AMERICAN INDIANS STUDIES 140
FALL SEMESTER 2012
RICHARD L. CARRICO
It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.
Voltaire
My lands are where my dead lie buried.
Crazy Horse
Meanings attached to the past reverberate through every action of the present.
Rod Kedward
The white man knows how to make everything, but he does not know how to distribute it.
Sitting Bull
History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.
Ulysses by James Joyce
Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.
Abraham Lincoln
History …is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of
mankind.
Edward Gibbon
The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.
Harry S. Truman
There is nothing new under the sun.
Aristotle
History is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more a
history than a heap of stones is a house.
With apologies to Jules Henri Poincaré
History is more or less bunk.
Henry Ford
History is made of carefully selected facts, as a fine bottle of wine is made of selected grapes. But
the best collection of facts is no more a history than a fine wine is simply a rendering of grapes.
Richard Carrico with apologies to Jules Henri Poincaré
American Indian Studies 140
Fall Semester 2011
Instructor: Richard L. Carrico
Office: AL 323 Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:00 and by
appointment.
Voice Mail Telephone: 760-518-1471 (cell) e-Mail: rbrujo@sbcglobal.net
Web Site: rockhilllearning.com
INTRODUCTION
I and the Department of American Indians Studies welcomes you to the fall 2012 semester at SDSU-every semester is yet another chance to open new academic doors, step through them, learn and
succeed.
This syllabus provides an overview to the AIS 140 class and its requirements. Please read this
document carefully, you will be held responsible for following the instructions and requirements
presented here. If you do not understand something in this syllabus, please ask for clarification.
This class is one requirement for the American Indian Studies major as well as fulfilling several other
requirements. As described more fully in the SDSU catalog, AIS 140 is designed to provide the
student with a fuller, better understanding of the history of Native American peoples who have
inhabited what is now the United States for more than 12,000 years. We will examine a variety of
topics to include history, prehistory, economics, philosophy, culture history, political systems, religion,
intra/intertribal relations, native responses to European contact, resistance, and persistence. The time
period to be covered is from early pre-contact (circa 12,000 years ago) to the post-American Civil War
period (1870 A. D.).
This class is, by necessity, broad and extensive; there were more than 500 separate cultures or tribes
who occupied this land when Europeans arrived. Given the cultural, historic, and geographic variance
of these peoples, we cannot take a comprehensive look at them all. The class might better be called
United States Indian History From an Indian Perspective: A Selective View to 1870. We will be taking
a focused view of the history of perhaps twenty tribes and through them, gain an understanding of the
role and place of American Indians in American history. The first part of the class will hone in on who
the native peoples were before European contact, how they lived, and their deep ties to the land.
You may be surprised, sometimes shocked, often enlightened, and frequently disappointed at the
treatment accorded the native peoples of the United States. My guess is that this class will be unlike
any other history class that you have ever taken. In the context of American Indian history, I believe
that such terms as civilization, progress, and justice are sorely in need of redefinition and discussion. I
am asking you to discard a little cultural baggage, be it American, Mexican, French, or Kuwaiti, and
take a culturally relative stance in this class. My philosophy is certainly not to “missionize” you, nor
to present a one-sided view of either the Indians or non-Indians. That would be too easy.
STRUCTURE OF THE CLASS
This class is not structured in a linear, progressive fashion—while history is often presented that way,
it is not the only way to understand and observe the past. Please note that I rarely lecture or instruct
directly from the required reading sources for this course. We will rarely touch specifically on the text
material itself, those materials are for you to read and absorb on your own. Most of the material that I
present in lecture form in this class is drawn from a variety of sources including personal experiences
and is NOT designed to lock in to textual materials with any great precision and unity.
Like many disciplines, history can, and does, mean many things to many people. For me, history is not
about arcane dates or a parade of passing events, instead history is an interpretive subject, a series of
sometimes interrelated stories about the human condition, about tribal pride, oral tradition, the views of
people inside and outside a given culture (emic/etic), and so on. History is most certainly not a
collection of perfectly formed blocks hewn from some quarry of immutable facts and dates to be
stacked in such a way as to form the absolutely true or ideal history. Your critical facilities, creative
processes, and analytical capacities must be used in this class, not just your memory banks. Class
discussions of books, readings, and course topics are requested. Audio-visual material will be used.
As you will notice, I rarely lecture from notes, so please, even for excused absences, do not ask me if
you can borrow my lecture materials. They are largely in my head but I will be glad to meet with you
and discuss what you may have missed.
OBJECTIVES
In the first weeks of the semester, I will provide you with some specificity regarding which goals I will
emphasize. In the meantime, please keep in mind that as with most comprehensive classes that cover a
broad historical field, this semester's course will delve into several interrelated disciplines and avenues
of research. In teaching the class I have several concrete goals and other objectives that are somewhat
more fluid. A primary objective of the course is to expose you to the biases, the controversies, and the
historical facts that form our idea of American Indian History. A basic objective that I pursue in this
class and one to which I am committed, is the goal of exposing students to the many and varied
experiences of the time period being studied as well as the conflicting views as to what happened, and
how it happened. Truth is out there, but it is surrounded by distortions and often told through a haze of
out-right lies told by non-Indian and Indian alike.
To me, then, a basic purpose or goal for History 140 is to expose students to a variety of historicalcultural experiences that emphasize an Indian perspective and to hope that this might add to your
understanding of life. If you become more aware of the rich history of the Indian people of American,
and develop a need to recognize, and maybe even maintain, cultural pluralism in American life by this
class experience, I will be content. The processes, if any, by which YOU go about solving the issues
for you and for today’s society is your responsibility, not mine.
