History 201-206 seminars are open to history majors only during pre-registration. If the course does not reach its enrollment maximum, it will be open to all students beginning with drop/add on a first-come first-serve basis.
HIST 203 Native Americans and the Environment
Parsons
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
SEM | PRE-1800
Popular representations of native peoples in North America might suggest that Native Americans do not have an environmental history; that a unique and timeless relationship with American environments left few material traces on the landscapes of what became the United States. Yet continuing disputes over land ownership and use, and efforts to revitalize controversial cultural practices such as whale hunting in the Pacific Northwest reveal more complex relationships between Native Americans and the natural world. This seminar will examine the evolution of these relationships from the sixteenth century to the present, introducing students to topics in the ecological, legal, economic and cultural history of Native American environments. Over the course of the seminar, we will pay particular attention to the colonial context in which Native Americans interacted with the environment - as they fought to maintain land, spiritual beliefs about the natural world and practices that occasionally shocked European and Euro-American observers. Through readings, discussions and assignments, students will learn about the diversity of Native American environmental histories and their important role in the larger environment history of the United States.
Course Syllabus (PDF)
