CMLT 298: American Indians in Literature and Film: Perspectives North and South

Spring, 2010: Professor Regina Harrison

As the first Peace Corps Volunteer in the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador), I was often immersed in issues of land preservation, determining the carrying capacity of natural habitats, and the commodification of place in light of mass tourism. Later, my knowledge of specific ecological niches expanded when my doctoral studies led me to live with indigenous (Quichua-speaking) communities in the tropical forest and Andean mountains of Ecuador. I learned of Quichua/Runa Indian ways of farming, the symbolic representation of flora and fauna in their songs and myths, and the sacred sites of the ancestors. For decades, my research and my teaching have been based on a holistic conception of what it means to be a citizen in/of the Americas.

The syllabus I submit is a revision of a course I formerly taught, Comparative Literature 277: "Literatures of the Americas," that has morphed into a new course for Spring 2010, "American Indians in Literature and Film." This new course serves as an introduction to the indigenous peoples of the Americas: North America, Central America, and South America. With cross-disciplinary readings and viewings, the course encourages student reaction to and analysis of selected themes: the struggle for land, the ecological use of the land in sustaining indigenous cultures, scenarios of poverty and racism, stereotypes as opposed to "authenticity," spirituality and the politics of identity. Much of the early colonial period is seen from the perspective of the European invasion. However, in contrast, contemporary literature and film is created by American Indians who are constructing their own versions of indigenous reality.

The theme of sustainability is interwoven with the topic of the survival of indigenous cultures through assignments in narrative and film. In keeping with the modules we discussed in our Chesapeake Project, I have included ecological analyses in the beginning weeks. "American Indians and Environmentalism" is linked with the topic of commodification of the Indian. The project of creating a product or finding use of indigenous peoples in a product will be a good teaching moment when students individually fashion a critique of contemporary society that overcomes the US and THEM dichotomy. This project should address our nostalgia for spiritual existence, the romantic stereotype of the American Indian as the "ultimate" ecologist, and the persuasions of the consumer economy that makes use of the Indian. The next group of readings focus on the Chesapeake (Pocahontas and sustainability of indigenous settlements, destructive English settlement patterns, and the current state of the Bay today as seen in a case study in Coastal Marine Conservation). This orientation is continued in the texts of indigenous knowledge systems that value the particulars of the ecological environment in Central and South America. Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize Winner and indigenous author/activist, relates her personal interaction with ancestral communal plots and the pressures of modernization among the Maya. John Murra in "Andean Societies" best explains the Inca exploitation of a harsh Andean environment that provided for the existence of a significant empire. These techniques for storage and domestication of crops came about from "harnessing the cold" and are still used by contemporary indigenous peoples. In economic terms, we confront the contemporary subject of land ownership and land use in the last part of the course: federal and state authority over indigenous tribes is described and the strategies of tourism in Indian lands are questioned. A visit to the National Museum of the American Indian will be directed to themes of sustainability in presentations; a personal diary of the field trip will account for their understanding of the issues.