American Studies 229 - NATIVE NEW ENGLAND

In this course we interrogate the space now known as “New England” by learning about it as a land with histories, peoples and life ways that predate and exceed the former English colonies and current United States. We devote our semester to studying the cultural distinctiveness of the Native peoples of New England—for example, the Mohawk, Mohegan, Abenaki, Wampanoag and Shaghticoke peoples—and to understanding the historical processes of encounter, adaptation, resistance and renewal that have characterized Native life in the area for centuries. We explore histories of the pre- and post- “contact” period through the perspectives of various Native communities, and discuss the legacies of these histories for Native New England today.