Class will be offered for 8 Fridays at 10:30 to 12:30 via Zoom through the Communiversity at Providence Point starting January 7th.
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This class is a revised and enhanced iteration of the previously offered course. American Indians have not "vanished," as it is often surmised. In fact, it is quite the contrary: Native Americans are thriving and contributing to the rich tapestry of the American culture. After first looking at the Indigenous Worldview and learning how we each personally relate to it, this class will then explore several topics that are fundamental to Native people and their way of life, using the Indigenous Worldview to compare and contrast them to that of the mainstream, which is often completely opposite to the Indian Perspective. We will examine the topics listed below:

• Worldview in Indian Country

• Indian Identity                                        

• The Circularity of Life

• The Land Is Sacred

• Native Spirituality

• Oral Tradition

• The Native Community

• Federal Indian Policy

• Indian Education

Module 4:
"The Sanctity of Land"

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     The Land viewed by the Euro-American is seen as an object, a commodity to be owned, and viewed as an investment for profit; it is there to develop and commercialize for financial gain. To Indigenous People, Land is Sacred, Holy. There is a strong interdependent relational bond between Land and People. Land is Mother Earth. We came to be from within the womb of Mother Earth. [She] is home for all living beings: human people, animal people, plant people, everything in the universe. Therefore, Mother Earth, as an interdependent sustainer of life, is not to be stripped, taken apart, or desecrated nor should boundaries of property be placed upon her. To understand us ... one must first understand our spiritual relationship, our connection with the Land, with Mother Earth. If non-Natives can understand our Spiritual Relationship with the Land ... then one can better understand our people, our culture, and our traditional beliefs (Waters, 2004, p. 134).

Suggested Readings

Starkey: The Native American Experience

Treuer: "Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians" 

Week Essential Questions

• "Native Identity Essential Questions"

   

Articles

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• "The Sanctity of Land – An Indigenous Perspective" (Starkey)

• "Land Is More Than Just the Ground Beneath Our Feet"

• "How Returning Lands to Native Americans Is Helping Protect Nature"

Videos

• "Native Prophecies (About Land) Are Coming True"

• "10 Sacred Native American Sites"

• "Visit the White Earth Rez Data"

• "White Earth Nation Official Site"

Recurring Items

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• What Does it Mean to Be Indigenous?

• Terms to Be Familiar With

• Worldview Review Sheet

• Seven Sacred Teachings of the Grandfathers 

• Traditional Code of Ethics

• Native Worldview: What It is Not