Looking Through Indigenous Eyes:
The Elements of Native Worldview in a Modern Context
The media reports are prevalent today of American Indians protecting their Sacred Sites and Water Rights in locations across the United States and Canada: Oil Pipelines such as the Dakota, Keystone, and Trans-Mountain sites as well as sales of Indian lands to foreign entities jeopardize their lives and traditional ways. The movement continues to grow. This class will examine such issues in the context of Native Worldview to understand how and why the Indigenous People are concerned with their rights and sovereignty.
Each week, we will look at an element of Native Worldview and Philosophy. We will spend the first half of class examining the specific element(s) and the remainder of class looking carefully at how the elements are reflected in the specific issue.
Syllabus and Sequence
Week One: – Elements of the Indigenous Worldview & What Is
The Idle No More Movement
Week Two: – Treaties with the United States & the Nisqually Fishing
Wars: The Foundation of Northwest Native Resistance
Week Three: – Tribal Sovereignty & the Issues and Effects of the
Dakota Access (NODAPL), Keystone, Enbridge and Trans- Mountain Pipelines
Week Four: – Native Spirituality & Land Issues of the Apache, Hopi,
and Lakota
Week Five: – Native Identity & Tribal Disenrollment
Week Six: – The Indigenous Community & Federal Recognition of
Tribes
Week Seven: – Federal Indian Policy and Law & Violence Against
Women and the Indian Child Welfare Act
Week Eight: – The Indigenous Circular and Cyclical Life &
Indian Poverty, Suicide, Alcoholism as result of
Intergenerational Trauma