NAS90

Myth, Memory, and History: Understanding Native America

M/W/F 11-12 A.M., 136 Barrows Hall

J. Diane Pearson, Ph. D., American Indian Studies

548 Barrows Hall
email: jdp@berkeley.edu
Office Hours: MW/F TBA

Purpose of the course: This seminar provides a basic overview of the history of the Indigenous
people of the western hemisphere and proceeds from the premise that the knowledge of the histories
of Native America is essential to any study of the western hemisphere. Lectures, classroom
presentations, and assigned readings survey a broad array of subjects to acquaint you with a number
of events before and after European encounter. Most important to the course is how Native
Americans handled these events and the human consequences of history. We also examine how
these events have been misinterpreted, researched, and presented throughout the course of North
American history. The course does not focus on any particular group of Native people but surveys a
number of societies, cultures, and life styles. Much attention is paid to ancient Americans and
America, plus various pre-Columbian contact eras as we progress through the historical era to
contemporary issues facing Native Americans. Law and public policy are generally not included in
this course, although I will present overviews of various political eras and policies that have
influenced American Indian lives. Many of the consequences of these actions will be discussed as
we proceed through the semester.

Course requirements:

Required texts: You do not have to purchase any books or readers for NAS90; all assigned readings
are available online. Your syllabus is posted on bCourses; live URL links take you directly to some
of the required readings; all of the other readings are posted as PDF files to bCourses. (Note the
titles of the PDF readings contain primary authors last name and key words from the article title.
Full citations are included in the syllabus.)

Examinations: There are two midterms and one final. Exams are comprehensive and consist of a
combination of true/false, multiple choice, fill-in-the blank, and short essay questions. All exams are
closed book and no notes. NO make up exams unless you bring a note from a physician that you
have been hospitalized or a note from a religious leader that you are required to attend a religious
ceremony or event. Please notify me if you are qualified under ADA for special accommodations.

Papers: You will write one 5-page research paper (5 full pages of text). Papers will be in MLA
format, will consist of 1 margins, double spaced, 12-point font and all pages will be numbered.
Papers will be due in my office by 5:00 P.M., Dec. 8, the last day of RRR week Late papers will
not be accepted. I will not read handwritten papers, and I WILL read rough drafts.

Expectations: You must attend class. I record attendance and award enough points for attendance
that it should be worth your while to come to class. Since you are held responsible for readings, and
classroom materials (which may or may not duplicate each other), it is worth your while to come to
class. Please come to class on time; I also grade-down for tardiness.

Since this is a seminar, every class period is constructed in an interactive manner; each student will
present a synopsis of a required reading; this represents a significant portion of your Attendance &
Participation points; we also have a library assignment that you must participate in to maximize
these points.
Grading:
Three exams @ 100 points each 300
Attendance, Participation, Projects 50
Term Paper 100
Total Points 450
Grades are assigned on a standard A-F format based on total points earned for the course. This class
is not graded on a curve.

Other Expectations: I encourage questions and discussions during lectures and group discussions.
You are expected to participate in all classroom activities. You must stay for the entire class to
receive credit for attendance; you must also participate in all on-campus activities, in-library
demonstrations, and other activities. Lectures and class presentations provide the infrastructure of
the course; readings provide illustrations; and the discussions and presentations provide additional
tools to ensure your success at UCB. I do not usually lecture from the texts; you must read and
annotate these materials on your own. Then you must synthesize them with your lecture notes.
Questions are always welcomed during class, but do not expect me to supply the information that
you should be reading. You should also form study groups; do not cram for exams. That does not
help with this type of exam and with the amount of material that you are expected to cover in the
class.
Please see me if you have any difficulties that require special accommodations in accordance
with the Americans with Disabilities Act 504. I am more than happy to make arrangements with you
in private, so please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are an athlete and will be traveling with a
team, the coach needs to write me a letter; no group letters, no student letters; the word must come to
me directly from the coach.

Assignments: Please note that I have given you a number of assignments that will further ensure
your success at Cal; they are also required parts of the course. You will be responsible for
everything in classroom discussions; in-group discussions, and on your exams, as well as your
reading, so try to stay current. The readings are not difficult although they cover a wide variety of
subjects.

Weds., Aug. 23 Introduction, discuss syllabus, course goals, and plans.

Fri., Aug. 25 Study skills and strategies; presentation assignments; expectations;

presentation worksheet.
Reading: Begin Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans,
excerpts, The High Plains, 220-295. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
2005. PDF file on bCourses.

Mon.,, Aug. 28 Ancient America: Thinking of the Past

Reading: Continue Mayor, Fossil Legends, through p. 295.

