Honors Program: A pathway to excellence.

HON 401 AMERICAN INDIAN LITERATURE: SOME ESSENTIAL TEXTS

American Indian people and tribes are a prominent presence in the American West and Canada. They have lived here with the land and its myriad life-forms for tens of thousands of years, and during the past few centuries have also endured a holocaust of unimaginable proportions. In the last forty years or so the indigenous peoples of this continent have experienced a cultural and personal resurgence that is as breath-taking as it was unthinkable, even a hundred years ago. A central part of this resurgence is the flowering of written literature by Native writers, some of whom write in their tribal languages before translating their work into English. This resurgence has taken place concurrently with the civil rights, environmental, women's, anti-Viet Nam war, and, most presently, gay rights movements in the so-called "dominant" society, and involves ongoing cross-fertilization between these movements and tribal peoples. The impact of this resurgence, especially of the literature, on American society at large is immense.

We in Montana are in the enviable position of living side by side with indigenous peoples and their long view of what it means to live life here sustainably, with respect for all beings: seven reservations, thirteen tribes, mixed blood people always present even when their Native ancestors are invisible.

This course, AMERICAN INDIAN LITERATURE, etc., will give students exposure to many of the most powerful Native voices emerging from the resurgence of the oldest ways of living on North Vespucci America, aka. Turtle Island. Besides the literature, students will take field trips to such places as the Big Hole Battlefield, the Madison Bison Jump, and perhaps the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, as well as less known, local sites. Arrangements for guest, Native speakers are in process.
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Substitutions: Possible course substitutions (subject to departmental approval): Eng 266, Eng 452, and Eng 453.

Instructor: Dr. Roger Dunsmore

Time: Fall 2008, stringer class will meet Monday Evenings, 7:00-10:00 pm., beginning 8/25/08.
Field trips are required.

Prerequisite: ENGL 102