Indigenous Cultures & Communities of the Gulf South

Catalog description

This course is intended for undergraduate and graduate students interested in the indigenous cultures and communities who continue to occupy the Gulf South region including parts of what is now called eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, western Florida, and southern Georgia, as well as groups living in eastern Oklahoma as a result of removal. These groups include the Biloxi, Chitimacha, Choctaw, Natchez, Atakapa-Ishak, Tunica, Houma, Mvskoke, among other current and former tribal nations. This course seeks to center pre-historical, historical, and contemporary cultures, peoples, and voices of the region for students of both indigenous and non-indigenous backgrounds. Topics include mound-building, plant knowledge, musical traditions, languages, basket-weaving (and other material cultures), dance, tribal governance, state & federal recognition, loss of land, games & entertainment, history & oral tradition, foodways, and tattooing.