me know that, too. Think about what made certaintribes inhabit and migrate to/from that area.

Those of you who are adept at using the Internet may find the research potion of theassignment easy. Just make certain that you are considering the reputation of your source and itspotential biases. Others of you may need some direction in researching your area. The following aresome sources you might consider browsing to get you started:

Maps of United States Indians by State:
American Indian Maps:
Links to North American Indian Map Pages by Phil Konstantin (scroll to bottom of page):
Tribes-by-States Map Index:
U.S. Federally Non-Recognized Indian Tribes -- Index by State:
North American Pre-contact Native Cultural Areas:
MAP: Early Indian Tribes, Culture Areas, & Linguistic Stocks - East U.S. (click on map to zoomin):
MAP: Early Indian Tribes, Culture Areas, & Linguistic Stocks - West U.S. (click on map tozoom in):
MAP: Early Indian Tribes, Culture Areas, and Linguistic Stocks - Alaska (click on map to zoomin):
Indian Reservations in the Continental United States:
American Indian Map:
North American Indian Cultures Map:
North American Indian Tribes:
Native American History:
Illinois Indian Tribes and Languages:
Location of Indian Tribes in Illinois in 1623:
Historic Illinois: Old Indian Villages and Battlefields:

Youressay will be graded upon completion of course assignment, specificity and development of content,readability, organization, and grammar/mechanics.

American Indian Intellectual/Culture/Organization Class Presentation Assignment

Prepare a presentation for the class on an important American Indian, tribe/Nation, or organization in American Indian history (from ancient to contemporary). You will have 10 minutes to present maximum, so plan on 7-8 minutes to present and 1-2 minutes for Q & A. Because of this limited time frame, you will have to choose your focus carefully, but some guidelines and requirements follow to help you succeed in the completion of this project.

Guidelines. If you are presenting on an important American Indian intellectual, you should provide enough information to give us a sense of who this person is, what they have done/are doing, in what era they lived, and why they are important to their tribal community/history, American Indians writ large, and/or other communities. If you are presenting on an American Indian culture, you should provide us with enough information to get a sense of the uniqueness of this culture, their language(s), the ways in which they generally see the world and their place in it, their ancestral landbase(s), and other information that may help us to see both the uniqueness of this culture but also the relationship of this culture with others. If you are presenting on an American Indian organization, you should consider giving us the history of the organization, its mission, important members of the organization, how it has affected the everyday lives of American Indians, etc.

For any approach, you should consider your audiences and source of information (native and Non-native). Think about what we need to know and where you can find reliable source information. You will sign up in class for your presentation date and order; be prepared to present on the day for which you sign up. If you must switch dates, you must get a classmate to switch with you. Only documented emergencies can prevent you from failing a missed presentation.

Required Deliverables.

PowerPoint or Prezi URL emailed to instructor at least one hour before class. Your presentation must:

last 8-10 minutes w/Q&A
incorporate appropriate visuals and colors
convey concise yet specific information
use phrases and lists rather than full paragraphs
be extemporaneous in style
incorporate at least one indigenous source of information/research
include references slide(s) with source information
ask for questions at the end of your presentation.

NOTE: You may play video/audio or visit websites during your presentation, but this portion of your presentation should take no longer than 3 minutes.

A 1-page handout to distribute and/or share with the class. You might consider treating this handout as one or more of the following: a summary of important information from your presentation, a resource for future consultation, critical quotations, study guide, etc. Whatever approach you choose, you must: cite any sources consulted/cited to complete the handout; give the handout a title; include your name, the course number, and your e-mail address; at least one visual (clearly labeled and cited). Finally, you will need enough copies of your handout for all of your classmates and your instructor. If you would like me to make copies for you, you must send me the file—a doc, docx, or pdf—at least two hours before class. Copies of your presentation slides/screens will not suffice for this requirement.

Assessment. Your presentation will be assessed on whether you meet the aforementioned requirements of the assignment, how knowledgeable you present the culture/individual/organization, the organization and pacing of your presentation, and the confidence and effectiveness with which you deliver you presentation (clear, concise, specific, and fluent).

Summary & Critique of American Indian Media Project

For this assignment, you are to critique a “text”—print or other media—written, performed, designed, edited, filmed, produced, and/or told by an American Indian, or group of Indians.

Guidelines. You are to consider your personal, intellectual, and/or career interests and think about an American Indian literature and/or rhetoric you would like to critique. This could include novels, films, children’s books, critical/theoretical texts, edited collections, autobiographies, books/collections of short stories and poetry, documentaries, CDs, and more. Keep in mind, though, that CDs and films are not necessarily “easier” to review or take less time. We’ll talk more about this.

You may consider a “text” that is related to your interests, your major, your presentation or final project idea. If you’re unsure of what you might review at this point, consider perusing American Indian resources online, such as the “American Indian books” page of the Native Languages of the Americas website: (which provides links to books on history, poetry, art, and more—as well as other multimedia produced by American Indians). Additionally, you can search amazon.com or books.google.com for keywords related to your interests in American Indian digital, visual, print, and audio American Indian literatures and rhetorics. You can also send me an e-mail letting me know some of your interests, and I can give you suggestions based upon your preferred genres or themes (e.g. sci-fi/fantasy, ecocritcism, creative non-fiction, metaphysics, coming of age, etc.).