Weds., Aug. 30 Ancient America: Bay Area Megafauna

Reading: Mayor, Adrienne. Place Names Describing Fossils in Oral
Traditions, in Piccardi, L. and W. B. Masse, (eds) Myth and Geology.
London: Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 245261. PDF
file in bCourses.
Mayor, A. Fossils in Native American Lands: Whose Bones, Whose Story?
Fossil Appropriations Past and present, 1-3. Paper presented at the History
of Science Society annual meeting, Washington, D. C., November 1-2, 2007.
 Martinez, Dennis. First People Firsthand Knowledge, Wind of Change,
13(3) (Summer 1998):1-4. This article was first published in Winds of
Change a Native American magazine associated with the American Indian
Science and Engineering Society (AISES) headquartered in Albuquerque,
New Mexico. PDF file on bCourses.

Fri., Sept. 1 Ancient America: American Indian Oral Traditions

Reading: Dussais, Allison M. Science, Sovereignty, and the Sacred Text:
Paleontological Resources and Native American Rights, 84-159. HeinOnline
-- 55 Md. L. Rev. 84 1996. PDF file on bCourses.
Reading: Echo Hawk, Roger C. Ancient History in the New World: Integrating
Oral Traditions and the Archaeological Record in Deep Time, American Antiquity
65(2) (Apr., 2000): 267-290. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2694059

Mon., Sept. 4 Holiday, no classes.

Weds., Sept. 6 Ancient America: Birds, Thunderbeings, Water Monsters, and American
Indian guides, lifestyles, and knowledge.
Reading: Evidence of the Giant Birds, Painting by Mark Hallett 1988;
painting by Laura Cunningham. Accessed August 10, 2009. PDF file on
bCourses.
Foster, John W., Senior State Archaeologist, State of California. Wings of
the Spirit: The Place of the California Condor Among Native Peoples of the
Californias, Cultural California, 1-8. Accessed August 12, 2009. PDF file
on bCourses.

Fri., Sept. 8 Ancient America: Earthquakes, Oral Traditions, and Tsunamis.

Reading: Yurok Origin Story. How Thunder and Earthquake Made Ocean,
http://www.angelfire.com/ia2/stories3: 1-2. Accessed August 10, 2009.
PDF file on bCourses.
Ludwin, Ruth. Draft: Cascadia Megathrust Earthquakes in Pacific Northwest
Indian Myths and Legends, Space Sciences December 29, 1999, Draft. This
article was developed under USGS Grant #1434-HQ-97-GR-03166; "A
database catalog of Cascadia earthquakes." PDF file on bCourses.

Mon., Sept. 11 Ancient America: Megafauna and blame.

Reading: Murray-Clay, Ruth. Whodunnit? Mystery of the missing
Megafauna, Berkeley Science Review: 1-5.
E:/The%20Berkeley%20Science%20R, accessed August 15, 2009. PDF
file in bCourses.
Losey, Robert J. Native American Vulnerability and Resiliency to Great
Cascadia Earthquakes, Oregon Historical Quarterly 108(2) (Summer 2007):
1-18. PDF file on bCourses.

Weds., Sept. 13 Blaming Native America: It Doesnt Work Anymore.

Reading: Wallace, David Rains. Where the Elk and the Antelope Played:
Reflections on Bay Area Megafauna, Bay Nature January-March 2004: 1-5.
URL: E:/Where%20the%20Elk%20and%20 PDF file on bCourses.
Grayson, Donald K., David J. Meltzer. A requiem for North American
Overkill, Journal of Archaeological Science 30 (2003): 585593. Stable
URL: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas. PDF file on bCourses.
Fri., Sept. 15 Library Seminar in class; Special Assignment, handout. Due in class
Friday morning.

Mon., Sept. 18 California Ethnobotany

Reading: Anderson, M. Kat. The Ethnobotany of Deergrass, Muhlenbergia
Rigens (Poacaeae): Its Uses and Fire Management by California Indian
Tribes, Economic Botany 50(4) (1996): 409-422. PDF file on bCourses.

Weds., Sept. 20 American Indian Land-Use Practices and Ecological Impacts

Reading: Anderson, M. Kat, and Michael J. Moratto. Native American
Land-Use Practices and Ecological Impacts, v. 2, chapter 9. Sierra Nevada
Ecosystem Project: Final Report to Congress, vol. II, Assessments and
Scientific Basis for Management Options. Davis: University of California,
Centers for Water and Wildland Resources, 1996: 187-206. PDF file on
bCourses.

Fri., Sept. 22 Origin Stories: Animals and People

Reading: Collins, June McCormick. The Mythological Basis for Attitudes
toward Animals Among Salish-Speaking Indians, The Journal of American
Folklore, 65(258) (Oct. - Dec., 1952): 353-359. Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/536039
Cushing, Frank Hamilton. Origin Myth from Oraibi, The Journal of
American Folklore, 36(140) (Apr. - Jun., 1923): 163-170. Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/535212

Mon. Sept., 25 Legends and Lore

Reading: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest, Compiled
and Edited by Katharine Berry Judson. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1912:
1-3. PDF file on bCourses.