BASIC MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE
Suit you own preferences, study habits, talents, and finances in the purchase of the required books for
this course, but buy them soon, they may not be available later. Amazon.com and KB Books, and the
Aztec Bookshop, as well as several off campus stores stock copies for purchase. You should buy or
rent the books as soon as possible to avoid possible shortages later in the semester.
A. Required Materials:
I. There are two texts and a collection of handouts that you must read and understand.
A reading list will be provided to you the third class. The two text books are:
First Peoples (4th Edition), Colin G. Calloway and Strangers in a Stolen Land (2nd Edition 2008)
by Richard L. Carrico
I.
The readings in the class are drawn from these two books; you must complete the readings
to succeed in this class. You will be reading approximately 350 pages for this class--if this
is too much for you because your personal life or work schedule will not allow such a load,
please-- do not take the class.
II.
Several audio-visual presentations may also be used in this class. You are responsible for
major ideas, events and impressions you may glean from these materials. Take home
assignments, and exams may ask you to evaluate your comprehension of these audio-visual
resources. In the event of an unscheduled absence on the part of your professor, there will
be a video presentation and you will be responsible to complete a brief analysis of the video
using a hand out that will be provided.
III.
Reminder: Readings from the texts are designed to supplement and add to themes and
topics covered in this class. You should not expect that it is possible to be evaluated on
everything assigned, viewed or discussed in this course. Your commitment to the
subject means that you are responsible for doing as much as is possible to absorb and use
information covered in the course.
IV.
Other Information:
A. Course Format: Lecture, discussion and slides, video-tapes. Your participation in class activities
is expected. Student questions and responses are welcome as long as they are germane to the subject
matter we are covering in the course.
B. Absenteeism and Bad Behavior: Absenteeism at any time reflects your decision to not take part
in that particular stage of the learning process—it is not simply missing class. While I do not take roll;
absenteeism is discouraged at any time and during examination periods, it is especially frowned upon.
Please avoid the need to take a make-up exam. Examinations (not quizzes) missed without an
advance excuse will be made up during the last 2 weeks of the semester.
Rudeness is not a luxury that you will be allowed to indulge in while in this class. Cell phone use in
class is rude; talking in the midst of a lecture is rude. Particularly disruptive behavior will be dealt
with as specified in the student handbook and through the procedures approved by the University.
C. Grades
There is a system that will guide your studies and at the same time allow me to gauge how well you
have absorbed and integrated these materials. The grading system is simple and straightforward; this is
by design—there will be a total of 470 points possible in this class. There are no extra credits or
bonus points. There will be two large exams (1 midterm and 1 final, non-comprehensive) worth 100
points each. These major exams are scheduled for mid-semester and finals week. The exams will be
75% multiple choice/true false, map completion, and 25% short fill in using forms that I will provide
to you. In the course of the semester there will also be three large quizzes. The quizzes will be
true/false, multiple choice, and fill in. These quizzes will be given approximately every five weeks and
will be worth 50 points each for a total of 150 points. The first quiz is slated for September 20.
You are also being assigned to view a YouTube video and comment on it in a short 2-3 page pape
worth 20 points. This assignment is due September 4th at the beginning of class. Because all
learning does not have to happen in the classroom, there is also a requirement for you to visit the San
Diego Archaeological Center in San Pasqual Valley and the Barona Cultural Museum and write a 3-5
page critique; a form and handout will be provided to aid in preparing the critique, which is worth 60
points. In addition, for 40 points, I am asking you to find twenty (20) images, brands, weapons, or
other symbols in American culture that use Indian (not Spanish or Mexican) words, symbols, or icons
and provide me that list in a typed form listing the word or image, tribe or meaning and the product.
Example (not to be used on your list) Jeep Cherokee; Cherokee tribe, name of tribe. Check out a
supermarket, weapons catalogue, automobiles, and so on. This is due soon--Sept. 6th.
D. Office Hours and Consultation
First, I would like to stress that I am interested in assisting you in any way that I can to ensure that you
succeed in this AIS 140 class, and in college generally. Typically students do not interact enough with
their professors, they wait until a minor problem has become nearly unresolveable, or otherwise hurt
themselves by not stepping forward. Part of my role as an instructor, as an educator, is to help you as a
person and to ensure that we have both tried to maximize your educational process over the next three
months. Having said all of that, I rarely hold regular office hours although my posted hours are noted
above. Further, I will be glad to meet with you after class. If these times are not convenient for you,
we can make other arrangements by appointment—I am highly accessible.
E. Reading List
The readings cover approximately 350 pages. A reading list for the first quiz and midterm is provided
below. If you plan on about 4 hours a week plus 4-5 hours the week before the exams, I believe that
you will do well in this class, at least in terms of reading and knowing the assigned materials. I would
strongly recommend that you give this class at least 5 hours a week, that is far less time than most
Americans spend watching so-called reality television, sports, and other images from the vast
wasteland of commercial television.
F.
Tentative Schedule of Events
Tues/Thurs
Indian Word List
First Quiz:
Midterm Exam
San Diego Archaeological Center Paper Due
Second Quiz
Thanksgiving Holiday
Third Quiz
September 6th
September 20nd
October 18th
October 23rd
November 15th
November 22nd-23rd
December 4th
Finals Week Second [Final] Exam
December 13th @ 1:00 for 2:00 class.
December 11th @ 10:30 for the 12:30 class.
December 11@8:00 for the 9:30 class.
Readings for First Quiz: Strangers in a Stolen Land Chapter 1; First Peoples Chap 1 (pp. 14 through
pp. 39 and pp. 40-50; pp.54-58; 66-70 (look at the photos at the end of the chapter--we will discuss.
Readings for Midterm: Strangers in a Stolen Land Chapter 1 and 2; First Peoples Chap 1 as above and
Chap 2 pp. 78-116; 120-12; 133-134; Photos on pp.137-141..