NOTE: Before you begin your review, you must get your “text” approved by me to ensure credibility, appropriateness, and that it is in fact authored/produced by someone indigenous to the Americas.

Required Deliverables. This assignment has several components that should scaffold to you toward a complex, critical inquiry of American Indian texts, rhetorical situations, literary themes, rhetorical tropes, and media.

An informal proposal, indicating the work (and its indigenous author/producer) you would like to review and why.
A draft 250-400 word summary of the work to class for peer review.
A summary of the work posted to Native Wiki ( and an e-mail sent to your professor with the URL and title of your summary post.

Your summary should consider an audience (both Native and non-Native) concerned with Native issues, activists, histories, cultures, and more. The summary must include:

Author(s), title, publisher/distributor, copyright/publication date, and ISBN (if applicable). Note that this information does not count toward the word count.
Type of work/genre, general topic(s) addressed, and special features (maps, deleted scenes, glossary, companion website, etc.).
Author’s purpose(s) for the work. Often indicated in prefaces, introductions, or elsewhere early on in the work. If not, consider why the author was concerned with the topic(s) addressed, the point of view, style and strategy (the ways in which the author conveyed the content of the work), the audience, and the timeliness (how this work fits into the climate of American Indian literatures/rhetorics at the time it was published/released).
Major themes, concerns, topics addressed in/by the work. Consider some of the major themes we’ve discussed this semester, such as sovereignty (political, rhetorical, intellectual), self-determination, rhetoric of empire, trickster/trickster rhetoric, ceremony/spirituality, land/place, story, memory, humor, assimilation, resistance, activism, identity, community, language revitalization, cultural sustainability, feminism, gender roles, colonization of minds, bodies, languages, lands, lifeways, cultures, and more.
Organization/Arrangement of the work. Scan the table of contents/scene order/play list to understand how the work is organized temporally, topically, thematically, spatially, etc.
Endnotes to cite in-text source information. Include complete citation of source in endnotes (MLA or APA).
NOTE: You will have to establish a Native Wiki account before you can post your summary. Follow directions at (log in/create account link in upper right hand corner of browser window).

A review essay of the work. This essay should:
Be 600-800 words.
Be comprised of 1/3 summary and 2/3 evaluation.
Have an interesting title that hints at your evaluation and a thesis statement that makes your overall assessment of the work clear, as well as the criteria upon which you are basing that assessment.
Consider your professor as the primary audience for your assessment: should I consider including this work in future American Indian Literature and Culture classes? Why or why not? You should have 2-3 specific reasons (i.e. criteria) and back them up with evidence from the text. Keep in mind that you have three review options: positive review, mixed review, or negative review. If you have a mixed review, though, please make it which way you are leaning: to recommend or not to recommend, that is the question.
Consider the rest of the campus as the secondary audience: do you recommend that classmates in this class and/or other classes consider purchasing this work? Should this work be included in other courses in the University—or elsewhere?
Interrogate some of the questions at the aforementioned review essay online resources, as well 2-3 other issues/themes/tropes relevant specifically to American Indian texts, such as sovereignty (political, rhetorical, intellectual), self-determination, rhetoric of empire, trickster/trickster rhetoric, ceremony/spirituality, land/place, story, memory, humor, assimilation, resistance, activism, identity, community, language revitalization, cultural sustainability, feminism, gender roles, colonization of minds, bodies, languages, lands, lifeways, cultures, and more. Keep in mind, though, instead of summative, this review component of the assignment asks you to evaluate how successfully the text tends to these issues and for which audiences.
Review the work you actually read/viewed, listened to—not the one you expected or wish you had. Did the work meet the goals set out for it by the author/producer?
You may elaborate on what you learned from this work, what might have proved to be disappointing, how this work may dialogue with, compare to, or have influenced other American Indian works, what you found of most value, and/or what you found least valuable.
EXTRA CREDIT: An amazon.com (or other online merchant) customer review post, with the URL of your post e-mailed to your professor.

Review amazon.com’s guidelines for customer reviews:

Condense your review essay and re-cast it for a general public sphere audience interested in American Indian literatures and cultures. You may complete either the text or video review option.

Set up an amazon.com account, search for the product you are reviewing, scroll down to Customer Reviews, click on create your own review, and then complete and post your review.

Assessment. This assignment will be graded as a portfolio, with the quality and timeliness of each component considered and assessed holistically as a complex, critical, intellectual engagement with American Indian texts, rhetorical situations, literary themes, rhetorical tropes, and a variety of media. Ultimately, the assignment will be assessed on whether the aforementioned requirements of the assignment are met, how knowledgeable you present and assess the work, and the delivery of the assignment components (readable: clear, concise, specific, and fluent; usable; and useful).

Additional Decolonial Digital and Visual Rhetorics Assignments

Locate a variety of maps for your state or vicinity over several hundred years. Determine the differences between the visual rhetoric of each map and possible reasons for those differences.
Research images and texts that speak to the images that signify Westward expansion and manifest destiny and compare the significations based on artist, audience, and historical context. Discuss implications of early and contemporary images and art visual that represent European and indigenous contact.
Reflect on the visual rhetorical artifacts you’ve interfaced with that have represented indigenous peoples.