I. General Information

1. Course Title:
American Indian History

2. Course Prefix & Number:
HIST 2411

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

4. Course Description:

This course is a survey of pre-contact Native North America to the present. It will spend time examining the world of Indian peoples before the arrival of Columbus, the invasions of America by Europeans, the fur trade and interactions of Indians and whites during the colonial period, federal Indian policy in the early national period, conflict on the plains, efforts to Americanize the American Indian, twentieth century issues including urbanization and relations with the federal government.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

Reading College Level CLC or Reading College Level

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

St. Cloud State University, HIST 352: Native American History, 3 credits
Bemidji State University, HST: Indians of North America, 3 credits

III. Course Purpose

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 5 – History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Goal 7 – Human Diversity

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Successfully complete written assignments based on assigned reading and construct written answers to essay exam questions.
Demonstrate reading and listening skills	Successfully complete objective and essay exam questions based on assigned reading and class lectures.
Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments	Demonstrate an understanding of the cultural and historical differences between American Indians and Anglo-American society

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition. MnTC Goal 5
• Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures. MnTC Goal 5
• Describe and evaluate the development of the political, social and economic structures of American Indian societies  from pre-history to the present. MnTC Goal 5
• Analyze and interpret primary sources within their historical context. MnTC Goal 5
• Describe the development and the changing meanings of American Indian identities in the United States' history and culture. MnTC Goal 7
• Demonstrate an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups in contemporary society. MnTC Goal 7
• Describe and discuss the experience and contributions (political, social, economic, etc.) of the American Indians. MnTC Goal 7
• Demonstrate an awareness of the skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity. MnTC Goal 7
• Identify and apply alternative explanations for historical developments. MnTC Goal 5

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. American History before Columbus
• Pre-contact population
• Creation stories
• Pre-contact societies of North America
• Culture areas: West, Southwest, Eastern Woodlands, Plains
• Tribes and Confederacies
2. First Contacts
• Columbian exchange
• First impressions- the creation of stereotypes
• Differences in first encounters
• Spanish: Pueblo Revolt
• French: Fur trade
• English: “New” England and King Philips War
3. Indians in the Atlantic World
• Economic exchanges
• Cultural exchanges
• Impact of the fur trade
4. Indians and the Wars of the 18^th century
• Indian diplomacy
• French and Indian War
• American Revolution
• Captivity narratives
• Divisions within tribal communities
• Aftermath of the Revolution
5. American Indians Confront the New Nation
• United States Indian policy
• Indians confront American expansion
• United Indian Resistance
• Accommodation or Resistance?
• Treaty of Ft. Finney
• Treaty of Ft. Stanwix
• Treaty of Greenville
• Lewis and Clark Expedition
6. Indian Removals
• Removal Policy
• Cherokee resistance and debate
• Removal
• Treaty of New Echota
7. The Indian West
• Introduction of horses and guns to the plains
• New ways of life for plains peoples
• Ravages of Smallpox
• Ethnic cleansing in Texas and California
• Losing the West
• Wars and treaties of the 1860’s
• Battle for the Black Hills
• Treaty of Ft. Laramie
• Strategies for survival
• Prophets
8. Americanizing the American Indian
• Politics of detribalization
• Dawes Allotment Act
• Indian Territory becomes Oklahoma
9. The Assault on Indian Children
• Removing children from the tribe
• Boarding School experiences
• Between two worlds- life after the boarding school
• New Indian leadership
10. Depression and World War II
• Indian New Deal
• Indian Reorganization Act and it opposition
• Indians and WWI
11. Termination and Self-determination
• Indian Claims Commission
• Removing the Government’s Trust Responsibilities
• Relocation
• Urban Indians
• Growing militancy- Siege at Wounded Knee
• Legacies of Wounded Knee
• Indian Sovereignty and the Courts
12. Indian Country since 1980
• Changes at the Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Issues of Tribal Sovereignty
• Who is an Indian?
• Indian Gaming
• Indian Education
• Drugs and alcohol
• Indian leadership