Anishinaabe Studies: History Culture & the Environment ((4 Credits))

Catalog description

Anishinaabe peoples lived in the Northeast and migrated west about 1500 years ago when it was prophesied this would preserve their culture. They searched till they found manoomin, lake rice, "the food that grows on water." Today manoomin is central to complicated struggles over genome rights, treaty rights, pollution form mining, and other issues. Students learn about Anishinaabe culture to contextualize these issues in historical events that demonstrate continuity and transformation. Students consider Indigenous responses to contemporary concerns about food, water, and energy and work to understand them as a nexus of spiritual, political, and ecological challenges to human sustenance on Earth. The course will culminate in research on Native concerns in students' own locales. Students will consider how to mindfully contribute to conversations and activities and appropriately engage in issues that affect us all as they are being addressed by Native communities.