American Studies 229 - Native New England

In this course, we will examine the space we now know as “New England” as a land with histories, peoples, landscapes, and life-ways that predate and exceed the former English colonies and current-day Canada and United States. We will devote our semester to learning about the cultural distinctiveness of many of the Native peoples of the Northeast—for example, Abenakis, Mohawks, Mohegans, Narragansetts, Nipmucs, Pocumtucks, and Wampanoags—and to understanding the historical processes of encounter, adaptation, resistance, and renewal that have characterized Native life for centuries. We explore histories of the pre- and post-invasion period, from time immemorial to the present day.