When white settlers first arrived on the East Coast in the 1600s, they encountered thousands of Native Americans already well established. Our local place names clearly show the influence of those who were here, mostly Susquenannocks, an Iroquois tribe, and the Lenni Lenape, an Algonquin tribe. The quiet dignity of their lifestyle was totally foreign to the new arrivals, who had come to found a colony, establish their religion, and grow rich. As they cleared the land and built their towns and cities, they discounted the native population and pushed them ever westward. By 1800, wrote Red Jacket, a Seneca, “we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets.” While their lives were uprooted, their culture did survive, and it lives on still in their descendants. The Native American approach to life, and to nature in particular, has become especially admirable and relevant today when our environment and the earth itself are under such threat from human indifference and greed.

One way to learn and appreciate this culture is by reading stories written by and about Native Americans. Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and author of more than a dozen novels about her people, is a particularly good teacher. Her stories of the Ojibwe (Chippewa) communities of Northern Minnesota immerse us in a culture where magic is real and myths come alive. Her novel Tracks, about Fleur Pillager and Nanapush, is a particularly good place to start. Another rich source is William Faulkner’s “The Bear,” which follows Ike McCaslin, a white boy, as he learns the ways of the wilderness from Sam Fathers, son of a Chickasaw chief, in their hunt for Old Ben in the dense woods of Mississippi’s Big Bottom. Additionally, short pieces by familiar figures like Benjamin Franklin and James Fenimore Cooper, early admirers of Indian culture, will be assigned. And you will read some speeches from the 1600s to 1800s by Native Americans themselves, who spoke eloquently in defense of their people and way of life.

Students are expected to have computer literacy/access and email. There will be an emphasis on discussion in class; some written responses to the readings may also be requested.