intro american indian studies

3. Because Indigenous identity is not what was curated from imagination by newcomers and because Natives were not vanishing and are very much still here assimilation through education was attempted. However for humans assimilation is not possible. We are complex creatures who grow in layers of experience that we must make sense of. We simple cannot erase ourselves and fill it with something else. Assimilation leads to a painful muddling of identity. Watch: https://www.pbs.org/video/unspoken-americas-native-american-boarding-schools-oobt1r/ (Links to an external site.)(1 hr. in length). What are your thoughts on this and the impacts of attempted ‘assimilation’? 4. Phenomenology has the root phenomenon (meaning a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen especially one whose explanation is in question) in it. Read Chapter12.pdf. Actions A. In the Chapter’s title why might a word that contains the root phenomenon be used to describe this Indigenous person’s situation or how they experience the world in relation to those of the dominant culture who may read this work? B. After reading Chapter 12 what are your thoughts on it (provide specific examples from the chapter) in relation to what you have learned during the last few weeks of this class? C. The story you just read was from your text on American Indian Thought (remember you need your own copy by next week). The Americas include the whole land mass of North Central and South America. Even though Canada is now a different country the colonizing forces that created it were similar to the US. Residential schools existed in both the US and Canada. Chapter 12 is about the experience of Indian residential school in Canada. Canada is undergoing an interrogation of this abusive system so apologies can be made and healing can occur. I would like to expose you to some of the stories of residential school being uncovered. Watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGrJNUCQ-r4 (Links to an external site.). (50 min. in length). What are your thoughts on this? D. This is another of the reconciliation stories that was uncovered ResidentialSchoolVignette.docx Actions E. This is a poem I wrote that is in a book of Critical Autoethnography—of telling our stories so that others may understand how we perceive experience and make sense of the world through our own eyes. Read it:TwoBraids.pdf Actions 5. I also made you a video the other day in the park across the street from me. Watch it:https://youtu.be/DF2J-aH-6X4 (Links to an external site.)( 1 min in length). What are your thoughts on it in relation to all you have read and watched in this lesson; what does it make you think about the complex relationships to roots who nourish our current identities? Part 2 1. Watch: http://www.greggdeal.com/Indian-Pedigree-1 Links to an external site.(10 min). Links to an external site.a. In the European Holocaust those who genocide was carried out against received numbers tattooed on them. In the US and Canada Native people are not tattooed but rather are issued their numbers on cards that look like driver’s licenses. However Deal chooses to get his tattooed on him as his ‘performance piece.’ Why do you think he does this; that is what is he trying to get viewers to think about or make connections to? b. Pedigree is only officially tracked for dogs horses and Native Americans. Why do you think Native people are included with dogs and horses and what do you think the impact may be on their rights and protections? c. Why do you think I ALWAYS capitalize ‘Indigenous’ and ‘Native’ when referring to human beings even though this is not yet a common convention in things written by others from the dominant culture including my colleagues and many of you? What do you choose when writing about Native or Indigenous people and why? d. Why might a tribe choose not to sign a treaty with the US or Canadian government to be federally recognized in this way and included in policies like blood quantum? e. What are other thoughts you have on this video? 2. Education and Identity: Because we he have been thinking about how education has influenced Indigenous identity I want you to read two short articles. a. What are your thoughts on the story of Plenty Horses (PlentyHorses.pdf) Actions experience? b. What are your thoughts on the story Shawn Wilson (CoyoteWantsToStudy.pdf) Actions wrote? 3. Interstitial spaces and identity: This week you are reading a chapter written by the editor of your book American Indian Thought. She is Native American (Seminole Choctaw Chickasaw and Cherokee) and Jewish and has 4 graduate degrees; she has spent a lifetime studying within the educational systems of the dominant culture to know how to use the words of those who have oppressed Native Peoples to fight for Indigenous voice and rights. Significant pieces of Anne Waters identity overlap to make her something that could be called a ‘word warrior.’ Anishinaabe author Gerald Vizenor states that we don’t find ourselves in the sides of ourselves but rather in the ‘seams.’ The chapters in the book each have different Native authors and of those hers are some of the most challenging to read. Even though they are hard to read I want you to do so to show you how Anne Waters in not the “Indian” Edward Curtis “had in mind” and how she may not be the one you had in mind either because of Curtis influence. a. Read Chapter13.pdf Actions from AIT (I uploaded it again this week due to problems with people’s books arriving on time…but you REALLY need a copy by next week 🙂 What are your thoughts on the chapter and what she shares in it? b. Waters’ chapter was challenging for me to read because of her great ability with words; the words lawyers are able to use are often hard for me to follow because I am not a lawyer. However in the chapter you read this week by Anne Waters she uses the word ‘interstitial’ in the title. She is talking about identity but ‘interstitial’ is a term most often used in science because matter is made of more ‘nothing’ than ‘something’ (like atoms are more space than atomic particles yet I cannot put my hand through a table) and the things we cannot perceive are powerful (like a blackhole and its gravity). As a geologist I am familiar with the concept of ‘interstitial spaces’ in describing rocks and soil characteristics. I made you a video:https://youtu.be/KRbD7b9DhukLinks to an external site. What are your thoughts on the video? Even though we have parts of our identity that may be visible what are your thoughts on drawing upon invisible ‘interstitial’ spaces to find things that aid our survival? c. In what you have learned from anything in this class so far (or maybe specifically from individuals like Plenty Horses or Anne Waters or Gregg Deal or Thomas King) what do you think ‘interstitial spaces’ might have to do with Indigenous people—their identity and survival? d. What are your final thoughts on this lesson? A. Listen to Thomas Kings story:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raLSj4ebWKQLinks to an external site. (16 min in length). What occurs in the Coyote Columbus Story? How is the story relatable without being transferable to the real Columbus story? How does that create cognitive dissonance (disrupt a narrative we think we know) so that we can re-think/ re-examine it? B. On page 15 of AIT Burkhart sates “Coyote is described as a philosopher in many American Indian stories. In part this is because he wonders about things about how they really work. Often in doing so however he forgets his place in the world: he does not remember how he is related.” That said in Kings Coyote Columbus story why is it ironic that Coyote wonders if Columbus understands how he is related ? C. Pointing blame prevents the processing of an intended message because instead of hearing the listeners cognitive focus is on building their defense. We are very simple creatures and can only perform one cognitive activity at a time. Stories help get messages across this boundary. That is as a story begins the listener becomes invested and then before they begin making connection that it may be about them and the fixing of their behavior they want to hear the end. Listen to a story I wrote about how I imagine contact: The Men Made of Winter.m4a.zip download (6 min in length). What happens in the story? How do I create cognitive dissonance? What does the story make you think about contact between Europeans and the Anishinaabeg?