This course will examine contemporary Native American literature through categories including fiction and nonfiction, and with a particular focus on how literary works have been a way for Native American writers to speak back against discourses and rhetorics of disappearance and attempted genocide. We will focus on the social and political contexts within which the writers we study are working, and we will also attend to the formal characteristics of their works by considering storytelling styles including the oral tradition, humor, visual narratives, tropes and motifs, and various Indigenous/Native theoretical frameworks.

• Ceremony Leslie Marmon Silko
• Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s Tiffany Midge
• The Marrow Thieves Cherie Dimaline
• This is Paradise Kristiana Kahakauwila

All other readings will be posted to Canvas.

1. Students will be able to understand different Native American literary texts in class discussions and academic writing.

   SUU ELO: Communication: Students develop and express ideas and will be able to do so in a variety of ways, namely in writing, by speaking, visually, kinesthetically, through design or aurally.

2. Students will be able to identify and articulate key concepts and approaches to literary study that fall under the category of Indigenous, First Nations, and Native American literature and literary analysis.

   SUU ELO: Critical Thinking: Students demonstrate disciplined processes of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

3. Students will apply a range of literary studies approaches to Native American short stories, nonfiction, and longer literary works through close reading, listening, writing and analysis.

   SUU ELO: Inquiry & Analysis: Inquiry: Students systematically explore issues, objects or works through the collection and analysis of evidence that results in informed conclusions or judgments. Analysis: Students break complex topics or issues into parts to gain a better understanding of them.

4. Students will evaluate how perspective and background inform reading and interpretive experience.

   SUU ELO: Intercultural Knowledge and Competence: Students demonstrate that they possess a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts.

Assignments and Grade Breakdown

• Participation and Attendance: 10%
• Group Presentation: 15%
• Close Reading Paper: 15%
• Native American Studies/Theory Assignment: 15%
• In-class Exam: 15%
• Abstract and Annotated Bibliography: 10%
• Final Research Paper: 20%

Participation and Attendance: 10%

This grade will be determined by your regular attendance, participation, and lack of distracted behavior in our class meetings. Please be sure to come to our meetings prepared and having done the readings. Readings are due the day they are listed; for example, you will come to our meeting on 1/12 having read “Historical and Cultural Contexts to Native American Literature” by Joy Porter.

Group Presentation: 15%

Once per semester starting in week 4, groups of three to four students will prepare a presentation on their chosen day’s reading. The presentations should be thirty minutes long (though they may and likely will take the entire class), and every member of the group needs to speak for an equal amount of time. We will discuss the requirements for these presentations; your presentation slides will be posted to Canvas after the presentation.

Close Reading Paper: 15%

This shorter paper will ask you to zoom in and close read a portion of one of our class texts, in order to practice doing a sustained, detailed reading; a prompt will be provided.

Native American Studies/Theory Assignment: 15%

This assignment will ask you to pursue a keyword or specific topic in Native American studies more broadly, as a way to explore a non-literary studies approach to Native American literature. A prompt will be provided.

In-Class Exam: 15%

This handwritten exam will ask you to share your knowledge about the readings and concepts that we cover in class.

Abstract + Annotated Bibliography: 10%

In preparation for your final research paper, we will learn how to write two important genres for academic writing (and, frankly, non-academic as well!): the abstract, and the annotated bibliography. This assignment will help you scaffold your final paper and will teach you about collecting and organizing research, planning an abstract for a paper you haven’t written, and proposing a thoughtful and accessible research goal.

Final Research Paper: 20%

In this 8-10 page paper, you will complement and complicate a literary analysis paper by successfully bringing in outside research in the form of secondary criticism and/or further historical evidence. You will also be expected to incorporate a theoretical lens or approach to your essay. I will provide prompts for students who want more guidance, but you will be free to pursue your own topic once you’ve run it by me.

Week 1

W 1/7

Course Introduction and Welcome

F 1/9

“Land acknowledgments meant to honor Indigenous people too often do the opposite” by Elisa Sobo, Michael Lambert, and Valerie Lambert and “Diversity” by Jodi Melamed

Week 2

M 1/12

“Historical and Cultural Contexts to Native American Literature” by Joy Porter

W 1/14

“Indigenous” by J. Kēhaulani Kauanui

F 1/16

“Aesthetics of Survivance” by Gerald Vizenor

Week 3

M 1/19 – MLK Day - No Class

W 1/21

Ceremony pages 1-26

F 1/23

Ceremony pages 27-85

Week 4

(Note: Group presentations begin this week.)

M 1/26

Ceremony pages 86-142

W 1/28

Group 1 Presentation!
Ceremony pages 142-243

F 1/30

“Due Diligence, or How I Lost Ten Pounds” by LeAnne Howe

Week 5

M 2/2

Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s pages 1-57

W 2/4

Group 2 Presentation!
Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s pages 61-118

F 2/6 – No Class

Week 6

M 2/9

Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s pages 121-end

W 2/11

Group 3 Presentation
The Marrow Thieves pages 1-51

F 2/13

Close Reading Workshop

Week 7

M 2/16 – No Class – President’s Day

W 2/18 – No Class

F 2/20 – No Class

Close Reading Paper Due on Canvas

Week 8

M 2/23

The Marrow Thieves pages 52-99

W 2/25

The Marrow Thieves pages 100-145

F 2/27

The Marrow Thieves pages 146-end

Week 9

M 3/2

“Borders” by Thomas King and Chris Teuton’s Review of Toward a Native American Critical Theory by Elvira Pulitano

W 3/4

Watch and discuss North of North Episode 1

F 3/6

Watch and discuss Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools

Spring Break – No Classes

Week 10

M 3/16

Exam Review

W 3/18

In-class Exam

F 3/20 – No Class

Week 11

M 3/23

This is Paradise “This is Paradise”

W 3/25

Group 4 Presentation!
This is Paradise “Wanle” and “The Road to Hana”

F 3/27

“Writing in Captivity” by Haunani Kay-Trask and ““A Structure, Not an Event”: Settler Colonialism and Enduring Indigeneity” by J. Kēhaulani Kauanui

Week 12

M 3/30

This is Paradise “Thirty-Nine Rules”

W 4/1

This is Paradise “Portrait of a Good Father”

F 4/3

This is Paradise “The Old Paniolo Way”
Native American Studies/Theory Assignment Due on Canvas

Week 13

M 4/6

Moonshot Introduction + “Ue-Pucase,” “Sisters,” and “Slave Killer”

W 4/8

“Deer Woman: A Vignette” + In-class Screening of Reservation Dogs episode 5

F 4/10

In-class Final Paper Workshop

Week 14

M 4/13

Poetry Selections from When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry

W 4/15

Poetry Selections from When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry

F 4/17 – Last Day of Class

Abstract and Annotated Bibliography Due on Canvas

Final Research Paper due 4/22 on Canvas

I offer extensions without any grade penalty, but an extension request must be sent to me by email or Canvas message before the assignment is due. Work that is submitted late (with no extension request) will lose ten points per day that it is late, and will no longer be accepted after one week.

Your success and the success of this course depend on your active participation; therefore, your regular attendance is required. A student whose absences are excessive may run the risk of receiving a lower grade or a failing grade, regardless of their performance in the class. You are allowed three unpenalized absences from class; every absence after that drops your class grade by 5 points. Missing more than six classes puts you at risk of failing the class. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to get the assignments, class notes, and course changes from a classmate.

Please note: Zoom accommodations related to Covid restrictions for face-to-face classes have ended. There will be no live streaming or recording of class sessions.