ANTH223

In this course, we will explore the past and present lives of indigenous peoples
around the world. We will particularly focus on Native Americans, the Mayans of
Guatemala, the Maori of Aotearoa/New Zealand, the Aborigines of Australia, and the Ainu of Japan. We will explore what it means to be an indigenous people—their experiences of colonization; their struggles to keep their autonomy; their stereotypes in the mainstream media and their struggles to fight them; their negotiations with researchers who may not align themselves with the indigenous people's aspirations; their economic survival through, for example, casino businesses and tourism; their struggles to keep their land and language; and their wish to keep control over their cultural symbols and materials. Using various anthropological and other theories, we will analyze these situations through class lectures, guest lectures, class discussions of assigned readings, films, as well as a field trip to the National Museum of the American Indian and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Also in this course, we will investigate Ramapo College's relationships with the Ramapough Lunaape Nation in Mahwah and Mayan immigrants from Guatemala in Morristown and act proactively to strengthen our relationships with them through examining student recruitment and retention from these groups at Ramapo College and creating with them exhibits of their historical and current lives on campus, etc. *Critical Reading and Writing class (CRWT 102) is a prerequisite for this class.