ANTHROPOLOGY 15: NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
CLASS LECTURE TOPICS BY WEEK
Week 1 - January 16, 2002
TOPIC: Introduction
READINGS: Brian M. Fagan. Ancient North America, Chapter 4 (on reserve at Library)
VIDEO: Seeking the first Americans
VOCABULARY: Beringia, Pleistoncene
MAIN IDEAS: The first inhabitants of North America came accross the Bering Strait as early as 10,000 BC, perhaps earlier according to the video Seeking the first Amricans. The "Ice Ages" was a period of cooling of the earth's clilmate that started aroung 1.8 million years and ended about 12,000 years ago.
Week 2 - January 23, 2002
TOPIC: America's First Inhabitants
READINGS: Brian M. Fagan. Ancient North America, Chapter 5 (on reserve at Library)
VOCABULARY: Paleo-Indian, Mega-faunal Overkill hypothesis, Clovis tool tradition, hunter-gatherers
MAIN IDEAS: One of the hypothesis about the colonization of America establishes that the first Americans were persuing large game. It is a hypotheis that is strongly contended by many archaeologists. Nonethless, according to it, the Clovis tools represent an effective weapon for killing large animals.
Week 3 - January 30, 2002
TOPIC: Development of Agriculture
READINGS: Brian M. Fagan. Ancient North America, Chapter 6 (on reserve at Library)
VOCABULARY: Teosintle, Zea maize, First hamlets and villages
MAIN IDEAS: The process of domestication (of plants and animals) as an unconcious decision that takes place over hundreds end even thousands of generations. It is the plants' inability to reproduce by itself in the wild due to human manipulation. Amomg the American domesticates we include corn (zea maize), tomatoe, bean, squash, amaranth, and potatoe.
Week 4 - February 6, 2002
TOPIC: Language and culture
READINGS: Duane Champagne. Native America, Chapter 12, pp. 397-439, (on reserve at Library)
VIDEO: The Couple in the Cage: A Guatinaui Odessey.
VOCABULARY: Glottochronology, Wharf's hypothesis; the scientific process; Racism.
MAIN IDEAS: Languages--Correlation between language, geographic area and culture; Language structure; Language maintenance. Activism--Response to oppression; Self-determination; counteracting racism and stereotypes. Post-modernism--A different approach to understanding natural phenomenon (like culture), the importance of oral tradition, myths, stories, and other non-traditional process.
Week 5 - February 13, 2002
TOPIC: California natives
READINGS: Native America, Chapter 10, pp. 301-330
VIDEO: Ishi: The last Yahi
VOCABULARY:
MAIN IDEAS:
Week 6 - February 20, 2002
TOPIC: Midterm preparation
Answer the following question in an essay by Wednesday Feb 27. Email it before midnight.
Follow the essay guidelines listed in the web site.
"Compare and contrast the experiences of the indigenous peoples of California in each of the following stages: I. Before European contact (pre 1550) II. During the Mexican colonial ("Spanish") and Mexican national periods (1550-1849); III Anglo-American period (1849-Present)".
Here is the outline worked out in class:
I. Introduction--Address the main points in the question
II. Body--
A. Discuss an aspect of the first Americans (Pre-contact; before 1550)
1. Technology as an adaptation process (Fegan pp 81-86)
2. Lanuistic families as an indicator of migration patterns and interactions among the first californians (Champagne, pp. 397-)
B. Illustrate by focusing on the indigenous Californians' experiences during the Mexican colonial-national period (1550-1847) and/or Anglo-American (1847-present)
1. Impact upon the native societies in California during the Mexican colonial (ie, "Spanish") period
ex: Language (pp 305-317)
III. Conclusion--Activism as a response to everything discussed above
A. The need for self-determination
ex: create reservations (pp. 324-325)
B. Compensation
ex: hunting and fishing rights (pp 19-)
(NOTE: This outline is only a sample. You should try to answer the question using your own outline)
Week 7 - February 27, 2002
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Week 7 - February 27, 2002
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Week 7 - February 27, 2002
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Week 7 - February 27, 2002
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Week 7 - February 27, 2002
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