Weds., Sept. 27 Review for first mid-term exam.

Fri., Sept. 29 First mid-term exam., in class.

Mon., Oct. 2 Sacred Lands: In the Light of Reverence

Reading: Hiroaki Kawamura. Symbolic and Political Ecology Among
Contemporary Nez Perce Indians in Idaho, USA: Functions and Meanings of
Hunting, Fishing, and Gathering Practices, Agriculture and Human Values
21: 157169, 2004. PDF file on bCourses.

Weds., Oct. 4 Brother Salmon: Klamath River Salmon Kill

Reading: Belchik, Michael, Dave Hillemeier, and Ronnie M. Pierce. Yurok
Tribal Fisheries Program, Final Report, The Klamath River Fish Kill of 2002;
Analysis of Contributing Factors, 1-42, February 2004. PDF file on
bCourses.

Fri., Oct. 6 Collapse of the California Salmon Runs: Where are They Today? Echoes
of Celilo; when the Columbia River ran backward.
Reading: Levy, Sharon. Turbulence in the Klamath River Basin,
BioScience 53(4) (April 2003): 315-320. PDF file on bCourses.
Mon., Oct. 9 Net Loss; Commercial Salmon Farms and the Decline of Wild Salmon
Reading: Roberts, Helen H. The First Salmon Ceremony of the Karuk
Indians, American Anthropologist, New Series, 34(3) (Jul. - Sep., 1932): 426-
440. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/661901
Gunther, Erna. An Analysis of the first Salmon Ceremony, American
Anthropologist, New Series, 28(4) (Oct. - Dec., 1926): 605-617. Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/661297

Weds., Oct. 11 Language, Land Loss, and Place.

Reading: Basso, Keith H. Wisdom Sits in Places, Notes on a Western Apache
Landscape, 53-90. Accessed August 11, 2009. PDF file on bCourses.

Fri., Oct. 13 American Indian Language Loss; Regeneration and Renewal.

Reading: Complete Basso.

Mon., Oct. 16 Prairie Chickens Dancing: Ecology, Mythology, and the Changing
Environment.
Reading: Marshall, Alan G. Prairie Chickens Dancing, Idaho Folklife
1985: 101-107. PDF file on bCourses.

Weds., Oct. 18 Treaty Rights: Hunting, Fishing, Gathering in the Usual and Accustomed
Places; Makah whale hunters.
Reading: Brown, Jovana J. Its in Our Treaty: the Right to Whale. Used
with permission from The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington. Olympia,
WA: The Evergreen State College. PDF file on bCourses.

Fri., Oct. 20 Lighting the 7th Fire; Treaty rights.

Reading: Renker, Ann M. Whale Hunting and the Makah Tribe: Needs
Statement, IWC/59/ASW9, Agenda Item 6.2, April 2007: 1-53. PDF file on
bCourses.

Mon., Oct. 23 Treaty Rights: Hunting, Gathering: Womens Occupations.

Reading: Turner, Nancy J. and Katherine L. Turner. Where Our Women
Used to Get the Food: Cumulative Effects and Loss of Ethnobotanical
Knowledge and Practice; Case Study From Coastal British Columbia, Botany
86 (2006): 103-115. PDF file on bCourses.
Women's Responsibilities: Cooking and Housekeeping, Jamestown
SKlallam Tribe, History and Culture. URL:
Http://www.jamestowntribe.org//hist_women.htm. Accessed August 12,
2009. PDF file on bCourses.

Weds., Oct. 25 Writing the Past: Petroglyphs, and American Indian History on the land.
Reading: Hough, Susan E. Writing on the Walls: Geological Context and
Early American Spiritual Beliefs,
From Piccardi, L. and W. B. Masse, (eds) Myth and Geology. London:
Geological Society, Special Publications, 273, 107115. US Geological
Survey, 525 S. Watson Avenue, Pasadena, California 91106. PDF file on
bCourses.

Fri., Oct. 27 Review for second mid-term.

Mon., Oct. 30 Second mid-term.

Weds., Nov. 1 Place and People: Navajo Nation survives.
Reading: Kelley, Klara and Harris Francis. Places Important to Navajo
People, American Indian Quarterly, 17(2) (Spring, 1993),: 151-169. Stable
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1185525

Fri., Nov. 3 U. S. Ecological Disaster: Navajo and Uranium Mining.

Reading: Brugge, Doug, Ph. D., MS, and Rob Goble, Ph. D. The History of
Uranium Mining and the Navajo People, Public Health Then and Now, 92(9)
(September 2002): 1410-1419. PDF file on bCourses.

