Native American Women in History, Society, and Art

This course will explore the images and realities of Native American women in the history of North America from the pre-Columbian period through the present-day United States. We will concentrate on particular topics including: contrasting ideas of kinship, society, and gender egalitarianism; ways in which gender provided a language for the colonialism of European empires and the US nation-state; experiences of Native women as mediators of cultural exchange and as victims of cross-cultural conflict; and the role of gender in the creation of hierarchies of identity, race, and power.