Introduction to Indigenous Literatures

This course reads Indigenous Literatures of North America to reflect on, critique, and contest settler colonialism, or the dispossession of land and waters in the attempt to eliminate Indigenous people. It will consider the broader history of Indigenous literary traditions, including alternative forms of literacy such as oral traditions and craftwork, as well as the ongoing cultural resurgence seen in the literary and art worlds. Readings by Native American and First Nations Canadian authors will connect Indigenous histories across time and space invite new ways of thinking about the past, present, and future of the Americas and the World.