Mon., Nov. 6 Old Animals; Old People; New Environment

Reading: Gallardo, Francisco and Hugo Yacobaccio. Wild or
Domesticated? Camelids in Early Formative Rock Art of the Atacama Desert
(Northern Chile), Latin American Antiquity, 16(2 )(Jun., 2005): 115-130.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30042807
Geist, Valerius. On Pleistocene Bighorn Sheep: Some Problems of Adaptation, and
Relevance to Today's American Megafauna, Wildlife Society Bulletin, 13(3)
(Autumn, 1985): 351-359. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3782506

Weds., Nov. 8 Developing Reservation Economies: American Indian Teamsters.

Reading: Pearson, J. Diane. Developing Reservation Economies: Native
American Teamsters, 18571921, 153-170. Journal of Small Business and
Entrepreneurship, 18(2) (Spring, 2005): 153-170. PDF file on bCourses.

Fri., Nov. 10 Holiday, No Classes today.

Mon., Nov. 13 Developing Reservation Economies: American Indian Teamsters.

Reading: Pearson, J. Diane. Developing Reservation Economies: Native
American Teamsters, 18571921, 153-170. Journal of Small Business and
Entrepreneurship, 18(2) (Spring, 2005): 153-170. PDF file on bCourses.

Weds., Nov. 15 Building Reservation Economies: American Indian Cowboys and the
West.
Reading: Pearson, J. Diane. Building Reservation Economies: Cattle,
American Indians and the American West, Int. J. Business and
Globalisation, 1(3) 2007: 404-448. PDF file on bCourses

Fri., Nov. 17 American Indian Cowboys: U. S. and Canada. American Cowboys.

Reading: Alcorn, Rowena L. and Gordon D. Alcorn. Jackson Sundown Nez Perce
Horseman, Montana: The Magazine of Western History 33(4) (Autumn 1983): 46-
51. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4518779
Baillargeon, Morgan. Native Cowboys on the Canadian Plains: A Photo
Essay, Agricultural History 69(4) (Autumn 1995): 547-562. Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3744430

Mon., Nov. 20 American Indian dogs: Pre-Columbian Domestication.

Reading: Allison, Marvin J., Guillermo Focacci, and Calogero Santoro. The
Pre-Columbia Dog from Arica, Chile, American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 59(1982): 299-394. PDF file on bCourses.
Anitei, Stefan, Science Editor. Dog Mummies Found in Peru. Does this
ancient dog still exist? Softpedia September 29, 2006. PDF file on bCourses
Wed., Nov. 22 Non instruction day.

Fri., Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Holiday

Mon., Nov. 27 Bison Bison; American Indians and a Cultural Icon.

Reading: Farr, William E. Going to Buffalo: Indian Hunting Migrations
Across the Rocky Mountains: part 1, Making Meat and Taking Robes,
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, 53(4) (Winter, 2003): 2-21.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4520559

Weds., Nov. 29 Bison Bison; the Hell Gate Treaty of 1855

Reading: Farr, William E. Going to Buffalo: Indian Hunting Migrations
Across the Rocky Mountains, part 2, Civilian Permits, Army Escorts,
Montana: The Magazine of Western History 54(1) (Spring 2004): 26-44. PDF
file on bCourses.

Fri., Dec. 1 Last day of classes. Buffalo Wars; the Yellowstone bison versus the State
of Montana.
Reading: Zontek, Ken. Buffalo Nation, excerpts, Intertribal Bison
Cooperative, 75-97. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
Zontek, Ken. Hunt, Capture, Raise, Increase: The People Who Saved the
Bison, Great Plains Quarterly 15(Spring 1995): 133-149. PDF file on
bCourses. Last day of class.

Mon. Dec. 4 Dec. 8: Read, Write, and Recite Week. Study for your final and complete
your term paper!!

NOTE: TERM PAPER IS DUE BY 5:00 PM, Friday, December 8, in my office. NO email
submissions; no late papers will be accepted. STAPLE all papers together in the upper left-
hand corner. NO HAND WRITTEN PAPERS. Papers must consist of one cover page; 5 full
pages of text (the 5th page must be a full-page text. You will be graded-down for short-
pages, no page numbers, etc.) The final page (which does not count in the page numbers)
must be your references page. YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST EIGHT ACADEMIC
REFERENCES. NO INTERNET (EXCEPT ACADEMIC JOURNALS); NO GOOFY
WEBSITES; NO YOU TUBE; NO WIKIPEDIA, ETC. THIS IS AN ACADEMIC
PAPER!!! This is NOT a first person opinion paper (NO I, ME, OR MY, or this is what I
think.) THIS IS A RESEARCH PAPER; you must cite only accredited academic expert
resources. (Save personal expressions for creative writing classes.)

Final Exam group 8; Tues 12/12/17; 7-10 p.m.

Note: I reserve the right to make any necessary changes in this document. JDP