LIT 305/NASX 340:
Native American Literature
Spring 2016
Course Description
• This course is a survey of American Indian literatures from the pre-contact era
to the present. Our primary task will be to trace the evolution of the American
Indian oral and written traditions within and against the American literary
canon, with close attention to the challenges indigenous literature presents to
settled notions of American history, sovereignty, and literary study.
• Although we will move roughly chronologically, this course is less a genealogy
and more a network: an attempt to uncover the powerful variety of indigenous
experiences at the margins and center of American literary history across genres,
forms, and periods. Along the way, we’ll consider the roles of violence, cultural
memory, trauma, folklore, humor, and family in shaping Native American
literary traditions, concluding the course with a look at contemporary American
Indian writers and their place in 21st century American life.
Image: Norval Morrisseau.
Montana State University Billings
English & Native American Studies Programs
Tom Nurmi, Assistant Professor of English
[email protected]
Course Meets: TTH 2-3:30 LA 625
Office Hours Spring ‘16: W 2-5 PM
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. NY
:
Grove, 2013 [978-0802121998]
Spring ‘16 Office Hours: TBA
Required Texts
Assignments and Grading
• Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger
and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. NY:
Grove, 2001. [978-0802121998]
Quizzes (10)
20%
Essay 1
20%
• Harjo, Joy. How We Became
Human: New and Selected Poems 19752002. NY: Norton, 2013 [9780393345438]
Essay 2
20%
Final Project
40%
• McNickle, D’Arcy. The Surrounded.
Albuquerque: U New Mexico Press,
1978.
[978-0826304698]
• Momaday, N. Scott. The Way to
Rainy Mountain.
U New Mexico Press, 1976. [9780826304360]
• Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony.
NY: Penguin, 2006. [9780143104919]
• Zitkala-Sa, American Indian Stories,
Legends, and Other Writings. NY:
Penguin, 2003.
[978-0142437094]
Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing this course student will be able to:
[1] Demonstrate careful and critical reading of a variety American
Indian texts – particularly the novel – with special attention to their
historical and cultural contexts.
[2] Present the historical, literary, or methodological issues raised by
American Indian literatures and their implications for American
culture using clear and effective writing in service of a reasoned,
evidenced argument.
[3] Identify the complex and contested role of the novel in of
American Indian literatures, with specific authors and works to
support your claims.
[4] Produce a final project that engages one or more artistic, literary,
or narrative traditions in American Indian history using primary and
secondary sources.
I encourage everyone to stop by my office hours (W 2-5 LA 425) for any reason throughout the semester (help on an
essay, questions on the reading, or anything else). If you cannot make my office hours, let me know and we can arrange
a time to meet. This course is reading-intensive, and attendance is mandatory. Therefore you should not be late and
should not miss classes. Any work missed as a result of tardiness or absence is your responsibility to make up.
Quizzes are not made up; however, if you give 24 hours’ notice before an absence, you may take an alternate quiz.
Missing more than three classes may result in a two percent (2%) deduction from your final grade, per absence. Use
your absences wisely. If you have a legitimate conflict, please discuss it with me. In addition, you should be familiar
with the MSUB code of academic integrity for appropriate behavior and policies.
* Please note: Students with disabilities who may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Disability
Support Services (DSS) in the College of Education, Room 135: (406) 657-2283, (406) 545-2518 (video phone), Director: (406)
657-2161, Sign Language Interpreters: (406) 657-2159.
Daily Syllabus
* Note: Assignments are subject to changes based on the progress of the class. It is your responsibility to stay current.
If you miss a day, always check with me or with someone who was in class for changes. Any reading assignments not
included in the required texts will be available on the D2L course website.
1/21 – Introductions I
1/26 – Introductions II
Read for Class:
* N. Scott Momaday, “The Man Made of Words” (1997) [D2L]
* Simon Ortiz, “Towards a National Indian Literature” (1981) [D2L]
1/28 – Creation Stories
* “Indigenous Literary Traditions,” “Native American Oral Literatures,” and
“Creation/Emergence Accounts” from the Heath Anthology of American Literature [D2L]
* “Wohpe and the Gift of the Pipe (Lakota),” “The Origin of Stories (Seneca),” and “Raven and
Marriage (Tlingit)” [D2L]
2/2 – Traditional Native American Poetry
* “Ritual Poetry, Song, and Ceremony” [D2L]
* “Song (Copper Eskimo-Inuit),” “Song of War (Anishinabe-Ojibway), “Song of War (Two
Shields, Lakota)” and “Song of War (Victoria, Tohono O’odham)” [D2L]
2/4 – Field Trip: Pictograph Caves [3 PM]
2/9 – Removal and Integration
* William Apess, “An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man” [D2L]
* Cathy Davidson & Ada Norris, “Introduction” to American Indian Stories (xi-xliii)
* Zitkala-Ša, “Impressions of an Indian Childhood” (pp. 67-86)
2/11 – Removal and Integration
* Zitkala-Ša, “School Days of an Indian Girl,” “An Indian Teacher Among Indians,” “The
Great Spirit,” and “The Soft-Hearted Sioux” (pp. 87-126)
2/16 – Writing Workshop
* Bring intro paragraph for Essay 1 to class
2/18 – The Native American Novel [Essay 1 Due on D2L]
* Darcy McNickle, The Surrounded (1937), Ch. 1-5 (pp. 1-59)
2/23 – The Native American Novel
* The Surrounded, Ch. 6-12 (pp. 60-128)
2/25 – The Native American Novel
* The Surrounded, Ch. 13-20 (pp. 129-185)
3/1 – The Native American Novel
* The Surrounded, Ch. 21-27 (pp. 186-242)
3/3 – The Native American Novel
* The Surrounded, Ch. 28-34 (pp. 243-297)
3/8 – No Class, Spring Break
3/10 – No Class, Spring Break
3/15 – Native American Renaissance
* N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain (1976)
3/17 – No Class
3/22 – Native American Renaissance
* Leslie Marmon Silko, “Preface” to Ceremony (1977), pp. xi-xix
* Ceremony, pp. 1-105
3/24 – No Class, Mini-Break
3/29 – Native American Renaissance
* Ceremony, pp. 105-201
3/31 – Native American Renaissance
* Ceremony, pp. 201-243
4/5 – Writing Workshop
4/7 – The Reservation [Essay 2 Due on D2L]
* Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993), pp. 1-53
4/12 – The Reservation [Final Project Proposal Due]
* Lone Ranger and Tonto, pp. 54-103
4/14 – The Reservation
* Lone Ranger and Tonto, pp. 104-154
4/19 – The Reservation
* Lone Ranger and Tonto, pp. 154-198
4/21 – The Reservation
* Lone Ranger and Tonto, pp. 199-242
4/26 – Contemporary Native American Poetry
* Joy Harjo, “Introduction” to How We Became Human (2004) and poems: “Someone Talking”
(22-4), “Anchorage” (31-2), “The Woman Hanging…” (35-7), “Skeleton of Winter” (40-1),
“New Orleans” (41-6), “She Had Some Horses,” “My House…” (55), & “Deer Dancer” (67-9)
4/28 – Contemporary Native American Poetry
* Harjo: “The Woman…” (93-9), “The Flood” (101-3), “The End” (133-5), “The Path…” (1412), “Protocol” (169-70) & “When the World…” (198-200)
5/3 – Final Projects Presentations, 2-3:50 PM [Final Projects Due 2 PM on D2L]