1
English 7: Native American Literature will introduce students to the history,
development, and diversity of Native American literatures. We will read traditional
creation myths; nineteenth and twentieth century autobiographical narratives; and
significant works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction prose by contemporary Native
American authors. We will place these texts within their particular historical and cultural
contexts as we explore how Native American literature often challenges dominant ideas
about American history and responds directly to a history of governmental policies and
practices designed to eliminate, oppress, and control Native American people.
*Major themes we will explore:
1. What is a Native American? How does literature create conceptions of the Native
American experience and Native American identity?
2. What are the distinctive voices and styles in Native American literature?
3. How do social and political issues influence Native American writers?
4. How do Native American writers respond to dominant myths from popular culture,
including images of Native Americans as:




tragic figures who “vanished” or disappeared;
primitive “savages” (whether noble or evil);
ecological healers and wise prophets;
alcoholics and gamblers.
*Important Terms:
NATIVE AMERICAN VERSUS INDIAN
Many Americans have come to prefer Native American over Indian both as a term of
respect and as a corrective to the famous misnomer bestowed on the peoples of the
Americas by Christopher Columbus. The term Native American eliminates any confusion
between indigenous American peoples and the inhabitants of India, making it the clear
choice in many official contexts. One sense of native is "being a member of the original
inhabitants of a particular place," and Native Americans' claim to being the original
inhabitants of the Americas is unchallenged. The choice between these two terms is often
made as a matter of principle. For many, Native American is the only choice for
expressing respect toward America's indigenous peoples; Indian is seen as wrong and
offensive. For others, the former smacks of bureaucracy and the attempt to be politically
2
correct, while the latter is the natural English term. This controversy appears to have
subsided somewhat in recent years, and it is now common to find the two terms used
interchangeably in the same piece of writing.
While generally welcoming the respectful tone of Native American, most Indian writers
have continued to use the older name at least as often as the newer one. Native American
and Indian are not exact equivalents when referring to the aboriginal peoples of Canada
and Alaska. Native American, the broader term, is properly used to refer to all such
peoples, whereas Indian is customarily used to refer to the northern Athabaskan and
Algonquian peoples in contrast to the Eskimos, Inuits, and Aleuts.
COLONIALISM
A political-economic phenomenon whereby various European nations explored,
conquered, settled, and exploited large areas of the world. The purposes of colonialism
included economic exploitation of the colony's natural resources, creation of new markets
for the colonizer, and extension of the colonizer's way of life beyond its national borders.
INTERNAL COLONIALISM
Internal Colonialism refers to political and economic inequalities between regions within
a single society. The term may be used to describe the exploitation of minority groups
within the wider society. The relationship between colonizer and colony is similarly
unequal and exploitative in colonialism and internal colonialism. The members of the
internal colonies are distinguished as different by a cultural variable such as ethnicity,
language, or religion.
STEREOTYPE
A simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and
held in common by members of a group.
HISTORY
As historian Ray Kierstead has pointed out, history is not just “one damn thing
after another”: rather, history is a way of telling stories about time or, some
might say, making an argument about time.
Finally, history is a crucial tool for understanding literature because
literature is written within—and arguably often reflects—a specific historical context.
Thus, we can view literature as both a product and producer of history. Literature can
reshape how we understand history, by telling the stories of people previously
3
unacknowledged or marginalized in American culture.