Oberlin College

Gary J. Kornblith
History 325
Rice 306
Spring 2004

x58526
gary.kornblith@oberlin.edu
Office hours: Wed., 3:30-5 p.m.,
and by appointment

Native American History, ca. 1450-1900

[Note: The official, up-to-date syllabus for this course is online at http://www.oberlin.edu/history/GJK/H325S2004/.]

This course approaches Native American experience from a sympathetic yet unromantic cultural perspective. We begin with the premise that Native Americans were active agents in producing their history both before and after the European invasion of North America--not just victims of white oppression and/or abstract social forces. Topics include cultural diversity in North America on the eve of European colonization; the dynamics of early Indian-European encounters in different regions of North America; the role of slavery in Native American societies and in Indian-European relations; the political and spiritual dimensions of accommodation and resistance to Euro-American expansion in the eighteenth century; the construction and reconstruction of Indian identities in the era of the American Revolution; the process of Indian Removal; and nineteenth-century struggles in the Southwest and on the Great Plains. Emphasis will be placed on current scholarly debates and varieties of historical analysis. Students are encouraged to think independently, and student participation in class discussions (both online and face-to-face) is essential to the success of the course. Written work, like class discussions, will focus on the wide-ranging and intellectually challenging assigned readings.

Format: The class meets regularly on Tuesdays from 1:00 to 2:50 p.m. Class attendance is mandatory, participation in class discussions is expected, and students are also required to post a question or comment on Blackboard in advance of class sessions.
Evaluation: Final grades will be based on three 6-7 page papers (25% each) and class participation (25%), including contributions to Blackboard. The instructor reserves the right to exercise some discretion in assigning final grades.
Honor Code: All course work is governed by Oberlin's Honor Code. If you have a question about how the Honor Code applies to a particular assignment, you should ask the professor in advance of the due date.

Purchases: The following books should be bought and brought to class for the relevant discussions. They are available for purchase at the Oberlin Bookstore.

  • Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples (2nd ed.)
  • Ramon A. Gutiérrez, When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away
  • James F. Brooks, Captives and Cousins
  • James D. Drake, King Philip's War
  • Alan Gallay, The Indian Slave Trade
  • Richard White, The Middle Ground
  • James H. Merrell, Into the American Woods
  • Gregory Evans Dowd, A Spirited Resistance
  • Claudio Saunt, A New Order of Things

Schedule of classes and assignments:
Feb. 10

Perspectives and methodologies

  • Calloway, First Peoples, 1-11
  • Calvin Martin, "An Introduction Aboard the Fidèle" in Martin, ed., The American Indian and the Problem of History, 3-26 [on ERes]
  • Richard White, "Using the Past: History and Native American Studies," in Russell Thornton, ed., Studying Native America: Problems and Prospects, 217-243 [on ERes]
  • Angela Cavendar Wilson, "Power of the Spoken Word: Native Oral Traditions in American Indian History," in Donald L. Fixico, ed., Rethinking American Indian History, 101-116 [on ERes]

Feb. 17


Cahokia

America before European invasion

  • Calloway, First Peoples, 12-62
  • Jay Miller, "A Kinship of Spirit" in Josephy, ed., America in 1492, 305-337 [on ERes]
  • Clara Sue Kidwell, "Systems of Knowledge," in Josephy, ed., America in 1492, 369-403 [on ERes]
  • Neal Salisbury, "The Indians' Old World: Native Americans and the Coming of Europeans," William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 53 (July 1996): 435-458 [in JSTOR, accessible from a campus computer]

Feb. 24



Quarai Mission

Early Encounters in the Southwest

  • Calloway, First Peoples, 63-77, 106-108
  • Gutiérrez, When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away, xi-xxxi, 3-140
  • Angelico Chavez, "Pohe-yemo's Representative and the Pueblo Revolt of 1680," in David J. Weber, ed., What Caused the Pueblo Revolt of 1680?, 84-114 [on ERes]
  • Brooks, Captives and Cousins,1-116

Mar. 2



Metacom (King Philip)

Early Encounters in New England
Mar. 9

Early Encounters in the Southeast
Mar. 16

Video: Ikwe [N.B.: We will meet in Mudd 456.]
First paper due

Mar. 23


Jesuit Relations

Middle Ground? Intercultural Relations in the Great Lakes Region

  • Calloway, First Peoples, 78-84, 137-55
  • White, The Middle Ground, ix-xvi, 1-185
  • Susan Sleeper-Smith, Indian Women and French Men, 38-53 [on ERes]

Spring Break

Apr. 6
Middle Ground? Intercultural Relations in the Mid-Atlantic Region
  • Daniel K. Richter, "War and Culture: The Iroquois Experience," William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., 40 (Oct. 1983): 528-59 [in JSTOR]
  • Merrell, Into the American Woods, 19-71, 95-105, 115-21, 128-224, 253-56, 270-82, 302-15.

Apr. 13


Tenskwatawa

The American Revolution in Indian Country, I

  • Calloway, First Peoples, 155-159, 199-209
  • White, The Middle Ground, 186-268
  • Dowd, Spirited Resistance, 1-147

Apr. 20

The American Revolution in Indian Country, II

Apr. 29 (Thursday)


Trail of Tears

Indian Removal [N.B. Class meets in King 127]

May 4

Videos: Last Stand at Little Big Horn; Geronimo and the Apache Resistance     [N.B. Class meets in Mudd 456]
Second paper due

May 11



Crazy Horse

 

Struggles in the Southwest and on the Great Plains

May 22

Final paper due