Course Description
(Also PHIL 460). This course deals with Native American thought from an experiential point of view. It examines myth and legends of various kinds to "construct" the outlook or "world view" of the American Indian. No prerequisite.

Course Philosophy
All too often American Indian philosophy, spirituality, and intellectual endeavors are compared and contrasted with European disciplinary counterparts. In this class, we will attempt to construct native philosophy, with an emphasis on the Dakota/Lakota/ Nakota people, from a wide array of sources. Based primarily on American Indian oral history and artistic endeavors, we will explore these strands of thought with the idea of bringing a better understanding to the Indian presence as it prepares to move into the twenty-first century.

Success Tracking System
Students will read, analyze, and explore the ideas found in the Required Readings List. In the course of our weekly meetings, each person will be expected to share their thoughts with other members of the discussion group. Because American Indians were a preponderantly oral society, grades will be assigned dependent on each person's contribution. A final project will also be required. Each person will schedule a meeting with the instructor where project plans will be finalized. A strong emphasis on oral history resources will be emphasized.

Required Readings List

Arden, Harvey, compl. and ed. Noble Red Man: Lakota Wisdomkeeper Mathew
      King.  Hillsboro, OR:  Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., 1994.
 

Cash, Joseph H., and Herbert T. Hoover, eds.  With a New Introduction by
      Donald L. Fixico. To Be An Indian:  An Oral History. St.
      Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1995; orig. pub. Holt,
      Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1971. 


Deloria, Vine, Jr. Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth
      of Scientific Fact.  New York:  Scribner, 1995.
 

Warrior, Robert A.  Tribal Secrets:  Recovering American Indian
      Intellectual Traditions.  Minneapolis, MN:  University of
      Minnesota Press,1995.

General Readings

Students with an interest in northern plains Indians, specifically the Sioux, should have at least a passing knowledge of the books listed below. The list is not comprehensive but its concentration is on Indian authors except for areas not yet filled by our own academic efforts. Two examples would be Royal Hassrick and Omer Stewarts's publications. I anticipate these particular areas will soon be rewritten from the Indian point of view.

Brown, Joseph E.  The Sacred Pipe:  Black Elk's Account of the Seven
      Rites of the Oglala Sioux.  Volume 36, The Civilization of the
      American Indian Series.  Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953;
      paper, 1989.
 

Bunge, Robert.  An American Urphilosophie BP (Before Pragmatism).
      Lanham,MD: University Press of America, Inc., 1984. 


________.  "Native American World Views: An American Philosophy BP (Before
      Pragmatism)." 


Burnette, Robert, and John Koster.  The Road to Wounded Knee.  New
      York: Bantam Books, 1974. 


Cash, Joseph H., and Herbert T. Hoover, eds.  To Be An Indian:  An Oral
      History.  New York:  Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., 1971;
      reprint, Borealis Books, paper, 1995.
 

Deloria, Ella C.  Dakota Texts.  New York: G. E. Stechert, 1932;
      Vermillion, SD: University of South Dakota Press, 1978, 3d.
      printing, paper. 


________.  Speaking of Indians.  New York: Friendship Press, 1944;
      Pierre, SD: State Publishing Co., 1983.
 

________.  Waterlily.  Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press,
      1988; Bison Book, paper, 1990.
 

Deloria, Vine, Jr.  Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties: An Indian
      Declaration of Independence.  Austin, TX:  University of Texas
      Press, 1994, 5th ed., paper. Orig. pub. 1974.
 

________.  Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto.  With a
      new Preface by the Author.  New York: Macmillan, 1969;  Oklahoma
      Press,
      paper, 1989. 


________.  God Is Red.  New York: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers,
      1973. 


________. Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of
      Scientific Fact.  New York: Scribner, 1995.
 

________.  The Indian Affair.  New York:  Friendship Press, Inc.,
      1975. 


Dudley, Joseph Iron Eye.  Choteau Creek: A Sioux Reminiscence.
      Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. 


Fox, Richard A., Jr.  Foreword by W. Raymond Wood.  Archaeology,
      History, and Custer's Last Battle:  The Little Big Horn
      Reexamined. Norman,OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
 

Goodman, Ronald.  Lakota Star Knowledge:  Studies in Lakota Stellar
      Theology.  Mission, SD:  Sinte Gleska College, 1990. 


Hassrick, Royal B.  The Sioux:  Life and Customs of a Warrior Society,
      1830-1870.  Volume 72, The Civilization of the American Indian
      Series. Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 1964, 4th
      printing, 1975.
 

Hoover, Herbert T.  The Yankton Sioux.  New York:  Chelsea House
      Publishers, 1988. 


Iktomi. America Needs Indians.  Denver, CO:  Bradford-Robinson,
      1937. 


Matthiessen, Peter.  With an Afterword by Martin Garbus. In the Spirit
      of Crazy Horse.  New York: The Viking Press, 1983; paper,
      Penguin Books, 1992. 


McNickle, D'Arcy.  They Came Here First:  The Epic of the American
      Indian.  Rev. ed.  New York:  Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.,
      1975; paper.
 

Riggs, Stephen R.  Dakota Grammar, Texts, and Ethnography.  Volume
      9, Contributions to North American Ethnology.  James O. Dorsey, ed. 
      Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1893; Minneapolis:  Ross
      & Haines, Inc., 1973.
 

Sansom-Flood, Renee.  Lessons From Chouteau Creek:  Yankton Memories of
      Dakota Territorial Intrigue.  Sioux Falls, SD:  Center for
      Western Studies, 1986; paper. 


Sansom-Flood, Renee, and Shirley A. Bernie.  Remember Your Relatives: 
      Yankton Sioux Images, 1851 to 1904.  Vol. 1.  Marty, SD:  Marty
      Indian School, 1985. 


Sansom-Flood, Renee, Shirley A. Bernie, and Leonard R. Bruguier. 
      Remember Your Relatives: Yankton Sioux Images, 1865-1915.  Vol.
      2. Marty, SD: Yankton Sioux Elderly Advisory Board, 1989. 


Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk.  That They May Have Life:  The Episcopal
      Church in South Dakota, 1859-1976.  New York:  The Seabury
      Press, 1977. 


Standing Bear, Luther.  My People, the Sioux.  Boston:  Houghton
     Mifflin Company, 1928. 


Stewart, Omer C.  Peyote Religion:  A History.  Volume 181, The
      Civilization of the American Indian Series.  Norman, OK: University
      of Oklahoma Press, 1987. 


Warrior, Robert A.  Tribal Secrets:  Recovering American Indian
      Intellectual Traditions.  Minneapolis, MN:  University of
      Minnesota Press, 1995; paper. 


Wilson, Gilbert L.  Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden:  Agriculture of the
      Hidatsa Indians.  Minneapolis:  University of Minnesota Press,
      1917: Minnesota Historical Society Press, Borealis Books, 1987.
 

Zitkala-Sa.  American Indian Stories.  With a Foreword by
      Dexter Fisher. Washington, DC:  Hayworth Pub. House, 1921; Bison
      Books, 1985.

Reyhner, Jon, ed. Teaching American Indian Students. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992.

Collateral Readings