TOPICS IN NORTH AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE: NATIVES V FOREIGNERS.

CHANGES IN FEDERAL AND AMERICAN INDIAN RELATIONS IN THE 20TH AND 21ST
CENTURIES
AN3012MA
Time and place: Monday, 16-17.40, Room: 55
Instructor: Szathmri Judit (Office: 116/1; szathmarijudit@gmail.com)
Office hours: Monday 14-15, Tuesday 9-10. Main building 116/1 or by appointment
DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
The course is designed to provide an overview of the United States Indian policy with focus on Indian
Country today, the Indian Reorganization Act, treaty rights, sovereignty, termination, relocation and
the Indian Child Welfare Act. Course material and in-class discussions will introduce and analyze
attempts by the federal and state governments to solve the Indian problem. Representative acts are
selected to demonstrate the changes in the federal approach to the Indian communities of the US. The
reading material compiled for the classes includes primary sources (acts, federal statutes, testimonies)
as well as historical and anthropological analyses. In addition, visual media will be employed to
enhance the understanding of Indigenous and non-Indian relations.
ATTENDANCE AND GRADING POLICY:
Students are expected to come to sessions prepared for in-class discussions. In accordance with
university regulations missing more than three sessions will result in a failing grade. NOTE: due to
the instructors research leave, classes begin on September 29. Please, come to class having
completed the assigned reading. Make-up classes are scheduled for the consultation week. Time and
place will be discussed in the first session. Please, be aware that attendance is compulsory, failing to
attend make-up sessions also counts towards classes missed.
Final grades will be based on
-informed class attendance and contributions to discussion: (20%) (NO MAKE-UP OPTION)
-end-term test (25%) (NO MAKE-UP OPTION)
-10-minute oral presentations (25%) (NO MAKE-UP OPTION)
-take-home essay (30%) (NO MAKE-UP OPTION)
0-60% = fail (1); 61-70% = satisfactory (2); 71-80% = average (3); 81-90% = good (4); 91-100% =
excellent (5).
PRESENTATION:
Oral presentations topics will be chosen by students but must be okayed by the instructor. In addition
to issues discussed in class, topics may include analyses of relevant (and preferably contemporary)
questions related to Indigenous communities (for example: mascot debates, drilling projects and
environmental issues). A typed handout not longer than one page should be approved by the instructor
ONE WEEK prior to the presentation scheduled. Handouts and/ or ppt should serve as a guideline and
assistance to fellow students. The content of your talk, the lay-out of the handout and ppt, your
performance and presentation skills will also be evaluated. NOTE: The end-term test will include
questions pertaining to the presentations. Students are requested to inform the instructor of their
inability to attend the class their presentation is scheduled for a day before the session.
NOTE: when preparing for presentation you may use Wikipedia as a starting point but you are
required to do research by utilizing printed material as well as more specific (and scholarly) websites.
Take-home essay:
10-page (NET!!!!), typed and printed MLA format research paper. Essay topics will be chosen by
students but must be okayed by the instructor. Your presentation topic may also be the topic of your
essay.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM (FAILURE TO ACKNOWLEDGE

SOURCES) WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT BE TOLERATED AND WILL RESULT IN A
FAILING GRADE.
READINGS
There is no single textbook available for this course. The syllabus includes a list of suggested readings.
PDF reading assignments unless otherwise available will be provided by the instructor.
Deloria, Vine, Jr. Custer Died for your Sins. New York: Avon, 1969.
---. We Talk You Listen. New York: MacMillan, 1970.
Garbarino, Merwyn S., and Robert F. Sasso. Native American Heritage. Prospect Heights:
Waveland, 1994.
Northrop, Jim. Anishinaabe Syndicated. A View from the Rez. St. Paul: Minnesota State
Historical Society P, 2011.
---. Rez Road Follies. Canoes, Casinos, Computers and Birch Bark Baskets. Minneapolis: U
of Minnesota P, 1997.
Prucha, Francis Paul, ed. Documents of United States Indian Policy. Lincoln and London: U
of Nebraska P, 2000. Print.
Szathmri, Judit. The Revolving Door. Urban Indian Community Experience in Multicultural
America. Debrecen: Debrecen UP, 2013.
Treuer, Anton. Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians were Afraid to Ask. St. Paul:
Minnesota State Historical Society P, 2012.
W
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

DAT
E
Sept.
15
Sept.
22
Sept.
29

ASSIGNMENT

Presentation

RESCHEDULED FOR WEEK 7

--

RESCHEDULED FOR WEEK 7

--

ORIENTATION, Indians Today, the Real and the Unreal

(Deloria)

Please, come to class

having completed the
reading

Oct.6
Oct.
13
Oct.
20
Oct.
27

Indian Country (Szathmri)

General Allotment Act (Dawes Act), Indian Reorganization
Act
AIM and radicalism

Nov.
3
Nov.
10
Nov.
17
Nov.
24
Dec.
1
Dec.
8
Dec.
15

Compensation, Termination, Relocation (Olson and

Wilson)
Pan-Indianism (Levine and Lurie)

READING WEEK
Powwow Highway

Racism (Northrup)
Politics (Northrup)
Indian Child Welfare and Education Act
End-term test
Assessment

Essays due